I’ve almost never felt as uncertain about an Orioles team as I am about the 2018 O’s. There’s tons of potential and tons of pitfalls.
So far as our lineup goes, there are only two positions where I feel like I pretty much know what to expect — 2B (Schoop) and CF (Jones). Those two spots have established regulars whose performance is somewhat predictable, though Schoop, to be sure, is coming off a career year and it will be interesting to see if he can maintain it.
Elsewhere in the infield, you’ve got two guys switching positions. How that works out defensively remains to be seen. Offensively, Manny’s coming off a down year while Beckham had a career year that still featured dramatic ups and downs, so it’s unclear what his level is. We’ve got Davis trying to bounce back from a horrible year in which he seemed to be literally frozen at the plate half the time. And, we’re going to give major playing time to a rookie catcher with a poor record on controlling the running game, unknown game-calling abilities and a potentially explosive bat.
In the corner OF spots, we’ll see if Mancini can match or build on his rookie year, or suffers a sophomore slump. RF has had a big makeover, with Rasmus and Santander. How Buck is going to allocate the playing time with those guys and Gentry is unknown. And, there are Hays, Mullins and Stewart all waiting in the wings.
Trumbo, it goes without saying, is a question mark at DH, and it’s going to be interesting to see what Alvarez and Valencia do in his absence.
And now we get to the pitching. Every one of our starters could potentially be good, but several also could be horrible. Bundy’s young and could improve, but his peripherals suggest he was lucky last year. Gausman’s trying to bounce back from a horrible year. Cashner probably had the biggest ERA/FIP discrepancy in baseball last year, and he also has a new pitch. Cobb put up good numbers last year though his best pitch wasn’t working — can he get it back and be even better than last year, or if he doesn’t, will he take a step backwards? And finally, there’s Tillman, who could be off the team in a month or could surprise us with a comeback season.
As to the bullpen, how do they cope with Britton’s absence, how long will that absence be, and which Britton will we see when he returns? Can Brach handle the closer role? Can O’Day stay healthy and continue his performance from the last two months of last year? And will the Rule 5 guys and Wright contribute anything?
So many questions and I can’t wait to start finding out the answers. Let the feast begin!
