Murphy's Law

Poor thing never had a chance.

Definition: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

That sums up the 2010 Orioles season to date.

Just last night there were 3 more major setbacks that came to light.

1. Brian Roberts, who is on the 15-day DL, wasn't cleared by doctors to resume baseball related activities because of his back injury and looks to be out much longer than initially expected. I pontificated on Orioles Hangout that Roberts will probably miss the rest of the year and the injury may cut his career significantly short. It was a premature statement to make, but with the Orioles luck, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see this being the case.

2. Felix Pie, on the DL with a shoulder and back injuries, looks to miss at least 3 months. Until he was injured, Pie was the O's best hitter, and was the starting LF in place of Nolan Reimold who's achilles is still hampering him.

3. Brad Bergesen was demoted to Norfolk after his disastrous start last night against the Mariners in the O's 8-2 loss. In 3 starts, Bergesen has a 12.19 ERA. He pitched well through the first 2 innings, but even then, he needed a double play in the first inning to get out of a jam. In the third inning, an error seemed to rattle Bergesen who was 4 ER in one inning. The Mariners scored 7 runs that inning, thanks in part to the error, but Bergesen has not looked good all season. Bergesen's 2010 season was cut short thanks to a Billy Butler line drive off his shin, and the injury seemed to linger all offseason. Then, as Bergesen was filming a commercial for MASN, he injured his shoulder, and didn't look comfortable all spring training. His sinker isn't sinking and his control isn't close to where it was in '09. Bergesen may still be dealing with discomfort in his shin and shoulder, and may have some trouble overcoming mental issues related to the injuries and the lack of solid defense behind him. In the home opener, Adam Jones dropped a fly ball that hit him right in the glove.

Just think, all of that was in a day's time.

Other things that have gone wrong so far...

- The offense has struggled mightily with runners in scoring position.
- Batters are routinely hacking at everything. The Orioles have the worst pitch per plate appearance in the majors.
- Jones, Nick Markakis, Reimold, and Matt Wieters are all struggling at the plate. Wieters is batting .286 and doesn't look as lost as Jones, Markakis and Reimold, but still isn't hitting the ball with much power as expected.
- Mike Gonzalez blew 2 saves in 3 chances and was then promptly added to the DL.
- Aside from Gonzalez, the bullpen (Matt Albers, Jim Johnson) has given up leads late in the game all season.
- Ken Rosenthal's anti-Angelos article stated that Cal Ripken was turned down for a job within the organization. Peter Angelos and Ripken have dismissed the article's claims, but in a response article, Rosenthal stood by his sources and continued to kick the Orioles while they were down.

So there you have it. At 2-12, the Orioles are on their way to a disastrous 2010 season filled with underperforming prospects, injuries and off-the-field problems.

Whoever Murphy is, his law must've been invented for the Orioles in 2010.