1st week Bottom line - Not good enough

[wildcard]

Overall

3-3 record at the end for a week. Not good enough for a playoff contender. Probably one game behind the Jays and Red Sox.

O's have to do better.

Offense: Good

31 runs in 6 games. 5.2 runs per game. I will sign up for that for the year.

Pitching: Poor

4.75 runs allowed per game will not be good enough.

Did well in 3 games allowing a total of 5 runs. In the other 3 allowed 5, 12 and 10. Just too many.

Starter - 4.91 ERA. Poor

Tillman, Gonzalez and Jimenez did well.

Tillman, Norris and Chen did poorly. O's need one of these guys to do better.

Pen 4.56 ERA Poor

Hunter, Matusz, Garcia and Britton did well

Brach - allowed runs is all four of him outings

Gausman - allowed runs in both his outings

O'Day - allowed a two run homer hurting the O's come back

W Wright didn't pitch well and ended up on the DL

O's need better from these guys

Defense Poor

Many, many great plays but Buck has high standards and allowing 4 unearned runs is not how this team gets to the playoffs.

Snider has to do better to keep his outfield job. He will get more chances.

Winning is the measure that counts. O's needed to be 4-2 and end up 3-3. They need to improve to be playoff contenders.

[McNulty]

Dude take it easy. Last year they were 500 through June 1.

[El Gordo]

Dude take it easy. Last year they were 500 through June 1.

This is the point. It's all about pitching, it takes about two months for the SP to settle in to what it is. That's what Earl always said. That's when you make assessments about what you might need to add. One week? Ridiculous.

[wildcard]

Yep. It's all about the pitching, mainly the starting pitching.

Exactly. I am not saying that Dan and Buck would make changes off one weeks performance but it is the pitching and defense that needs to improve to make this a playoff team.

[Spy Fox]

The only thing I am actually concerned about so far is Bud Norris. Chen and Tillman had poor outings but at least they looked good at times. Didn't watch the whole game but from what I heard, Norris looked pretty bad, this on top of consistently looking bad in the Spring.

Overall I'd say I feel a bit better a week into the season than I did on Opening Day, actually. In the tiny smidgeon of a way that a week of April baseball can change the outlook of a team, which is a very tiny smidgeon. But the positive signs from Jimenez, Snider, and Schoop are encouraging hints.

[AlbionHero]

Everything always balances out in baseball eventually, and its incredibly tough to keep on outpitching the peripherals like the O's did last year. Outside of Ubaldo, these guys aren't looking very impressive so far. We really need to hope they can get it working because if not, its going to be a long season.

Offense is fine though, I just hope Manny can start hitting.

[SpinJr]

Norris is concerning to me. He struggled all Spring and it appears it carried over. I'd say he'd be on the hot seat but Kevin has not pitched well at all.

[weams]

There is nothing wrong with the defense.

The defense is all but perfect.

[TonySoprano]

Yep. It's all about the pitching, mainly the starting pitching.

4.91 ERA, 11th, also last in IP.

[justice98]

4.91 ERA, 11th, also last in IP.

They ERA almost certainly will get better, but they'll probably be last or close to it in terms of IP all season. I don't see that part changing too much.

[Frobby]

There is nothing wrong with the defense.

I don't think the unearned runs allowed last week is a good measure of the defense. Three of them came on one play. That probably won't happen again for another five years. Just one of those things.

[mdbdotcom]

If the point of the OP is that it's too early to judge these broad categories, I agree.

[DrungoHazewood]

There is nothing wrong with the defense.

There might be if you subscribe to the theory that each moment in a baseball game is fully representative of a team's long-term talents and abilities. Of course that's total nonsense, but it's also at the root of most April analysis of baseball teams.

[duffaphonic]

They might consider putting Gausman in Norfolk if his relief appearances don't improve.

[NCRaven]

I am concerned about Norris and O'Day, at this point. O'Day, it seems to me, dropped off in the last 3rd of last season and has not started out well. Norris had a poor spring and it has carried over into the regular season. Unfortunately, the same can be said for Gausman - what is up with that?

If Snider breaks in on that ball with the bases empty, no one cares. At worst, the Jays score one run that inning, not four. Tillman's walking of the bases loaded set Snider up for failure on that play. Other than that, the defense has been excellent.

Finally, I hope Schoop is better soon because Flaherty is not a major league hitter. Having him and any of our catchers in the #8 and #9 positions creates a black hole in the lineup.