JUPITER, Fla. -- The Orioles arrived at spring training with a lineup supposedly set in concrete. Apparently the cement still hasn't dried.
Manager Ray Miller acknowledged yesterday he is considering a move for shortstop Mike Bordick from No. 9 to No. 2 in the order even after Delino DeShields returns from a fractured left hand. The switch, broached before yesterday's exhibition game against the Montreal Expos, would place the Orioles' best contact hitter behind leadoff man Brady Anderson while dropping DeShields to No. 6. presumably in front of Cal Ripken. Miller envisions the two forming a formidable hit-and-run combination.
Miller, who has vowed to employ fewer lineups than last season's staggering 132, described the possibility of advancing Bordick as "a pleasant thing if it worked out that way."
Reasons go beyond expedience. Bordick homered twice in Saturday night's exhibition loss to the Expos after contributing two hits the day before against the St. Louis Cardinals. Miller called the switch "feasible" earlier in the week and yesterday widened the possibility.
"If Delino's a little behind when he comes back, you add some speed to the bottom of the lineup. It's one of the things we thought about this winter. He's in such great shape and swinging the bat so well, it might happen," he said. "Bordick doesn't care. He'll hit wherever you put him."
Bordick batted ninth in all but 15 starts last season. Of the 15 exceptions, he batted eighth 11 times, seventh once and second three times.
"Wherever I hit, I think my role is pretty much going to be the same," said Bordick, still hitting .438 with five RBIs in 16 at-bats this spring after not being asked to travel for yesterday's game. "If nobody's on, I'm going to try to reach base and score. If someone is on, my job is to either advance him or drive him in."
The installation of DeShields lower in the order would duplicate Miller's attempt last season to jolt Ripken. On May 25, he moved Ripken from sixth to seventh, trading places with B.J. Surhoff. Ripken immediately snapped a string of 15 consecutive games without an RBI, going on an 8-for-20 tear and amassing six RBIs in his next seven games. Ripken was batting .257 at the time of the switch but hit .276 for the remainder of the season, which included his return to the No. 5 and No. 6 slots for almost all of August and September.
Miller last week played down Bordick's promotion as just "a look." But Bordick's subsequent performance has forced the issue. He has hit safely in his last four games, going 6-for-10 with six runs and three extra-base hits.
"Bordick will hit. Bordick will hit anywhere you put him. When Brady's healthy and playing well, hitting ninth is pretty much the same as hitting second, really. Nobody's going to pitch around him to get to the next guy," Miller said.
A .300 hitter in 1992 with the Oakland A's, Bordick is coming off a season in which he mashed a career-high 13 home runs and raised his slugging percentage from .318 in 1997 to .411. He also led the American League with 15 sacrifice bunts. His percentage of swings that put balls in play similarly led the league, a valuable commodity if Miller is serious about encouraging leadoff hitter Anderson to run more often.
Inserting Bordick into the lineup's upper third would interrupt a previously all left-handed arrangement. Miller had previously considered interrupting the alignment by batting Albert Belle third. That possibility was eventually discarded for two reasons -- Belle's stated preference for batting cleanup, his role with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox; and the potential for stifling the running game in deference to Belle's power.
More defined, Bordick also appears to have benefited from his rigorous off-season conditioning program built around explosive speed and quickness.
"It would be nice, but you don't do it just to be left-right-left," said Miller. "I don't think what's happened is because he's been in the second spot. I think what's happened is because he's worked out so hard and is in such great shape. He's in awesome shape. I watch him and B. J. run on that machine every morning. If I ever got going that fast on that thing, it would shoot me through the wall."
Pub Date: 3/15/99