Opening Day (4/6)!!!

[WizStorm]

So here are your 2010 Baltimore Orioles:

Starters:
Kevin Millwood
Jeremy Guthrie
Brian Matusz
Brad Bergesen
David Hernandez

Relievers:
Mike Gonzalez
Jim Johnson
Will Ohman
Cla Meredith
Mark Hendrickson
Matt Albers
Jason Berken

Catchers:
Matt Wieters
Craig Tatum

Infielders:
Miguel Tejada
Cesar Izturis
Brian Roberts
Garrett Atkins
Ty Wigginton
Julio Lugo

Outfielders;
Nick Markakis
Adam Jones
Nolan Reimold
Felix Pie
Luke Scott


Any predictions for season? Breakout players? Disappointments?

[Rafael122]

Breakout Player: Felix Pie

Disappointment: Tejada as the cleanup hitter.

Our rotation is still a bit suspect. I'm more confident in Brad, Brian, and Kevin, than I am with Guthrie and Hernandez.

[miller31time]

Just looking for improvement. Nothing major (though I can dream), but enough to give me confidence that in another year or two, we will be ready to seriously compete.

I think our pitching staff is going to struggle mightily again this season. Millwood is good but he's not *that* good. Matusz will be a solid pro but not this early into his career. Guthrie is apparently regressing season by season (2 years ago, he showed serious promise, last year he struggled and in the preseason, he's looked horrible).

I'm thinking a 75-win season is what we have in store (75-87)

[WizStorm]

Guthrie concerns me big time. I'm thinking that when Tillman is finally ready to called up, it might be Guthrie on the chopping block instead of Hernandez.

Millwood is a mild concern to me. He had a good year for him last season, but up until last season his opponent BA was horrendous. There will be games where the teams in the AL East are going to chew him up. But still, I think he'll be consistent and somewhat reliable pitcher on most nights and is a HUGE upgrade to Adam Eaton from last years opening day rotation (UGH!!!)

I am pretty happy with Matusz, Bergeson and even Hernandez as the 5th starter. I think the rotation has the makings of being a pretty good staff.

As for hitters, I am nervous about our new corner infielders. Both are high risk/reward and both are capable of being huge disappointments.

[no D in Hibachi]

Seasons about to start and just want to official predict the ending record will be 69-93. The pitching staff will struggle. Millwood had a good season last year, but his peripherals suggest that he’ll revert back to his 2007, 2008 form. I’m worried that Guthrie will be a major disappointment, which is sad because I really like him. I’m excited for Matusz and Bergy, but I think Bergy will regress a bit this season. He was just too good last year. Matusz will win ROY and possibly in the running for CY Young if he can get enough wins. He’s phenomenal.

In the spirit of the OP I think the biggest breakout player(s) will be Pie and Wieters

Biggest disappointment: Markakis, who will post a sub 800 OPS.

[miller31time]

Well Millwood has looked fantastic and our bullpen has done a nice job as well.

3 more outs until we can put this one in the win column!

[miller31time]

And our new closer blows it.

Orioles magic!

[WizStorm]

That one hurt.

So many chances to score, yet all the O's could manager were 3 solo HRs.

Plz let this be an aberration for Gonzalez. The last thing I want to see is another George Sherrill that gives you a heart-attack every game, but actually follows through and rips your heart out.

[miller31time]

It seems like whenever I say we're going to win a game, we end up losing. So all I'll say is that I like the way we're playing in game-3. That's it.

[miller31time]

So we signed a closer that can't close?

We won this by the hair on our chinny-chin-chin no thanks to Gonzo. Nice to get the 1st W of the season.

No on to our home opener.

[WizStorm]

So we signed a closer that can't close?

We won this by the hair on our chinny-chin-chin no thanks to Gonzo. Nice to get the 1st W of the season.

No on to our home opener.

Uggg ... well, I just returned from the hospital after a mild cardiac arrest. Starting off the season with three 1-run games and having Mike Gonzalez as the closer, I don't know how much more I can take.

At least we got 3 pretty good pitching performances (starting, middle and setup at least) and the hitters seem to have brought the lumber this season. On the downside, the situational hitting, clutch hitting and baserunning have left a bit to be desired so far.

Of course the season is young and the most important aspect of the game, starting pitching is off to a good start. Anyone miss Rich Hill or Adam Eaton yet?

[Rafael122]

It's early, but I like what I see from the team so far. Good defense, pitching has been solid so far. We could have won 2 of those games had Gonzo closed Game 1.

[miller31time]

Well, there goes our hot pitching streak. Bergesen playing like crap.

[miller31time]

Can we get a frigging refund on Gonzales?

[WizStorm]

Can we get a frigging refund on Gonzales?

I can't even watch the 9th inning anymore.

[miller31time]

Alright, I did feel a little bad with the entire stadium booing the hell out of him as he walked off, and the camera shows a close-up of his face.

Not quite bad enough as to think he shouldn't be ashamed of his performances, though.

[miller31time]

Another 1-run loss. We're probably 3-1 without Gonzales. I hate him.

[WizStorm]

Wow ... what a demoralized team right now. Wasting away some great pitching performances with some crappy hitting, horrendous baserunning and absolutely no fundamentals. Not sure if it's the multiple let-downs from M-Gon or B-Rob being put on the IR, but this team has no spark right now.

Of the few bright spots, we got Matusz pitching tonight and Wieters is hitting well.

[no D in Hibachi]

If someone told me before the season that in the first ten game the following starters would have the following ERA's I'd be shocked at the 1-9 record: Berken 2.08 in 8.2 IP, Millwood 2.13, Guthrie 4.05, Matusz 4.38, and Hernandez 4.91.

The lineup is the worst in MLB and what's worse is that the O's 'highly touted' position prospects (Snyder and Bell) are barely above .200 at AAA.

[pancakes3]

i'm going to shamelessly start following baseball simply because the girl i'm trying to get with is an O's fan. call it what you want it, but i'm ok with it.