The Orioles have lost six straight and now have a two game series in Tampa squaring off against Scott Kazmir and Matt Garza. Not looking good. But let's see if we can mine for some hope...
Aki Iwamura, Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton have had success versus Adam Eaton in limited action. No one else on the Rays has (including 0-9 for Pat Burrell and 2-9 for Carl Crawford). Could Eaton sneak past the dangerous Rays hitters and defeat a struggling Scott Kazmir (5.40 ERA)? Maybe. Roberts, Markakis and Huff own him.
On the other hand, Matt Garza is 5-0 versus the Orioles. Maybe we can just go for the split.
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Dennis Sarfate goes on the DL with numbness in his hand and the Orioles recall RP Bob McCrory from Norfolk. McCrory was bringing it, hitting 95+ on the radar gun when I saw him in Gwinnett last month. It'll be interesting to see if he has good movement on that fastball.
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Frederick 1B/3B Brandon Waring is OPSing .867 this season. Find out the backstory of this player acquired from the Reds in the Ramon Hernandez deal.
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Danys Baez aka Mr. Reluctant has posted a 2.63 ERA this season and it's no mistake. He's struck out 12 in 13.2 IP and only walked 4 for a WHIP of 0.805. Who saw that coming? On a related note, Jamie Walker has posted a 1.93 ERA in a very LOOGY-type role.
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City commissioners in Sarasota will vote this afternoon and are poised to kill the deal to bring the Baltimore Orioles there for Spring Training. No, this time they really mean it.
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George Sherrill is not guaranteed the closer role going forward. The path forward? Closer by committee. Dave Trembley:
"...I have to take a look at the situation and do what I feel is in the best interest of the team for today. Further than that, I'll probably take it day by day."
Sherrill is none too pleased:
"The thing is, I would like to have the chance to pitch myself out of the opportunity...We do have a lot of guys to do it, but I want to be the guy to do it. I don't really understand it, but when it all gets said and done, wins are what matters.
"Closer-by-committee doesn't work and won't work. We'll have to sit down and talk about it and figure out what to do."
Well, George is right when he says closer-by-committee won't work. It won't work without willing participants.
I love closer by committee. It allows a more flexible use of your 'pen and give the manager more opportunities to put guys in a place to succeed.
Unfortunately, it almost never works. It's the psychological component that fails. Relievers like to have clearly defined roles. Always have.
I guess George Sherrill will move back to lefty specialist now?
Some examples from last night's game. People second guessing Dave Trembley for putting in kid pitcher Bob McCrory for his major league debut in a two run game:
hmm..
if you reeeeaaaallllly wanted to win this game… down 3-1 .. perhaps you bring in a tested relief pitcher. maybe try and keep us in the game.. not experiment, you know?
now, if we were down 6-1, i figure maybe try it out. Or if we’re up 6-1, bring him in.
Bad move throwin him out there in a game that was somewhat in reach.
by Y Not
Manager Dave Trembley made an interesting call when he decided to let Bob McCrory start the seventh inning. A pitcher making his major league debut in a two-run game. Not an ideal way to break him in...Trembley has been pushing the right buttons this season, but he's open to a little second-guessing tonight.
- Roch Kubatko
Now, to be fair, the general tone has been more of a "s**t happens" mood than a "s**tty manager" tilt but just so nobody gets any ideas, I thought I'd look at how Dave Trembley throws his young relievers into the deep end of the pool.
Dennis Sarfate - Dennis made his Oriole debut on April 4th. He had been in the majors before but only for a couple mugs of java. He ends April 2008 only 3 innings short of his previous career total.
Sarfate was called upon with the O's leading Seattle 3-2 with two outs and one on in the top of the 6th and squared off against Adrian Beltre. He struck him out.
It was still only a two run game in the top of the 7th when he walked Brad Wilkerson and then struck out Jose Vidro. (Wilkerson was thrown out on a steal attempt...)
Jim Johnson - Johnson had exactly 5 innings of major league work when he was called up a couple of weeks ago. In his first game, he pitched an inning at the end of a 6-2 loss to Tampa.
But the very next day he came in in the 6th with the Orioles holding onto a 3-1 lead against Toronto. He pitched 2.3 scoreless innings.
Randor Bierd - Bierd had never pitched above AA before this season and he only compiled 45 innings at that level.
Bierd made his major league debut on April 2nd. It was the top of the 5th, the Rays led 5-3, there was nobody out and the bases were loaded. Bierd induced a double play ball and a groundout to limit the damage. He then went on to pitch a scoreless 6th and the O's would come from behind to win the game.
What's the difference between these scenarios and last night's debut of Bob McCrory? Last night it didn't work out. It happens.
But more importantly, Trembley has to do it even if he doesn't think it'll work out. Repeat after me: this team is a work in progress. I do not care what the standings say, all these kids need to play and any veteran on this team should be traded if the opportunity arises. It is more important for Trembley to find out what McCrory is made of than worry about winning a game you are already losing by two runs.
Trembley's reasoning for sending McCrory out there, according to Roch:
Manager Dave Trembley explained his decision to use McCrory in the seventh inning by saying it seemed like a good situation, with the Rays sending up the bottom of their order and the Orioles trailing.
Seems logical to me. The kid has to debut sometime. Right? And isn't it nice to have a manager who seems to be thinking before making a move?
This teams Pythagorean Winning Percentage is 13-14 and Trembley has them at 15-12. they were outscored by 6 runs in April, yet have a winning record.
I'll defer to Dave for now...
For the second time in two weeks, the Orioles battled it out for first place with a division rival. Garrett Olson had a fine 2008 debut as the Orioles beat the Rays 7-4. The Baltimore Orioles are now in first place by percentage points. We'll take it.
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ESPN the Magazine has released their Fan Satisfaction Rankings for all 122 major sports franchises. The Baltimore Orioles came in 114th.
They published a quote from yours truly under the Orioles summary but did not give the name or web address of my blog despite me giving it to them at least three seperate times!
Such is life....
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Goodbye Greg Aquino and Brandon Fahey, hello Garrett Olson and Bob McCrory.
Aquino has been terrible. Period. He'll not be back.
Fahey did not hit which was expected. But his fielding was not good either which was not really expected. He added almost no value to the team when he was on the field.
Expect Luis Hernandez to follow those guys to Norfolk soon. Like Fahey, Hernandez has not hit but he is also one of the worst defensive shortstops in the AL this year. The errors aren't bad but his range has been poor. I would expect Alex Cintron to be in Baltimore before June.
Matt Albers will get the start tomorrow.
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Ramon Hernandez has struggled at the plate but has been making the most of his infrequent hits. With only 16 hits, he has driven in 14 RBI.
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As a footnote to yesterday's Yankee post, A-Rod will land on the DL with his strained quad. And there was much rejoicing.
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The Blue Jays are 1-8 since they released Frank Thomas. I don't know what that means but he obviously wasn't the only issue with that lineup.
