Baltimore Orioles 2011 Season Thread

**bryanac625** · 04-01-2011, 07:19 PM

I was surprised to see that no one had started this yet.

Anyway, the O's got a nice "W" on the road tonight against the Rays. Guthrie handled himself very well.

I noticed a few of the Orioles (specifically Wieters and 1B Coach Wayne Kirby) wearing the retro 1977-1987 batting helmet. I think this trend was started by Twins' catcher Joe Mauer?

**Old Hoss Radbourn** · 04-03-2011, 04:55 PM

Pretty good start to the season. Excellent starting pitching. Great defense. Timely hitting. A sweep of the defending AL East champs. The first time the Orioles have started 3-0 since 1997 and the first time they've started 3-0 on the road since 1970. And at least for about the next 24 hours, first place in the AL East all to themselves. Not bad. Not bad at all.

**J W** · 04-04-2011, 09:04 AM

We should sticky this and get the old thread un-stickied.

Excellent starting pitching indeed. They gave up a total of 1 run on 6 hits in 20 innings! Tampa's line looked nearly the same across the board... 1 run on 4 hits, and 1 error in the first game. The Orioles did not bat too well (.222) but did when it counted (.421 with RISP, 1.297 OPS) and quadrupled up on the Rays 12-3 in runs scored.

Orioles home opener vs. the Tigers:
4/4 Porcello (0-0) @ Arrieta (0-0)
4/6 Verlander (0-0, 4.50) @ Guthrie (1-0, 0.00)
4/7 Penny (0-1, 16.62) @ Tillman (0-0, 0.00)

**KurtDman24** · 04-04-2011, 01:46 PM

I'm happy for the O's start, but it's still way early.

**Old Hoss Radbourn** · 04-05-2011, 05:26 AM

It's never too early to get off to a good start. Monday's 5-1 win over Detroit puts the Orioles at 4-0. That means if the O's play .500 ball the rest of the way, they'll finish with 85 wins, which would at least match even the most optimistic expectations. A record of 77-81 the rest of the way would give the Orioles a .500 record on the season, which is what I think most fans were hoping for. Even a record of 74-84 would mean a 12-game improvement over last year. And the Orioles have done it with Matusz, the No. 2 starter, and Justin Duchsherer, who was brought in to be part of the starting rotation, on the DL (not that the latter was a big surprise considering his recent history).

Of course it's more than just a good start to the season. After Buck Showalter took over the club on Aug. 3, the Orioles finished the season with the best record in the AL East over the rest of the campaign. The key to that was the O's starting pitching. They turned up an interesting stat on the MLB Network last night. Over the 61 games that Buck has now managed, the Orioles' starting pitchers now have a cumulative ERA of 2.98. That's way better than any other team over the same period. Will it last? Probably not at that level. But I don't think it's a stretch to expect the O's to get solid pitching the rest of the way and to be competitive from game to game.

**J W** · 04-05-2011, 08:39 AM

Bergesen going tomorrow evening in place of Guthrie, who's recovering from pneumonia.

Hear, hear Old Hoss!

**KurtDman24** · 04-05-2011, 03:01 PM

I like Old Hoss's thinking...four games in and he's talking about playing .500 ball the rest of the way! My kind of optimist!

Seriously, they haven't played the Yankees and Red Sox yet...but I can tell they aren't going to be intimidated by them this year.

**Old Hoss Radbourn** · 04-05-2011, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by KurtDman24

I like Old Hoss's thinking...four games in and he's talking about playing .500 ball the rest of the way! My kind of optimist!

Seriously, they haven't played the Yankees and Red Sox yet...but I can tell they aren't going to be intimidated by them this year.

Here's the thing though. Since Buck took over last Aug. 23, the Orioles are 38-23. That's the best record in all of baseball over that period. Obviously, the Orioles aren't going to play at a 38-23 pace through the 2011 season, but we're also working with more than a 4-game sample here. It's a 61-game sample that has had pieces added. The lineup is much-improved. The defense is much-improved. The pitchers who pitched so well the last two months of 2010 seem well-settled and should only continue to improve (of course there will be rough spots). Britton has joined the club. The relief pitching has been solidified. Sure, the Orioles have to play the Red Sox and the Yankees a lot. But you know what? The O's were beating those teams the last two months of 2010. There's no reason to think they can't win their share with an improved team this year (especially if the Yankees and Red Sox lack rotation depth). So I don't think it's at all unreasonable to think that if Brian Roberts and a few other key players stay health and the young pitchers continue to progress, the Orioles can play .500 ball the rest of the way. Hell, the Rays went from 66 wins to 96 a few years back thanks largely to a talented young starting pitching corps. The O's only need to do half as well!

**KurtDman24** · 04-06-2011, 03:00 PM

Oh, I'm not arguing that the team looks much better this year...especially without Millwood getting his clock cleaned out there.

I do hope they do really well...and that the Red Sox and Yankees fans that come to Camden are brought to complete glorious silence this season.

Magic number is 158!

**Cowtipper** · 07-20-2011, 01:35 PM

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sns-ts...,6964086.story

Anaheim, CA — The Texas Rangers acquired infielder Nick Green and unspecified cash considerations from Baltimore in exchange for pitcher Zach Phillips on Tuesday.

Green has not played a game in the majors this season, but has appeared in 393 big-league contests with Atlanta, Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees, Seattle, Boston, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto. He holds career totals of 16 home runs and 96 RBI with a .237 batting average.