Orioles Game 56 Game Thread: vs. Royals, 7:05

Another day, another lefty on the mound for the opposing team, another lineup with Hyun Soo Kim on the bench. Is this a good decision? It seems questionable, but reserves need playing time to stay sharp too, so maybe it's okay to see Joey Rickard and Nolan Reimold in there for these games.

There just aren't as many lefties as there are righties. If there are occasional disruptions for lefties, we can live with that. Not that the Orioles plans for doing better against lefties this year have really come to fruition. By batting average, they are the worst team in the AL against left-handed pitching, and their OPS of .674 against lefties is second-to-worst in the league.

They were second-to-worst last year as well. The most frustrating thing about the Pedro Alvarez signing was all of the reporters uncritically passing along quotes about how the signing would "bring balance to the Orioles lineup" - but they were already bad against lefties, and they're still bad against lefties.

Anyway, have you ever heard of Whit Merrifield? He sounds like a character out of a fantasy novel. I bet he is a woodsman from the main character's backwater village who is a really good scout and archer and he knows how to mimic every bird call.

This is not a Royals team that bears a ton of resemblance to the soul-sellers that lucked their way into appearing in two consecutive World Series. I fully expect Merrifield to hit three home runs tonight.