Early Season Promise

You do not want to get too caught up in the 4-3 start to the Orioles 2005 season. But given how much has not gone right for this club so far, good things are on the way.

Start with the bad. The middle-to-long relief guys of Rick Bauer and newcomers Steve Kline and Steve Reed have ERAs of 18.00, 23.14, and 13.50 respectively (and that was before Kline shot his mouth off). The bullpen has cost the team two games so far. Melvin Mora has fewer base hits than Brian Roberts has home runs. Four regulars are hitting under .250. Nobody except for Roberts is hitting with any power.

There is also a lot of good. The starting pitching (with the exception of Daniel Cabera) has been better than advertised. Fresh off of a 50 double season last year, Brian Roberts right now leads the AL in slugging and OPS, and is tied for the Major League lead in home runs(4, one short of his full season career high).

This team is better than a lot of people expect. Let's hope that the sluggers really get started and we can see how many runs this team will score.