We need a spark

[Flacco Machado]

So wait a second. Let me get this straight. This team was EXCITING as hell for all of 2012, but now the "pretty much" exact same team does not excite you because we've started off 7-7?????

Oh boy.

It's not so much the record, as Gordo said. Having the same exact team does not equate to having the same record. You know that. Look at the Ravens. They win a Super Bowl, yet they have replaced half their roster. One, because of the salary cap, but also because new players with different skill sets were needed. I'm as patient as anyone, but early warning signs from certain Oriole regulars worry me.

[Can_of_corn]

Well he looks as lost right now as Flaherty, whom we don't expect to hit as well. So if he is not healthy put him on the DL. Right now we can't afford his bat at DH, and we can't afford to drop too far under .500. The league is just too competitive this year. There are no pushovers to fatten up on.

That isn't even close to true.

[Dipper9]

Well he looks as lost right now as Flaherty, whom we don't expect to hit as well. So if he is not healthy put him on the DL. Right now we can't afford his bat at DH, and we can't afford to drop too far under .500. The league is just too competitive this year. There are no pushovers to fatten up on.

I agree he is struggling right now, but just for fun, here are Nolan's stats to date...

2013 29 BAL AL 12 41 37 5 7 0 0 1 1 0 1 4 13 .189 .268 .270 .539 51 10 2 0 0 0 0

The 13 strike outs in 41 plate appearances concerns me.

But, he is currently 7 for 37, for a .189 average. If he had 3 more hits, he'd be 10 for 37 for a .270 average. More to the point, lets say in his next 10 at bats, he gets 4 hits. Then he's 11 for 47 for a .234 average. Another 3 for 10 after that gets him to .246. Another 3 for 10 and he's at .254. And that's without getting "hot."

Instead, let's say he finds his stroke tonight and goes 4 for 5. Then he's at 11 for 42 for a .261 average.

In other words....SSS. 37 at bats is nothing. Now, if continues to swing and miss at the offspeed stuff, then maybe this is more of a problem. But for now, its nothing more than a slump.

[El Gordo]

I agree he is struggling right now, but just for fun, here are Nolan's stats to date...

The 13 strike outs in 41 plate appearances concerns me.

But, he is currently 7 for 37, for a .189 average. If he had 3 more hits, he'd be 10 for 37 for a .270 average. More to the point, lets say in his next 10 at bats, he gets 4 hits. Then he's 11 for 47 for a .234 average. Another 3 for 10 after that gets him to .246. Another 3 for 10 and he's at .254. And that's without getting "hot."

Instead, let's say he finds his stroke tonight and goes 4 for 5. Then he's at 11 for 42 for a .261 average.

In other words....SSS. 37 at bats is nothing. Now, if continues to swing and miss at the offspeed stuff, then maybe this is more of a problem. But for now, its nothing more than a slump.

I said in a vacuum. We could afford to wait a month on Reimold given his track record. But not in the context of no LH DH, Hardy and Wieters struggling, and zilch from whomever we have at 2B. We have to have a C, SS and 2B, but we don't necessarily have to have Reimold as the full time DH. Not a badly as he is hitting now.

[El Gordo]

Reimold is a power hitter. He has one extra base hit so far. Furthermore, for me, it's more than stats. It's the way he looks. He's either way out of whack or maybe not 100%. If it's just a slump I see no problem with limiting his AB's while he's in that slump. I think it's more than just his timing being off but we'll see.

His bad shoulder is his throwing shoulder, right? That means it's his back hand on the bat. My guess is he is cheating on FB to get around on them and getting fooled with breaking balls. Also the one hand swings would indicate shoulder issues, as does the lack of power.

[DrungoHazewood]

In a vacuum, maybe but with 3 other back of the order players struggling as well, I don't think we can afford to wait that long. If it was someone like Manny with his youth and potential sure, but Reimold is no Manny. The other option is to pick up a LH bat to DH in platoon with Reimold, and put Piearce on waivers, send down Dickerson, and platoon one of Canzler, or Ford with McLouth until Reimold finds his bat or it's time to give up on him.

So when you have multiple people slumping your best bet is to make decisions based on bad information? I realize the temptation to change what isn't working is strong, but what's best for the Orioles is probably to let Reimold work his way back to being an .800 OPS hitter, not expending resources on fixing things when the solution may already be here. If Pearce and Reimold were the solutions on April 1st, they're still the solutions on April 18th unless you have significant new information that your decision 17 days ago was wrong. 50 ABs don't qualify.

[El Gordo]

So when you have multiple people slumping your best bet is to make decisions based on bad information? I realize the temptation to change what isn't working is strong, but what's best for the Orioles is probably to let Reimold work his way back to being an .800 OPS hitter, not expending resources on fixing things when the solution may already be here. If Pearce and Reimold were the solutions on April 1st, they're still the solutions on April 18th unless you have significant new information that your decision 17 days ago was wrong. 50 ABs don't qualify.

The problem isn't just Reimold. We have to carry Hardy's bat because he is a valuable SS. We have to carry Casilla/Flaherty's bat because we have no other options at 2B. We have to carry Wieters bat against RH,P because he is such a good defensive C. We took a big hit with Betemit and Roberts going down, and we have nothing to fill the void. In that context I don't think we can afford the luxury of waiting for Reimold to find his bat. If he contributed with his glove maybe. I think he is playing hurt, given how he looks at the plate. and I would DL him.

[vab]

Yes, it's all terrible. Now for some perspective. First of all this year's 7-7 start is a whopping one game behind last year's 8-6 start. Now for some records from last year:

May 20 - June 6 5-9

June 22 - July 7 5-9

July 7 - July 25 6-8

This is just from a cursory look at last year's results. I'm sure you could find more bad stretches like this. Everybody just forgets that it wasn't all smooth-sailing and comeback wins and Oriole magic every day last year. Not that there isn't anything to be concerned about right now but this is baseball, people. Get a hold of yourselves.

[cmurter]

I guess there is a chance that Reimold has suddenly forgotten how to hit. However, all the people "in the know" including our very own Tony Pente believe that if healthy, Nolan is a major league hitter. I can't believe the people ready to be done with him after 14 team games!

Bingo. How quickly we forget he had 2 vertebrae fused in his neck last year. That's a huge operation. Give the guy more than 2 weeks to get his stroke back.

[DrungoHazewood]

The problem isn't just Reimold. We have to carry Hardy's bat because he is a valuable SS. We have to carry Casilla/Flaherty's bat because we have no other options at 2B. We have to carry Wieters bat against RH,P because he is such a good defensive C. We took a big hit with Betemit and Roberts going down, and we have nothing to fill the void. In that context I don't think we can afford the luxury of waiting for Reimold to find his bat. If he contributed with his glove maybe. I think he is playing hurt, given how he looks at the plate. and I would DL him.

If he's hurt, sure, look at DLing him and bringing up Canzler. But if he's just not hitting for the moment there's pretty fair evidence Reimold is the best available guy for the job. I'd rather suck it up and take Reimold slumping for another week or two if that gets his stroke back and he OPSes .800 the rest of the way, rather than start shuffling through guys who didn't make the cut three weeks ago.

And you don't have to carry both Flaherty and Casilla when you have Navarro. He might be the best second baseman in the organization.

[El Gordo]

If he's hurt, sure, look at DLing him and bringing up Canzler. But if he's just not hitting for the moment there's pretty fair evidence Reimold is the best available guy for the job. I'd rather suck it up and take Reimold slumping for another week or two if that gets his stroke back and he OPSes .800 the rest of the way, rather than start shuffling through guys who didn't make the cut three weeks ago.

And you don't have to carry both Flaherty and Casilla when you have Navarro. He might be the best second baseman in the organization.

I am happy giving him another week or two, just not another month as you suggested. And I have said elsewhere I would send down Flaherty for Navarro right now. I would also sign Thome as a LH bat and send down Dickerson, if Reimold is not injured.

[sportsfan8703]

Any news on Roberts? Today will be 2 weeks since he's been out.

[wildcard]

What I didn't see in Mclouth last night was 3 K's He put the ball in play, that has some value. And he managed a walk. Reimold did zilch. If Reimold isn't hitting, he has no business in the lineup. Really Reimold has much better career numbers vs LHP than McLouth, but how long can we afford to wait for him to regress to his mean. 2 months? a season?

The walk was against righty Fernando Rodney. No one is questioning if McLouth can hit righties. He is 0-5 vs lefties this year.

I would platoon McLouth and Reimold in left and give Canzler the fulltime DH job.

[SoCal]

Is there an update on Roberts? When is he due back? I think he could provide a nice little spark if he can hit like he was during the opening TB series. We need more balanced hitting in the line-up IMO.

[SoCal]

Nevermind. Answered my own question: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/223690/brian-roberts Bummer.