Orioles Spring Training Preview

Spring Training for the Orioles is going to be highlighted by the fight for the five starting pitching spots. There are as many as nine starting pitchers up for only five spots and only a few spots have already been claimed. The others will be decided by what happens in spring training. One person that does seem to have his spot in the starting rotation is Kevin Millwood. The Orioles acquired him in a trade that send Chris Ray to the Rangers. He will probably be the Orioles opening day starter. The only other starting rotation spot that seems to be claimed is by second year player Brad Bergesen. He was in the rookie of the year race last year before he got injured.

The last three spots are going to be up for grabs. I am not counting Jeremy Guthrie as having a definitive for having a starting spot although he has been a starter for the past few years. Guthrie has not had great production the last few years and had slightly over a 5 ERA last season. There are young players with a lot more potential than Guthrie coming through the system. One of these players is Chris Tillman. He pitched for the Orioles for part of the season last year and progressively got better. Brian Matusz is another player that has a good chance of locking up the fourth starting rotation spot.

The last starting rotation spot is where the real battle will begin. Josh Arieta, David Hernandez, Jason Berken, Koji Uehara, and Mark Hendrickson will all compete for this last spot. Koji Uehara and Mark Hendrickson started the season last year in the starting rotation. I expect that both of these players will end up filling holes in the bullpen. David Hernandez and Jason Berken were both in the starting rotation for at least part of the year and had their own struggles. Josh Arieta has never been in the majors but has tons of potential. I think he will eventually end up as one of the starters before the end of the season.

The rest of the team is set and already have their position. The Orioles just reacquired Miguel Tejada in free agency and he will take the position at third base. Cesar Izturis will be the starting shortstop and Brian Roberts will once again be playing second. Garret Atkins was acquired in free agency by the Orioles and he will play first and the young star Matt Wieters will be the catcher. In the outfield Nolan Reimold will play left, All star Adam Jones is in center and Nick Markakis is in right. The Orioles will score a lot of runs and their season will depend upon the ability of young pitchers to get better. This will be an exciting season and spring training to see which pitchers come out as starters and how the season will progress.