To say that the Baltimore Orioles are desperate for an offensive spark would be an understatement.
Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins marked the 13th time in their last seven games that the O’s scored three runs or fewer; what appeared to be among the deepest and most dangerous lineups in baseball at the start of the season is now down to 21st in team OPS on the year.
Just about the only O’s regular who’s been hitting over that stretch has been, surprisingly enough, Jackson Holliday — the embattled former top prospect appears to be finally turning the corner at the plate, with a .965 OPS over his last 12 games. But despite that production, he’s remained anchored toward the bottom of the lineup.
Whether that was a lack of faith in Holliday or a desire not to rock the boat, it was clear that something had to change.
And now, finally, it has: Brandon Hyde has bumped his second baseman all the way to the No. 2 spot on Thursday afternoon, right behind shortstop Gunnar Henderson.
This might not single-handedly fix what’s wrong with Baltimore’s offense, but it certainly can’t hurt. That said, it’s fair to wonder what exactly took Hyde so long, especially given what he had to say about the change before game time.
It took Brandon Hyde too long to move Jackson Holliday back up in the Orioles order
“He’s taking some of our best at-bats right now,” Hyde told reporters ahead of first pitch. “Why not at this point? We’re looking to score some runs.”
Fair enough, but a reasonable follow-up would be: Why now? Holliday has been taking some of the team’s best ABs for a little while now, and Baltimore has been desperate to score runs pretty much since Opening Day.
Especially given all the injuries that the O’s have dealt with, to Jordan Westburg and Tyler O’Neill in particular, Hyde has been awfully reticent to start throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Again, you can understand why Baltimore would want to treat Holliday with kid gloves. He got off to a miserable start to his MLB career, and his development is arguably the single biggest priority for this franchise moving forward. But he sure seems ready for the moment now, and it’s well past time for the O’s to let him try and take on a bit more responsibility. Hyde’s job could depend on it.
