masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe question of who leads off for the Orioles this season has gone unanswered. It’s likely someone already on the team, since the only potential opening among position players involves another spare outfielder with a solid defensive reputation. There’s no prototypical solution to the problem.
Adam Jones led off in 108 games last season beginning May 27 and has volunteered to stay atop the order. He’d just like Major League Baseball to stop fining him for being late to the plate, putting his…

The question of who leads off for the Orioles this season has gone unanswered. It’s likely someone already on the team, since the only potential opening among position players involves another spare outfielder with a solid defensive reputation. There’s no prototypical solution to the problem.

Adam Jones led off in 108 games last season beginning May 27 and has volunteered to stay atop the order. He’d just like Major League Baseball to stop fining him for being late to the plate, putting his typical humorous spin on it last week on the “Hot Stove Show” on 105.7 The Fan.

“I don’t know the lineup to be honest with you, so I’ll do it,” he said. “I don’t care. The only thing is we’re going to have to work out something with the league and get me some time to get to the batter’s box because I play center field and I’m big and I’m tired and that run is long.

“There’s got to be something that has to happen where I get like three minutes instead of two or whatever. I need three because I’m tired and that run is long and I’m big. I’m bigger than all the other center fielders. I’m tired. I’m older than all of them. Let me get my own wind.”

The Orioles led the majors in home runs last season and re-signed Mark Trumbo. Seth Smith owns a career .344 on-base percentage, but they’re still a power-oriented club.

“Sometimes you’ve got to look at it that it is what it is,” Jones said. “We’re going to hit some home runs. We’re going to hit a lot of home runs. Look down the lineup. You’ve got some big guys. You’ve been around us individually. We’re some big guys. Power is definitely part of our game, but I think we need to increase the athleticism.

“Look at the sheer athleticism of the game. We’re talking about all these sabermetrics. The sabermetrics go to the athleticism of the game. The days of John Jaha playing the outfield are over. The days of the Jose Cansecos playing the outfield are over. You see it. All these guys who come up through all these organizations are 22-23 and they’re able to move like the wind in the outfield, throw and just do everything else. And in the batter’s box, start to figure out the major league way of hitting.

“Offensively, we have the guys to do it. We just have to do it. You can talk about it all day, but between the lines we have to do it for 162. Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be hard? Yep. But the No. 1 thing is get through spring training healthy. That’s the No. 1 toughest thing is get through spring training healthy, and then talk to me at the All-Star break.”

By the way, Smith’s full name is Garry Seth Smith. Further proof that most fun facts aren’t really fun.

* Chris Tillman offered up his theory on how to stay consistent. It begins at home, and I’m not just talking about Camden Yards.

chris-tillman-white-follow-through-Sidebar.jpg“The fact that when you’re able to be consistent with your day-to-day routine and lifestyle and family and coming to the field, whenever you’re able to be consistent, I think it translates to the field,” he said.

“With the guys we’ve got in this clubhouse, they make it easy to go out and go about your business in a consistent way. It’s not only me, it’s a group thing to be able to be consistent. It comes down to what the team’s got going on. We all buy into each other. We’ve got our ups, we’ve got our downs, but I think it’s everyone’s goal to go out there and be consistent, and I think that has a lot to do with it.”

* Reliever Oliver Drake is seeking the same consistency as he approaches spring training with no more minor league options and nothing to prove at the Triple-A level.

The Orioles optioned Drake after he allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings over back-to-back appearances on June 28-29 in San Diego, but he surrendered only two earned runs over 12 1/3 innings to close the season beginning Aug. 31. The opponents included the Blue Jays (twice), Yankees (twice) and Red Sox (twice).

“Ending strong like that was a huge confidence boost for myself,” he said. “I always believed I could do it, but to be able to put together a nice run over an extended period of time really helps with that confidence. Instead of going, ‘I had a couple of good outings here and then a bad one,’ I was able to piece together multiple ones back to back. It really helps with the confidence knowing that I can do this.”

Drake notched 31 saves with Double-A Bowie in 2014, 23 with Norfolk in 2015 to go with his 0.82 ERA and 10 last season. However, he worked multiple innings in eight of his appearances last season with the Orioles. He’s going to be called upon for more than three outs if he sticks with the Orioles.

“A big thing that helped is when I got sent down in the middle of the summer, R.J. (Ron Johnson) and the big league staff had told me, ‘You’re not just going to be a one-inning guy anymore.’ Every time I come up, that’s not what they need. They need someone who can go multiple innings, so I went down there and I got an opportunity to work on that.

“It’s going from just always going one inning and one inning and one inning to when you have to throw one inning, come in and sit down and then ramp it back up. I got to experience that and fiddle with my routine and what works for me in between innings so that when I came back up and was asked to go more than three outs, I was able to do it.”

* I’ll leave you with an interesting tweet over the weekend from Daren Willman, MLB.com’s director of baseball research and development. Do with it what you will:

“Hyun Soo Kim batted .444 (24 for 54) when hitting into the shift last season. Highest BA for any LHB shifted. Chris Coghlan lowest .106.”

So the shift doesn’t perplex and frustrate every left-handed hitter.