So far, the Orioles have lived up to their offensive potential, but wasn't this also supposed to be a much-improved defensive team? Weren't we led to expect a little more splendor in the grass?
The arrival of free-agent shortstop Cesar Izturis was expected to solidify the defense up the middle, and speedy Felix Pie was supposed to combine with Adam Jones and Nick Markakis to turn the O's outfield into a no-fly zone. The reality has been much different, with Pie struggling to get acclimated to left field while Izturis and several teammates are having trouble adapting to one of the slowest infields in the major leagues.
Going into Monday night's game, the Orioles had allowed 20 unearned runs, an average of one for every game of the young season. The next-closest major league team is the Washington Nationals with 13, so you're talking some proud company. The O's don't lead the majors in errors; they rank fourth with 14.
"It seems like whenever we make an error, it has cost us a bunch of runs," second baseman Brian Roberts said. "They have made us pay for them, and they have become magnified."
Roberts, however, is not all that surprised that a defensive alignment that was expected to be pretty good has hit some rough patches.
"Felix is in a new position," Roberts said. "You're missing Melvin Mora - Wiggy [Ty Wigginton] is doing fine, but Melvin is a terrific third baseman - and Aubrey [Huff] hasn't played every day at first base in a while."
Then there is the thing that everybody talks about but nobody in the organization wants to address. The beautiful new infield, with its cool, checkerboard mow pattern, might be the biggest contributor to the club's erratic defensive performance.
"It's a big adjustment from spring training," Huff said. "In Florida, the grass was a lot shorter. Fielding is about timing, too. The grass is so thick here that a ball is scorched and you think you have to dive for it and you don't because the grass slows the ball down so much. You've just got to remember the grass here is the longest grass in baseball."
Which brings us to the great philosophical divide between what's good for the pitchers and what's good for everybody else. The thick infield is supposed to help the pitchers because it keeps ground balls from getting through to the outfield. You'd think that would be good for the defense, but it's not that simple. If you saw Friday night's loss to the Rangers, you may remember the play when Izturis stumbled while charging a seemingly routine bouncer to short. He threw too late to first and cost the team an important run in a one-run loss. Izturis also mishandled a potential double play Sunday because he was forced to rush. Both balls, according to fellow infielders, would have been easy plays on the average major league infield.
