What's right with Reimold (and notes)

The Orioles will face another right-hander tonight in the Rangers' Colby Lewis. Other than the Cardinals' Jaime Garcia last Thursday, I don't think the Orioles have seen a left-handed starter since Ron Guidry. It's no coincidence that Nolan Reimold hasn't been in the lineup since hitting a three-run homer off Garcia, and has started twice since June 15. Manager Buck Showalter prefers to use Luke Scott against right-handers. Felix Pie gets the starts if Scott is unavailable for shoulder, back or knee reasons. Plenty of fans are calling for Reimold to play more regularly, or at least have a reason to put on his uniform before games. Reimold is 8-for-33 (.242) against left-handers. All four of his home runs have come against them. However, he's 6-for-18 (.333) against right-handers, Nothing wrong there. For his career, Reimold is hitting .265 with nine homers and 28 RBIs in 211 at-bats against lefties, and .261 with 13 homers and 43 RBIs in 314 at-bats against righties. Before his promotion, Reimold was hitting .238 with two homers and nine RBIs in 42 at-bats against lefties, and .237 with four homers and 13 RBIs in 97 at-bats against righties. Scott is hitting .167 with four homers and seven RBIs in 36 at-bats against left-handers, and .235 with five homers and 15 RBIs in 170 at-bats against right-handers. Pie is batting .083 in 12 at-bats against left-handers and .257 in 101 at-bats against right-handers. Reimold has a .389 slugging percentage against right-handers, giving him the edge over Scott (.376) and Pie (.307). What's my point? You're foolishly assuming that I have one. I'm not calling for Scott to be benched. He's capable of going on a tear - if the tear in his shoulder allows it. But it's worth noting that Reimold isn't completely overmatched against right-handers. And Showalter pointed out recently that Reimold could evolve into an everyday player in the majors. The Orioles haven't labeled him as strictly a platoon guy for the rest of his stay in the organization. Scott batted .226 with three home runs and three RBIs in June. He went 0-for-9 in Atlanta. Reimold might sneak into the lineup against a right-hander one of these days. NOTES: The Orioles will face left-hander Matt Harrison tomorrow night. Vladimir Guerrero is batting .345/.400/.595 with 97 RBIs in 127 career games in Arlington. Nick Markakis is hitting .344/.443/.578 with 20 RBIs in 24 career games, and Adam Jones is hitting .309/.356/.588 with 15 RBIs in 20 games. In the last 19 games since June 12, Orioles starters have completed seven innings just once and have posted a 6.57 ERA in 97 1/3 innings. They're 2-6 with a 7.96 ERA in the last nine games, and only Jeremy Guthrie has completed as many as six innings. The Orioles' bullpen has posted a 2.52 ERA in the last 13 games and 50 innings since June 18. Chris Jakubauskas has allowed eight earned runs lifetime against the Rangers in three relief appearances covering nine innings. He faced them once this season before tonight and gave up five earned runs in three innings on April 9 at Camden Yards.