Ten Painful Days

Wow, it's amazing to see the wheels come off for a team so quickly. The last time I bloggest, things were pretty hunky-dory for the O's. They knocked off the Sox & Yanks in back-to-back series. They signed Matt Wieters. They were on the verge of signing Dave Trembley to a contract extension. A 500 record seemed very possible. And then this. And it all started when I took some time off from blogging. Who knew they were such big fans.

Obviously, the 30-3 isn't worth talking about. Frankly, other than avoiding SportsCenter for a day, it didn't bother me that much. Especially compared to the litany of games where the Orioles led after 7 and blew it. Five times!!! In a week!!! Unbelievable. I have never seen such a lack of confidence in a group of pitchers. Jim Hoey, who was lights out for a few weeks, suddenly reverted back to the deer in headlights he was last year and earlier this year. Chad Brad is amazingly hittable. Paul Shuey had no business in the majors. Danys Baez couldn't close out a game after being one strike away. Listen, BJ Upton is a great hitter, but when you are on a seven game losing streak, you step up and close that thing out. And Baez didn't. Ugh. Literally, Trembley got the contract and all hell broke loose. Shoddy baserunning. Little league fielding. Leadoff walks. They are playing like Sam Perlozzo got invited back for a stint. Heck, the O's weren't even this bad when Sammy was here. The problem is that this keeps getting worse. They scored 8 and six runs against the D-Rays and still got swept at home! First swept by the Nationals and now the D-Rays at Camden Yards. How amazing is that? Think about it--with everything else in the season as crappy as it has been, the O's would be near 500 if they had done the sweeping instead of being swept in those two series. And they can't beat the Twins ALL SEASON! They're a good team, but COME ON! Jeremy Guthrie has been inconsistent. Ramon Hernandez is jinxed (I've never seen one man robbed more in my life). Losing Chris Ray made a bad bullpen MUCH worse. What does this mean for next given Ray isn't coming back. Do you replace everyone? Do you assume the $42M men will bounce back? Do you sign a free agent like Gagne, who despite his Red Sox issues, is still better than anyone in the Orioles pen. Given Flanagan and Duquette credit--they knew where this team most needed fixing. However, they didn't fix it. In fact, I don't remember it being this bad last year.

Meanwhile, I can't believe I am saying this, but maybe the Orioles shouldn't deal Trachsel. They are so desperate for consistent starting pitching behind Bedard and they're not getting it from DCab, Guthrie, or Olson. On the other hand, that may force the hand of the Cubs or whomever else steps up with a legit offer. Maybe the Orioles will get someone good. Maybe he could step in this year. Maybe he won't be allergic to the 8th inning.

Now, the O's ride a nine-game losing streak into Fenway and start a pair of pitchers who have a half-dozen career majopr league starts COMBINED. And they are facing the league's most patient team. This does NOT bode well. Well, Mr. Liz and Mr. Olson, let's find out how good the Oriole farm system really is.