5 Baltimore Orioles

ENEMY LINES

A rival scout sizes up the Orioles

This is a potential 100-loss team. You can pencil them in for fifth place. They're not going to run into an easy game in this division.... Everyone had high hopes for their young pitchers, but all of them took a big step backward last year. Brian Matusz has been up and down, but he's definitely not the same guy he was two years ago. He and Zach Britton need major changes to their deliveries—they're messes right now. The stuff is there for both, but mechanically they need an overhaul.... Wei-Yin Chen could be a big surprise for them—he's one of the few Asian pitchers with a fastball--breaking ball combination. He knows how to pitch.... Trading away a 200-inning guy like Jeremy Guthrie for Jason Hammel and Matt Lindstrom was the worst deal of the off-season. Hammel is going to get torched in the AL. Lindstrom is a hard thrower—that's it.... Nick Johnson has thoroughly outplayed Chris Davis at first base this spring. Johnson's a good fielder and solid at the plate, but as usual, the question is whether he can stay healthy.... Matt Wieters is an All-Star who's just getting better, but beyond that there are a lot of holes. Whether Adam Jones can make the jump to being a great player is becoming more and more a question. Mark Reynolds is either going to hit a home run or strike out. Brian Roberts is going to sit on the golf cart and not play.... There's not much talent in the system. Manny Machado has a big future at shortstop, but he's still years away. They're going to have to deal guys like Jones and Nick Markakis to get some more talent.

THE LINEUP

With 2011 Statistics

MANAGER BUCK SHOWALTER

3rd season with Orioles

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

NEW ACQUISITION (R) ROOKIE *JAPANESE LEAGUE STATS