When people, like me, make the assertion that the overall quality of baseball in the National League is inferior to that of the American League, that's because we can point to a long list of players who were good in the National League and then came over to the American League and sucked. We can also point to a long list of players who sucked in the American League, and then went to the National League and suddenly were good again. Browse the roster of any NL West team for ex-Orioles for a true illustration of this point.
If you want an example of an NL player who comes to the AL and suddenly sucks, look no farther than tonight's starter for the Tigers, Brad Penny. Here's a guy who when he isn't hurt is putting up ERAs in the low 3s in the National League. In 2009 he pitched 131.2 innings for the Red Sox and had a 5.61 ERA. He spent the rest of that season on the Giants, where he threw another 41.2 innings and suddenly had a 2.59 ERA. But there's no competitive imbalance between the leagues, no sir!
Penny was rocked in his first start this year as well, giving up 8 runs in 4.1 innings to the Yankees. Orioles hitters should be able to similarly feast on him. Maybe even Adam Jones will be able to get it going.
As for the Orioles, tonight's the second start of the year for Chris Tillman. He'll have his hands full with the Tigers lineup that knocked around Brad Bergesen and then Josh Rupe last night, but hopefully the defense will be more on its game so that there are not any more baserunners than there would be otherwise. Miguel Cabrera is not a player who came from the NL to the AL and then sucked. He hit 38 home runs last year and slugged .622. His career batting average on balls in play is .344. Sometimes it's good to have prospects because you can trade them for guys like Cabrera.
Luke Scott is back in the lineup. We missed you, Luke! Now that you're back, we're sure to beat the Tigers since you always destroy them. Go O's!
 | 1. Austin Jackson (R) CF 2. Will Rhymes (L) 2B 3. Brennan Boesch (L) RF 4. Miguel Cabrera (R) 1B 5. Victor Martinez (S) DH 6. Don Kelly (L) 3B 7. Ryan Raburn (R) LF 8. Alex Avila (L) C 9. Ramon Santiago (S) SS |  | 1. Brian Roberts (S) 2B 2. Nick Markakis (L) RF 3. Derrek Lee (R) 1B 4. Vladimir Guerrero (R) DH 5. Luke Scott (L) LF 6. Adam Jones (R) CF 7. Mark Reynolds (R) 3B 8. Matt Wieters (S) C 9. J.J. Hardy (R) SS |