Blue Jays and the AL East Recap: Week 1

Big Birds

Baltimore Orioles:  5-0

The only undefeated team in Major League Baseball, the Orioles have looked good from top to bottom. Not only have they been producing offensively, but the team’s biggest question mark, their starting rotation, has been a revelation in the first week with strong showings from Chris Tillman, Yovani Gallardo, and Ubaldo Jimenez.

Combined with an already dominant relief staff, the Orioles have begun the year firing on all cylinders. Manny Machado‘s 4-4 Sunday has made him the overall leader for Baltimore’s lineup, but new comer Mark Trumbo has helped to cover for Chris Davis‘ slow start.

Next: Rumours: Bautista open to negotiating in-season, shift to 1B?

Their deep bullpen has helped keep the team afloat in many situations, as only once this week did the Orioles win a game by more than 2 runs. The Orioles have yet to really face a major pitching challenge though, they dominated the only real ace they saw, Chris Archer, but he’s not looked like his old self this year. We’ll see how they fare against Price and the other aces of the AL East.

Final Takeaway: While the Orioles are off to the best possible start, they haven’t blown away the competition. They’ve been good, but they haven’t been as good as their record suggests.