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

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BALTIMORE, MD – JUNE 19: Members of the Baltimore Orioles look on from the dugout during the ninth inning of their 12-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 19, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

After the Baltimore Orioles began the 2017 season on a high note, the rest of the season has been difficult to watch.

The Baltimore Orioles are entering the second half of the season with a 42-46 record four games out of the Wild Card.

Fortunately, there is some parity in the American League, so the O’s are in a gloom-and-doom situation at all.

In fact, the overall American League standings are still rather tight. Of the 15 teams, 8 have records below .500. The best record in the AL belongs to the Houston Astros with a .674 record of 60-29. No one in the AL West is even close, but in the East and Central, there isn’t much dividing the top and bottom teams. In both the East and Central, there is less than .100 dividing the first place and the last place teams. Those are records that could easily be changed by one or two series surprises.

The Orioles finished the month of April with a record of 15-8. They took series wins against all of their division rivals, even getting wins against tough pitchers like Chris Archer and Rick Porcello. The Birds even made it to the end of May with a winning record of 26-24.

Then, June happened. And the losses began to pile up. The pitching fell apart in the 20-game streak between June 3 through June 23. Even the beginning of July looked hopeless with five losses in a row in Milwaukee and Minnesota. But, the last two games of the first half showed promise as the bats came to life and opposing runs were held to a minimum.

As the Orioles start the second half against the reigning World Series Champions Chicago Cubs, let’s take a look at a few players who could help turn the record around.

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.

Next: Rumors of Orioles sell-off getting closer to reality

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

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