After a mediocre first week against the Red Sox and Tigers, could the Orioles finally have started to hit their stride?
The Orioles lost four out of their six games to start the season; however, this week, they took two of three from the New York Yankees.
The offense has started to come around and they put a thrashing on the Yankees with a 14-5 win; in addition, they pulled off an impressive win on Wednesday, rallying with two runs in the ninth for a 5-4 victory.
The starting pitching has looked better and Miguel Gonzalez impressed after his disastrous outing against the Tigers last week; however, the bullpen – mainly Brian Matusz has shined.
New closer Tommy Hunter has made things interesting, but is doing what needs to do.
He has saved three games so far.
I guess we all don’t miss Jim Johnson now? Boy, do I feel for him.
Chris Tillman looked like an ace on Sunday; sadly, I am a little concerned about Ubaldo Jimenez at the moment.
I do think he will be fine, but first two games have been nothing to be impressed about. I know he usually struggles during the beginning of a season; however, he has to better than what we have seen so far.
Although the Orioles have the offense to compete with anyone, I believe 90% of the game is about pitching. I worry that they may be still inconsistent on the front, but the season is only nine games old.
J.J. Hardy has been hurt, Manny Machado is still on the disabled list, and David Lough has been out with neck issues; however, mainstays Adam Jones along with Matt Wieters came through with big hits this week, plus new addition Demon Young. Chris Davis is homerless on the young season, but is hitting .303 with six runs driven in.
Ryan Flaherty, Steve Lombardozzi, along with Jonathan Schoop provided offense from the bottom of the order during the Yankee series. Flaherty and Schoop struggled in the first week, but have since made their presence known with productive at bats and key hits.
Schoop came through big on Wednesday as he hit a three-run homer off the much-hyped Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees.
After a tough start, the Orioles may be fine. They have the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend, and then the Tampa Bay Rays to start off next week before heading on the road to face the Boston Red Sox.