I will begin this small piece by saying that I am not a Baltimore Orioles fan; but I’d like to give the perspective of an outsider to what should prove to be a very entertaining 2011 Baltimore Orioles ballclub.
About a month ago, I was discussing Mark Reynolds with a co-worker, who told me that he had moved to Baltimore. Nearly flabbergasted by this, I asked who else they had picked up, only to find that Reynolds was just the tip of this largely newly-acquired offense.
One by one, I heard the names that had arrived to play in Orioles orange and black, including J.J. Hardy, Reynolds, Derek Lee and the always under-appreciated Vladimir Guerrero. As I was mentally combining these new faces with some of the quality players already in Baltimore, I began to think of what their lineup could look like for 2011.
Now, this team’s offensive output does depend on a variety of factors, not the least of which are comeback years from leadoff hitter, Brian Roberts, and All Star outfielder, Nick Markakis.
With these two quality players back in tow, and a huge potential comeback from power hitter extraordinaire Mark Reynolds, the Orioles could sport the most dangerous lineup in the league, and maybe even lead baseball in runs scored.
Will they make the postseason? Let’s not get crazy, folks. They simply do not have enough (quality) pitching to win the number of games necessary to unseat the AL East giants. However, this could be the most fun team in Baltimore in over a decade.
If this offense performs even remotely close to expectations, they will win more than their share of games by simply scoring more runs than the other team.
I’ve not yet looked at a lineup projection for the Orioles, and I’m certain that a heady manager like Buck Showalter will do his share of tinkering, but here are my thoughts:
A healthy Roberts will lead off, followed by Markakis, Lee, Guerrero, Reynolds, Luke Scott, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters and J.J. Hardy bringing up the 9th slot.
J.J. Hardy, as the past will tell us, is more than capable of socking 20+ home runs, and he’s going to be the ninth hitter!?
Perhaps I’m being optimistic for the Orioles. Baltimore is a wonderful baseball town, and their fans deserve a winner, or at least a team that they’d like to see play.
Perhaps I’m being optimistic to project 800+ runs for this lineup, but when I look at it from top to bottom, I simply do not see what one would refer to as an “easy out.” There will be a lot of feet crossing home plate for the O’s this season, and if they can discover another starting arm or two, team success could literally be around the corner.
Lord knows, their fans deserve that!
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