Baltimore Orioles: Three players who can help in the second half

The first thing that needs to happen for the Orioles to add wins to the record is for Jonathan Schoop to keep up his All-Star pace. He made it to the Midsummer Classic for a few reasons. His slash of .295/.347/.536 and his OPS of .883. Those 18 home runs helped and so did the 23 doubles.

Even his fielding has been stellar. And he just proved that he has what it takes to play shortstop after a few years away from the position. He has been involved in 66 doubles plays. With the number of outstanding second basemen in the league, his invitation to the All-Star game was a nod at his greatness.

Schoop has had 10 errors to date at second, so that could be one area to focus on in the second half. Schoop played one game prior at shortstop prior to the All-Star Game and it looks like Buck Showalter liked what he saw. He put Schoop there against the Chicago Cubs in the July 16 game. Even though the team lost 8-0, Schoop, again, performed well.

Unfortunately, Schoop can’t get wins on his own. But, if everyone played with his intensity, the Orioles might have a few more wins.

In a recent article from The Washington Post, Manny Machado spoke about how bored his was watching the All-Star Game. He told Samantha Pell with the Post:

“It was a little boring to watch it. I don’t know how people go out there and watch games. Now I know why sometimes people don’t come to games.”

If the three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner had better stats in 2017, he would not have had to sit back and watch his friends play. He would have been playing instead. Over the course of Machado’s career, his slash is .278/.329/.472 with an OPS of .802.

But this year, Machado doesn’t look like himself. His current slash is .232/.299/.443 with an OPS of .742. Despite his sinking numbers, he is on target to hit at least 30 home runs and doubles. It’s the singles that are down. In 2016, he had 188 hits, but he currently has only 79. Machado could end up with fewer than 160 by the end of the season and he has only missed five games in 2017.

It is no secret that the face of the franchise needs to improve his plate performance if the team is going to get more wins in the second half. Fortunately, Machado’s batting stats are on an upswing. In the beginning of July, he down to a .215 batting average. In the three games against the Chicago Cubs, Machado batted .273. In the series prior to the All-Star break against the Minnesota Twins, Machado batted .474. He clearly still has it.

End of the rotation starter, Ubaldo Jimenez, is having the worst season of his life. He has the second-worst ERA in the rotation, which gives him the most room for improvement. His 7.01 ERA is miles above his career average of 4.27.

Jimenez is on track to give up more home runs than he did in his first year with the Cleveland Indians. In 2012, he gave up 25 home runs. He currently has 20 dingers against him and at least another 13 starts left for the season. And, remember, Jimenez pitched 4.5 seasons with the Colorado Rockies in the hitter-friendly Coors Field.

At the midway point in the season, Jimenez has two big problems and they are very easy to see on Fangraphs. Jimenez struggles with runners on base and he struggles at home. Once a runner gets on base, Jimenez’s average against jumps .050 points. And, when he pitches at home, his average against jumps up .060 points.

Jimenez is getting run support from his team. His start against the Chicago Cubs was the only game where the offense put up a goose egg. Unfortunately, Jimenez has only five games where he did not give up a home run. He has pitched two shutouts this season, one against the Cincinnati Reds in April and one in June against the Toronto Blue Jays. Both were away games.

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With a little extra help from a few players, the Orioles should be able to add a few wins.