Sports Orioles Peter Schmuck's Report Cards

Peter Schmuck's Orioles grades for July 13

Hitting: D

Hannah Foslien / Getty Images

It’s tough to win when you go a whole week and score more than three runs in a game only once. The Orioles scored a total of 17 runs in the six games against the Twins and Nationals and, frankly, were lucky to win the one game they won. Here’s a damning stat if there ever was one: The Orioles hit 11 home runs last week (four by Adam Jones) and those home runs accounted for all but four of their runs. The club batted a combined .232 and there were only three RBIs all week that didn’t come from the long ball, which is a sign that situational hitting has gone out the window during this slump.

(Hannah Foslien / Getty Images)

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Defense: A

Matt Marton / Associated Press

The Orioles made only one error all week – Sunday’s throwing error by Adam Jones during the Nationals’ decisive three-run inning against Wei-Yin Chen. The infield continues to play well and has seamlessly adjusted to the return of second baseman Jonathan Schoop. The defense has moved up another notch in the overall rankings for fielding percentage (.988). The Orioles already had risen to the top of the American League in that department and now have inched up to third among the 30 major league clubs

(Matt Marton / Associated Press)

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Every week, columnist Peter Schmuck will grade the performance of the Orioles in five categories. The letter grades are not directly tied to any particular statistic, but are representative of a cumulative evaluation of everything – tangible or intangible – that falls under that particular category.

Peter Schmuck