First Impressions
Before I get to my impressions on your 2010 Baltimore Orioles, let’s come right out and say it: new closer Mike Gonzalez didn’t get it done. Bottom line – pitching up in the zone, herky-jerky windup or not, isn’t going to hack it in the AL East. The 1-12 with RISP didn’t help him, but when it comes down to it, you’ve got to get those 3 outs. There’s no reason to think this is the real $12 million Gonzo, though, so I’m not going to put a lot of stock into it just yet.
Obviously, it’s tough to really say anything that carries much weight after Game 1 of 162. But what I will say is that by and large I liked what I saw. If I may be vague, this team seems to pass the eyeball test. What I mean by that is that they look ready.
Defensively, they were flawless in an extremely tough environment: a sold out away game at the Trop with the haze and the turf and the fast infield. Miguel Tejada showed he can hack it at 3B, Brian Roberts made diving efforts at 2B without any signs of injury, and Felix Pie – well, he didn’t look super comfortable out there in LF, but he made all the plays and he never threw to the wrong guy.
I really enjoyed watching Kevin Millwood. It’s refreshing to see a veteran starting pitcher out there who can actually pitch. No more Adam Eaton or Rich Hill or Kris Benson. I think having Millwood on the mound produces a major league air around this team, and that’s something that, embarrassing as it is, we haven’t been able to say about the Orioles in recent years.
Ambiguously speaking, the team as a whole looked focused, poised, confident, and they seem… different. The training wheels are off. Adam Jones is going to lead vocally and by example (3-5 with a double and a HR). Matt Wieters is going to call a good game. Matt Albers is going to pitch with emotion – whether or not he can keep being effective remains to be seen. Will Ohman will be a nice veteran presence out of the bullpen. Cesar Izturis is going to play good D, lay down a sacrifice, and steal a base. Nick Markakis is going to throw you the hell out at the plate. Etc.
There’s a good mix of veterans and young talent, and it looked better than I thought it would, honestly. Garrett Atkins was perhaps the one exception, but he did have a long double off of Rafael Soriano (who, if we’re talking closers, wasn’t spectacular on his first day either). Everyone wants to tell you that Miggles failed at that bases loaded situation against Soriano, but not only did he rope a liner that a lesser outfielder than Carl Crawford may not have caught, but that was a great AB to nearly coax a bases loaded walk – something that for Tejada is rare indeed.
All in all, the 2010 Baltimore Orioles, at least until proven otherwise, look like a tight-knit and well-rehearsed major league team with a bit of a chip on its collective shoulder. Maybe that all changes tonight with wild card Jeremy Guthrie on the mound, but I’m willing to bet that more often than not, we’ll be saying this team looks – and feels – like it’s ready to pop.
Photo courtesy of Keith Allison
I wouldn’t say the defense was flawless in that they gave up hits on non-line drives, so there were flaws, but there weren’t any screwups or mental errors, and that’s a very good thing on that turf.
I’ll disagree: I thought Pie looked pretty darn good out there all night. I feel like for whatever reason he’s looking just generally a ton more confident and focused and baseballish this year.
Jury’s still out on Millwood. I said I’d take it, but he’s going to have to eventually give more than 5+ with 10 baserunners. He outpitched Shields, though, so kudos I guess.
Gonzo’s on notice. He was completely terrible.
@ Andrew:
Point taken on “flawless”. But based on the type of play we’ve been treated to out there in years past, it was definitely an improvement.
Don’t get me wrong on Felix – I thought he was fine. He just seemed to move around a lot under fly balls, but I don’t blame him much because of the ridiculous haze in that place. And I would completely agree that he looks more comfortable as a baseball player overall. In particular, just with what he did after he caught a ball.
I think we’ll see 6 innings or more on the regular from Millwood once he rounds into form. If we had any hits with RISP, he probably goes 6 you know?
@ Andrew:
Also, from the previous post, I second your relief in the 2 BBs by Markakis. That was a curious thing to not have a walk in 63 ST ABs, but he looked fine last night.
@ dan the man: Just curious, but why would Millwood have gone longer if the Orioles had scored more runs? He had just given up a loooong home run and a line drive and Pena’s bunt, he was at 100 pitches, and the Orioles made the right move to go to the pen.
@ Andrew:
I guess my logic was that if the score was 5-1, maybe DT leaves him in there in the 5th despite the trouble he was in. But on second thought, you’re right about the 100 pitches thing. Completely forgot about that.
That Longoria home run was epic. I fear for Guthrie tonight. I already have visions of a Carlos Pena bomb.