What Does Hot Start Mean for the Baltimore O's?

With victories in five of their first seven games, including series wins over the Yankees and Rays, it has been a good start to the 2009 season for the Baltimore Orioles.  

The question, of course, is whether the Birds are again giving fans false April hope or if this could finally be the year that early success leads to a full season as a contender.

Since 1998, the Orioles have registered a .500 or better April record in seven of 11 seasons, including five of the last six.  A year ago, Baltimore started the season with a 6-1 record before finishing the month with a 16-12 mark, their best first month since starting 16-7 in 2005.

Unfortunately, that early success has not carried beyond the first months of the season as Baltimore has posted 11 straight losing seasons.  The Orioles have not finished a season with more than 78 victories since winning the American League East with a 98-64 record in 1997.

While recent fast starts have proved to be fool’s gold for fans of the O’s, there are a lot of positive things to like about the start to 2009.  However, there are also warning signs that indicate that Baltimore could still be a year away from contending.

Here are some “Orioles’ Observations” from the first week of the 2009 campaign:

With Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Aubrey Huff, and Melvin Mora, opposing pitchers will get little rest at the top of the Baltimore lineup.

I’m really thankful the Orioles never traded Brian Roberts to the Cubs.

This could be the breakout season for Adam Jones.

Nick Markakis is definitely the real deal and could be a sleeper candidate for MVP.

Cesar Izturis hits more like Belanger than Ripken, but he gives the O’s much-needed stability at shortstop.

Gregg Zaun and Chad Moeller give the Bird’s improved defense behind the plate, but they won’t provide much offensive punch.  It will be interesting to see how long Matt Wieters remains at Triple-A Norfolk.

Jeremy Guthrie’s awful Spring Training actually may have been just an aberration.

Koji Uehara and Mark Hendrickson aren’t going to be All-Stars, but they are an upgrade over the starters from last season.

Danys Baez may be back to the form he showed in saving 96 games between 2003-2005.

The rest of the Orioles bullpen has been AWFUL.

With every outing, George Sherrill reminds me more-and-more of Don “Full Pack” Stanhouse. There will be a lot of nail-biting ninth innings if he remains the closer for the entire season.