No Buck references is kind of disappointing. The Orioles are still tied for the AL East lead with the New York Yankees but they are going to need some help with the starting pitching. You pretty much know what you are going to get out of Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Matusz. They are going to shell out a solid 6-7 innings a piece when Matusz comes back from the DL. What you don't know is just how well rookie phenom Zach Britton is going to pitch once teams have scouting reports on him. He could pitch like Jaime Garcia did last season or he could struggle. It's too early to tell. What we do know is that Jake Arrieta and Chris Tillman are barely holding on to starter spots if they continue to struggle with location and velocity. Both got rocked in their last starts (albeit against good hitting teams in the Rangers and Yankees) but if they can't keep the ball down and be more consistent from start-to-start there is little reason for me to believe they last in the rotation. The Orioles will only go as far as their starting rotation takes them. All the guys are young and still have a ton of potential. But do you really want to rely on young, unproven starters who are inconsistent in the rough and tough AL East? I didn't think so. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail needs to be looking for at least one starter who some team is looking to dump for salary purposes. Or he could just sign C.C. Sabathia this offseason when he opts out of his contract. Both scenarios are not likely.
