Watching Wei-Yin Chen keel over in pain after delivering a pitch in the 5th inning on Sunday against the Twins caused a lot of questions to crop up. Is it just a cramp? Could it be serious? Will he miss any starts? Will Pedro Strop have to pitch today? (Just kidding, he’s been a lot better lately.) Who will take his place if he has to miss time?

For about 24 hours, word was that it could just be a cramp but the Orioles didn’t get that lucky. Chen strained his oblique causing him to land on the 15-day disabled list. If he is ready to go in 15 days, he will be missed for two or three starts. However, oblique injuries are difficult for pitchers to recover from. Obviously every individual is different, but Chen could miss more than 15 days.

It is difficult to put into words just how devastating this injury is for the Orioles. Jason Hammel is the ace of this team; he got the ball on Opening Day as well as Game 1 of the ALDS last season. But Chen is the rock of the rotation. He is Mr. Consistent. While the O’s shuttled starting pitchers back and forth between Baltimore, AAA Norfolk, and the disabled list last season, Chen was always there. He won’t win any Cy Young awards, but he rarely gets roughed up and you can count on him for six solid innings. It is so important to have a guy like that pitch every five days. There is no doubt that the Orioles will miss him badly while he is out.

The question of who will replace Chen is complicated by the fact that the rotation is already being patched together. The Opening Day rotation consisted of Hammel, Chen, Chris Tillman, Miguel Gonzalez, and Jake Arrieta. Chen is joining Gonzalez on the DL and Arrieta is pitching for the Norfolk Tides. Three fifths of the rotation needs replacing right now.

So far this season we’ve seen Zack Britton, Josh Stinson, Steve Johnson, and Freddy Garcia come up and make spot starts for the major league club. Garcia will definitely stick as through two starts he has been effectively unhittable outside a pair of bad innings. He brings veteran experience, the ability to eat innings, and has earned another couple of starts. That makes three starters in addition to Hammel and Tillman. Britton and Johnson could potentially be given another look. Both are looked at favorably by the organization but were hit hard in their starts this season. Either one could be given another chance.

I think that we will see Jair Jurrjens be brought up eventually to see what he can do in place of Chen. His minor league signing garnered a lot of attention this past offseason because of his recent success with the Atlanta Braves. In a quest to prove that his injured knee is back to 100%, Jurrjens has pitched to an ERA of 3.14 over 8 starts covering 51.2 innings. He has an impressive 36 strikeouts to 15 walks. Perhaps it is a stretch to believe that he can regain the form that made him an all-star in Atlanta. But he has at least shown in Norfolk that he is healthy and able to throw strikes consistently, which is more than he could do last season with the Braves. He has experience being a front-end starter and is pitching well right now. He also has a clause in his contract saying that he can opt out of his contract if he isn’t in the major leagues by June 15. Given the state of the O’s rotation and his contract, it seems that the time has come for him to show what to do.

All teams have to deal with injuries and ineffectiveness. The loss of Chen is particularly hard for the Orioles, but they need to overcome it. It is at times like these when the seemingly meaningless offseason roster moves made by GM Dan Duquette really make sense. When you look around the league, you see some really bad pitchers making spot starts. That illustrates the lack of depth in those organizations. Duquette and Buck Showalter work hard to make sure that the O’s have solid pitching depth, and it is now coming into play. The Orioles have a number of options for the rotation right now; all of which have either lots talent or major league experience. Head-scratching signings like Freddy Garcia and Jair Jurrgens this or Nate McLouth last year are smart moves because they are low-risk but can- and have- come in handy.

Right now, it is anybody’s guess who will come up and join the rotation to replace the fallen starters. I named a few options here, but the club could go in another direction. Whoever they may be, it is unlikely that they that replace Chen’s success and consistency. But any of them have the capability of pitching at the major league level and keeping the O’s afloat until Chen makes his return.

With the Kansas City Royals in town this week, Orioles fans are getting a reminder of one of the most polarizing players to come through Baltimore in recent memory. Miguel Tejada played with the O’s from 2004-2007 after signing a 6 year $72 million contract that made him the biggest free agent signing in club history. Prior to the 2008 season, he was traded to the Houston Astros for five players, the most notable of which were Troy Patton and Luke Scott. He then resigned with the club in 2010 to play third base and was traded halfway through the season.

When Tejada came to bat for the Royals on Tuesday evening, he was received by a mixture of cheers and boos from the Camden Yards faithful. This is a testament to the polarizing, paradoxical, and difficult to understand player he was while wearing the orange and black. He is well known for his child-like love of the game and the enthusiasm he plays with. Yet he often didn’t run hard to first on routine ground balls. Much was made about how great of a teammate he was and how he was such a positive influence in the clubhouse. But reports leaked out saying that he would show up to the ballpark very late for games and that there was a separate list of rules that applied to only him. He signed with the Orioles and vowed to do everything he could to bring winning baseball back to the city of Baltimore. Yet there were two offseasons where he said that the losing was hard for him to take and that he would like to be traded.

It is easy to understand why there are mixed feelings about Tejada’s tenure in Baltimore. However, a few facts are indisputable. First, he remains the best free agent signing in club history. The O’s were in an awful place in the offseason between the 2003 and 2004 seasons. With Cal Ripken Jr. being gone for two seasons, Baltimore baseball was a faceless entity with the likes of Gary Matthews Jr. hitting third. Signing a young, talented, enthusiastic, in his prime former MVP signaled that Baltimore could attract free agents and that they weren’t offering “Confederate money” as the late general manager Syd Thrift once said. His signing triggered the acquisitions of free agents Javy Lopez, Sidney Ponson, and Rafael Palmeiro. While this group didn’t produce any winning seasons, there was more buzz around the team in that offseason than in any that I can remember and Tejada was at the center of it all.

Second, Tejada put together some of the finest offensive seasons in club history. In the four years he played under his first contract with the O’s, he hit 102 home runs and drove in 429 runs. His batting averages were .311, .304, .330, and .296. He garnered MVP consideration in 2004 when he hit 34 homers and had 150 (150!) RBI. This was one of the finest offensive seasons in team history. If you fancy new-age stats, his on-base percentages in these four years ranged from .349 to .379 and his slugging percentages from .442 to .534. These offensive stats were put up while playing the demanding shortstop position and doing a very good job there defensive.

Sure he wasn’t perfect, but some people blow this out of proportion. I mentioned how he dogged ground balls, but let’s face it, who on the Mazzilli/Perlozzo/Trembley managed Orioles was giving 100% effort? Both times he “demanded” a trade, he walked back those comments saying that he was just venting. Yes, the losing wore Tejada down. He expecting to win and it wasn’t happening. He was frustrated. Being the type of enthusiastic player he was, he probably would have been better off signing with a winning team despite the 72 million reasons he signed with the Orioles.

However, if you view sporting events and being a sports fan as entertainment, Tejada was the long bright spot on some pretty mundane teams. Despite the losing, you could tell that he was having a blast playing the game. As a fan, I love that. He pumped his fist and shouted into his dugout after big home runs. When he made a great defensive play he loved it and celebrated along with the fans. His smile lit up Camden Yards. He loved to play the game and he loved to win.

I respect the right of fans to boo any player they want, but if Tejada comes to the plate when I am at the game tonight there is no way I’ll be jeering him. I absolutely wish certain aspects of his stay in Baltimore went different and there were times when I was extremely frustrated by him. However, I tend to look favorably on his time spent here. He was the face of the franchise and had one of the best offensive stretches of any player in team history. Besides that, I loved watching the enthusiasm and excitement that he played with.

I’m not advocating Miggy being immortalized in bronze in between Cal and Brooks, but I think that fans should appreciate the type of player that he was while playing in Baltimore.

Through 32 games of the 2013 season, the Orioles’ record sits at 19-13. Yes, there have been some problems with the club such as no offensive production from the second base position and starting pitchers not working deep enough into games. However, I think that most fans are very happy with the start the O’s have had.

What is even more impressive about this start is that the team has already completed a huge 11 game west coast road trip that included stops in Oakland, Seattle, and Anaheim. Not only did they complete this trip, but they went 7-4 on it. The trip, which concluded on Sunday, included three wins out of four in both Oakland and Anaheim and one out of three in Seattle.

Most people don’t understand just how difficult it is for a baseball team to spend almost two weeks playing on the opposite side of the country. For the first couple days of the trip, the players deal with the jet lag associated with traveling three time zones to the west. That sort of traveling effects people who are just traveling for fun. Imagine trying to hit 95 mph fastballs and major league breaking balls when your internal clock is messed up. The fact that the O’s had no travel day to get to California makes it even tougher. There are also climate differences on the left coast that are hard to adjust to. And baseball players are humans too; being so far away from home is tough.

That is what makes their winning trip out west so impressive. If you have followed the team for the last decade, you know that the Orioles have struggled mightily in these cities. The fact that they were able to have such a successful road trip indicates that last year wasn’t a fluke and maybe times really have changed for Orioles baseball.

As far as impact on this year’s standings go, the completed trip has big time implications. No other American League East rival has been out west for an extended trip yet this season. For the reasons stated above, it is very unlikely that Boston, New York, Toronto, or Tampa Bay will all complete their trips out west with a record as good as Baltimore’s. In addition, those clubs will be making their long trips during the dog days of summer, which will make it even tougher. So while the O’s currently sit two games out of first place in third place in the division, you have to consider the fact that their division rivals have one more tough west coast stretch coming up on their schedule than the Orioles. When the Red Sox and Yankees will be playing a tough Oakland team and an Angels club that has to get better, the O’s will be playing at Camden Yards. Advantage: Baltimore.

While out west, the O’s had two players come up with big performances that contributed to their great road trip:

-In his two starts on the trip, Chris Tillman was nothing short of fantastic. After a rocky start he has seemed to find his rhythm. In 14 innings over two starts, he gave up 2 earned runs on 10 hits while striking out 10. His velocity was back up and his stuff looked fantastic. Let’s hope that this is the Tillman we see for the rest of the year.

-Manny Machado has lived up to the nickname of “Mucho” that WBAL’s Joe Angel has given him. While out west, he hit 3 home runs (in some big spots) and drove in 11. He saw his batting average increase from .272 to .309, his on-base percentage from .316 to .352, and his slugging percentage from .424 to .522. Yes, it is early in the season and stats can jump around in a hurry, but these are huge jumps. Machado absolutely raked during the west coast trip and seems to be a player capable of carrying the team on his back.

After a very successful road trip, the O’s now enter a stretch where they play 11 of the next 14 games at the Yard and have two of their bright young stars really heating up. As Chuck Thompson once said, “Ain’t the beer cold.”

I woke up to news this morning of the Orioles losing 4-0 to the Angles in a game where they mustered only three hits.  What could be done to make the O’s offense a more consistent threat to score runs?  The most obvious answer to me is to use Nate McLouth in every game. 

Despite the fantastic seasons that Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and Manny Machado are having, you could make a very strong case that McLouth has been the O’s best offensive weapon in 2013.  He is batting .333 with an incredible .431 on-base percentage.  Hitting leadoff in front of the big boys, that OBP is really what the club is looking for.  In addition, he has launched three home runs, putting him on pace for almost 20.  Indeed, McLouth is having a fantastic offensive season thus far. 

I see only one problem when looking at McLouth’s line of stats:  his number of plate appearances.  He has come to the plate 103 times this season.  The Orioles leaders in that category are:

                Manny Machado- 138

                Nick Markakis- 136

                Adam Jones- 129

                Chris Davis- 123

                J.J. Hardy- 123

                Matt Wieters- 112

McLouth comes next, ranking 7^th on the team.  But after 30 games, he is 35 plate appearances behind the team leader.  Extrapolated for an entire season, he will get about 170 less trips to the plate than Machado.  The Nate McLouth that we saw in the last half of 2012 who has come back in 2013 even better should not be on the bench that much.

Obviously, the issue at play here is the split stats.  McLouth doesn’t hit as well against left-handed pitching.  Last season in 77 plate appearances (66 official at bats) against lefties, he hit .197.  That was apparently enough to make Buck Showalter decide not to play him against lefties this year, as only 11 of his 103 plate appearances have come against lefties.  In that extremely limited sample, he has 2 hits. 

I understand that the manager’s job is to put his players in the best position to succeed.  I understand that Steve Pearce is on the roster to play against left-handed starters.   However, McLouth is playing too well right now to keep him out of the lineup, whether it is against a lefty, righty, or a pitcher kicking the ball toward the plate. 

Outside of hitting, there are tools that McLouth brings to the table every game that his replacement against left-handed starters, Pearce, does not bring.  First is his defense.  He may be the third best outfielder on the Orioles, but he would be the best outfielder on many teams in the league.  Having him in left field gives the O’s one of the best outfields in baseball and saves the team runs over the course of the season.  Second is his speed.  There is no doubt that McLouth is the best baserunner on the club.  His 8 stolen bases rank him 4^th in the majors.  In a lineup that contains lots of power, he is the only real threat to swipe a base.  Finally, there is his on-base capability.  While he doesn’t get as many hits against left-handed pitchers, he ranks 20^th in the majors with 15 walks.  If he came to the plate as much as the players above him on that list, he would rank near the top.  They say that fast guys who can’t hit “can’t steal first base,” but McLouth can certainly walk there. 

The Orioles are a better team offensively, defensively, and on the bases when Nate McLouth is in the lineup.   As an O’s fan, I feel as though going into a game with him on the bench is similar to going into a fight with one hand tied behind my back.  To give the club their best chance to win, McLouth needs to be in the lineup on a nightly basis. 

The first inning of the game one of yesterday’s doubleheader against the Dodgers was nothing short of a disaster.  Starter Jason Hammel gave up two singles and then an absolute moonshoot to Andre Either that landed on Eutaw Street.  Not only were the O’s down 3-0 before they came to the plate, but Hammel needed 32 pitches to complete the first inning.  In the first game of a double header.  Other than his right arm literally falling off, that is the worst-case scenario.  At that point, it looked as though he may not make it out of the second or third inning.  Who would pitch all these innings today?  What if Wei-Yin Chen gets knocked out early in the second game?  Will Chris Davis pitch?

Many fans don’t realize it, but doubleheaders can mess up the bullpen for the next week.  Managers talk about it whenever a doubleheader creeps up.  While playing two games, most, if not all, of the bullpen is going to be used.  The problem is compounded when a starting pitcher can’t go relatively deep into the game.  Asking the bullpen to throw ten innings or more in one day is asking for trouble, especially when there isn’t a day off in the near future. 

That is why what Jason Hammel did yesterday is so remarkable.  He looked awful in the first inning.  His mechanics were off and he didn’t have his good stuff.  There are pitchers in the league, and we’ve seen some come through Baltimore in the past, who would have thrown the towel in for the day.  Hammel didn’t.  He made adjustments and figured out to work with what he had on that day.  When it was all said and done, he gave up four runs in six innings.  He came back out for the sixth inning after already being over 100 pitches on the day.  According to the definition, he didn’t turn in a “quality start.”  Better adjectives to describe his outing would be gritty and gutsy, and on this day those were more needed than quality.  He battled and fought through six innings and not only gave his team a chance to win that game, but kept the bullpen intact for the next couple of games.  I’ve watched Hammel throw a complete game shutout last season, but yesterday’s performance tells me more about him as a pitcher and his mental make-up and “want-to.” (To borrow a phrase from Buck.)

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an O’s starter battle through an outing without their good stuff or command.  As much as people have gotten on the backs of Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta, the pair has only been knocked out of a game in the early innings once.  And you could argue that neither one has brought their full repertoire of stuff and command to a game yet.  On Thursday, Miguel Gonzalez had no command of his fastball and got through his start using mainly off-speed pitches.   He kept his team in the game and they eventually won in the 10^th inning.  Even after last night’s game, Wei-Yin Chen said that he didn’t have good stuff.  He allowed a baserunner in each inning.  But he battled through that, got into the sixth inning, and gave his team a great chance to win. 

Hopefully at some point very soon these pitchers start coming out with good command of their pitches and their best stuff.  I wouldn’t mind seeing eight shutout innings every now and then.  Eventually, I think that the starters will hit their stride and we’ll see some performances like we saw last year.  Until then, I’m very happy that they have demonstrated that they can win without being on their A-game.    

I was sitting at Camden Yards last night for the O’s game against the Rays, and I was pretty comfortable.  There was nobody in front of me obstructing my view.  I could prop my foot up on the seat ahead of me.  I could spread out my arms.  There was an open seat next to me where I could put the sweatshirt I brought along.  Of course, empty green seats have been a familiar sight at the Yard in the past 15 years.  The only thing missing last night from the Glory Days was Melvin Mora at third base and Jay Gibbons in the outfield. 

As much as I enjoy having plenty of room at the ballpark, I would much rather be sitting in a packed house.  The atmosphere during the final month last season was fantastic, and was mentioned often by players.  I really thought that attendance, which was a huge problem in Baltimore until September of last year, would see a significant increase this season.  The team won 93 games last year and took the Yankees to Game 5 in the ALDS.  Prior to yesterday’s game, the club spent nine of twelve games on the road and finally returned home the overall successful road trip against tough AL East rivals.  Last night was a beautiful evening for baseball.  But I was with about 14,000 other people.  The night before was about the same.  Where is everybody?

Some people will give you the canned excuses we’ve heard for the last decade:  “It’s a weeknight during school.”  “It’s still a little chilly.”  “It’s early in the season, the games don’t matter that much.”  “It’s too expensive.”  These excuses are about as pathetic as watching Felix Pie attempt to hit left-handed pitching.  Or pitching in general.  I went to games all the time on weeknights while in school, and I always had my homework done.  If it’s cold, you can always put on another coat.  Would you rather be in the sun on a 95 degree day?  Games early in the year don’t matter???  Seriously?  Expense-wise, it isn’t as expensive as people make it out to be.  You don’t have to sit behind the plate when you go; there are upper deck seats for $10.  And you don’t need to get your kids or significant other a hat, foam finger, nachos, hot dog, and popcorn.  While I attending a game as a kid, I asked my dad if I could get some food.  He simply said, “No.”  I had a great time anyway. 

Orioles fans need to do a better job of getting out and supporting the team.  It is really plain and simple.  While this isn’t basketball or football where home-field advantage is very important, crowds that are big and loud really do help the club.  Players spoke often about how the big crowds at the end of last season got them jacked up and helped their game reach another level at the end of last year.  Nate McLouth said one of the major reasons he resigned in Baltimore was the fact that he loved playing in a “college football” type of environment.  I don’t think that he was referring to the type college football environment found at the University of Maryland’s Byrd Stadium during the last two seasons.  Sadly, that’s what we’ve seen at the Yard the past two nights. 

What can be done to get more people out?  The O’s have some of the cheapest tickets in the league, but maybe they could make it a little cheaper.  Last September, one of the reasons that the ballpark was filling on weekdays was that the team was running “BUCKle Up” ticket promotions where you could get an upper deck seat for four dollars or a lower level seat for eight.  Perhaps we should see more specials like that during the week.  Not only would it provide a good atmosphere, but the economics of the empty stadium seat have to be taken into account.  The seat is there and is already paid for.  Even if you let people in for a dollar, you’re still making a profit as well as getting more sales on merchandise and concessions.  In terms of baseball and economics, it would be a good idea. 

However, at the end of the day, it really does come back to Baltimore fans wanting to come out and support the team.  This city was craving winning baseball for a decade and a half.  Fans said they’d return when the city has a contending team.  We have it now!  The Orioles are contenders!  As fans, it is the duty of each one of us to get to Camden Yards as often as fits into our schedule and budget.

I love using the seat in front of me as a footrest, but I’ll sacrifice that any day for the playoff atmosphere that we finally got a taste of last year.   

The bottom of the 7^th and the top of the 8^th innings were without doubt the worst consecutive half innings I’ve ever watched in my life.  Orioles’ fans had the rare opportunity of watching a combination bad luck, lack of concentration, and overall bad baseball in a span of thirty minutes. 

The bottom of the 7^th started with the game tied at 2 and Miguel Gonzalez on the mound.  Despite being right up against 100 pitches, he was brought out to face Francisco Cervelli.  Being tired on a cold and raw evening, he walked him.  Then he was removed.  Didn’t I just write a rant about that?  Yes I did.  Troy Patton then came in and got two outs but put two more men on base.  Pedro Strop came on with the bases loaded and two outs and did his job against a right-handed hitter.  Unfortunately, Adam Jones didn’t do his job in catching the ball.  Three runs scored in the inning on no base hits. 

The bottom of the 7^th was a kick in the gut to me, and it surely had to be to the club as well.  To their credit, they started the 8^th inning with two base hits.  Perhaps they could jump on a struggling, tiring C.C. Sabathia.  Instead, Manny Machado hits into what may go down as the most boneheaded triple play in the history of the game.  After getting the middle runner at second following the groundball to the second baseman, Alexi Casilla got caught in a run down between second a third.  He must have gotten an awful read on the ball off the bat and froze.  Meanwhile, Machado was for some reason hanging out in between first and second base.  He was caught in a run down and tagged out.  A triple play.  Luckily for fans everywhere, we got to see Kevin Youkilis celebrate the play like a high school freshman benchwarmer who got his first ever base hit in a 10-run junior varsity game.   The sight of that following the Orioles stupidly running themselves into a triple play was too much to bear.  And it took the wind out of their sail, all but assuring the loss. 

Luckily, this is just one game out of 162.  During a season of that length, you can’t get too high or too low.  You have to take away some positives, such as Miguel Gonzalez turning in another good start at Yankee Stadium.  What impressed me about this performance was the fact that he clearly didn’t have his good stuff.  He struggled all night with command, but was able to battle through six innings on an absolutely miserable night.  Job well done indeed.

However, the negatives outweighed the positives in this one.  Obviously the Jones play sticks out.   I know that he’s human.  I know that mistakes happen.  I know that he’ll make that catch 99 times out of 100, and tonight was that one exception.  I know that he’s a Gold Glover who can be counted on for great defense for the rest of the season.  Still, that ball in that situation has to be caught.  Jones is the highest paid player on the team as well as the club’s clear leader.  He needs to come through and make that play.

Again, it’s only one game.   They get to come back tomorrow and get back after it.  Still, after two uplifting games to take the series in Boston, a win tonight would have been great.  It would have been a good step in winning the series in New York, which would be their third series win on the road against a division rival. 

Losses happen, as sometimes the other team is just better.  But tonight, the O’s beat themselves; and that isn’t the first time this season that that’s happened.  In a division that will be tight, the Orioles need to make sure two straight half innings like tonight doesn’t happen again.