Birds Up, O's Down for September 5th - 13th

by twistedlogic on Sep 14, 2011 1:33 PM EDT in Birds Up, O's Down

Congrats on the win, Troy. See also: proof he really did pitch. (Photo by Brad White/Getty Images)

Sorry about the tardiness of your favorite weekly article. "Upgrade" to Windows 7 caused all sorts of computer issues. Better late than never, here's who's hot and who's not for your Baltimore Orioles:

Rotation
	Zach Britton	Two starts...nearly identical lines in both. Four earned runs over 5 innings. It isn't awful, but it isn't getting the job done completely. Needs to find a way to go deeper into games on a consistent basis.
	Jeremy Guthrie	Guts knows how to win! In his lone start this week, he allowed just 3 hits over 7 innings.
	Tommy Hunter	Started twice and took two losses after allowing 4 earned runs (5 and 6 runs total) in each game. Allowing far too many home runs.
	Brian Matusz	Made one start and immediately allowed 5 runs. ERA is cruising up towards 10.....can it get any worse?
	Alfredo Simon	First start this week was short and marred with control issues (6 walks in just 4 innings). Last night was a good rebound (2 walks to 9 strikeouts).
	Rick VandenHurk	Suppose the start last week was to determine his viability for the starting rotation. After just 2.1 innings, nobody is convinced.

Bullpen
	Jeremy Accardo	He's back and already up to his old antics.
	Brad Bergesen	1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
	Jason Berken	Returned from the DL for his first appearance in nearly a month and pitched one scoreless inning.
	Willie Eyre	Three innings of uneventful relief. Its good when relievers aren't allowing runs.
	Kevin Gregg	You know you're doing something wrong you're a pitcher on a baseball team normally forgotten by the media and they're writing articles about how you should never be allowed to close a baseball game again.
	Chris Jakubauskas	Got hammered in his first appearance (3 runs in less than an inning), but recovered nicely with 2 straight scoreless outings.
	Jim Johnson	Doing a much better job closing games than Kevin Gregg was.
	Troy Patton	Pitched very well from the pen. Even picked up his first career win last night. Not bad for a guy who doesn't exist.
	Zach Phillips	Has yet to allow a run during his short tenure on the Baltimore staff.
	Clay Rapada	You can essentially repeat the previous comments. Hey......the bullpen has actually been sort of decent lately!
	Jo-Jo Reyes	Bumped from the starter role and picked up 2+ scoreless relief innings.
	Pedro Strop	Also has not allowed a run during his short tenure on the Baltimore staff.
Lineup
	Ryan Adams	Saw limited playing time and added a few hits.
	Robert Andino	Very limited power, but he gets the job done. OBP holding around .330, which isn't too bad.
	Matt Angle	He's fast........but that's about it. Hasn't hit much since making the roster and has made some questionable defensive plays in the outfield.
	Josh Bell	More K's....but has hardly played since the September call up.
	Chris Davis	Has shown a few flashes of competency at the plate, but strikes out far too much. Not to hit on the whole "soul-crushing" strikeouts thing again, but a sub-.300 OBP isn't going to get it done.
	Pedro Florimon	He's also fast.....but that's about it. Three ABs and 3 Ks. Also made an error in that one game he played in.
	Jake Fox	Has exactly one AB in the month of September. It was a double. An RBI double, at that.
	Vladimir Guerrero	OPS might be at a season high right now (all of .725).
	J.J. Hardy	Quite possibly the first down arrow he's received all season. Hasn't homered in the month of September and has just two XBHs.
	Kyle Hudson	Stinks, but did pick up his first two career RBI.
	Adam Jones	Just one hit this week. OPS dipping back down away from .800
	Nick Markakis	Had a number of hits to bring his OBP close to .350, but the OPS is still holding well below .800
	Nolan Reimold	Walk Machine didn't pick up a ton of hits, but added 7 walks.
	Mark Reynolds	Outside of the game on Sept. 5th, did not hit the ball well this week. Well....he really didn't hit the ball at all. 181 soul-crushing strikeouts.
	Craig Tatum	Maximum Tater: OPS holds at an Izturian .515
	Matt Wieters	We'd all love to see him get on base more often, but no complaints here.

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Comments

Wow, the lineup sucks

Thank goodness Wieters has been so hot. In his last four weeks he’s hitting .295/.368/.667 with 5 HR, 8 2B, and 8 BB (9.2%)

Giraffes have absurdly strong necks.

by Stacey on Sep 14, 2011 1:39 PM EDT reply actions

Hardly anyone else is hitting.

I think Vladdy was the only other guy in the lineup with more than like 5 hits over the last 1.5 weeks.

I don’t have much tolerance for stupid. Or cheese on food that doesn’t need it. -duck

by twistedlogic on Sep 14, 2011 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Could that ERA get worse?

What about that guy we had who improved from infinity? I forget that guy now. And how long has it been since the majority of our BP got up arrows?

"Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom?" ~ Death

by NSOsFan on Sep 14, 2011 1:51 PM EDT reply actions

That bullpen rating

is the cheeriest thing to appear in BUOD all season. Whodathunkit.

Also, I’m very glad we’ve protected Pedro Florimon on the 40 man. Wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on a debut like this.

Like a bad, suave dude. You know what I'm sayin'. COOL. SC 7/24/08

by 33 on Sep 14, 2011 2:25 PM EDT reply actions

low blow, friend.

florimon had a not bad season at bowie.

"the secret to a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits"

by j.q. higgins on Sep 14, 2011 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Right you are, dagnabit!

And if having a “not bad season” in AA-ball doesn’t qualify a guy for a September callup, well, by golly, sir, I don’t know what will!

he's no pedro strop! - j.q. higgins

by fishoutawata on Sep 15, 2011 2:46 AM EDT up reply actions

So is Johnson officially the closer now?

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

by Astronaut Mike Dexter on Sep 14, 2011 2:35 PM EDT reply actions

Can we please operate without a "closer?"

Dumbest position in baseball. Unless you have a guy like Rivera or Wilson it shouldn’t matter who pitches at the end of the game. If a guy is good enough to pitch out of the pen in the 5th he should be able to pitch in the 9th!

I knew Buck’s “I don’t believe in a closer” propaganda when he came to Baltimore was a crock. Hell, put Berken in if the matchups call for it.

"Grow nothing, buy the 'Pen" (Wieters Weiners)

by IggesRule13 on Sep 14, 2011 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions