O's Lineup (pitching and hitting) & my thoughts

[mad4comp]

Well with the Sosa deal completed (well not offically, we have to wait till he passes a physical and gets introduced), but anyways i think we are done as far as our hitting lineup goes.

Batting Order -

2b - Brian Roberts - Doubles Leader, can he get on base or what?
3b - Melvin Mora - Great Batter, very high AVG, and can hit it out of the park too.
SS - Miguel Tejada - Must i say anything more ?
C - Javy Lopez - Last year he was adjusting to AL pitching, i think we will see a vast improvement this year.
DH - Rafael Palmerio - Mabye he'll return to his 2003 form ? Still a major HR threat.
1b - Jay Gibbons/Rafael Palmerio - I feel as if Jay is gonna have a breakout year.
RF - Sammy Sosa - Must i say anything more ?
CF - Larry Bigbie - Great Power, and young, big upside
LF - Luis Matos - Incredible hitter, just needs to stay healthy

Bench - Newhan, Surhoff, Gomez, Raines

I am very pleased at this lineup, we could probably create alot more offense, so we dont have to rely on our pitching too much. Hopefully this lineup will get us 10-15 more wins. Now we could use another pure hitter like Mike Cameron, Aubrey Huff, or Magglio Ordonez (if healthy), but even if we dont, id be happy going into spring training with this lineup. Also i believe its imperative we go after a catcher to let Javy get some rest. We dont need a Pudge type of catcher, just someone who can hit and play solid Defense.


Pitching -

Oh boy.... Where do i begin.

Well right now we have alot of Capable Pitchers:

Sir Sid - Great pitcher (when hes not grossly overweight )
Lopez - I consider him the ace of this staff, and he deserves a shot at it.
Bedard - Huge upside..i mean HUGE upside, but it might take him a couple years to live up to his expectations
Riley - This kid has the makings of an ace, but hes just plain dumb...i dont know what to say .
Cabrera - He won alot of games for a rookie, but he still needs to get more pitches.
Ainsworth/Bauer/Chen - Well they have shown the ability to pitch at a ML level, but lack exp.

Current rotation (as i see it)
Rodrigo Lopez - His numbers are staggering, and deserves a shot.
Sidney Ponson - If he can get his weight down, he can probably win 16+ games.
Bedard - He needs to get his emotions under control, and stop freaking out when he gives up HR's.
Riley - He has soo much potential, but hes wasting it by doing dumb shi* all the time.
Cabrera - Hopefully he adds a couple more pitches and can win at least 10 games this year.
Ainsworth/Bauer/Chen - .....yeah hmmm...

Well our pitching rotation is pretty shaky, im not confident they can win enough games for us. I suggest that we get 1 or 2 more starters to help the youngin's gain some experience. Well first, i would go after Vasquez, try and package together Julio+maine+parrish/cash and try to get him. Next try to go after another pitcher like say Sheets ( i hear he's unhappy with the contract the Brewers offered him), trade riley or cabrera and package him with more prospects+cash/bauer. So this is how our lineup would look like (and i projected wins also).

1.) Rodrigo Lopez - 15+ wins
2.) Javier Vasquez - 15+ wins
3.) Ben Sheets - 16+ wins
4.) Sidney Ponson 14+ wins
5.) Bedard 12+ wins
6.) Ainsworth//Chen/riley/cabrera (whoever doesnt get traded)5-10 wins

Now since Miller is returning back as the pitching coach, i expect these guys to put up those numbers, or something close to them. We saw what Miller did with Ponson last season, maybe he can influence the rest of the staff ??????

I know most of the pitching staff is wishful thinking, but i am almost certain we will get 1 more quality pitcher, most probably Vasquez, but if we can also get Sheets, man that would be unreal.

Feel free to post your thoughts, call me a moron etc.... whatever.

[TheDoyler23]

I think Sosa will bat cleanup or fifth, mostly because of his name.

1. Roberts 2b
2. Melmo 3b
3. Tejada ss
4. Sosa rf
5. Raffy (to break up the righties) DH/1b
6. Lopez C
7. Gibbons Ib/dh
8. Bigbie LF
9. Matos CF

Matos is on a short leash this spring training. If ho doesn't come back with some strength and the ability to bat ABOVE his weight, I see Bigbie moving to CF and Newhan and BJ splitting time in left. If Bigbie is killing the ball in spring training, I woul dput his second in the lineup. He's a prototype second batter with power and speed.

Bench: Newhan, Gomez, BJ, Gil

Pitcing:

There are rumors about a trade for Vasquez, and I'm all for it as long as they aren't trading away Bedard Maine or Cabrera.

1. Lopez: Remember, they don't have any pitching. But they do have a guy who has won 15 games twuice in the last 3 seasons, and a guy who had a top 10 era in the league in a smaller park.
17-10


2. Ponson: He's less fat now, and that's a good thing, ever since he showed up @ st last season @ a bulbus 264. His off the field problems will hopefully motivate him this season.
16-11

3. Erik Bedard: He averages 8 strikouts per 9 innings last season. If he cuts down on the walks and tried less to be 'perfect,' he could easily have a winning record this season.
14-9

4. Daniel Cabrera: He's got the talent, but not the experience. In most cases, he'd be dominating AAA this year instead of taking his licks in the pro's. He's added a change in the offseason, which should help opponents who would tee off on his fastball.
11-14

5. Matt Riley/Chen/DuBose/Ainsworth: DuBose and AInsworth have the talent, but are injury prone. Chen is a journeyman and Riley still can't calm down. I think that Ray Miller will really help one of these guys(DuBose and Ainsworth were already on the shelf when he came into the picture), which will become a more than solid 5th starter.
7-12

The O's bullpen will be excellent. Kline and Ryan are pretty much the best lefty setup men in the game. Look for Julio to get a quick hook as closer if he continues to struggle. The O's still have Parrish and Bauer as long relievers and Todd Williams and Eddie Rodriguez as middle relievers.

[Aikmans Killer No.56]

You can't put Sosa any lower than 5th.

And you said Matos is a great hitter? Great defense, yes. And he did hit .300 two years ago, but I'm thinking it was a fluke. I love watching him run in CF though, he's like a gazelle. If he sticks around, future gold glover, for sure.

i like this team, but OMG our pitching....i didn't think it could get any worse

[TheDoyler23]

Matos isn't really that good of a fielder. The word on his is that he takes poor routes to the ball, but his athletic ability and range masks it. Therefore, some of his spectacular catches would be ordinary for many other fielders.

Our pitching isn't really ALL that bad. We were 7th in the Al in pitching last year, which is middle of the pack. The Yanks, with all the *ace* pitchers were 6th.

The O's were also 4th in the league after the all star break, plus the entire rotation is under 30 years old. There isn't a pitcher on that roster who has tapped their potential, not even Ponson. What thewy need to do is cut down on WALKS. The Orioles led MLB in walks last year, which is a bad formula in somewhat of a hitters ballpark. (Although Camden yards was 20th in HR's given up last year, people still call it a 'bandbox')

[Aikmans Killer No.56]

I guess our pitching isn't that bad off, you might be right...but honestly, there isn't a guy on the staff outside of Lopez that i really feel comfortable with starting a game.

the walks did KILL us last year though, it was insane....

[TheDoyler23]

At least Javy Lopez has some experience catching these guys as well. That should help with the walks. Plus the O's have one of the best pitching coaches in the game with Ray Miller. The organization tried to force being the 'suprice' team last year, but trhis year's team may actually do just that!

[mad4comp]

I know.. Dont you just get the feeling were gonna be the Cards of this year ???

[Skins4SB]

Last year the Orioles thought they were going to be like the Marlins of the year before. Look how that turned out

[aejm1400]

I don't think the pitching will be that bad either. We got some quaility bullpen guys this offseason with Kline and Reed, and BJ will probably become the closer now. After Miller came in last year he lowered their ERA a full run per game. Then you had Cabrera and Bedard who just started pitching in the Majors. Heck, Cabrera just started his Double A pitching last year when they called him up bypassing triple A altogether.

The one pitcher on his last legs if he doesn't get traded is Riley. Potential is there if he can keep himself in shape and learn to throw strikes more. I mean he would give up 2 hits, yet hand out 6-8 walks and put himself into holes way too often. I think adding Sosa will help those pitchers to just throw strikes knowing that they don't have to be perfect everynight with all the run support they will get.

And jot it down, Gibbons will make the O comeback of the year. Not so much because he's healthy, but because he got laser eye surgery(way easier to hit a ball when you can see it) and because he won't try to swing for the fences this year so often. I think he tried too hard last season....but more because he couldn't see the ball thanks to his poor vision that is now fixed.

[terpfan44]

good analysis..I wonder about Gil..he may be ready to make an impact at catcher..

the pitchers may be helped by an unsuspected AA pitcher in camp.. lowen
could be here before july..there are a couple others invited to Fla.

[TheDoyler23]

Originally posted by terpfan44
good analysis..I wonder about Gil..he may be ready to make an impact at catcher..

the pitchers may be helped by an unsuspected AA pitcher in camp.. lowen
could be here before july..there are a couple others invited to Fla.

I don't know if Lowen could be ready just yet, but Maine cold be a dark horse 5th starter like Bedard was after camp last year.

[aejm1400]

I don't think we'll see a triple A pitcher cracking the rotation this season with no experiance to start. I'm thinking something like this:
Ponson
Lopez
Bedard
Cabrera
DuBose

They will have Riley and Ainsworth getting some time in AAA so that if a guy gets hurt or struggles, they have a backup ready. I think Riley could fight Dubose for that number 5 spot.

[TheDoyler23]

I believe that DuBose, Riley and Ainsworth are all out of minor league options. I don't know if any of them would clear waivers if they sent them down. So with all things being aqual through spring training, they may keep one of them for the rotation, one as a rlief and try to trade the other or put through waivers. They could also set up another spot in the rotation if they start Cabrera ( a guy who is 23 and has planty of options left) in AAA.

[terpfan44]

Originally posted by aejm1400
I don't think we'll see a triple A pitcher cracking the rotation this season with no experiance to start. I'm thinking something like this:
Ponson
Lopez
Bedard
Cabrera
DuBose

They will have Riley and Ainsworth getting some time in AAA so that if a guy gets hurt or struggles, they have a backup ready. I think Riley could fight Dubose for that number 5 spot.

going into last yr. I over-valued DuBose.

Before he went down..he only had a few outings where he was able to get outs..with any reliability. He seemed to do better as a long reliever..

I think going into this season..the schedule should dictate that 5th spot. Cabrera got people out and threw strong in early innings.

Bedard has to learn to throw strikes. He leaves the door open and is a bullpen killer..too many
umps fail to give him the close pitches..that any of the Boston pitchers are given.

Lopez is flat out crafty and a fighter..he is the number two..

Ainsworth is a mystery man..I hope he gets into a groove.

Riley should be traded..he might be gifted..but he is one cat that has used up most of those lives..package him with Julio and find a real number one to challenge Sidney..the Braves or Yanks might bite on that one..

Just putting BJ Ryan in at closer over Julio is a plus 10-15 game advantage.

Playoffs are a possibility..once again after a long time away from them.