At the beginning of the year, we all thought if the young pitchers and Jeremy Guthrie take a step forward, the Orioles would be close to a .500 team.
We are now in the first week of August and it seems that not much has changed from the past decade plus on the mound. Maybe last year’s nice finish was the exception.
Right now, the franchise looks to be in pretty bad shape. I’m not even sure at this point that the Orioles will even match their win total from last year.
At the moment, the starting rotation is plagued with a ton of inconsistency, poor outings and pitchers who just can’t seem to get out of key innings without some issue. This week, the Kansas City Royals took three out of four games from the Orioles, and you’ve got to wonder how much worse things will get.
After watching another Oriole loss last night with Zach Britton on the mound (who was followed by an ineffective Jim Johnson), you’ve got to ponder what in the world is going on with the pitching? If there’s any solace from last night’s game, at least Britton stuck around for a bit despite giving up three runs in the first inning.
I’m not sure if the league has caught with Britton, his sinker just isn’t effective or what; however, he is not the same pitcher we saw during the first eight weeks of the season. He just looks awful, and now he’s not fooling batters anymore.
Maybe he’s tired or something has changed.
Not to rail so much on him, but it seems that every Oriole pitcher has issues these days.
Aside from Alfredo Simon – who was in a fight for his freedom when the season began – it looks like the Oriole arms have taken a big step backwards and it’s confounding to see.
I’m not sure if it is a development issue with the organization, just plain bad buck, or guys not willing to take instruction or give their all; however, the results aren’t there.
There’s this reality – the Orioles are still in last place.
Pitching – in my opinion – is 80 to 90% of the game. If that’s not done well on a consistent basis, you’re not going to win.
