I came to the game yesterday and it was not a pleasurable experience. Aside from it being a wonderful day out, the Orioles once again struggled, losing to the Rays. They got ten walks, but yet could not bring anyone home and were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
James posted quite a lengthy recap on Saturday evening; however, I am going to a bit more succinct.
Basically, something needs to be done with the offense. So far, the new additions – Lee, Vladmir and Reynolds – are not hacking it at the plate. All three are hitting below their career averages, although we are sort of seeing out of Mark Reynolds what we expected. Vladmir has been adequate, but Lee has not been good — despite his solid credentials.
The middle of the lineup for the most part is a black hole with some offense produced at times. Both Lee and Vladmir are up in years now, and much like with Jeter in New York, could Father Time be taking their next victims?
As well, Markakis, Jones, Wieters are not hitting with any consistency. Roberts isn’t really getting on base and has become a flyball hitter and it seems the only guy hitting at all is Robert Andino — the ninth place hitter and a reserve guy.
We all know that Guthrie was awful on Saturday. He said that the ball was thrown well, but got lit up by the longball. Guthrie had a bad outing, but the fact of the matter is that the lack of productivity by the offense is putting an immense amount on the pitching staff.
Basically, an Oriole pitcher must throw a amazing game to give a team a chance to win.
That should not be the case.
