Birds Up, O's Down - Week 17

Starting Pitchers

Wei-Yin Chen

Two starts, and he didn't get out of the 6^th inning either time. WYC threw just 8.2 innings and had a 8.32 ERA. That's not good.

Kevin Gausman

Two starts, each into at least the 7^th inning, and just two runs surrendered. Gausman threw 65% strikes, walked just 1 of the 54 batters he faced, and struck out 11 of them.

Miguel Gonzalez

Oh, MiGo. That wasn't good on Saturday, was it? Just 3.1 IP, 5 runs allowed, and 66 pitches to do it. Gonna need better than that, my friend.

Ubaldo Jimenez

Since Sunday's debacle isn't reflected in this summary, Jimenez gets a pass for the week in review. In his start Tuesday, Jimenez gave up 4 runs, 2 earned, and pitched just well enough to let the O's win.

Chris Tillman

The good news? This week saw one of Tillman's best games ever, throwing 8.2 IP of shut-out ball on just 4 hits, no walks and 2 strike outs. The bad news? He turned his ankle in that last inning and will miss his start tonight. Hopefully, he's healthy enough to take his turn on Friday.

Relief Pitchers

Brad Brach

Three games, 4.0 IP, no runs allowed of his own and no inherited runners allowed to score. That's pretty much what you're supposed to do as a reliever.

Zach Britton

ZB did pretty much as well as Brach, appearing in 4 games, garnered 3 saves and had 1 lead surrendered where the O's won after he exited. He did allow that run on a HR, but hey, no one's perfect.

Darren O'Day

O'Day made up for the disaster in Tampa on July 24 with a perfect week, appearing in 4 games and giving up no runs of his own and no inherited runners.

Mychal Givens

Givens appeared in just one game this week after his recall from the minors, but it was a memorable one. He pitched 1.2 scoreless innings in the O's 1-0 win on July 31 when Wei-Yin Chen couldn't get out of the 4^th inning and bridged the way to the bullpen. The offense got the win, but Givens' fastball and slider made it possible.

Tommy Hunter

The Judoka has left the building. The former Junior Olympics judo champion (no, really, you can look it up) was traded to the Cubs for minor league OF Junior Lake. Hunter said he's open to a return to the Orioles for 2016, but sometimes, it's just better to say goodbye and not look back, you know? Let's just remember the good times, baby.

Brian Matusz

Yet another adequate, but not great week for Matusz. The O's won both games in which he appeared, and he lowered his ERA in one of them! He pitched just 1.0 IP total this week, and gave up one run in a game the O's still won. It still seems like Buck Showalter is managing the bullpen to avoid Matusz, and that's not a long-term solution for anyone involved.

Bud Norris

Bud was bad in Spring Training, Bud was bad in the regular season, Bud got sick real bad, and then Bud came back and Bud was still bad. He was DFA'd to give the team some roster flexibility in the bullpen (which, I suspect, was also a main reason for Tommy Hunter being traded to the Cubs) because if you can't find someone at AAA to replace a pitcher with 7.06 ERA, 1.643 WHIP and 5.59 WHIP, then you've got bigger problems to address.

Chaz Roe

America's favorite hair model didn't have a great week: 2.0 IP, an inherited runner scored, gave up 1 earned run himself along with 5 hits and had just 1 strike-out. The O's won both games, so in the grand scheme of things, no harm, no foul, but not quite what we've come to expect.

Mike Wright

Wright came in on Friday to save the day, pitching an early inning of relief along with Mychal Givens, but tweaked his leg in the process and landed on the disabled list. Get better!

Catchers

Caleb Joseph

Much better week for CaJo this week, as that baby of his got fed a few times. He slashed .333/.467/.833/1.300 and had as many hits in last week's 4 games than his previous two weeks combined. He drove in half a dozen runs, hit two homers, and did a dead-on impersonation of Manny Machado. That's a pretty good week.

Matt Wieters

A nice bounce-back week for Wieters, slashing .529/.556/.882/1.438 while getting a start at 1B as well. He had 9 hits, drove in 3 runs, and added a homer. And the throws to 2B are actually not bouncing on the grass anymore!

Infielders

Ryan Flaherty

Flaherty went hitless in 19 ABs this week, reaching base just once on an error and striking out 4 times. No walks, no hits, no way next week can be worse, right?

J.J. Hardy

Hardy slashed .259/.250/.370/.620 this week, which doesn't seem that great, until you realize that's almost 20 points above his BA for the season.

Manny Machado

The batting average may be heading south (just .267 for the week), but the power's still there. Machado hit 2 HRs this week and drove in 4 runs, which is kinda hard to do when you spend as many games at leadoff as he does.

Chris Parmelee

Remember that first week? Two HRs in his first game, another one soon after, and we thought Dan Duquette was onto something. Well, he wasn't. Chicken Parm's final slash line for the season was .216/.255/.433/.688. Hard to believe he stuck around as long as he did.

Jimmy Paredes

The Hit Paredes has found his stroke again, slashing .316/.381/.368/.749 for the week. An on-base percentage that close to .400 is a welcome sight on this team.

Jonathan Schoop

So, it seems Schoop will be about a .260 hitter with some power. This week (.263/.333/.421/.754) is pretty symbolic of his season - a few strikeouts, not quite as many hits as you'd like, but 1 home run that reminds you not many 2B have his power.

Outfielders

Chris Davis

Crush did was Crush does - not hitting that often, but hitting it far when he does. He slashed .269/.367/.615/.982 for the week, but look at that SLG number. That's what 3 HRs in one week will do for your stats.

Adam Jones

Ho hum, just another .310/.375/.552/.927 week for the Face of the Franchise, with 2 HRs and 2 walks. Nothing to see here ... except a really, really good ballplayer entering the prime of his career.

David Lough

In case you wondered to yourself, "Self (and I always call myself Self, don't you?), why isn't David Lough playing more?" Here's why - 9 ABs, no hits. Sure, 1 walk is nice, but a .100 OBP isn't going to cut it, Self.

Gerardo Parra

Technically, Parra only had one game within the parameters of this review with the O's, in which he went 1-for-4 with a double and a sweet ovation before his first plate appearance. Count in his games with Milwaukee this week, and he slashed .500/.583/.700/1.283. So let's count those, too.

Nolan Reimold

Earlier this week, frustrated by the lack of moves this team was making and the frozen roster, I asked on Twitter, "Why are Chris Parmalee and Nolan Reimold even on this team?" Well, Chicken Parm got DFA'd, and Reimold reminded me why - .385/.529/.538/1.068 for the week. He's hit LHP pretty well, to the tune of a .286/.362/.500/.862 line for the 2015 season. So that's why.

Travis Snider

I seriously doubt you've been asking yourself why Travis Snider isn't playing more, but if you have, well, .143/.250/.143/.393 this week ought to clear it up.

Disabled List

Jason Garcia

His rehab assignment in Bowie ends soon, so one of those flexible bullpen pieces will be heading back down.

Steve Pearce

Pearce hopes to begin swinging a bat this week. Hopes to. Aspires to. Sets it as a goal that may not be reached. Yeah, I'd say he's not coming back when his 15 days are up.