Orioles Respond

After today’s 13-3 win, it is clear manager Buck Showalter and the Orioles players read Birds Watcher. Hold for laughter…..ok, now on to the rest of my post.

I wrote yesterday how the Orioles haven’t been playing very well recently and it was starting to become worrisome and they responded today with a nice spring training victory. It was as sloppy as a 13-3 win could be, but at least they scored some runs and pitched better.

Tillman pitched 4 innings allowing three hits, three walks, two strikeouts, and one unearned run. Not too bad, but there is definitely still room for improvement. By the way, Britton threw five scoreless innings against Tampa Bay’s single A hitters. If Duchscherer isn’t ready to go opening day it will be interesting to see who gets the final rotation spot. Josh Rupe also pitched three scoreless innings today, which gives him 11 2/3 scoreless innings this spring.

Jake Fox continues to make his case for the backup catchers spot or the final bench spot by crushing the ball. Fox now has seven home runs, 13 RBI’s and a .356 batting average. Tough to tell if these are just spring training numbers or if he can provide a consistent bat off the bench this season. I would go with just spring training numbers, but can you really ignore a guy who is hitting this well?

To continue on the good news front, it seems like Roberts, Lee, and Uehara are still in line to play this weekend or on Monday. You never know with injuries and spring training, so fans will have to believe it when they see these guys on the field. Hopefully though, these guys will get back on the field by Monday at the latest and won’t have any more setbacks.

Other injury news…Justin Duchscherer is still a day or two from throwing. I wouldn’t hold my breath with Duchscherer. The guy has tremendous talent, but with his injury past, I just have a bad feeling about him being able to stay healthy in any consistent fashion this season. The Orioles knew this when they signed him, and I still think it is worth the risk. Tillman really has nothing more to prove in the minors anyways, and hopefully he can step up this season.

Good day overall for the Orioles. I am happy they are keeping up with Birds Watcher and clearly are responding to the blog. The Orioles only have a couple more weeks left before opening day…how are you feeling about the team? Are you more optimistic since the start of spring training? Less optimistic? Let’s hear your thoughts!