The Orioles Haven't Hit Consistently In Years, But These 3 Tweaks Could Help

The Baltimore Orioles are once again a feast-or-famine ballclub that still can’t hit left-handed pitching and struggles against starters who don’t over-rely on their fastball and produced far too much swing-and-miss,’

I’m not going to tell you that little ‘ol me can fix systemic issues that run into the very marrow of the organization under suspect baseball czar Mike Elias. They don’t have the common sense to swap out more of the hitting and analytics staff to try to fix what’s been a largely broken lineup since May 2024.

But there are certainly some cosmetic alterations they could make and some tweaks they could employ before playing a doubleheader on Thursday (weather permitting) to hopefully take advantage of a Houston staff that has been about as forgiving as any in professional baseball. Seems like rookie skipper Craig Albernaz could use some help getting this crew to play anything resembling fundamentally sound baseball on a regular basis, so let’s give it a shot.

Put Out The Blaze

Less is more when it comes to utility-guy Blaze Alexander.

I get it, from Albernaz’s standpoint. Your boss probably overpaid in trade – again – to land Alexander from Arizona and with Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday injury, and your roster horribly short on MLB-level defenders, you want his glove in there as much as possible. But he’s being spread horribly thin, he’s being asked to do too much, and he needs a chance to rest some.

Alexander has some hard-hit peripherals that would portend better outcomes, but he’s got a .172/.238/.190 slashline. Jeremiah Jackson is clutch and his glove has played far better as second than anyone could have hoped for. Coby Mayo has made great contact the last two weeks (don’t sit him against lefties when he’s got) and made serious strides at 3B. Leody Taveras bats 9th and is your regular CF with Taylor Ward in left and Dylan Beavers in RF (especially against RHP).

Blaze is on the bench. Use him like a Jorge Mateo type when he couldn’t hit a lick last year. This lineup needs to start producing against starting pitching sitting middle of the pack in MLB in SLG and OPS through the first five innings. They can’t field and won’t field. The starting rotation is going to be a big problem. The lineup needs to be a power, at the very least, if not a super power.

Totally, Radley

More Adley Rutschman, please!

He opened the year looking better than he has in two years, headed right to the IL – which has been a major concern – they came back looking like the same guy. Patient and short to the ball to punch it the other way with men on base. Gap-to-gap doubles approach in the power alleys. Not dropping his shoulder and chasing launch angle. Working counts!

Love it all.

So, uh, with him finally looking like a No. 2 or No. 3 hitter again, what’s up with getting like every third day off? I know for years he only hit when he DHed and even then he didn’t really hit. But please, somebody over there, convince Elias to let his former 1-1 play everyday for the 18 months he still has him.

He’s finally played four straight games. Hooray!. Let him catch one game and DH the other tomorrow. This is a stretch with no off days til the middle of May and this is also a critical piece who has already missed enough of his prime either on the IL or flummoxed or slumping. Embrace this torrid start. Put him at 1B if you have to (I know, Pete Alonso never takes a day off).

Can’t Play Cowser

Elias is really going to buck this trend, but the rookie skipper should take a stand here and keep the former top-five pick on the bench until the GM is maybe forced to send him to AAA. The at bats were well below MLB quality and have been for far too long. The inability to make contact vs offspeed pitches is staggering. No one is throwing him a fastball, and when he does get in the lineup again he’s going to try to hit a bunch of home runs to try to stay in the lineup, and part of the problem as to how we ended up in this spot to begin with.

The swing-and-miss is out of control. The defense isn’t special enough to really fit a fourth outfielder role, but there is no room for him in spots 1-9 right now.

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