Baltimore Orioles 25-man roster: The hitters

Spring stats don't mean much, but even so Matt Wieters killed it this year in the Grapefruit League. Hopefully he'll continue on with that trend when the season starts. His 2012 hitting line wasn't exactly awe inspiring, but when combined with his outstanding defense, it was good enough for a 3.9 WAR to go along with his Gold Glove and appearance in the All Star Game. His caught-stealing % has gone up every year that he's been in the league, so let's see if he can crack 40% in 2013.

Will Chris Davis be able to repeat his offensive numbers from 2012? If he does I think it's fair to say that the O's were on the right track when they replaced Mark Reynolds at first base with Davis. I'm hoping that with a little practice over the off season he got better at catching balls thrown right at him and as such will provide the same defensive value that Reynolds did last season.

What's the over/under on how many homers he hits onto Eutaw Street, anyway?

You can follow Chris Davis on Twitter @Chris_Davis_19.

Brian Roberts has played in 1250 games, all with the Baltimore Orioles. That's the 11th highest number in the history of the team. Unfortunately for Roberts and the Orioles, only 115 of those games have come in the last three years. But he's back now for the final year of his contract and he is as healthy as can be.

Will he hit? Dunno. But I'm very glad that we're going to have the opportunity to find out.

Brian has a Twitter account @1brianroberts, but he's never on there.

Hardy won his first ever gold glove in 2012, and in my opinion it was deserved. Watching him play defense the last few season has been a real treat. Watching him at the plate has been a mixed bag. His cringe-inducing OBP in 2012 was the lowest in his career, so one can only hope that'll bounce back. Now that he's not being relied on at the top of the lineup, I'm happy to sit back and watch his home runs and web gems without having to worry about if he'll get on base ahead of Jones and Wieters.

Even if Machado has a sophomore slump at the plate in 2013, the defense he provides at 3B still makes him the best option on the team to play the position. Buck Showalter has somewhat shockingly plugged Machado into the second bating position for Opening Day, and hopefully he'll get on base enough to stay there the entire season.

Teagarden missed much of the season last year with a back injury, and when he did return he wasn't much with the bat. He was, however, super clutch with the timing of his hits. Let's hope Teagarden stays healthy this season because he's a good backup, but word on the street is that the Orioles wouldn't mind a back up to their back up because they're worried he might not stay healthy.

Flaherty was ticketed for the minors before Wilson Betemit had to go on the disabled list, so now he has a chance to prove that he belongs on the roster. He can back up 2B and 3B adequately and fill in at SS in a pinch if needed.

Flaherty is on Twitter @RFlaherty3

If Brian Roberts crashes and burns, here is the guy slated to pick up his slack. Casilla was claimed on waivers from the Twins in the winter and is the only person on this page who didn't play for the team last year. That's just weird.

Casilla isn't much of a hitter but he's a good glove man, especially (probably) compared to Roberts.

After a span of five seasons in which he played between 157-161 games every year, Markakis finally got hit by injuries in 2012. He missed time with a broken hamate bone and a broken wrist, and was diagnosed with a bulging disk during spring training. They say he's ready to go for the season, but I'm a little worried about him.

It appears Markakis will be the leadoff batter at least to start the season, something I am totally on board with.

Adam Jones really came into his own in 2012 and the only hope is that he can keep it up. He's one of the best all-around center fielders in the game (offense and defense) and he has emerged as a team leader. I think we'll see big things from Adam Jones in 2012.

Adam is super active on Twitter, you can follow him @SimplyAJ10.

Nolan Reimold will be the starting left fielder when the 2013 season begins, but your guess is as good as mine if he'll stay there. If he does stay healthy for the whole season, it'll be a huge boost to the Orioles. My dream of the Nolan Reimold movie may be dead, but he can still have a good big league career if he just stays on the field.

When Nate McLouth signed a minor league contract with the Orioles, many people thought his career was over. I certainly didn't think he'd get promoted to the big league team. But after being called up on August 4th, McLouth provided production in left field that had been missing since Reimold went down with injury months before. If Reimold stays healthy this year, McLouth will split time with him in LF. But is McLouth back or did he just have a lucky run last season?

Pearce was the very last guy to make the 2013 team, edging out Conor Jackson for the final bench spot. Pearce will see time DH'ing against lefties and is in the Opening Day lineup against David Price. Pearce had a crazy 2012, going from the Twins to the Yankees to the Orioles to the Astros to the Yankees again and finally to the Orioles again. Hopefully he finds a home here in 2013.

Betemit made it almost to the end of spring training before suffering a grade 2/3 tear in his PCL. It was first thought that he'd be out for the season, but the current timetable is 6-8 weeks.

Once he's back, Betemit will be the primary DH against right-handed hitters. If there is one thing we've learned about Betemit, it's that he should never hit against lefties or play third base. Hopefully the Orioles won't have to use him in that way ever again.