A long weekend of all golf and no O's leaves me feeling a bit out of touch, but I figure yesterday's box score tells me most of what I need to know. When Chris Gomez and Brandon Fahey are starting in the middle infield, something is obviously awry.
Injuries hit the Orioles hard over the weekend, sending Brian Roberts (groin) to the 15-day DL and limiting the availability of Javy Lopez (back) and Kevin Millar (hand). Miguel Tejada, who continues to lead the majors with a .422 average, was relegated to designated hitter duties Sunday due to a sore knee. Lopez and Millar are both expected to miss a few days.
The timing of Roberts' injury is particularly unfortunate, because it comes as he was beginning to hit his stride. The second baseman had raised his average to .330 and notched nine stolen bases in his past 10 games. Gomez and Fahey, who went 2-for-4 in his major league debut Sunday, will man the bag until Roberts returns.
Corey Patterson will bat in the leadoff spot on most days until Roberts returns, giving him a nice short-term boost in value. The outfielder has made the most of his playing time of late, batting .529 (9-for-17) with two home runs, six RBIs, three steals and a 1.497 OPS last week. Jeff Conine (.348, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs, 1 SB) has also come around after an uninspiring start to the season.
Patterson should get lots of at-bats this week with the Orioles scheduled to face just two left-handed pitchers in seven contests. That's good news for a team that bats .205 against lefties, .295 against righties. The bad news? The right-handers on deck include 2005 AL ERA champion Kevin Millwood and a tough trio in Boston - Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield and Josh Beckett. Schilling and Wakefield combined to limit the Orioles to one earned run and eight hits in 13 innings in the season's first weekend series last month.
In other news, the Orioles should get a much-needed lift in the bullpen with the return of right-hander Todd Williams from calf and shoulder injuries. He's expected to supplant Jim Brower - the most beloved O's reliever since Steve Kline - in the pivotal seventh-inning role, where he'll help set the table for LaTroy Hawkins and Chris Ray. While Williams has minimal fantasy appeal, he does solidify the value of the Orioles starters by bringing stability to a shaky relief corps.
This week's matchups
- Today - Blue Jays (Lilly-L) at O's (Bedard), 7:05 p.m.
- Tuesday - Blue Jays (Janssen-R) at O's (Benson), 7:05 p.m.
- Wednesday - O's (Cabrera) at Rangers (John Koronka-L), 8:05 p.m.
- Thursday - O's (Chen) at Rangers (Kevin Millwood-R), 8:05 p.m
- Friday - O's (Lopez) at Red Sox (Curt Schilling-R), 7:05 p.m.
- Saturday - O's (Bedard) at Red Sox (Tim Wakefield-R), 7:05 p.m.
- Sunday - O's (Benson) at Red Sox (Josh Beckett-R), 2:05 p.m
