Yesterday at the O's Game

So yesterday at the O's game was a disappointment. The Yanks took one from the O's in what was a long, badly pitched game by both teams. It was a frustrating game to watch because of how many men were left on base. It seemed that there were plenty of opportunities for the O's to score, but they only took advantage of a few.

Daniel Cabrera is incredibly inconsistent. He can be completely awful one inning while looking amazing the next. He gave up 8 baserunners in the first 2 innings, while giving up 4 runs. However, he managed to retire 13 of 15 batters after that. There is no doubt that he will lead the league for the 2nd year in a row in base on balls, but will the Orioles really allow him another chance to make it 3 straight years? Its hard to watch him when he is off, but its amazing how much potential to be a dominating pitcher he has.

The atmosphere at the game was decent. It was nice to see a full crowd, even if many of the fans are Yankee fans. The New Yorkers usually show up in force, but with many O's fans in Cooperstown this weekend, it did seem like they had an easier time getting tickets. Atleast A-Rod didn't hit his 500th to a roaring Yankees crowd at Camden Yards.

O's fans showed they were there when the scoreboard said to cheer on a 3-2 pitch. Of course if Cabrera had a guy 0-2, hardly a peep was made. Yanks fans showed that they are superior to Orioles fans, by starting random cheers, and making noise when they should.

Orioles Look to Sweep Yanks

Well the Orioles have taken the series from the Yanks, and look to get a sweep today with D-Cab on the mound. This will be my first game attending Camden Yards this season. Its hard to believe, but its hard to make it up for a game with a child under 2 years old. More day games would definitely make attending easier. My wife and her Yankee fan cousins will be coming along and rooting for Alex Rodriguez to hit his 500th and lead the Yanks to a win. However, my son is 1-0 in favor of the Orioles in this series so far. Going up 2 games in his young career as a fan would definitely be a great start. So lets make it a sweep, and keep the Yankees as far away from the playoffs as possible!

Tejada to DL and Cabrera Shines

So Miguel Tejada won't break Cal Ripken's consecutive games played streak. Well...not unless he comes back and plays until he is in his 50's. I don't think his range at SS will be that great by then. I'm somewhat glad that the streak is over, so that the O's don't feel as obligated to play him every day as they have felt. A little rest is a good idea for a player who is starting to age. This trip to the DL will give Freddy Bynum more of a chance to prove what he is capable of, whie Chris Gomez will continue to do his great job with everything that is thrown at him.

Tejada's roster space was taken by Jon Knott. The guy was only hitting .210 in Norfolk, but he has been hot lately, getting a hit in each of his last 9 games. His power is probably as good as anybody the O's have, so I would like to see him given a shot. With Corey Patterson and Jay Gibbons providing minimal offensive help, I would love to see somebody who atleast has a shot at knocking a ball out of the park.

And Daniel Cabrera has done it again. After giving up earned run totals of 5,7,4,3,4, and 5 over his last six starts, he goes on to no hit a good team for 5 innings and got the win while giving up just 1 run. I don't think he will ever be a great pitcher. However, I feel he will always be a good pitcher who will give you either amazing performances or terrifying ones at any time. He truly is a roller coaster of a player, and I'm pumped that he helped the Orioles build a winning streak after 9 games of losing this month.

Daniel Cabrera

Daniel Cabrera had a rough outing last night in the O's loss to the Nationals. 7 earned runs in 4.2 innings pitched will certainly hurt his numbers. Cabrera is 26 and still a young pitcher, however, this is his 4th year in the Orioles rotation. I wanted to take a look at his numbers to see if there are any noticeable signs of improvement.

Currently Cabrera has a 36-38 career record. Granted some of those losses come from the O's being a below average team, but he has earned his fair share of those losses as well. So far in his career he has been a .500 pitcher. His best year in terms of W/L was his rookie year in 2004 when he went 12-8. Since then he has been 10-13, 9-10, and currently 5-7. The trend seems to be that he is a slightly below .500 pitcher.

The most innings he has pitched in a year has been 161.3 in 2005. He is on track to surpass that this year if everything continues like it has. His innings per start has increased from 5.4, 5.5, 5.7, to 6.3 in 2007. Its a good sign to see that he is able to go further in games. However, that stat means nothing if it doesn't translate into wins.

In Cabrera's rookie year he had more walks than strikeouts. That certainly isn't a good sign for a pitcher. However, he has improved over the years. His K to BB ratio has been 1.8, 1.5, and 1.6 the last 3 years. Those are solid numbers, but again there are a lot of walks involved.

Cabrera's ERA has never been great. He has always been described as having great stuff, but being unable to control it. His best era was 4.52 in 2005. That followed his debut of 5.00, and in 2006 he had a 4.74. This season he currently has a 5.16 ERA.
His WHIPs have been 1.585, 1.432, 1.581, and 1.472. His WHIP appears to reflect his ERA except for this season. I think the difference this year has been the 11 home runs he has given up. In his first 3 seasons Cabrera allowed 14, 14, and 11 homeruns. Having 11 before the All Star break certainly explains why his era has jumped to higher than it has been in his career.

Overall I am slightly disappointed in Cabrera's progress. He has made improvements since his rookie year, but they have yet to translate into on field success. He still leads the AL in walks like he did in 2006. He is also in the top 10 for wild pitches and hit batsmen. He seems to always have starts that open your eyes and wow you. However, we also are used to nights like last night when he gets in a rut that he can't seem to buy his way out of.

I'm not about to give up on a guy who is as talented as Cabrera is at his age. O's fans might have to live through his rough starts, but the possibility of him pitching a great game is always there. If his overall statistics don't improve, and the O's don't see more wins, than they need to consider upgrading their rotation. However, I know that is very unlikely to happen with Angelos and crew running the business. As long as additions to the rotation include guys like Benson, Trachsel, and Wright, then Cabrera will have a place in Baltimore. I would rather see Daniel truly find control of his ability, and cement himself as an Orioles starter by his results, rather than the O's reluctance to acquire better talent.

Streak Snapped

So the Orioles snapped another losing streak last night. I had pretty much given up on that game when the O's got down early, but the offense sparked and saved the day. It was good to see Daniel Cabrera tough it out when he got down early, and stay in until the 8th. Although he gave up 4 runs, he earned that win by overcoming adversity and pitching great down the stretch.

So if the O's trend of alternating winning and losing streaks continues, hopefully this win gets the O's started on a run of wins. With Colorado(28-31) and Washington(24-35) coming to town in the next week, this looks like a good time to get that done. It certainly will be easier than their next 3 series, which will be against the top 2 in the NL West...Arizona(36-24) and San Diego(35-23).