Baltimore Orioles: Are They Who We Thought They Were?

Contrary to what Peter Schmuck writes in this morning’s Sun, no, the Baltimore Orioles are far more than we could’ve expected, even this early into the 2009 season.

There is still hope, there are still facts about Matt Wieters waiting to be discovered, and yes, this team will continue to improve.

Take a look at the current division leaders throughout Major League Baseball. Only two—the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals—have won more than five games out of their last 10.

There are a multitude of red-hot teams, but they're all playing catch up to squads that streaked out of the gate and have fallen back in the last two weeks of the season’s first month.

There’s a lot to be said about adjustments and comfort levels being established in these early-season series. The Orioles were buoyed early by extraordinarily poor pitching out of the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers, but then they ran into the Boston buzz saw and thus began the downward spiral.

The bullpen has been the culprit thus far for the O’s struggles, but if the Washington Nationals can turnover a bullpen and bring light out of darkness, then the Orioles shouldn’t be in terrible shape.

The Orioles are 5.5 back of the Sox, and a strong start in May’s road stands against the Toronto Blue Jays and Rays can bring that back within striking range. Youth is coming soon to infuse a vastly improved team from last season, but fans have to give it time.

We shouldn’t let two bad weeks erase all memory of the two strong weeks that preceded them.