Every week that we have baseball this season, and enjoy every single one because it could disappear at any given moment, I will be taking note of the three hottest Orioles and the three coldest.
(You can discuss this on the BSL board here.)
3 Up
Renato Nunez – .261/.346/.652 (.998), 4 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 11 K, 23 AB
2019 was a year of incredibly hot streaks and freezing cold stretches for Nunez and coming into 2020 I wanted to see if he could even that out to become more consistent. Or at least shrink the slumps as much as possible. What he did prove is that he hits the ball with authority and when he connects the ball tends to go a long way. Time will tell if he has found a way to prevent becoming lost at the plate but he started off on a hot streak (.973 OPS over the first 14.5 games). The good news about a 60 game season like this one is when you get off to a strong start its a lot harder to have your final numbers come back down to earth. We’re 25% through the season and not only are the Orioles remarkably playing .500 baseball but players like Nunez are capitalizing on their opportunities before the “cavalry” of prospects start to make their mark on the big league team.
Pedro Severino – .429/.529/.714 (1.244), 1 R, 1 double, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP, 17 AB
Severino is the A side in the Orioles surprisingly dominant catching tandem early on in the season. Chance Sisco just missed making this list with a 1.400 OPS over 10 at bats but Pedro got the nod due to having similar success over almost double the sample size. Even when he wasn’t starting he was contributing, hitting a pinch hit homerun off Nationals set up man Sean Doolittle en route to a late inning Orioles comeback on Saturday. Despite a rare two catcher’s interference in one inning a couple weeks ago Severino is still the best the O’s have to offer behind the plate defensively. He had a surprisingly good bat in 2019, looked great at the plate in summer camp and has carried it over into the 2020 season. The battle to see who will be Adley Rutschman’s backup will continue throughout the season and into 2021.
Asher Wojciechowski – 0-1, 2.08 ERA, 8.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 8 K, 1.15 WHIP
Tommy Milone had another great start, shutting out the defending champion Nationals over six innings, and John Means improved on his rough season debut while keeping the impressive new velocity but Wojciechowski was able to be successful in two starts on only three days rest. Thats especially impressive in this bizarre season where pitchers weren’t able to build their arms up like in a normal season and are suffering injuries at a very high rate. He only pitched five innings against the Marlins, when he unfortunately was tagged with the loss due to the Orioles’ catatonic offense, and then 3.2 against the Nationals this weekend but he had his breaking ball working in both outings. I still think Wojo ends up as a solid relief arm where he can spam his slider into a high strikeout rate but in a season like this while the Orioles are refusing to bring up pitching prospects (Other than Keegain Akin who was called up yesterday but hasn’t got into a game) its nice to have a guy who can eat some innings and keep the team in games.
3 Down
Wade LeBlanc – 0-0, 16.20 ERA, 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 2.40 WHIP
LeBlanc had a strong first two starts but the train came off the rails a bit on Thursday. He just seemed out of sorts. Unfortunately for a soft tossing crafty lefty you need to be on your A game (or at least B game) or else major league hitters are going to tee off on you. It doesn’t help that he had one of the weirdest balks I’ve ever seen. He started his delivery, looked like he was going to throw behind to second base in a pick-off attempt, changed his mind at the last second and threw a ball about 40 feet almost falling down in the process. The way Tommy Milone is pitching to start the year it seems certain now that LeBlanc is at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to the starting rotation. Keegan Akin is the first man up with a chance to make an impression out of the bullpen. If he is successful in his first couple appearances I wouldn’t be surprised if he switches places with LeBlanc.
Chris Davis – .158/.158/.263 (.421), 2 R, 2 doubles, 6 K, 19 AB
The biggest surprise with this is that Davis didn’t show up on here last week, which he easily could have but I wanted to give him a break. Break time is over. He came into spring looking buff and had good numbers in spring training 1.0. Maybe the four month shut down let some doubt creep in to his new found confidence because he still looks like a shell of his former self. Hes striking out a little bit less but it seems to have come at the expense of whatever power he has left. He comes across as the Rick Ankiel/Chuck Knoblach of hitting. During the season in Boston he hit a long fly ball off the wall but didn’t run and was almost thrown out at second base. He then proceeded to forget how many outs there were and was doubled off to end the inning. This past week he hit a ball to the warning track that off the bat looked like it should be five rows deep. I’ve given up hoping the Orioles eat the money and cut ties with Davis but hopefully he at least starts to spend more time on the bench, especially when Ryan Mountcastle makes his debut.
Andrew Velasquez – .000/.125/.000 (.125), 1 BB, 4 K, 7 AB
I don’t mean to pick on Velasquez who won the backup shortstop role in spring/summer. Clearly hes mostly here for his ability to provide solid defense at a premium position and its a short sample size offensively but the guy hasn’t hit a lick over 19 at bats. DJ Stewart and Cedric Mullins were sent down to the extended roster in Bowie due to not hitting in the early going and Velasquez appears to be the next guy going down that road. With Pat Valaika, who is hitting a little bit, able to handle shortstop in a pinch once Jose Iglesias completely recovers from his lower leg injury and Ryan Mountcastle looming in the background I would enjoy every moment Velasquez gives us over the next week because it could be the last time we see him in the majors in 2020. There is still some talent and versatility in here so I’m not sure if they’ll completely give up on him. Maybe if he changed his name to Andy and pitched a few games in relief he could become a fan favorite.
BSL Analyst
Bob is a co-host of ‘On the Verge’ an Orioles podcast focused on the O’s farm system here on BSL. He used to run the baseball blog ‘The Oriole Report’ before transitioning to podcasting about movies, TV, Video Games, and MMA. ‘The Redbox Report’ movie podcast was started in 2013 followed by ‘The Redbelt Report’ MMA podcast in 2016. Bob has also written for Konsume.com and BaltimoreSportsReport.com and delivers mail for a living in Baltimore County. Follow him on Twitter @TheOrioleReport.