There isn't a whole lot changing for the Orioles early on in spring training. We have a ton of pitchers out there trying to prove they can make it at the major league level and I think we all have our fingers crossed that a decent rotation will come from the competition. I think all of us would have liked to see some higher echelon pitchers brought in for this competition, but as many have said it's hard to talk a good pitcher in to playing for the worst organization in the AL East. Not only do you have to face the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Blue Jays most of the time but you have to do it with a mediocre defense behind you and a pretty pedestrian offense providing support. If I didn't have orange and black running through my veins I would have a tough time coming to Baltimore just for the money. It is what it is, as they say, and we should know pretty early if shear numbers can motivate pitchers enough to become winners.
The position players reported this week as well and many of them reported early, although most the competition among them is markedly less there still are a couple of spots to keep an eye on. To me the biggest question is Brian Robert's situation and if he might get on the field this year. I think the early signs are pretty good, he is able to complete most of the drills and they have him in the major league camp now after starting with the minor league crew. Obviously he has a huge impact on this team, if he can come back and play like he did 3 years ago, I feel you are looking at a potentially great offense. He would become your lead off hitter and also provide more power from the 2nd base position coupled with his great defense his infusion could really change this team for the better. Of course no one knows if it would work out that way and odds are that it won't. He has basically spent almost three years with very limited baseball action which affects any player, even the good ones , negatively. I can hope he will come back and tear it up early but more than likely he will start the year on the DL and we will see Robert Andino as our everyday second baseman. Let me be clear, I like Robert a lot and he acquitted himself well last year, by playing good defense and showing his versatility by being able to play all over the diamond. The only problem with Robert is offensive production and the question of where to put him in the lineup. Hopefully his offense has improved and he has worked on his batter's eye, because if he ends up playing everyday, he is going to need to get on base a lot more.
Another question for me is who will be DH and who will stick at first base. Both of these positions are power positions offensively and they can either make a line up deadly or kill it from the start. The most likely candidate for DH right now is Wilson Betemit who is not known to be a masher but does get on base. This to me is a high risk high reward situation, it looks like what we are going to do is hope that he can continue to get on base and hopefully he does through hitting well instead of getting a lot of walks. If he does that and is able to knock people in while getting on base it would be an improvement over Vladdy but the worry for me is that you are going to have a traditionally power position filled by a walk machine. I know on base % is very important but if you can't score runs while getting on base how important is it really. Next is first base and the question of whether Chris Davis can hold down that spot for a season. I think anyone can see the potential in Davis but I also think most people are questioning when/if that potential will ever show up consistently on the field. We should see early on if he is still flailing at breaking balls and that will tell the tale of whether he has learned how to find the pitch he wants. It could be exciting to see a younger guy brought up like Joe Mahoney just to see what they could do better as Davis' defense has always been a little suspect and the strike outs have to go down. Also Nick Johnson was added to provide some more competition at first if he can get past his health issues he could provide a big spark.
This early in the year we should just hope for health and development. If we can make it through camp with no major injuries and a few signs of improvement that would be a best case scenario in my opinion. We are so far behind other clubs right now that the focus must be on the small things and not playing out side of the player's own capabilities. We don't have many super stars to lean on so the players that we do have need to get everything out of themselves in order for us to compete at all. Recently the O's brought in a sports psychologist and who knows how those guys are really used but you hope they can help in that area of keeping focus and staying positive. Here's to a great spring and hopefully we find a rotation out of all these arms. Go O's!
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