On the other hand, if you look at Andrew‘s definition of Meaningful Improvement – that is, looking for individual improvement among the young core – it’s hard to not see a few positives.  In something that feels almost unprecedented, the O’s had all five of their starters turn in decent outings (with possible exception of Brad Bergesen, who still managed to keep them in it, and did get yanked quickly).  David Hernandez got off to a good start out of the #5 spot, which is great news.  Matt Wieters has come out of the gate swinging a hot bat and gunning down base runners.  While not all of the young hitters are clicking yet, it’s still too early to jump on them.   At some point, though, I think we’d all like to see some Meaningful Improvement against young, left-handed, opposing pitchers – seriously, what’s up with that?

Tonight’s game features Kevin Millwood‘s first chance to play ace stopper.  He’ll be matched up against Jays default-ace Shawn Marcum, who nearly no-hit the Rangers in their first game.  However, if there’s one thing I remember about Marcum, it’s that he’s Nick Markakis‘ favorite plaything: 9-18, 5 HRs, 6 RBI, 5 BBs.  Here’s hoping that TJ surgery didn’t do anything to mess with that.

Simply put, the O’s need this win.  The schedule doesn’t get any easier and O’s fans need to see their team win their first game at home to avoid a sweep at the hands of a silly-hot Jays squad.  For now, we can try to hang our hats on some positives: B-Rob avoided the DL (nevermind), Felix Pie is back in the lineup, Wieters is playing a day game after a night game (attaboy DT), 11 of our 12 pitchers are in pretty good shape, and the team has been competitive.  But damn if this start didn’t just suck all of the excitement out of 2010 Orioles baseball, at least for the time being.  A convincing win sure would do a lot to ease that impending sense of early-season panic and, in Andrew’s case, ennui.

And honestly, it was looking pretty good for awhile.  Even when Brian Roberts left the game after a rough slide into second base, it was still thankfully not back-related.  Even when Bergesen coughed up some early runs, the offense was able to work the count against Brandon Morrow and come back to even it up, highlighted by Miggles‘ 2-run single.  Even when Dave Trembley questionably removed a somewhat settled Brad Bergesen at just 71 pitches, Mark Hendrickson came in and shut the door over two-plus innings.  Even when Juan Samuel questionably sent Felix Pie home on Cesar Izturis‘ double, it worked out and the O’s had the lead.

But then – Gonzo.

In a scene that was a little hard to watch, he blew his second save and coughed up the lead in front of over 40,000 Orioles fans, who were not pleased.  I haven’t heard boos like that since Mark Teixeira was introduced at last year’s opener.  It’s hard for me to say I wholeheartedly agree with O’s fans raining boos on Mike Gonzalez, especially since a lot of Opening Day patrons aren’t, shall we say, the loyalest of O’s fans.  And also because he’s stood up and took the heat after each game and seems to feel legitimately bad about it. But on the other hand, the type of performances Mike is giving as a closer are unacceptable.  Hell, they’re unacceptable for a middle reliever.

It’s anybody’s guess as to how long Trembley sticks with Andy MacPhail‘s highest-priced free agent acquisition.  We saw DT warm up Cla Meredith in St. Petersburg while Gonzo was on the mound, and we saw DT bring in Meredith to replace him today, which may or may not tell us something.  But in the silly world of pitching “roles”, the unfortunate truth is managers are going to give a struggling closer a lot of time to figure it out… which Gonzo may just yet.  Even with these horrendous outings, it’s still tough to ignore his career numbers.  My personal hunch is that he didn’t get enough reps in Spring Training and his mechanics are out of whack.  Maybe he doesn’t hold onto his closer role long-term, but I’m not willing to say this is a $12 million bust after 2.2 innings.

The silver lining on the rough start to the 2010 season is that the Orioles should be 3-1.  They’ve pitched well enough to win all four games so far, and have had 9th inning leads in three of them.  That’s causes me to wonder if Andy might be close to telling Dave, hey – do what you need to do to win, even if it means laying off my guy.  We’ll see.

(photo)

Brian Matusz

Despite the two losses and the shakiness of Mike Gonzalez (more on him in a minute), the Orioles probably did what we thought they would do coming into this series, which is win the game that Brian Matusz started.  They avoided a sweep on the first series of the season against a very good team, in their stupid Dome, devoid of sunshine, without any fans cheering them on.  And they certainly made the Rays earn those two wins by playing tight, professional-looking baseball.  No blow-outs, no glaring blunders.  I’ll take it.

Of course, it wasn’t all gravy.  Gonzo isn’t looking so good.  O’s fans have good reason to be wondering if his abilities as our new closer are as unsteady as his wind-up.  To his critics, though, I say: Give him a few more.  I’ve seen this guy pitch before, and what we witnessed on Tuesday and today is not the real Mike Gonzalez.  If you don’t believe me, first check out his career numbers – 2.63 ERA, 10.6 K/9 – and then check out some video.  I’m not saying he’s going to be Joe Nathan out there, but if you saw the junk he was lobbing in this series then you know he clearly hasn’t shown us what he’s capable of yet.  Some home cooking and some reps to get his mechanics in order should get him going soon enough.

We can nitpick about the offense a little, but I think it’s pretty clear that we have good pieces ready to score runs in bunches once it all starts clicking.  Brian Roberts got off the schnide today with a single, a double, a walk, and a stolen base.  Garrett Atkins was a nice surprise, notching a double in each game of the series and a big 2-run single tonight.  Reimold, Wieters, Scott, and Jones all had home runs.  Miggles has been unlucky, but is hitting the ball with authority.

All in all, they escaped a weird, unsettling-feeling opening series without any serious injuries or starting pitching implosions.  Hurry home, boys.

(photo)

It’s our former ace’s first shot at a redemption season.  I wish him the best – and I’ll be holding my breath every time Carlos Pena steps to the plate.  Meanwhile, our boys will have to deal with Matt Garza.

We’ll get our first look at Nolan Reimold tonight in LF as Felix Pie is out with a sore shoulder.  Dude is beginning to seem fragile, isn’t he?   Got to love depth.

Without further ado, game two!

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