2011 Baltimore Orioles Predictions
It’s no secret the Baltimore Orioles aren’t ready to contend for an AL East title. They may be ready to end their streak of 13 consecutive losing seasons, however. This optimism stems from a 34-23 finish to the 2010 season under manager Buck Showalter.
Pitching: The O’s have a nice crop of young pitchers to field a solid starting rotation, but the organization is still waiting for a legit ace to emerge.
We can expect Jeremy Guthrie to get the ball on Opening Day after going 8-4 with a 2.76 ERA in the second half of last season. Southpaw Brian Matusz has the potential to become the ace of this staff. He led all rookies in strikeouts (143), innings (175.2) and starts (32) a year ago. He also tied for second in wins (10).
Showalter will likely piece together the rest of the rotation with Brad Bergesen, Jake Arrieta, Chris Tillman, Rick VandenHurk and Justin Duchscherer. Top pitching prospect Zach Britton should see the mound sometime this summer as well.
Koji Uehara and Kevin Gregg will work the eighth and ninth innings in which ever order Showalter sees fit. Greg saved 37 games for the Blue Jays in 2010 after struggling for the Cubs in 2009.
Lineup: The O’s are hoping Vladimir Guerrero has another season in him like he had for the Texas Rangers in 2010. He hit 29 round trippers for the Rangers, giving him 436 for his career. He also boasts a .320 career average.
Baltimore is also hoping to get an offensive jolt from third baseman Mark Reynolds. He had 32 jacks and 85 RBIs for Arizona in 2010 but only hit .198 with 211 strikeouts. Across the diamond, O’s fans will see another new face in Derek Lee. He had an MVP-caliber season for the Cubs as recently as 2009., but his best baseball is clearly behind him. With that being said, 20 home runs and 80 RBIs are attainable numbers.
J.J. Hardy and Brian Roberts have the potential to be one of the best hitting middle infields in the game. The O’s are expecting big things from Roberts following an injury shortened season last year. Catcher Matt Wieters rounds out the infield. His bat hasn’t been as good as advertised, but he did a great job of handling the pitching staff during Baltimore’s late surge.
Adam Jones is the captain of the outfield with Nick Markakis and Luke Scott flanking him. Jones is a Gold Glover in center and is coming off a 19-home run season. Markakis’ power numbers took a dip in 2010, but we should see them rise again in 2011 with more protection in the lineup. Scott is coming off a season in which he hit a career-high 27 round trippers.
Prediction – 4th Place AL East: Baltimore has brought up the rear in the division each of the last three seasons, but it has made enough good moves to get out of the gutter this year. Perhaps the best move of all was the decision to bring Showalter in last season. He enters the 2011 campaign having already earned the respect of the players. Baltimore still has a ways to go before it is challenging for a division title, but I like the direction this team is heading. Baseball odds makers have listed the Orioles at +1800 to win the AL East.
