The air has been pregnant with thoughts of the Baltimore Orioles’ roster crunch, but if anyone wants expertise, the best I can offer is that experts and mystics have exactly the same amount of knowledge of what’s really going to happen: none.
One thing that seems certain is that neither Bud Norris nor Chris Tillman are going anywhere despite their recent stumbles (okay, that’s a nice way of putting it). Buck Showalter is a very loyal manager, but, let’s assume his patience has limits like everybody else. Speculation today is that Tyler Wilson will come back up from Norfolk, as the team was looking to fortify the bullpen after Brad Brach threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in last night’s loss to Texas.
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A definite is that Jonathan Schoop will not be brought up for a while. He will play in a rehab game for Single A Frederick on Thursday but will not join the Orioles on their trip to Chicago this weekend, as reported by The Sun yesterday.
Here are a couple of more certainties. Manny Machado is fourth among American League third basemen in All Star voting, and Adam Jones is seventh among outfielders. Seventh is a bit low for Jones, and Machado is having a much better year than to sit fourth in the minds of the fans.
Equally disturbing, in fact, more so, is that at one point, eight Kansas City Royals led the voting, so Major League Baseball canceled 60 million votes, hoping to eliminate an irregularity caused by the fact that fans are allowed to vote up to 35 times per email account. Which 60 million were canceled, and how they were chosen, probably gets pretty complex.
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But that’s a lot of votes, and we can only speculate as to whether it cost Jones and Machado. Darren O’Day and Zach Britton have turned in enough lights-out performances during the first half to be considered, and it will be a head-scratcher if they are left off the team.
But pitchers, in addition to late additions, are decided by the manager, and that’s Ned Yost of Kansas City, last year’s AL Champion, as all Orioles fans would rather not be reminded.
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