Baltimore Orioles

Is this the year that Baltimore finally breaks out?

They have arguably one of the more dangerous lineups in the American League, but the pitching is young and unproven.  If the O's can get some solid production from the staff, it's a possibility that Baltimore can eclipse the .500 mark for the first time in 13 years.

Buck Showalter was brought in to become the new manager in August and did a remarkable job.  The O's went 34-23 under Showalter during August and September.

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I will begin this small piece by saying that I am not a Baltimore Orioles fan; but I'd like to give the perspective of an outsider to what should prove to be a very entertaining 2011 Baltimore Orioles ballclub.

About a month ago, I was discussing Mark Reynolds with a co-worker, who told me that he had moved to Baltimore. Nearly flabbergasted by this, I asked who else they had picked up, only to find that Reynolds was just the tip of this largely newly-acquired offense.

Buck Showalter recently criticized Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter on his overly dramatic acts on the baseball field. Apparently he didn't like seeing Jeter pretend to get hit by a pitch.

Showalter, the new Orioles manager who led Baltimore to a winning record during his short stint towards the end of the 2010 season, is just trying to catch the public's eye, and he succeeded. It is obvious that he is showing that he cares about his team, and perhaps he's trying to motivate them, too.  

Veteran second baseman Brian Roberts was limited to 59 games last season due to a herniated disc in his back.

During the time the that he was on the DL, the leadoff hitter role was a revolving door, with no one filling in adequately.

This spring, Roberts has again been having back trouble—spasms that he says are unrelated to the herniated disc that troubled him so much last year, it limited him to just five games.

Derrek Lee had a down year in 2010. Lee's 19 home runs marked his lowest total since 1998 (min. 250 PA). His 80 runs were his lowest total since 2000. His 80 RBI were his lowest total since 2001.

I suppose saying he had a "down year" is a bit of an understatement. From 2007-2009 Lee averaged 26 home runs, 92 runs, 94 RBI, .304 AVG and a .340 BABIP. So what gives?

Every season we seem to talk about Nick Markakis and his breakout potential—and every season we are sorely disappointed with the results. 

While he has always been solid, though unspectacular, the 2010 season was by far his worst:

Jake Fox has been battling many others for a backup job with the Baltimore Orioles this spring.

His primary competition is incumbent backup catcher Craig Tatum, who was very solid for the Birds last year, both at the plate and behind it.

This spring, however, Fox is blowing Tatum (and the rest of the team) away, with a .356 batting average and a major league spring training-leading seven home runs in 45 at-bats. Two such swings were hit in yesterday's contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

This is the third installment in this series. I am compiling All-Franchise Teams based on African Americans.

The idea came to me as the result of a comment made by Joe Morgan who brought to light the decline in African-American players in MLB.

I started with the New York Yankees and the second installment was the Cincinnati Reds. It is part of my master plan to complete the American and National Leagues if I live long enough. I plan on alternating between National League and American League.

About a week and a half ago, I wrote how touted Orioles lefty Zach Britton was making an early case to be the fifth starter for the team out of the gate, after completing two scoreless innings in his major league spring training debut.

Well, all he's done since then is add to his case. A four-inning scoreless start this past Saturday brought his total scoreless innings this spring up to nine.

In 2008, the Baltimore Orioles banked on the University of San Diego's stand out pitcher Brian Matusz becoming the future ace of their starting rotation and in 2011 there's a very good chance that future is now.

Baltimore would select Matusz with their first round pick of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. This lead to extensive and exhausting contract negotiations that would ultimately end with Matusz and his agent finally agreeing to terms with the O's on the last possible day for MLB teams to sign their drafted rookies.