Should Orioles fans be optimistic about the upcoming season?
Charles Whiting | July 23, 2020
reddit.com
Fan or not, you probably think the Orioles are going to go 0-60 in the upcoming season, or maybe you’re certain that the birds will finish dead last in their division. Besides, most of their players are from the “bargain bin”. They’re no-names, have nots, or as many would suggest LOSERS. But for me, it was what the team has done in the last week that has put a rainbow and sunshine over Camden Yards, and added the tiniest glimmer of hope for what the 2020 O’s can do in the upcoming season.
With spring training 2.0, or “summer camp,” reaching its end and opening day being less than 24 bours away, the Baltimore Orioles find themselves being met with low expectations by baseball fans all around. It’s no secret that the team is in the middle of a total rebuild, but that doesn’t mean this team can’t make a surprise run for the pennant.
The Orioles came into spring training swinging, with 11 guys batting .300 or above. Sure it’s only over the course of no more than 40 at bats, but for a ball club that struggled to score runs last season, you can see why they would be glad to get off to a good start offensively, even if it is just spring training. One man they would really love to get production out of this season is 1st baseman Chris Davis.
Davis is off to a hot start this preseason, posting a .409 average with only four strikeouts through 22 at bats. This is only a sample size, but it’s the kind of production you expect to see from a guy who’s signed to a $161 million deal and is nicknamed “Crush”.
thebaltimorewire.com
“It’s nice to see some results,” Davis told MASN earlier this spring. “I think I said that earlier. I would like to get off to a good start, just for peace of mind, especially after struggling for the last couple years. Just having some success on the baseball field again feels good. It’s still spring training, it’s still early. There are a lot of things I have to accomplish, a lot of things I want to accomplish and a lot of things I still need to work on, but at the same time it feels good…these are big league players and they are competing, so it’s not like they’re just rolling it up there. So it’s nice.”
This spring has been a complete one-eighty from last season for Davis. In the 2019 regular season, Davis put up a .179 average alongside 139 strikeouts and an OBP of just .276. If the Orioles could just get him to bat around .270 with 20 homeruns in this shortened season, that would obviously work wonders for a lineup with a bunch of question marks surrounding it. If he carriers this bat into the season, you better believe they would look to deal him at the trade deadline just to dump his contract while he’s hot.
Another player putting up big numbers this preseason is shortstop Jose Iglesias, who the Orioles signed to a one-year $3 million contract over the offseason. Iglesias has been a pretty consistent hitter over his career, posting a career .273 average. This spring he has an OBP of .536 and a slugging percentage of .538. All of this comes as a result of him getting 13 hits in 26 at bats, leading to a .500 average. Iglesias could be the veteran presence this ball club needs to get things rolling both offensively and defensively.
One more player the Orioles are looking to get significant production out of is second baseman Hanser Alberto. To the surprise of many fans, including myself, Alberto came out of nowhere and was crazy good for no reason during his first season with the O’s. Last season he led the team in batting average with .305. The reason that this was so surprising because the year before with the Texas Rangers, he batted just .185 through 13 games. This preseason, Alberto has picked up right where he left off, with a .378 average, .395 OBP, and .514 SLG. Now we just wait and hope these three guys can bring their preseason success to the regular season.
fansided.com
The Orioles went 1-2 in their three preseason games, winning against the Phillies 4-1 on Sunday, and losing to the reigning World Series champions Washington Nationals 4-2 and 6-4 on Monday and Tuesday.
Neither of these teams are scrubs, in fact they’re far from it, as both will be competitive this season. I believe this was a good test to see how the pitching and batting can hold up to their opposition. The bright side is that they were competitive in all three of their games and weren’t getting blown out by the third inning, which is all I can hope for as a fan of this club.
Every single person has a right to be skeptical of this team, doubt this team, and flat out give up on this team, as their track record has been absolutely horrible. The team will also be without their best player in Trey Mancini for the rest of the season, who’s going through a battle with cancer. John Means will finds himself missing some time due to arm fatigue, which landed him on the 10-day injured list.
Another thing that hurts this team is that all of the other teams in the AL East have names people have actually heard of, while the Orioles are using guys to just fill up spots while they try to develop talent in the middle of this rebuild. For example, the Yankees have so much star power, that they actually let guys like Didi Gregorius walk in the offseason.
While these things can be a damper on their season, I realize that this is the best chance for the Orioles to make some noise while they’re in their rebuilding years, because this upcoming season is going to be the most unique we’ve ever seen. Every team is going to feel uncomfortable or a little out of rhythm due to the situations created by the pandemic we are currently living in. This season is a sprint not a marathon, playing only 60 games rather than 162, so if the O’s can get off to a hot start this spring, they could hang around longer than everyone expected. The Orioles have to use this unique season to their advantage if they want to stand a chance, they have no choice.
Maybe this team actually has some players on it or maybe I’ve been blinded by my excitement that baseball is finally back, I hope it’s not the ladder, but I’m remaining optimistic that with a little bit of Orioles magic, things won’t go nearly as bad as expected.