The Royals Series So Far; Showalter, Samuel and Trade Deadlines...

All has started off so-so for the Orioles on their trip to Kansas City as they have split the series to kick off the four-game set. Really, the weekend matchup is a match from bottom-feeders for the most part who seem to be stuck in perennial rebuilding.

However, the young pitching was once again inconsistent on Thursday and Friday as Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta, respectively, struggled again. I mused in a previous entry that when pitchers for Baltimore get in trouble, they just do not know what to do.

At this point in the season, you just have to keep the young guys going out there and hope they get it. The game is all about consistency, and once the pitchers figure it out, they’ll be successful.

Well, you have to give Mike Gonzalez some respect for pitching well over the past week after being recalled from the minors. Right now, he’s showing that he’s a much better pitcher than what we saw in the first week of the season. Presuming he’s healthy, let’s hope he can find the same success that he had in the National League and have it translate to the Orioles.

As we head into the final months of the season, we all know now that Buck Showalter will officially take the helm as manager of the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, and debut on the field Tuesday. It sucks to see Juan Samuel demoted, or even possibly leave the organization, but this move had to be done.

Showalter has the experience, success and credibility to hopefully get the Orioles to turn around. I don’t know if the addition of Showalter affects Andy MacPhail’s status, but it is an indication that the plan needs to tweaked and why not bring in someone who has had some experience in team building (case study: the Arizona Diamondbacks).

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