A less than impressive feat

September 12, 2008

David

A less than impressive feat

In the top of the eighth inning against Oakland last Friday night, Baltimore pitchers walked in four runs before allowing a hit in the inning. The word pathetic does not do justice to that notorious accomplishment. Walking in four runs in a single game – let alone a single inning – is unheard of once ballplayers graduate from Little League. It should come as no surprise that the A’s hitters are patient enough to make Orioles pitchers look bad (think Moneyball), but that is just Bad for Ball.

O’s Notes

Last week ownership announced that Orioles manger Dave Trembley would return for the 2009 season. My only question for the head honchos is a simple one: why? The reason the team is in last place this season is in large part because the competition in the AL East is tough, but it hasn’t helped that Trembley has done an awful job with the pitching staff (and of course, Jay Payton). Granted, he was given limited resources to work with – Jeremy Guthrie has been the team’s only reliable starter – but Trembley has given too many opportunities to pitchers who have proven unworthy of starting games: Garrett Olson (6.43 E.R.A. and 1.73 WHIP to go along with opponents’ .310 batting average), Dennis Sarfate (four games started, never made it through five innings), and frankly, the mysterious Daniel Cabrera (5.26 E.R.A. – nearly a full run higher than it was two months ago). To make matters worse, the bullpen has been a disaster since starting off strong. George Sherrill looked like a dominant closer during the first half of the season, but really lost his edge before suffering an injury last month, and Trembley has failed miserably to find anyone to fill in – not that there have been very many save chances anyway. Being a slightly better manager than his predecessor – Sam Perlozzo – does not make Dave Trembley worthy of a contract extension.

Whether or not the Orioles are able to sign free agent Mark Teixeira or anyone else to play first base next season, they should under no circumstance re-sign Kevin Millar, who I’m starting to think of as the very poor man’s Jeff Conine. Millar is known as a leader in the clubhouse and he’s an easy guy to like as a fan, but that hardly makes him a viable option as the team’s starting first baseman in 2009. While his patience at the plate has allowed him to accumulate 68 walks – not a terrible deficit from his 87 strikeouts – Millar has hit just .239 and slugged a measly .405, numbers that a defensive-minded shortstop or catcher should be putting up. Not only that, but Millar’s offensive numbers have been declining over the last few years. While he has driven in more runs this season than each of the last two, his batting average, on-base-percentage, and slugging percentage have dropped steadily during his three seasons with the Birds.