Connolly's Tap Room

Tap-In: Record aside, what’s surprised you the most about the Orioles?

By Dan Connolly

Posted on April 18, 2016

Maybe you don’t like Mondays. You feel sluggish. You don’t want to be at work.

So blow it off. You’re welcome at Connolly’s Tap Room. Grab a fake seat and I’ll get you a fake brew. Just try not to get real fired while you’re here.

Two weeks of the baseball schedule are history. That’s an eyelash of a regular season. It’s hard to draw a real conclusion about the Orioles – or any team for that matter – after two weeks.

But you have to be pleased with how they’ve played, for the most part, and with an 8-3 record, the best in the AL. Be honest with your barkeep, you have to be a little surprised about that, too.

We knew these Orioles could hit homers. We knew they play defense. And we knew they’d have strong relief.

We also feared that their starting rotation would struggle to go deep into games (they have) and that the offense would have its share of strikeouts (92 in 11 games).

From the standpoint of performance, though, I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised. As for the record, yeah, it’s better than what most Orioles fans would have imagined.

Throw the record away for a second. And answer me this: What has been the most surprising thing about this team so far?

Some obvious suggestions:

Joey Rickard setting the table so well now the bright lights have come on?

Mark Trumbo looking like the second coming of Nelson Cruz?

A more patient approach at the plate resulting in more walks?

A starting rotation that has kept the Orioles in most games (but not really impressed)?

These are just suggestions – I want your answer. For the record, I’d probably say the more patient approach. But the moment we fixate on that, I expect it to go away.

Tap-In Question: Record aside, what’s been the most surprising aspect of the Orioles’ start?