Each fortnight throughout the 2015 season, Josh Michael (Editor of Orioles 101) and I will discuss the biggest issues in #Birdland via a series of Q&A’s. Listed below are Josh’s thoughts on each issue, while my thoughts can be found here on Orioles 101.

Firstly, I completely understand that it’s only May 17 and the last-placed Orioles are just five games out of first place. So before you leave a comment below stating those two facts (or any others for that matter), by no means am I one of those bandwagon doom-sayers saying the season is over.

This team has proven for three straight seasons that they’re far better than that and I fully expect them to turn things around sooner or later. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly concerned with the way they’re currently playing, irrespective of the 15-19 record – which is actually a lot better than it could be considering.

Three winning seasons, two playoff berths and an AL East championship have raised expectations in Birdland, there’s absolutely no doubt about that. No longer is there a series played which this team isn’t expected to win. Quite simply, each time the Orioles head out onto the field their adoring fans are expecting a win – not like the expectations of the 14 years prior to 2012.

Is this recent change in optimism creating a sense of panic when it’s not yet required? I believe so. However it’s not the 19 losses or sub-.500 record which are creating the worry amongst fans. Quite simply, it’s the way in which these losses are occurring. Did you know that the Orioles lead in eight of those 19 losses before ultimately falling?

Amongst other things, the Orioles – in general – are not playing smart baseball. They are not executing the fundamentals required to win games and this is why the fans are frustrated. They know their team has the ability to beat the best and they know all but a few of the 25 can play significantly better. The question is, when will it occur?

So what’s going wrong?

There are far too many lapses in the field – not just errors (even though they’ve already made 24), but the misreading of fly balls, the unnecessary throws, the failure to hit the cut-off, etcetera, etcetera. More often than not, these mistakes are allowing runs to score – either immediately upon the mistake occurring, or soon after as a result of runners having advanced into scoring position. I’m not a fan of singling players out, however I’m sure you are all aware of the main culprits.

There are far too many lapses on the base paths, and for a team which has extended periods where almost the entire offense goes AWOL, you just can’t be wasting opportunities when they are presented. Back in Spring Training I tweeted about this and was immediately told to relax by the masses. While I fully understand these mistakes happen during Spring, Buck Showalter is a perfectionist who demands that fundamentals be executed correctly, Spring Training or not. This was a worrying trend then and now it’s flowed into the regular season. Pick-offs, caught stealing and being hosed trying to stretch out an extra base – these mistakes are hurting the Orioles big time, especially in close games.

There has been an inability to shut-down big innings from occurring. One run innings often aren’t enough to win games of baseball – especially in the powerful AL East. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the runs are coming in bulk against them this season as the ability to limit the damage has been almost non-existent at times. Did you know that on 20 occasions already this season, opponents have scored 3+ runs in an inning? Even more concerning is that 18 of these occasions have been by AL East rivals – nine times by the Blue Jays alone.

Pitchers falling behind in the count, then dishing up meatballs. Again, without mentioning names, there are a few guilty more than most in this department and two of which were not that long ago considered two of the best pitchers in the Orioles rotation. Ubaldo Jimenez has been brilliant this season and appears to be a completely different pitcher to that seen in 2014. In addition to a more compact delivery, one of the key differences has been his ability to attack the strike zone and get ahead in the count. Sadly, this strategy has been absent in the outings of Jimenez’s teammates and their ERAs highlight how damaging this has been. Fall behind a hitter 2-0 or 3-1 in the American League and more often than not, the meatball you dish up next is going to be whacked.

Whilst there are other factors at play, in particular the heavy reliance upon too few (i.e. Adam Jones and Jimmy Paredes) to produce the goods offensively, the four issues noted above are things which can easily be controlled with a simplified approach to the game. These four things are taught to baseballers from the local sandlot right through to the Major Leagues. They’re basic elements which if performed correctly, will win you more games of baseball than not.

If the Orioles roster lacked genuine stars and didn’t have the quality to be competitive, the losses would still hurt of course, however not half as much as they currently are. The team has the ability to run away with a very mediocre AL East division for the second year in succession and they’re not far away from making it happen. Cut out the brain fades and get back to playing basic baseball. Execute the fundamentals and the win streaks will return to Birdland, of that I have no doubt.

Each fortnight throughout the 2015 season, Josh Michael (Editor of Orioles 101) and I will discuss the biggest issues in #Birdland via a series of Q&A’s. Listed below are Josh’s thoughts on each issue, while my thoughts can be found here on Orioles 101.