The Orioles are digging themselves into a deep hole in the AL East. They dropped 3 out of 4 games against the Texas Rangers, and they continued their losing ways in the series opener against the Chicago White Sox.
With a little over 24 hours until the trade deadline, the Orioles are the most desperate team looking for help. By losing to the White Sox last night, the Orioles are now at a season high 6 games behind the AL East leading Red Sox. The O's swapped outfielders with the Rockies last night to get Eric Byrnes for Larry Bigbie. They both have about the same numbers for the season, so the trade wasn't a real help for the O's.
The Orioles need only two players to get themselves back on track. The first a clutch hitter. The major difference between the first half of the season and the second half is the lack of timely hits. During one game of the Texas series, the Orioles stranded 16 base runners and had the bases loaded 4 times without a run. The front office really cannot blame the starting pitching in any of the games, for they lost because of lack of run support. There is no reason why Tampa Bay and Texas should have shut down the O's hitters. Javy Lopez has tried to add a spark to the team, but the other batters don't seem to reacting.
The other player the Orioles need is a solid pitcher. They really don't need a #1 starter, just one that can eat inning and keep the O's close in the game. The Orioles pitching has gotten back on track, and they need someone to replace the ineffective Ponson in the rotation.
On the other hand, the Orioles have gone into the second half struggling over the last couple of years, only to surge in August and September. Is this going to be the pattern this year? I have no idea, but it would be nice.
Posted by helimech24 at July 30, 2005 08:59 AM | TrackBack