2008 was a bad year for the Orioles, plain and simple. They lost nearly 100 games, the pitching was awful, and every Sunday was an embarrassment in Baltimore. The only real positive was the offense they created, but even that could not cancel out the terrible pitching. The Orioles look to try and improve on their 68 - 93 record in 2008.
Projected Lineup:
C - Matt Wieters
1B - Aubrey Huff
2B - Brian Roberts
SS - Cesar Izturis
3B - Melvin Mora
LF - Felix Pie
CF - Adam Jones
RF - Nick Markakis
DH - Luke Scott
Projected Rotation:
#1 - Jeremy Guthrie
#2 - Koji Uehara
#3 - Chris Waters
#4 - Rich Hill
#5 - Radhames Liz
Closer - George Sherrill
Position Battles:
#4 and #5 Starters - Mark Hendrickson and Adam Eaton have a chance at the last two spots in the rotation. Whoever has the better spring should get the job.
Closer - George Sherrill struggled in the second half of last year and Chris Ray is returning from Tommy John Surgery, so they may split the closer duty throughout the season.
2009 Outlook: People have some reason to be excited in Baltimore, but not because of the performance of the team, but because of one player. Matt Wieters. He is one of the top prospects in all of baseball and he has everyone talking. Wieters is a switching hitting catcher who can hit for power and average and play his position well. Other than Wieters the team does not really look any better than it did last year. Jeremy Guthrie is their number one starter, so that shows you that the pitching staff is still not very good and the offense consists of either old players (on the decline) or young players that have not panned out. So it does not really look like another good season for the Orioles, especially playing in the AL East.
Projected Finish: 5th Place, AL East
Showing posts with label Baltimore Orioles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baltimore Orioles. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Good Offense, Terrible Pitching, Impossible Division
The Baltimore Orioles are in a tight predicament. They have awful pitching and they are in one of the toughest divisions in all of baseball (AL East). In the off-season their pitching has not improved and their division has only gotten harder, but their offense still remains the bright spot of that sad team.
Brian Roberts is a top 10 second basemen in the league, who hits close to .300, steals bases, and scores runs.
Aubrey Huff hit .304 last year with 32 home runs and 108 RBIs.
Nick Markakis is a young player with a world of talent. He can hit for some power, hit for average, and can score runs.
Melvin Mora may be old, but last year he hit 23 home runs and had 104 RBIs.
Matt Wieters should be called up at some point this year and may even be the opening day starter. He is a switch hitting catcher that can hit for power and average.
Adam Jones is 23 and improving each year and Luke Scott hit 23 home runs last year.
In the off-season the Baltimore Orioles added free-agent Ty Wiggington, who can play many positions and is a solid player. He has never really been given the opportunity to play a full season, so we will have to see if he gets that opportunity with Baltimore.
All together the Orioles were 11th in the entire league in runs scored (782), 13th in total home runs (172), 11th in RBIs (750), and had the 11th best batting average (.267). So in the major hitting categories they ranked in the top half of the entire league. Not bad for a team that had the 5th worst record in the league.
Yes the team is bad. Yes the team has major holes to fill. Yes the team will probably finish in last in the division (again). But they do have a nice core of hitters and we can only wish them the best of luck and not too much pain.
Brian Roberts is a top 10 second basemen in the league, who hits close to .300, steals bases, and scores runs.
Aubrey Huff hit .304 last year with 32 home runs and 108 RBIs.
Nick Markakis is a young player with a world of talent. He can hit for some power, hit for average, and can score runs.
Melvin Mora may be old, but last year he hit 23 home runs and had 104 RBIs.
Matt Wieters should be called up at some point this year and may even be the opening day starter. He is a switch hitting catcher that can hit for power and average.
Adam Jones is 23 and improving each year and Luke Scott hit 23 home runs last year.
In the off-season the Baltimore Orioles added free-agent Ty Wiggington, who can play many positions and is a solid player. He has never really been given the opportunity to play a full season, so we will have to see if he gets that opportunity with Baltimore.
All together the Orioles were 11th in the entire league in runs scored (782), 13th in total home runs (172), 11th in RBIs (750), and had the 11th best batting average (.267). So in the major hitting categories they ranked in the top half of the entire league. Not bad for a team that had the 5th worst record in the league.
Yes the team is bad. Yes the team has major holes to fill. Yes the team will probably finish in last in the division (again). But they do have a nice core of hitters and we can only wish them the best of luck and not too much pain.
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