![The Orioles made three errors this week and all of...]()
Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
The Orioles made three errors this week and all of them were in the same inning, which might lead you to believe that the team played pretty good defense in the other 44 innings last week. And you would be wrong. Even Buck Showalter didn't try to put it in a positive perspective after Saturday's game unraveled. The errors aren't the whole story. They're just the statistical proof of a misplayed ball. There have also been too many hits that should have been outs. This is a defense that has lost its Oriole Way.
![This obviously is going to be a statistic that says...]()
Patrick Semansky / AP
This obviously is going to be a statistic that says more about the offense than the rotation, but it's pretty amazing, and not in a good way. Four of the five Orioles starter – including rookie David Hess – delivered quality starts last week and the rotation finished the week with an 0-5 record and a 4.45 combined ERA. Hess had the best outing, giving up just one earned run over six innings. Gausman was at the other end of the spectrum, giving up five earned runs over 5 1/3 innings. The Orioles do not have a bad starting rotation, which is quite a flipped script from last season.
![When the big highlights of the week are a couple...]()
Patrick Semansky / AP
When the big highlights of the week are a couple of rainouts, there's not a whole lot more to say. The Orioles have fallen off the proverbial cliff and they can't get up. The time has come to begin making preparations for the 2020 season. Yes, the 2020 season. This team needs to do a major rebuild – with the exception of the starting rotation – and if you need more evidence of that, you haven't been paying attention.
![The Orioles scored two runs in a three-game series against...]()
Patrick Semansky / AP
The Orioles scored two runs in a three-game series against the Washington Nationals at the start of the week and six runs in a pair of losses to the Yankees that were bookended by related postponements. So, add that up and you've got a week in which the team averaged 1.6 runs per game. So, it should be easy to conclude from a week that featured six runs on 36 hits that the Orioles continue to have trouble stringing enough hits together to push a runner around the bases. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. If they don't hit home runs, they don't score, and when they hit only solo home runs, they don't score very much. They hit five solo home runs last week, three of them by Manny Machado. Adam Jones also had a good week, but he and Machado were the only regulars who batted better than .222 over the five games.
![Orioles relievers didn't get overworked last week and they didn't...]()
Patrick Semansky / AP
Orioles relievers didn't get overworked last week and they didn't really pitch a lot of relevant innings. The 'pen allowed seven earned runs in 14 2/3 innings for a 4.30 combined ERA. Five of those runs came from uncharacteristic performances by Mychal Givens and Richard Bleier, who get a pass because they've carried so much of the middle-relief load this season. Zach Britton appears close to returning to the active roster after Achilles tendon surgery, which should allow Showalter to go back to his preferred late-inning format if the O's can get into some save sitautions.
The Orioles made three errors this week and all of them were in the same inning, which might lead you to believe that the team played pretty good defense in the other 44 innings last week. And you would be wrong. Even Buck Showalter didn't try to put it in a positive perspective after Saturday's game unraveled. The errors aren't the whole story. They're just the statistical proof of a misplayed ball. There have also been too many hits that should have been outs. This is a defense that has lost its Oriole Way.
Expand
Check out Peter Schmuck’s Orioles grades for the week of May 28-June 3.
