With two weeks to go before the Baltimore Orioles’ Opening Day matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays (yes!) there are still plenty of questions around this team and issues that will have to be resolved.

After making four moves on Sunday — optioning Jesus Liranzo to Double-A Bowie and assigning Logan Schafer, David Washington and Austin Wynns to Minor League Camp, the Orioles’ Major League camp still stands at 46 players.

That is partly due to some players being absent while participating in the World Baseball Classic (more on this below) and 12 of those players are non-roster invitees. Regardless, there will not only be plenty of roster decisions made in the next couple weeks, but also some clarifications of roles.

With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at some burning questions around the club as Opening Day approaches.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

What will happen in the roster battle between Joey Rickard and Craig Gentry?

The Orioles signed Craig Gentry this winter to add some much needed defensive prowess to their group of outfielders. Gentry has not hit much over the last three seasons spent in Oakland and Anaheim, but had a solid three-year stretch in Texas before that in which he put up a .745 OPS (including a .365 OBP) while stealing 55 bases in 65 attempts.

It would be overly optimistic to expect those sort of numbers from him at age 33, but he could be quite serviceable as a fourth outfielder who can play all three spots and a right-handed bat with solid on-base skills vs. lefties.

But while Gentry strikes a nice contrast to the O’s collection of potted-plant sluggers, he also happens to be very similar to Joey Rickard.

To further complicate matters, both players are tearing it up this spring. Through Sunday, Rickard was hitting .343 and led the Orioles with three home runs. He also had 12 walks to only six strikeouts and a 1.149 OPS. Gentry wasn’t far behind, having hit two home runs and sporting a .306/.405/.528 slash line.

With the outfielder already pretty crowded with expected starters Adam Jones, Hyun Soo Kim and Seth Smith, not to mention Rule 5 guy Aneury Tavarez and late signee and outfield convert Pedro Alvarez, it would seem unlikely that the O’s keep both Rickard and Gentry.

So who wins out? The key factor might be service time – Rickard still has options, while Gentry does not. In that case, it might make the most sense – in the name of organizational depth — to start the season with Rickard in the minors. If Gentry struggles early on, you can always call him up.

Is this the year Kevin Gausman jumps up to elite status?

With the usual caveat that it’s dangerous to place too much emphasis on Spring Training results, the signs have been very good.

Gausman was brilliant against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, tossing five scoreless innings in which he allowed only two hits and one walk while striking out eight. In 10 innings this spring, Gausman has allowed batters a .167 average, striking out 13 and walking just two.

Perhaps more importantly, Gausman has been more efficient with his pitches, something both he and manager Buck Showalter have pointed out as a key.

“I think the biggest thing for a starter is getting up and down five times,” Gausman said after Sunday’s start. “That was my goal today, get to my pitch count, and get up and sit down five times.”

Last season, Gausman threw 3,113 pitches, the 27th most in MLB. But for all those pitches, he managed only 179.2 innings, which ranked tied for 46th. To be elite, he’s going to have to improve his efficiency. After all, it only makes sense to have your best pitcher in games longer and with Tillman possibly not entering the rotation until May, it’s going to be crucial for Gausman to take the next step right from the beginning.

Gausman has the stuff to be the O’s ace. If he takes the next step with pitch efficiency, he can be that guy.

Who takes Chris Tillman’s rotation spot?

The shoulder “discomfort” that has bothered the Orioles’ most experienced starter continues to be an issue. Initially it was a question of “if” Tillman would miss the start of the season. Now it looks like he will likely miss all of April.

The right-hander had been expected to resume throwing this week, but now that plan to get back on his throwing plan has been pushed back to Sunday as the team wants to give his recent cortisone shot a full 10 days to take effect.

In the long term, this is concerning news, as he was bothered by the shoulder last season, and the issues stretched into the offseason and disrupted his throwing program. With more problems this spring, you have to wonder how long he can compete effectively through this strategy of pain management.

In the short term, it means the O’s have a need in their rotation. Thanks to a light early schedule, the O’s don’t need a fifth starter until April 15 and another on the 25th. So it’s possible they would only need two spot starts before Tillman returns.

The question is, who will get those starts? There are a number of candidates who could join Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jimenez, with one candidate being Gabriel Ynoa.

Ynoa was acquired from the Mets in an offseason trade. He certainly has the tools to be a starter and he has had success in the minor leagues. But he has struggled with his command in the majors, walking 3.4/9 innings with the Mets in 2016. While he has walked only two this spring so far, Showalter recently said that number was deceiving.

“There’s one thing to throw strikes and there’s another thing to throw quality strikes, and it’s another thing to do it when the big lights come on. If you just base it on pure walk totals, you’re going to miss it sometimes.”

So basically, Ynoa still has command issues.

Left-hander Chris Lee, had similar issues in his most recent outing, battling deep counts and lasting just three innings, though they were somehow scoreless despite having five base runners. Lee would seem to be a darkhorse candidate, as he has never pitched above Double-A, and he struck out only 19 in 51.1 innings last season.

Another darkhorse is lefty Jayson Aquino, a 24-year-old who made a brief appearance for the Orioles last season (three games, 2.1 scoreless innings) and has allowed only one run in 11 innings this spring.

Mike Wright — who apparently was ruined by either Brady Anderson or former pitching coaches Dave Wallace and Dom Chiti, depending on who you ask — and Tyler Wilson would also have to be considered candidates for the spot as known commodities, though their Major League histories have been mediocre at best.

Who will it be? It’s hard to say at this point, and Showalter has said he hopes to get several more looks at all of these guys before making a decision, though his comments wondering if the young guys are ready mentally for the big stage make you wonder if he’ll go the Wright/Wilson route.

Is Adam Jones’ World Baseball Classic performance a good sign for 2017?

OK, so Jones is only hitting .222 in the WBC, but he seems to have taken on a leadership role with Team USA. He has also shone during the big moments, beating Colombia with a 10th inning single, smashing a game-tying home run against Venezuela and homering agai
n to spark a comeback (which ultimately fell short) against Puerto Rico.

Then of course there was “The Catch,” in which he robbed Orioles teammate Manny Machado (who has looked great, by the way) of a home run and thwarted a comeback by the Dominican Republic.

bal-adam-jones-game-saving-catch-robs-teammate-manny-machado-20170319

He has a spring in his step and appears to be completely healthy. If that carries over into the MLB season season, it will be a huge benefit for the Orioles.

Bob Harkins
Bob Harkins

Orioles Analyst

Bob Harkins is a veteran journalist who has worked as a writer, editor and producer for numerous outlets, including 13 years at NBCSports.com. He is also the creator of the Razed Sports documentary podcast and the founder of Story Hangar, a network of documentary podcasters.

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