What’s going on with Baltimore Orioles’ pitching?

A lot of people are increasingly seeing the scores coming out of the Florida Grapefruit League and asking themselves if the Baltimore Orioles have an issue with their pitching. Yesterday’s 8-2 loss to St. Louis is an example, as starter Bud Norris teetered a few times before finally buckling and giving up a three-run homer to former Oriole Mark Reynolds. Norris’ line: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 K.

The Orioles took an early 1-0 lead on Jimmy Paredes‘ RBI-double, a play which included Nolan Reimold being sent

Courtesy of Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

home from third base and being tagged out at the plate. Third base coach Bobby Dickerson has always been a bit overly-aggressive, however in this scenario I feel it was warranted. Remember folks, this is spring training; seeing what kind of speed various players have up and down the roster is part of the deal. Which is just another reason why you can’t put too much stock in game results.

With one out in the third St. Louis used a single and a walk to get two aboard, and former Oriole Mark Reynolds haunted the Birds with a three-run homer. Pete Kozma and Ty Kelly would add RBI-singles later in the game, and St. Louis would add three more later in the game. Steve Clevenger would also add an RBI on a ground out, scoring the Orioles’ second run of the game.

However Oriole pitching did struggle today a bit, and there have been struggles here and there throughout camp. To this point, the good news has been that the majority of the damage has been done to guys who primarily won’t be on the big league roster. However Brad Brach did give up a run yesterday, as did Dylan Bundy. However as I said above, we can’t put too much stock in the results in these games.

Buck Showalter admitted that Norris wasn’t where he needed to be, however he also seemed to indicate that he was confident that he (Norris) would get there:

"“Not where he’s going to be, he needs to be. Got his pitch count in. He’s fine, he’s healthy, so we’ll go from that.” – Courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports"

Showalter also said that Bundy and his brother Bobby were strong in the game. Nevertheless, I will say that it’s not uncommon for pitchers to hit rough patches in spring training. And furthermore as I’ve said previously, that’s why they play these games. I think that most fans are aware that the reason that these games are played is for guys to get their polish and their timing back. That’s true of pitchers, as well as hitters.

The O’s will travel to Dunedin, FL tomorrow for another date with the Toronto Blue Jays. Ubaldo Jimenez will get his third start of the spring, and he’ll be opposed by Aaron Sanchez. 

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