In dropping two-of-three in Pittsburgh (and going only 3-6 on the roadtrip), the Orioles suffered the same fate as their NFL counterparts last season. The Ravens and Steelers played three times last season, the last game being in the AFC playoffs; Pittsburgh won twice (including the playoff game), and the Ravens once. However luckily for the Orioles these defeats at the hands of Pittsburgh aren't anywhere near as final nor do they sting as much as those suffered by the purple and black last year. Granted part of that 3-6 road trip was at Toronto and thus in an AL park, I'm not overly concerned with the fact that the Orioles are struggling. The past six games have seen the O's shuffle their lineup all over the place to compensate for the loss of the DH. This is something that every American League team has had to deal with since the inception of interleague play. However, how many American League teams have a DH as potent as Vladimir Guerrero? You might also rephrase that to say how many American League teams have a DH as unversatille as Vlad? I don't mean that as a knock on Guerrero by any means, but the fact is that apparently his outfield skills have atrophied so much that he was too much of a liability to play in the field even once.
The silver lining to this story is what Oriole pitchers were able to do at the plate. These past six games saw Zach Britton, Jake Arrieta, and Chris Jakubauskas get their first major league hits, and Oriole pitchers overall going 6-for-15 at the plate. So you're telling me that Oriole pitchers hit .400 over six games? Yes, that's what I'm saying. Okay, just checking! With his first big league hit, Britton even picked up an RBI last Friday night. Talk about doing something for your own cause! Jakubauskas probably would have had the opprotunity to score a run on Sunday in Washington, however third base coach John Russell made a poor decision in sending him home where he was thrown out. To his credit, Jakubauskas did everything he was supposed to do on a play at the plate in that he tried to slide and dislodge the ball from the catcher's glove. However I suspect that Buck Showalter probably had a brief but stern conversation with Russell and Jakubauskas because be you an AL or NL team, you don't really want one of your pitchers to get into a play at the plate. (Especially not with the injury problems the Orioles already have in their starting rotation.) To top it off, Arrieta's first major league hit on Monday night in Pittsburgh was an opposite way flair to right field.
I say this partially tongue-in-cheek and partially in seriousness; could pitchers become potential pinch-hitters for the Orioles? I highly doubt that a team would seriously consider using a pitcher as a pinch-hitter. However what if it's late in a tight game (probably extra innings) and you're out of bench players? Sometimes managers do things to shake up the lineup or to throw a kink in the giddy-up of the opposing team. Can you think of an American League manager or pitcher that would be prepared to see the likes of Zach Britton or Jake Arrieta strolling to the plate in a pinch-hitting roll? Granted we're not talking about a large sample size of at-bats, however over the past six games these guys all proved at the very least that they weren't easy outs. And who says that the goal is to get a base hit? If you're in a situation where you need a runner moved over late in a game, why not send a pitcher up to bat? It's unorthodox no doubt, however it seems that the more orthodox the Orioles get the more it blows up in their faces. The fact is that during this six-game homestand Oriole pitchers will probably continue to take batting practice because next weekend the Birds will head to Atlanta for a three-game set with the Braves.
I suppose my point is that I think a lot of potential talent and manpower is wasted in the American League where pitchers don't have to hit. As I said above at the very least these guys proved that they weren't easy outs, and in many cases they proved that they could get a base hit when needed. This is all a far cry from the likes of Daniel Cabrera who refused to take the bat off his shoulders when he went up to the plate. (The worst part was that he announced prior to the games that he wouldn't take the bat off his shoulders, so all the opposing pitcher had to do was throw the ball down the middle and it was 1-2-3 strikes you're out.) Last Friday in DC Buck Showalter further demonstrated how the National League game should be played when he used Vladimir Guerrero as a pinch-hitter, and when he knocked in a run and got on base he lifted Guerrero for Chris Jakubauskas. While Jakubauskas was stranded at third base, it showed how short-sighted some AL managers can be. You need someone only to run and you don't want to waste a position player? Is an idle pitcher not a part of the roster? While it's only happened once or twice, Jeremy Guthrie has been used in the past as a pinch-runner. I suppose that if there's anything the Orioles should take away from these games, it's that there's no reason they shouldn't use their entire roster in a game.
With all of this said, it'll be good to see the Birds get back to Camden Yards this weekend against Cincinnati and next week against St. Louis. To turn the tables a bit, those teams will be granted the use of a DH. Whoop-di-do...big advantage for the homestand O's, right?! (But to pick up where I left off above, there's no reason that Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa couldn't use a pitcher in the order if they wanted to!) More importantly, the O's will get Vladimir Guerrero back in his normal cleanup role. During this roadtrip we saw the Orioles put up lots and lots of hits, but that didn't yield runs. On Friday in DC they had 18 hits but only four runs, and yesterday in Pittsburgh they put up 10 hits which only yielded them four runs. I believe that this is the result of two things: no Guerrero, and the lack of a running game. With Vlad out of the lineup everyone who normally hit behind him (from five to nine) was shuffled around. This lineup was built to have Vlad in the cleanup role; when he ceases to be there, it can cause some trouble. The Vlad issue will be remedied tomorrow night (for six games), so no worries there. However in the absence of Brian Roberts, J.J. Hardy has hit leadoff and done a very good job with it. However Hardy's not a base stealer, as opposed to someone like Felix Pie. If Hardy gets on base followed by a Markakis/Jones base hit, you presumably have runners at first and second. However had Hardy been able to steal second base, you would presumably have ended up with a run. Furthermore, opposing pitchers are getting comfortable on the mound because they know the Orioles probably won't steal. While Hardy's done a great job, I'd rather see Pie in the lineup more often and leading off. If he can get on base, he can steal much in the tradition of Brian Roberts. First thing's first though...Guerrero's back tomorrow.
Written by:
