What to Make of Orioles' Early Season Struggles

     Before the beginning of the 2011 season, the talk around Baltimore was that the Orioles would go as far as their pitching would take them. Off season acquisitions Derrek Lee, Vladimir Guerrero, Mark Reynolds, and J.J. Hardy joined a lineup filled with young potential and consistent veterans. This was supposed to be the year where the Orioles lineup struck a little bit of fear into opposing pitchers. Yet, here we are a little over three weeks into the season and there is not one regular starter hitting over .300. While it's a little early to hit the panic button, it is worth taking a closer look at the Orioles' early season struggles.

     Derrek Lee and Nick Markakis are arguably two of the bigger disappointments early in the season. Markakis has been the Orioles most consistent hitter over the last few years, yet has found himself struggling at the outset of the 2011 season. Through 4/25, Markakis is hitting .208 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs, well below his career averages. They say baseball is a game of averages, so Markakis should be ok once he finds his stroke. Derrek Lee was coming off a 2010 season where he hit .260 with 19 HRs and 80 RBIs while playing through a hand injury all season long. So far this season, Lee has struggled to a .211 BA with 1 HR and 2 RBIs. This is not the production a team needs from a guy in the middle of their lineup. Lee did miss most of Spring Training, so his early troubles could be attributed to that. It could also be that Lee's age, 35, has caught up to him. No matter what the case may be, it might not hurt to drop him lower in the lineup until he works out his issues at the plate.

     Another new acquisition, Mark Reynolds, is also seeing his fair share of early season struggles. Reynolds is currently hitting .179 with 2 HRs and 12 RBIs. While this is not what most fans want to hear, these numbers shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Reynolds is known for his power as he has averaged almost 31 HRs a year in his four seasons in the big leagues, but he is also known for his strikeouts. Reynolds has struck out over 200 times in three of his first four big league seasons. While we would like to see the strikeouts cut down, and the average go up, Reynolds is here to hit homeruns. Expect the balls to start flying out of Camden Yards once the weather warms up.

     The Orioles struggles aren't limited to these three players alone. Almost every hitter on the team, minus Brian Roberts, is hitting below expectations. These struggles are being magnified right now by the fact that it is the beginning of the season. Every player goes through slumps in a season. Unfortunately, the Orioles all seem to be slumping at the same time, when they have nothing else to base their season on.

     As I mentioned before, baseball is a game of averages. Eventually, the Orioles will break out of their early season lull, and hopefully the offense will be filled with a little more firepower. Hitting is contagious, and once one or two of these players breaks through look for it to havea positive effect on the rest of the lineup.