Yesterday’s loss in Detroit brought the first month of the baseball season to a close for the Birds. 12-16, going nowhere fast and facing a critical 7-game homestand against Cleveland and Tampa Bay, I figured now was as good a time as any to send home report cards for all of the O’s to review with their parents. I don’t think Mom and Dad are going to be too happy with what they see, but here goes.
I’ll give a first-month grade, plus a little synopsis of the player’s season to date, a la The Daily Racing Form.
* Jay Gibbons - Hitting .185, 1 HR, 8 RBI…Grade: “F” – Comments: There are slow starts and then there are SLOW starts.
* Freddie Bynum – .214, 1 HR, 4 RBI…Grade: “D” – Looks out of his league at the plate.
* Paul Bako – .222, 1 HR, 5 RBI…Grade: “C” – Was acceptable during the fill-in work for Hernandez.
* Kevin Millar – .225, 2 HR, 7 RBI…Grade: “D” – Doesn’t look as inspired as he did last year. Is he tired of losing? Maybe.
* Corey Patterson – .230, 1 HR, 9 RBI…Grade: “C-” – If only he could hit as well as he plays the outfield.
* Aubrey Huff – .231, 3 HR, 13 RBI…Grade: “D” – Really expected a lot more.
* Nick Markakis – .239, 3 HR, 15 RBI…Grade: “D” – Leads the team in strikeouts with 23. He needs to get on track, quickly.
* Melvin Mora – .243, 5 HR, 18 RBI…Grade: “C-” – Too much brooding, not enough hitting.
* Brian Roberts – .257, 1 HR, 7 RBI…Grade: “D” – Too many strikeouts, not enough home runs and not worth that big contract yet.
* Chris Gomez – .303, 1 HR, 5 RBI…Grade: “B-” – Probably should play more. Always gives an honest effort.
* Miguel Tejada – .345, 2 HR, 14 RBI…Grade: “D” – Not doing enough. Not even close to enough. Appears disinterested at times.
No grade because they haven’t played enough: Jay Payton and Ramon Hernandez.
Pitchers -
* Chad Bradford – Grade: “B-” – Has been very reliable so far.
* Brian Burres – Grade: “B+” – See above. He’s done the job when called upon.
* Jamie Walker – Grade: “B+” – Except for that Ortiz single that drove in the big run, he’s been VERY tough to hit.
* Jeremy Guthrie – Grade: “C+” – Useful. Might become an important part of the summer if he has to start in place of Wright.
* Danys Baez – Grade: “C” – We’re getting about what we thought we’d get from him.
* Chris Ray – Grade: “D” – He is SUPPOSED to earn saves. He’s not SUPPOSED to give up game-winning grand slams.
* Erik Bedard – Grade: “C-” - Has had a couple of good starts and a couple of bad ones. We need him to be MUCH better.
* Daniel Cabrera – Grade: “B-” – If not for that episode in Detroit on Monday, he might have received a “B+”.
* Adam Loewen – Grade: “B” – He’s been decent, although he’s clearly walking far too many people. That needs to be fixed.
* Jaret Wright – Grade: “D” – Wasn’t that good when he was healthy and got tagged on Sunday when he wasn’t healthy.
* Steve Trachsel – Grade: “B” – Has been the team’s most reliable starter to date.
Note: I’ll give Sam Perlozzo a “C-” for his first month’s report card. Not having Payton and Hernandez hurt him a little bit from a right-handed bat standpoint. Overall, though, he’s mixed in a bunch of puzzling pitching moves with some other issues such as not bearing down on his players in the midst of this losing skid.
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