Baltimore Orioles 2013 Season Preview

The last meaningful baseball play we saw the Baltimore Orioles participate in was in the top of the 9th against the Yankees in the 2012 ALDS. It was a Matt Wieters soft dribbler back to C.C. Sabathia to finsh the game, and win the series for the Yankees. As the Yankees began to celebrate, the Orioles began to prepare for the 2013 season. Well, that 2013 season is finally upon us and currently one question looms large in the heart of Oriole fans across the country, can they repeat the success that they were able to achieve in 2012?



Before I get to that question, lets first look at the key departures and arrivals for the 2013 Baltimore Orioles.

Key Departures

• 1B Mark Reynolds - Free Agent - Signed with the Cleveland Indians

• IF Robert Andino - Traded to the Seattle Mariners 

• OF Endy Chavez - Free Agent - Signed with the Kansas City Royals

• IF/OF Bill Hall - Free Agent - Signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 

• LHP Joe Saunders - Free Agent- Signed with the Seattle Mariners 

• DH Jim Thome - Free Agent   

• 1B Joe Mahoney - Waivers - Picked up by the Miami Marlins

The key with these departures is that each of these players can be replaced. I, personally, became a huge fan of Robert Andino and Mark Reynolds over the past two seasons, however seeing both of them go is not hard for me. They both become true Orioles showing that they would do whatever it took to get this organization back on track, but both of them were strikeout machines. Reynolds was always feast or famine when he stepped up to bat and though it provided much thrill when it was feast, there was much more famine. I hear people say that a strikeout is the same thing as a fly out or a ground out, I would like to tell you you are wrong.  Striking out eliminates the possibility of moving players on the base paths and allowing the team to manufacture runs, things that fly outs and ground outs do often provide. So seeing that Reynold's strikeouts are no longer in the line-up should allow for more runs being manufactured. At least, that is what I am hoping.

I was hoping to see the team re-sign Joe Saunders, who I thought was just getting himself together in the Black and Orange. As many of you may remember Saunders pitched the superb wild card game against the Texas Rangers that allowed the Orioles to advance and face the Yankees in the ALDS. It sad to see him getting comfortable and then leave, but I do believe the Orioles did a good job bringing in other MLB veteran pitchers. That being said lets turn attention to the key arrivals.

Key Arrivals 

• IF Alexi Cassila 

• RHP Jair Jurrgens

• IF Danny Valencia

• LHP T.J. McFarland

• RHP  Freddy Garcia

Okay, so these Key Arrivals are not very "key," but they give the Orioles depth. Only two of these players have made the opening day roster, McFarland, who is a Rule 5 pick from the Cleveland Indians, and Alexi Cassila. The major moves the Orioles made this season were to get players back healthy and keep those who made a tremendous impact on last year's season.

Nick Markakis is fully healthy after getting hit on the thumb late in the season and suffering a slight herniation in his neck this spring. Nolan Riemold, who suffered a full herniation of his neck that required season ending surgery early in the 2012 campaign, is back in the line-up and has shown that, if healthy he should be a player to be reckoned with. Oh, lets also not forget about Brian Roberts. The Orioles longest active member on the roster, has finally recovered completely from his concussion and his hip injury and is expected to participate in the entire 2013 season. The Orioles also resigned OF Nate McClouth, after he helped spark the line-up when both Riemold and Markakis went down. The bullpen remains basically entirely the same as it was the season before, which should allow the Orioles compete in close games again throughout the whole season.

CAN THE ORIOLES REPEAT SUCCESS? 

Whenever I see sports caster talk about the if the Orioles repeat the success they had last season I always think, why not? These people on ESPN and MLB Network talk about the improvements the Blue Jays have made and they talk about the consistency that the Rays have when Evan Longoria is in the line-up, but they don't, for the most part, talk about how the Orioles have lost anyone large and are only receiving players who should make a positive mark on a team that won 93 games last season.

I really like the Orioles either winning the division or finishing second and getting in the playoffs with another wild card birth. The reason why is because the AL East is not like it used to be. The Yankees are suffering a ton of injuries that are threatening the full seasons of Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. Their other injured players include Jeter and Granderson. They have also lost Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, and Raul Ibanez in free agency. The Yankees this season are a team too old and too injured to accomplish anything great, making them less significant in division.  The Red Sox are an improved ball club, however I am not sure they will play throughout the season, but I am going to guess they will play around .500 baseball. The Blue Jays have made several improvements by adding knuckler and 2012 NL Cy Young R.A. Dickey and several players from the Marlins including Jose Reyes. Although I think these moves will improve the Blue Jays, I don't believe they will be enough to win the division. They are getting players from a Marlin team that overly under achieved last season, and they are getting a pitcher who, regardless of his success last season, has only had one great year in the MLB. I am just not sold. The Rays, who will be the biggest competition for the Orioles this season, always seem to have great pitching and can hit the ball in key situations. They will either win the division or finish second to the Orioles. I really like Joe Maddon as a Manager and he will have his team playing great baseball this season.

But to the question of whether or not the Orioles can repeat the success of last year, the answer is yes. The Division is weaker and the Orioles are stronger.

How will the Orioles do it?

The Orioles will achieve success from much of the same reasons they did so last year.

They will win close ball games. Buck Showalter has this team believing that can win any game no matter the score and no matter the inning. That confidence is not matched by any recent Orioles ball club. Will the have the exact same success they had last season in one-run and extra innings? No, there is a reason those feats were historic. But I expect them to compete and continue to give it all they have in close games, and they will pull the majority of them out.

Starting pitching will be improved. I do not believe that the Orioles pitching will be as much as a revolving door as it was last year. I expect more constancy from the starting pitching resulting in an even better season for the starting pitching. Jason Hammel will be the Ace of the ball club and will have a career year. Wei-Yen Chen now knows what to expect pitching in the MLB after being a rookie from Twain last season. Miguel Gonzalez was not even on a roster at this point last season and I believe he will continue his success from last season after breaking through with the Orioles. Again he was a rookie and now knows what the expect.  Jake Arreita will be the Orioles fourth starting pitcher. He was last year opening day starter and now he had to fight for a spot on the team. When Arreita is on he is tough to hit, but he has had some trouble with his constancy that scares me. Chris Tillman will be the fifth starter for the Orioles, but he will begin the season on the disabled list. When he returns I expect him to be good, maybe not great, but at least consistent. When the Orioles need a spot start they still will have several good pitchers to choose from including Jair Jurrgens, Brain Matusz, who will begin the season in the bullpen, and Steve Johnson, who will start on disabled list. I also highly expect the team to call up young starter Dylan Bundy at some point this season, as well as possiblly calling up last year's first round pick Kevin Gausman. There is no lack of depth in the Orioles starting pitching this season, resulting in it being improved.

The Orioles will also be difficult to get out. Last season it was amazing how many homeruns the Orioles hit. This season, they will continue to hit homeruns, however they will manufacture more runs this season with small ball then they did last season. One reason I believe this is because the Orioles will have Manny Machado on the roster for the entire season. Starting the year on the roster will allow Machado to feel more comfortable at the plate and the field resulting in more success and more consistent play. Brain Roberts is a .OBP and double monster and having him hit 9th in the line-up is no different then having him hit first. He will get on baseball and allow the top of the line-up to hit him in on a regular basis. Another reason why the Oriole will manufacture more runs this season is because hitters will bat at more comfortable and appropriate spots in the line-up. J.J. Hardy will bat farther down in the line-up allowing him to sit back and do what he does, instead of batting second and feeling like he has to get on base for those hitting behind him.

The Orioles will also be dramatically improved in the field as well.  Last year the Orioles began the season as the worst defensive team in the Majors, collecting the most errors in the first half of the season. However, as soon as Machado was called up, McClouth was added, and Reynolds moved to first the defense completely changed and became one of the best in the Majors. This year Machado will play third again, Davis has looked sharp at first in spring training, McClouth was still on the roster, which means there will be three gold glovers in the outfield, and Brain Roberts is great defensively. All of this means that the Orioles we a better defensive team this year and will result in a better run differential this season.

Overall I think the Baltimore Orioles will win between 90 and 96 games this season and will make a second straight playoff appearance.

Happy Baseball and Go O's

-JM

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