The second half for the Orioles so far has not been one to really be happy about. In fact, honestly, the past four games have been nothing short of frustrating to watch as a fan either at Camden Yards or on TV via MASN.
Right now, they look nothing short of awful – again .
After a four game sweep of the Rangers right before the All-Star break, they got swept by the Blue Jays this weekend, and with the Rays – a contender – in town, the Orioles needed something good to come their way. Sadly, It didn’t happen Monday.
Chris Tillman, who looked like he may turned the corner after his amazing start in Texas, just plain flat-lined in his second start on the mound after being called up from Norfolk.
In the end, the Orioles got their butts handed to them, 8-1 by the Rays, as Tillman who looked good through the first two innings, gave up eight runs in the third and pretty much buried his team.
Watching the games this weekend, I think the young pitching is just challenged right now and needs to find their own way of working through tough major league lineups.
It’s pretty obvious that Tillman, Matusz and Bergesen have skill on the mound and have had their ups and down so far as professionals at the big league level. In my opiniong, success comes from having a plan on the mound, being consistent, hitting your spots and using our pitches to keep the hitters off balance.
At this point, as much as people want to send them back down – you can’t.
The only way these guys are going to learn to pitch at the major league level is to perhaps experience face some failure and bounce back up again. From what I have seen, both Arrieta and Tillman excelled at Norfolk in ’10, and Matusz has been in the majors since last year.
Give the arms time to develop. It may be ugly some nights on the mound for the rest of the season, but hopefully things will turn around.
I mean, take a look at where pitchers Clay Buchholz and Phil Hughes are right now versus a few years ago. Heck, an even more perfect example of a pitcher develops at the various levels over the years and finds success would be Roy Halladay.
If there’s one positive to come within the next week or so, it looks like Brian Roberts will be back with the team by next week. Right now, Roberts is in the minors rehabbing and it’s so far, so good for the second baseman.
Also, a touch of Washington life has come to Charm City this week as First Lady Michelle Obama will be at Camden Yards to promote healthy living and an anti-obesity measure focused on children this Tuesday.
She will also be throwing out the first pitch tonight before tonight’s Rays-Orioles game and should be interesting to see what happens…
