Royals. It just isn't that hard to find the problem. Burres shouldn't be a No. 3 starter, not right now. Radhames Liz, who starts tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays, isn't ready. Garrett Olson, who got enough run support in Thursday's return from the All-Star break so that his struggles weren't quite as damaging, is pitching like a guy who isn't a legitimate starter.
The obvious exception is Jeremy Guthrie, and even his emergence elicits a twinge of regret when you think of how good he might be pitching in a rotation that lives up to expectations.
Besides him, though, the starters pitch as if they're allergic to the fifth inning, and it's wrecking the most pleasant surprise of the season: the bullpen. That was the case again yesterday. On a quick turnaround after a late, extra-inning, relief-intensive night, the Orioles needed a lot more than 5 1/3 innings out of Burres.
The Orioles are just patching things together right now, with pitchers they didn't have in their starting plans this year and who are proving why.
"We've got to find things out," pitching coach Rick Kranitz said after the game. Nodding at Guthrie walking by, he continued: "We have this guy who has pitched great. You can't ask for more out of him than he's given." But, he added, Cabrera has been inconsistent, and Liz and Olson have been, well, young.
"You don't want to push them, but you do want them to get better," Kranitz added.
Eventually, the cavalry will ride into town, from Norfolk and Bowie, the parade of arms acquired, for example, in the Bedard deal. Eventually, some group of guys with great stuff will be this regime's version of Bedard-Cabrera-Loewen-Penn. Barring a miracle, it won't happen this season, though.
The sooner it happens, however, the sooner everyone can stop thinking about what might - or should - have been.
david.steele@baltsun.com
Listen to David Steele on Wednesdays at 9 a.m. on WNST (1570 AM).
