Things are winding down for the Orioles, and they're winding down fast...with regard to spring training that is! This week is the official start of spring, and the last full week of spring training. This year we see a bit of a change in the traditional MLB schedule in that the league is opening up next Thursday and Friday as opposed to on the following Monday. (People have argued for years that it would make more sense for MLB to open over a weekend.) The Orioles' final spring training game is next Tuesday, after which they won't play again until Friday night in Tampa against the Rays when the bullets will fly for real.
The Beatles' song Come Together refers to healing rifts between Paul, John, Ringo, and George. However it's appropriate in this case as well. I don't think that there are any rifts between any of the Oriole players, however the fact is that this team needs to begin coming together now. The O's got Derrek Lee into the lineup this past weekend, and we saw the return of Brian Roberts after another bout of back spasms. That's potentially two thirds of a double-play combination that's never played together. Vladimir Guerrero needs to ensure that he's settled in with his new teamates and his new surroundings on this Oriole team, as do Mark Reynolds and J.J. Hardy.
2011 will see some familiar names batting in places where they should have been last year, but due to injuries they couldn't be. Presumably we'll see the likes of Wieters and Luke Scott batting lower in the lineup. If Adam Jones bats in the top half of the order, he'll have to continue working on laying off those low sliders because he'll have Guerrero's bat behind him which will make it even more important that he gets on base. Furthermore, the bullpen will need to function as one unit as opposed to as individual pitchers.
All of this is important to the Orioles if they're going to move forward with the same moxie they exhibited the last two months of last year. I would suspect that we'll begin to see the starting pitchers being put into a rotation of sorts starting this week which will culminate with Jeremy Guthrie pitching next Friday night. Thus far for my money, the O's have had a good spring training. However the next week-and-a-half is critical if that progress is going to continue into the regular season. Fans will have an opprotunity to see the Orioles two more times on television before the curtain comes up next Friday. Tuesday's game at home in Sarasota will be televised nationally on ESPN, and next Sunday's game (also in Sarasota) against Boston will be on MASN. Both games start at 1 PM. Hold onto your seats folks...here we go!
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