Baltimore Orioles have thrived even without Adam Jones

This past week has been a silent tribute to Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette. Granted many fans are still angry about moves that weren’t made, however I would submit that folks should look more at what happened this week in the absence of Adam Jones than anything else. Jones hasn’t played in a week, and in that span the Birds have gone 4-1.

Courtesy of Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

This is not to say that Jones himself is immortal, because that’s not true. However every team has at least one player without whom they very well might be sunk. Jones is that guy for the O’s. So at the beginning of the season if you told me that he would miss several games (to this point without a DL stint, mind you) and the O’s would have only lost one of them, I don’t know if I would have believed that.

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When a guy is added to the roster, Showlater and Duquette do their homework to see how his numbers fit into the lineup, along with his personality in the clubhouse. David Lough for instance has been playing out of his mind since taking over Jones’ center field duties. However the Orioles also have the ability to nimbly shift people all around the field if need be – Chris Davis in right field last night, for example.

This of course comes as no surprise to those of us who follow the ballclub day in and day out. On the radio this morning I heard a host say that Showalter does all of this with “smoke in mirrors.” While the context of the comment was that it was intended as a compliment, I would disagree. The “diamond in the rough” type players that the Orioles add are added after a long vetting process.

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Obviously, it goes without saying that this can’t keep up moving forward. And in saying that, if Jones is unable to play tonight (weather permitting of course) the O’s might have to make a decision on him. And again, this is not to say that the likes of Lough, Chris Parmelee, et al aren’t hacking it – because they are, and then some. However the O’s are essentially playing with a 24-man roster at the moment, and there does come a point where that becomes a huge competitive disadvantage.

The Orioles are and always will be a better team with Adam Jones in the lineup as opposed to out of it. However the supporting cast (so to speak) has really stepped up big for the team in his absence. So if you think the team’s cooking now, think of when he returns to the lineup – hopefully later today.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Well-Traveled Roe Diamond In The Rough

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