Andrew Stetka: Pearce providing pop for O's

The Orioles are finding some of their best offensive production from the unlikeliest of places through the first three months of the season. Steve Pearce has given the Birds a surprising boost and is forcing Buck Showalter to pencil his name into the lineup more often lately. It's a bit funny to look at the 31-year-old's career numbers and realize that some of the game's best players enjoy those types of spoils in one season. Pearce has 23 home runs and 110 RBIs in his seven big league seasons, but six of those homers have come this season and already have given him a new career-high. He also provides something that Showalter loves - defensive versatility. Pearce can play in the outfield, at first base, or even at third base if you are in a pinch. Pearce isn't known as a defensive specialist, but being able to throw him around the diamond gives Showalter the ability to have flexibility in his lineup. Pearce hasn't played more than 61 games in any one season, and that was 2012 when he split time between the O's, Pirates and Yankees. We are talking about a career backup here. He's already appeared in 37 games for Baltimore this season and could be on pace to see more plate appearances, especially if he keeps up the production. It's amazing to think that a roster crunch saw Pearce released by the Orioles earlier this season. He was a free agent, welcome to sign with any team. The oblique injury to Chris Davis created an important need for the O's to get Pearce back on the roster, and it happened to work out for both sides. Players like Pearce are typically the "25th man" on any roster, but he's currently proving just how vital it is to get production out of everyone in the clubhouse. Part of Pearce's recent run of success has to be attributed to the Orioles' ability to get him back on the roster and to maneuver a system full of waivers, outright releases and number crunching. One of the biggest knocks on Pearce had been his platoon splits. He traditionally has hit left-handed pitching much better than right-handers, much like Delmon Young. This season, it hasn't mattered who Pearce is facing. He's hitting for a nearly identical average against either type of pitcher. This has given Showalter some easy decisions as to who to place in the lineup in recent weeks. We've seen Pearce use the entire field through this stretch as well. He has the ability to spray the ball the other way when needed, or pull one down the line for a double. It's pretty obvious that this type of hot streak won't last for the entire season. The history and numbers don't back up such a claim. It is telling, though, that he's even being written about in this space. There'd be no reason for such a thing if he wasn't making an impact and doing special things. Time will tell how long this ride will last. Fringe players can have great success for a few weeks at a time in baseball and then go back to being fringe players quite quickly. The one thing that can be learned from all of this, though, is that players like Pearce prove that having all 25 men contribute in a positive way is crucial to the success of any club. Andrew Stetka blogs about the Orioles for Eutaw Street Report. Follow him on Twitter: @AStetka. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.