Connolly's Tap Room

Tap-In Question: Who will be the Orioles’ biggest surprise this season?

We’ve batted this topic around in the press box earlier this year. I also asked the writers at BaltimoreBaseball.com to give me their opinions.

Now, with 12 games of the 2017 season in the books, I’m coming to you.

Who will be the Orioles biggest surprise in 2017?

CONTINUE READING BELOW

Now I suppose you could go with someone who is supposed to be a big contributor that won’t be – the biggest bust, if you will.

But this team’s gotten off to a hot start, so I’m willing to go positive for a bit (not really the barkeep’s strength, but we all can learn new things, I guess).

So, let’s frame it this way: Who is the Oriole that you aren’t necessarily counting on that will come up big in 2017?

Either a good player that does better than expected (such as Mark Trumbo in 2016) or a guy you weren’t expecting at all that contributes (Donnie Hart in 2016).

Our staff took a crack at it here. The names bandied about: Craig Gentry, Jesus Liranzo, Trey Mancini and Welington Castillo.

Oh yeah, and I predicted Ubaldo Jimenez to be my surprise Oriole of 2017. I’m sticking with it. I have no choice; it’s been published on the in-tra-net. Must be true.

Incidentally, I also play with fire under a ladder with a black cat while running over sidewalk cracks with scissors only 10 minutes after going swimming.

You can go out on that precarious limb with me, or make a more reasonable call. That’s up to you.

You do have the advantage of two weeks of watching this team, but there’s a whole lotta baseball left to play. There’s still time to make a great call. Or a ludicrous one from half court. Give it a shot.

Tap-In Question: Who will be the Orioles’ biggest surprise in 2017?

Dan Connolly

Dan Connolly has spent more than two decades as a print journalist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate first covered the Orioles as a beat writer for the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record in 2001 before becoming The Baltimore Sun’s national baseball writer/Orioles reporter in 2005. He has won multiple state and national writing awards, including several from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013 he was named Maryland Co-Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. And in 2015, he authored his first book, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." He lives in York, with his wife, Karen, and three children, Alex, Annie, and Grace.

View Comments

  • Small sample size taken into account, my pick might be Alec Asher. Another signature Dan Duqutte signature move, I think he has a better chance of staying in the rotation if Ubaldo continues to play as poorly as he has. I'm going with Asher winning at least 10 games for the O's and being a bigger surprise than anyone would have guessed.

  • Want to say Mancini, the easy pick, I hope Buck gives him the at-bats and he hits 35 Dr. Longballs, but I'll take a chance and go with Jonathan Schoop having a stellar year. I love the way he plays, so smooth and poised. And he can hit a 480+ foot HR.

    • I dunno, Boog. As good as Schoop can be, 35 homers is a whole lot. Would surprise me if he jumps up with 10 more again this year (he went from 15 to 25 previously). I see a good year, but a 35-bomb year from a 2Bman on a winning team puts him in MVP talk.

  • I'd love to say a Cedric Mullins mid-season call-up might be forthcoming, but considering how crowded the outfield already is, and barring an injury to a certain center fielder, I can't see that happening.

    Now that he's shown at least a nominal ability to play the outfield (despite of what a certain reporter claimed was not feasible just last summer), I'm going to go with Boom Boom Mancini. My reasoning is that besides the awesome and all-too-obvious nickname, he's shown a calmness at the plate that belies his rookie status. At the expense of the Hitting Machine and Gentry, I see him pushing for more plate appearances as the season wears on. My only question now is, how well can he hit right handers? Considering he was a long shot to even make the team out of spring training, he's my pick for the O's biggest surprise player.

    • Low-hanging fruit there, Boog. But yeah he sure has made it look easy so far. Mullins intrigues me. But as you outlined, this may not be the year.

  • Wade Miley. He'll pitch well enough to get that team option picked up so he can be a giant h

  • Already seen a glimpse of it. First rookie of the year for the O's since Greg Olsen. You know of whom I speak.

  • I find myself thinking it's going to be Wade Miley as well. It just seems like he's found something that works and he's had success in the past. Of course, I thought Gallardo was set for a big comeback year, so...

  • I'm going to say Mike Wright - I think eventually the O's are going to realize he's better off in the bullpen where his stuff will play way better and he'll become a usefull bullpen piece for the big club

    • I like it, DP. Drink chip. I understand why you'd exhaust all avenues as a starter first. But he has not been able to harness the obvious talent he has as a starter. I've been pushing for the pen for two years. And not as a long man, either. One, two innings max.

  • Seeing as I made the prediction Gausman would be a Cy Young finalist, Ill be pretty surprised if he turns into a train wreck like last night.

    Sort've wandering off topic, but as a man who grew up watching the 80's era game when guys like Rickey Henderson, Vince Coleman and Tim Raines caused untold havoc on the basepaths, did we not get a reminder just what was lost when MLB became too scared to steal? Kevin Gausman turned into a spastic mess when Billy Hamilton was on base and collapsed before our eyes. Damn I miss that style of game, before everyone decided they were too smart to "waste outs" and produced the boring bludgeon-ball we see today.

    • Off topic perhaps, but you're spot on regarding the effects small ball can play on a pitchers concentration.

  • Late to the saloon here, so it's difficult to come up with something original. My first instinct, naturally, was Mancini, the obvious choice. Then I was gonna go Mullins, as I've been closely monitoring his progress - via the box scores anyway. Boog's point about the crowded outfield is valid however, and it may simply be too soon for a guy that was in low A last year. Miley? Maybe. My favorite one was Wright. Talk about your dark horse candidate! Not feelin' that one though...

    I'm gonna go off the board here and say Jayson Aquino. It's not for nothing that he's become a Buck guy, and his recall today makes me feel lots more comfy about long relief than the tandem of doom that has been Wilson/Nuno. Does Aquino stay in this role, does he get some starts, some high leverage innings? It's up to him to prove he's got what it takes. Based on what little I've seen and absorbed via stats, I think he just might.

    • Sounds good. But that means Castillo will have to be excellent all around. We already expected him to be solid.

  • Tjink it's gonna be Bundy. Think he gonna live up to all the earlier hype and be in Cy Young talk with low ERA

  • I'm split between Welington Castillo and Seth Smith.

    Castillo has done a very nice job at the plate (I'm looking forward to his first HR as an Oriole), and he's done better than expected behind the plate as well.

    Smith, while the numbers don't really show it, has been a pleasant surprise as well. He's made some nice catches in RF and has done a good job getting on base. Plus, he's knocked a couple homers as well.

    • I think they both have held their own so far. My concern with Smith is the obvious one: hamstring injuries linger. Especially in your mid-30s. But he has looked pretty solid otherwise.

  • Mancini is real, he will have a ROY type season. Bundy is real, he will be in the Cy Young talk. Asher will get to pitch more than the master plan intended, for one reason and another, and will impress.

  • I say Asher. If he gets a shot and pitches the way he did in his first start that can only mean that the Orioles will be soaring to an AL East title and more. With a premium placed on starting pitching that kind of surprise ca have a ripple effect on the team and the whole organization.

Share
Published by
Dan Connolly

Recent Posts

  • Orioles

Orioles extend qualifying offers to Burnes, Santander

As expected, the Orioles extended $21.05 million qualifying offers to their top starter in 2024,…

November 4, 2024
  • Rich Dubroff

Orioles don’t pick up Coulombe’s 2025 option while retaining Domínguez, O’Hearn, Pérez

In a surprising move, the Orioles declined the 2025 option on left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe…

November 4, 2024
  • Midday Mailbag

Should Orioles trade Mountcastle? | MAILBAG

Question: Ryan Mountcastle has missed 30 to 40 games each of the last two years…

November 4, 2024
  • Orioles

Henderson, Santander, Westburg are Orioles’ Silver Slugger finalists

Gunnar Henderson, Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg are finalists for the Silver Slugger awards. The…

November 4, 2024
  • Rich Dubroff

Orioles face tough decisions on Coulombe, Domínguez, O’Hearn, Pérez

Mike Elias has some difficult decisions to make before Tuesday. Four prominent Orioles -- left-handed…

November 4, 2024
  • Rich Dubroff

Another look at Orioles’ starting candidates for spring training

Thirteen pitchers started games for the Orioles in 2024, and six spent time on the…

November 3, 2024