Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Next Up: the Baltimore Orioles.



Ah, Baltimore. Crab cakes. Poe. Fort McHenry. Screen doors. And the Baltimore Orioles. Recently, there's been nothing quite as satisfying when they're a little down on their luck as knowing that the next team the boys are facing is the Baltimore Orioles (well, maybe the Devil Rays-they were always good for a pick-me-up.) And now that I've said that, watch them take both games and do so in an embarrassing fashion. They did get off to a hot start this year but seem to have cooled down, as of late.


The Os pitcher for tonight is Jeremy Guthrie. He has a very good, deceptive fastball. He also throws a slider and a change-up. He induces a lot of ground ball outs. Consistency and concentration have been a problem for him.



The Os pitcher for tomorrow is Daniel Cabrera. The man is huge and like a boulder if he gets in a groove there is little to be done to stop him. He has a fabulous fastball and a great slider, both with good movement. He also throws two curveballs, one with a hard break and a loopy 12-6 one. He struggles with bouts of wildness and inconsistency, though. Like Lester (whom he is facing), he has high walk totals that often come back to bite him-but so far this year he seems to have lowered the number of walks he allows. He's also distracted by baserunners. He's got very good stamina but is terrible at fielding his position. And he's got the whole temper problem-last September, he threw at Pedroia's head after he was charged with a balk on Coco.



Their best hitter is their right fielder Nick Markakis (who is from the same town as and exactly two days younger than Craig Hansen.) Markakis also plays very good defense. Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora, and Aubrey Huff are no slouches offensively either. And there's always Millar. Millar has a good year going this year, as well.

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