Insert picture of very dark clouds here.

Roberts is tough to replace as a leadoff hitter, base stealer, and table setter. But Turner has proved already that he deserves a shot in the majors. I'm glad to see him get the opportunity to show us whether or not he should stay.

Stinks to have B-Rob down, but I hope Trembley gives Turner a shot. I feel like Turner can give us much more of a spark than Lugo can.

Guarantee Turner will sit and Lugo will continue to play. That's the way this push button animatronic manager does things. I can hear him now...Well Lugo is a veteran and he knows the pitchres..blah...blah...blah. All the while hitting .180.

Not being too nit-picky here, but we lost 7-6 on Friday.

I know.......I was there.....ugh. Great game though up until the top of 9th.

RESPONSE FROM STEVE GOULD:

Steve, you are correct. This has been fixed in the post above. Thanks for the sharp eye.

Here's what drives me nuts about Trembley- and all in all I'm easier on him than most- but his absolute insistence on defined roles and inability to escape such tunnel vision.

Markakis should absolutely become the leadoff hitter, but you know he won't. Instead it'll be Lugo or Pie because of this weird preconceived notion that you MUST have stolen base potential in the leadoff spot. As if the gap between Lugo/Pie's steals over Markakis is anywhere near the same gap in ability to get on base.

Markakis looks great. He's had some fantastic at bats early on and is drawing a ton of walks. For the life of me I can't understand while our normal lineup is not Roberts-Markakis-Wieters-Jones-Scott-Reimold-Tejada-Atkins-Izturis, and I can't understand why we won't put our best on base guy at the top of the lineup now that our leadoff man is down. It makes no sense....but neither do a lot of other things about this floundering franchise.

Can't let the young guy sit when he gets here. Might as well play him and let him cash in the 8-10 ML hits he'll get this month before everyone finds the holes in his swing. While we're talking DL, how's Koji? We're gonna need somebody to pitch the 9th...

not a lot of steals from Turner ... is fast at all? We need a leadoff hitter.

You are absolutely correct Ben - Pie and Lugo are not leadoff guys.

Ben, NO Markakis is not a lead off guy. He is only getting the walks now because the person hitting behind him (Tejada) doesn't scare anyone and they would rather pitch to him. Markakis only had 56 walks last year. He's a 3 hole hitter, leave him there.

Do we lead the Majors in taking 3rd called strikes? Looks like Nick M is looking for a walk.
It was either 4 or 5 on Sunday

Good hitters would fouloff close pitches and not take them for a 3rd strike

Smart coaching leads to hitters getting deep in counts. We've seen that from both the Rays and Jays. Pie, Scott, Tejada, etc., etc. all hack at the first pitch and get to 0-2 fast allowing the other team's pitcher to go deep in games and avoid 3-2 situations. The O's can work with one or two hackers (Tejada) but Pie in particular seems to be uncoachable in that regard. Once again, this points to a very lazy coaching job during spring training. Yell at Angelos or McPhail all you want but I for one think Crowley, Kranitz and Trembley are the laziest bunch of soon to be retirees in the ML. As Bear said in another post, put Bordick in as Mgr. I'd go further by giving Palmer the pitching coach job, Eddie the hitting coach duties and tell McPhail to stay out of the day to day team mgmt. That way, the O's aren't forced to use guys like Gonzalez and instead can rely on whomever they deem most ready.
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

Sportsnut- Besides the fact that every study done on the subject shows that there is little to no correlation between a hitter's performance and who hits behind him, who exactly do you think we would hit in the #2 hole that would scare pitchers into pitching to Nick if he led off?

Even last year in an off year, Nick had a higher OBP than anyone else we'd hit leadoff. And two years ago he was among AL leaders with 99 walks and an OBP over .400, all while hitting in front of Huff during his career season. Why were pitchers avoiding him then?

Finally, can we get over this notion that Markakis is a #3 hitter? He's simply not. His career high in homers is 23 and he's never had a slugging percentage over .500. He's simply not a middle of the order bat. BUT, with his gap power, solid batting average, and steady stream of walks, he's an ideal #2 hitter. And with the leadoff man down, he's the obvious leadoff guy.

You can't score runs without getting on base. But the best on-base guy at the top of the lineup and let the power guys knock him in. Putting Lugo or Pie in the leadoff spot will cost us runs.

The orioles should give Justin Turner a fair shot. If he has a good showing they may know if they have a worthy back up or maybe trade bait.

Garza (young stud with 4 plus MLB calibre pitches) vs. Guthrie (batting practive fodder, journeyman)....

Good Tampa Rays lineup vs. Wieters and 8 scrubs....

Hmm. Wonder who'll win the game?

Roberts should have been on the DL to start the season. They rushed him back when there was no need and now he is hurt again. I know it's a different injury, but it was unnecessary.

Ya gotta give Turner a real shot,here. Stick him in a at leadoff - his numbers suggest that's where he belongs. I agree that Markakis is a #2 hitter, not a 3. We don't have a true #4, so hit Tejada (free swinger) #3, Reimold at 4, Jones (another free swinger) at #5, Weiters at #6, Atkins 7, and Scott, Pie, Wiggington at 8, Itzturis or Lugo (at SS only!) at 9.

NEXT...MAN...UP!