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Birds Up, O's Down for May 16

Corey Patterson gets an up arrow.  Luke Scott gets an up arrow. Cesar Izturis? Not so much. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
Corey Patterson gets an up arrow. Luke Scott gets an up arrow. Cesar Izturis? Not so much. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
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Here’s a weekly look at players making an impact, for good and bad, for the Orioles this week.

Birds Up

Corey Patterson (LF) - Corey scored his bus ticket to Baltimore and made the most of it, going 6-for-17 for the week and scoring four runs in five games through Saturday. That's hard to do for this team.
Luke Scott (DH/LF) - Luke Scott is officially hot. Not Ty Wigginton hot (see below), but 7-for-16 hot. Too bad we don't play Detroit until July.
Brad Bergesen (RHP) - The sinker is back, and so is 3E1N's smoke and mirrors show. We keep thinking there's no way he can keep this up with so few strikeouts, but he's given up one run in his last two starts since being recalled. I'm a believer.
  Ty Wigginton (2B) - Tyberius T. Wigglepuffenstater followed up his only bad week with a 9-for-19 effort this week, including 3 homeruns. He's leading the American League in slugging and up to second in the A.L. in homers.
Nick Markakis (RF) - Quietly, Nick went .333 for the week, hitting 6-for-18. And how many RBI did that get him? The answer, as you've probably guessed, is zero.
Adam Jones (CF) - Maybe, just maybe, Adam Jones is emerging from his funk. He was 7-for-20 for the week, and is back at #2 in the batting order, where historically he's done best. I'd take a .340 or so AVG for the rest of the year.

O's down

Brian Roberts (2B) - Brian was placed on the 60-day disabled list, meaning he can't return until June 9 at the earliest. And that's probably optimistic. He's just now playing catch and batting from a tee.
Rhyne Hughes (1B) - It was a fun week while it lasted. After going 5-for-14 in his first three games, including becoming the first Oriole since Jeffrey Hammonds  to have two hits and a RBI in each of his first two games, he ended up at 10-for-47, a .213 AVG and a .275 OBP. That's a ticket back to Norfolk and a wish good luck.
Alfredo Simon (RHP) - Oh, how quickly the bloom fades. His epic meltdown on Saturday was as predictable as an earthquake in California - it's just a matter of when and how damaging it will be. That WHIP of 1.50 wasn't sustainable, and Saturday was the cosmos recovering its equilibrium.
Nolan Reimold (LF/DH) - Nolan got a trip back to Norfolk, but there's no doubt Lou Montanez earned one, too. But while Lou is what he is, Nolan would have been wasted on the bench behind Corey Patterson. At least now he can see regular ABs to get his swing back. Hopefully, he's back by his Bobblehead Night.
Matt Wieters (C) - He's 2 for his last 16, and the swing just doesn't look good. Is it possible he's just a .280 hitter? Not that there's anything wrong with that.
  Jason Berken (RHP), Matt Albers (RHP) - Jason Berken has pitched 4.2 innings in the entire month of May so far, and Matt Albers appeared for one batter Saturday and disappeared back into the ether. He's managed just 2.2 IP in May. For Dave Trembley's love of the Daily Parade of Relievers, these two seem to be almost MIA.  

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've been remiss in thanking Japer's Rink for the editorial and graphical inspiration for this series. Thanks again, JP.