Week of ailments puts focus on bench
Showalter says depth has club covered in emergencies
On several occasions during their run atop the American League East this season, the Orioles have called on their bench for plug-in players while the so-called “big boys” were confined to the dugout.
The past week, however, has brought into focus exactly what the Orioles have in reserve as illness and injury smashed to pieces in equal measure both their starting lineup and bench. Manager Buck Showalter believes that all this stretch has done is confirm what they already know — that the Orioles are wellequipped for traumas both minor and major because of the quality of the players on the top lines of the organizational depth chart and the reliability of those on the second and third lines.
“It doesn’t bring it into focus for us, but maybe some other people,” Showalter said. “But it’s who we are and who we have to be, and really who every team [is]. That’s the difference. Our whatifs are in Bowie and Norfolk, what we’ve done in November, December, January and February. Now, we’re developing players whereas some other teams, as you’ve seen, they’re able to [go get players]. We can do things, but we choose to do it this way. It’s actually a little more fun like this.”
Earlier this season, the Orioles pulled reserve infielder Ryan Flaherty back from the professional wilderness that was the Orioles bench and Triple-A roster to fill in when shortstop J.J. Hardy fractured his foot. Now, it was backup catcher Caleb Joseph making his fifth straight start Saturday night, with starter Matt Wieters sidelined with a foot injury.
“You’ve got to be ready for anything,” Joseph said. “This game is so unforgiving at times. You could be doing all the right things, then get hit in the foot with a ball or come down with a sickness. I think the strength of this team, a lot of it is depth. You’re not necessarily just counting on the guys in the lineup. You can depend on the guys on the bench as well. You’ve got to be ready for it.”
Flaherty and Joseph are benefiting from consistent playing time. Flaherty hit .236 in Hardy’s absence when he played regularly but is 5-for-30 (.167) otherwise. Joseph has six hits during the past three games, but had 13 in the preceding 29 games.
Both players, when playing once or twice a week, look like they’re struggling without regular at-bats. But that’s the life bench players lead. When everyone is healthy, they’re there to give the occasional day off, their own inclusion in the lineup meant to benefit someone else as much as them. But the mark of their value comes in the extended stretches like the current one for Joseph and the one in May and June for Flaherty, when they played strong defense and made their value evident.
“It’s kind of what has seemed to happen a lot with our club,” Showalter said. “The guys seem to dial up the team needs. With Matt being down for a while, Caleb had had some struggles from what we’ve been used to. He had a couple fall in, and he looks a lot more comfortable at the plate now.”
Others on the bench have more regular roles to fill. In the outfield, Joey Rickard and Nolan Reimold often find themselves manning the corner spots flanking center fielder Adam Jones when the Orioles face a left-handed pitcher. Hyun Soo Kim was a bench player, but now plays the majority of the time in left field against right-handed starters. Pedro Alvarez is the primary designated hitter against right-handed pitchers.
Injuries have muddled that equation, too. Kim’s hamstring strain suffered the day before the All-Star break and Rickard’s thumb ligament injury last week landed both on the disabled list. Kim will soon return, starting a rehab assignment today at Double-A Bowie, but their absences have caused the Orioles to summon Julio Borbon from Double-A Bowie and Dariel Alvarez from Triple-A Norfolk.
Executive vice president Dan Duquette said Friday that bolstering the bench in Rickard’s absence wasn’t a priority the way adding starting pitching is, so should there be more problems, they’ll tap their own resources.
“It’s who we are,” Showalter said. “We signed Julio, I think, a week into spring. The reason we signed Dariel is we hoped that they would be guys we could call up and contribute. You keep pushing injuries, you’re always going to get to a level where it cuts a little deeper — some people that may not be quite ready, but all of a sudden they get here and you find out they’re pretty good.
“Guys know that’s where we’re going. It might be Bowie, it might be Norfolk, but they’ll do the job. That’s why we’re such a soughtafter destination for a lot of these players in the offseason.”