Jason Hammel provided an “interesting” start to say the least. In the first game of a twin bill the last thing you want is for your starter to struggle. Hammel became the fourth pitcher in as many games to give up a home run in the first inning for the Orioles. This time it was a damaging one, as Andre Ethier sent a three-run shot onto Eutaw St. However the good news is that Hammel settled down. His final line: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 23BB, 5 K. After driving the score to 4-0, Hammel appeared to be a new pitcher for the Orioles. This was most evident when Buck Showalter sent him back out to pitch the sixth, already bordering on 100 pitches. Hammel got through the inning in nine pitches, which potentially saved the Orioles from having to use an extra reliever.

Courtesy of Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Davis led off the last of the second with a base hit, which was followed up with a J.J. Hardy two-run homer. Los Angeles had been leading 4-0, and that’s where you could start to see the game change a bit. Nolan Reimold brought the Orioles to within one at 4-3 with a solo homer in the fourth. Hardy struck again in the sixth with a sac fly that tied the game. Pearce then singled Chris Davis home, and the Orioles suddenly had the lead. When the Orioles turned around and switched pitchers, Jason Hammel was in line to win the game which would have surprised anyone that watched only the first inning.

Unfortunately Pedro Strop had a conflict of confidence when he came in to relieve Hammel, and he allowed Mark Ellis to score on a wild pitch. However part of Orioles baseball of late has been picking up your teammates, and Brian Matusz and Darren O’Day shut down Los Angeles in the seventh and eighth. With one out in the last of the eighth Chris Davis missed a home run by about two inches, however he represented the go-ahead run at second base. Following a J.J. Hardy walk, both Hardy and Davis advanced into scoring position on a catchers’ passed ball.  That brought Reimold to the plate following an IBB of pinch-hitter Nate McLouth. Reimold pulled a tight liner down the right field line for a two-RBI double, and the Orioles took the opener 7-5.

Steve Pearce had too good of a spring not to be in the big leagues with the Orioles right now, and while he had a difficult start he’s paying dividends now. Baseball is a game that will humble you to no end, however it also provides guys with redemption if they’re willing to scuffle for it. The concern coming out of the game is that the bullpen was probably used a bit more than Buck Showalter and Rick Adair would have liked, however that’s part of a doubleheader. The haven’t made any roster moves prior to game two, so while the bullpen did take a bit of a hit in game one at the very least they appear to be comfortable with where the pen is going into game two. That isn’t to say that Wei-Yin Chen couldn’t afford to go deep into the game however.

However I’ll submit one ray of hope into the fray on Reimold. I injured my right shoulder a few years ago playing basketball. Each autumn and spring I have a few weeks where it hurts me pretty badly (when the seasons are changing), but after awhile the pain goes away. For lack of a better term, it’s just “one of those things.” I have no idea why Reimold is having pain in his shoulder, however barring a hidden injury in that area of which we currently don’t know I suspect that it’s just something he has to ride out. I’ve read that there are more muscles in your shoulder areas than any other part of your body, so it’s much easier than most people think to injure something. (With all of this said, please know that I”m not a doctor…!)

Courtesy of Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

I think that the biggest concern for the time being is that Reimold might lose some time on the field. However looking forward to today’s game against Tampa it’s doubtful that Reimold would have made the trip to Port Charlotte anyways. However the bigger picture is that this is a player that’s had the last few years marred by injuries and ineffectiveness, and him having to sit out of the lineup is not something that Orioles’ fans wanted to hear. Buck Showalter said that Reimold would take a day or so off from throwing and they’ll re-evaluate where he is at that time.

I’ll give you my answer right here; you’re welcome to disagree if you’d like. I would submit that hitting is more important in spring training. I wouldn’t even say that it’s close; I’d argue that hitting is light years more important. Many pitchers take a brief respite after the culmination of the regular season or playoffs, and then start working out again and preparing for the next season in late November. Pitching is something that can be simulated and perfected anywhere that has a space of 60 ft 6 in. Granted you need the time in spring training to form rapport with a catcher and so forth, but you can work on velocity and location fairly easily all off season. Hitters can’t really simulate their craft in any other place besides a game, which puts them at a disadvantage.

Courtesy of Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Last year I felt like in the first part of spring training a lot of people were complaining about things such as strikeouts, foul outs, and speed, all among other things. A typical stat line for a hitter in an early spring training game is two at-bats, with the first ending in a swinging third strike (probably a case of the pitcher throwing a changeup and the batter getting way out in front of it – after fouling a couple back that is), and perhaps a weak base hit in the second at-bat. When the likes of Adam Jones or Nolan Reimld has a day like that in the coming weeks people will be leaving a lot of negative comments on the column. Heaven forbid it happens to Nate McLouth; how quickly a poor stat line in an exhibition game will make people forget about what he did for the franchise in August, September, and October last season! But don’t fret, there’s a silver lining to this story…

…this is fairly normal. As I said, pitchers are always a little bit ahead of hitters. It’ll take two weeks or so for guys to get their timing up to par. Draw a parrallel with NFL preseason for just a moment; whenever people say they shouldn’t play the preseason games or that four are too many, my argument is that if you want to see bad football for the first month of the regular season, be my guest and shorten the preseason. Some of these games will be painful to watch at times, and that’s almost the intention. Certainly guys aren’t going to go into games with the intention of striking out or failing, however it takes some time before they get back into a groove and back to where they were last season.

Spring training used to be something to which people had to travel in order to see. Granted that’s still true, however there’s now much more media coverage than in the past. MASN is broadcasting six games for the O’s this year, ESPN will broadcast another, and WBAL radio will have play-by-play of 16 games. That’s a great amount of access for fans at home, however they’re also in for some bad baseball. That aside, the first couple weeks of spring training is imperative for hitters to get their timing down right so that everything’s percolating properly come April. This is not to say that pitchers are totally in the clear and don’t need to get their work in, because that’s not true. However don’t be surprised if you see guys looking lost at the plate once the games start. But also understand that it will get better as we go through spring training…it should at least.

Jurrjens note: The Orioles agreed to a one-year minor league contract (with a spring training invite) with RHP Jair Jurrjens late last night. The club previously had a $1.5 million contract in place, however evidently there was something in the physical that raised a red flag. This gives the Orioles much more financial flexibility if Jurrjens re-injures himself, and another hidden benefit is that they don’t have to clear a roster spot for him at the moment. Obviously if he makes the team out of spring training that will be a different story, but we’re a long ways from that potential development.