With the Orioles breaking their eight-game losing streak last night in their 11-0 win over the Twins, a question was raised in my mind with regard to the fine line between winning and losing. The Orioles seemingly have a pattern over the past few years for these elongated losing streaks. Even Buck Showalter and his magic touch couldn’t prevent the most recent skid. In looking around the league right now, the two teams that are having the most success right now are the Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals (two teams that struggled along with the Orioles in 2010). So the question is what do these teams have that the Orioles don’t?
First off, some teams and mixes of guys have a knack for coming together at the right time (take the 2003 Florida Marlins that included Derrek Lee for example). However, the Orioles also have made some changes in the off season. Granted they were positive changes, however the fact is that the team that won 60% of their games at the end of last season is no longer in tact. With the exception of the Royals’ Zack Greinke now being a Brewer, those two teams have some continuity year-over-year. The Orioles did in fact improve their lineup in a wholesale manner over 2010. However, take a look at who they lost during the off season; Ty Wiggington, Kevin Millwood, Miguel Tejada, and Julio Lugo. Of those, Wiggington was probably the biggest playmaker. However they were all veterans that played a role in helping the young guns along. Millwood didn’t finally win a game until the middle of the season; however he provided stability, knowledge, and a steady hand for guys like Brian Matusz, Brad Bergesen, and Jake Arrieta. None of those guys are part of the Orioles’ equation this year.
Speaking of Brian Matusz, he’s been injured thus far this season. J.J. Hardy is also on the DL, and Luke Scott and Brian Roberts have also had their injuries to this point. This pales in comparison to last year’s injury problems, however we haven’t seen the true Opening Day roster that we expected to see as of yet. You can’t predict injuries, but ultimately you have to deal with them when they happen. Even the above-mentioned Indians had their problems with Grady Sizemore being out until this past weekend against the O’s.
None of this bears any true relevance to the on-field results. Ultimately the guys that are in the lineup still have to get out there and play. Cleveland and Kansas City have done that very effectively thus far. They say that April never wins you a pennant, however as the Orioles found out in 2010 you can easily lose one during the month of April. With regard to some of the teams that are playing way over their heads right now, the Orioles have a stronger lineup than some of them. The crème de la crème will always come to the top, with the pretenders generally falling back to the pack. I’m not suggesting that the O’s are or are not in that category of the crème de la crème; however I would argue that Cleveland and Kansas City aren’t quite there yet one way or the other.
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