Steve Davis: Offensive Woes Plague O's
Sure, it's only May, so it is no time to panic.
That said, you have to wonder if this is a collective slump for the Orioles hitters, or just an offensively challenged team.
Only two hitters are batting over .270 this month, Paredes and Machado. Five guys who have started a lot of games -- Davis, Hardy, Cabrera, De Aza and Pearce are under .215.
The Orioles have lost 23 games this year. In 14 of those losses, they scored 2 or fewer runs.
In 23 games in May, the Orioles have had 4 games where they've scored more than 5 runs. So basically, in 23 games, they've had four good offensive games.
It's hard to imagine that Hardy won't pick it up because he is way under the norm. Same with De Aza, who is hitting .50 points below his career average.
Davis is basically what he was last year, a strikeout machine with some power and not much average. So which was the fluke, 2012 and 2013 or 2014 and 2015?
Pearce had a career year last year, so another year like that may have been unrealistic but no one expected this kind of a follow-up year.
Oh yeah, Delmon Young has 0 home runs. That is a stunner.
Who ever thought they would read this sentence: Where would we be without Jimmy Paredes?
Fortunately, the Orioles play in the worst division in baseball. So, with the 20th best winning percentage in baseball out of 30 teams, the O's are only 2 1/2 games out of first.
Follow @SteveDavisBmore
