Around the Oriole Blog-O-Sphere: Acceptance Edition

Roar from 34 looks at the ultimate good news/bad news situation. The Orioles pitching staff has been racking up quality starts. But they haven't been winning any of them.

Camden Crazies delves deep into the question..."Where the hell if the offense?"

Camden Depot has a quick graph showing Nick Markakis' walk rate and how it has diminished over the past week or so. Indeed, Nick has no walks and 9 strikeouts over the past 9 games, something he'll need to turn around if he is to have lasting success this season. I would imagine this is a sign that he is pressing a bit, feeling the need to swing the bat more with the offense in a funk. But for now, it's working.

Baltimore Sports Report breaks down the upcoming series in Boston.

It could always be worse. At least the Orioles are not the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.

Chris Stoner at Baltimore Sports and Life looks ahead to what he hopes to see from the rest of the Oriole season. It certainly better than focusing on the present.

Over at Camden Chat, sandalfan believes that the Oriole's woes are best explained by one phenomenon...bad luck.

Patrick Smith imagines Andy MacPhail having a sit-down with Dave Trembley. This is a week old but unfortunately, still very relevant.

Not really the Blog-O-Sphere but Shorebirds announcer Bret Lasky has an interview with former Oriole and current Delmarva coach Mike Devereaux. I know Bret did an interview with Matt Hobgood...looking forward to hearing that.

Quick Thoughts on the Slump

If you would have told me that the Orioles' starters would be 7th in the AL in ERA during the first week of the season, I would have been encouraged. If you would have told me that the Oriole starters would have turned in more quality starts than the Yankees or the Red Sox, I would have been thrilled. If you would have told me that the Oriole starters would lead the AL in strikeouts, I would have thought the Orioles would have been off to a very good start.

Hasn't worked out that way, has it? All the above facts are true and yet the O's are 1-6.

The starting rotation was supposed to be the big question mark on this team, especially early in the season. Instead, the starters have been solid. The bullpen, outside of Mike Gonzalez has also been solid.

The real issue has been the offense, a supposed source of relative strength. A .312 OBP and a .365 SLG give the team a .676 OPS so far. Only Cleveland and Seattle has been worse.

If you believe the bats will stay cold, I guess there's reason to worry. I have a hard time believing that though. This slump sucks but things are bound to get better and soon.