Who bats first?

The Orioles will make their last 20 picks today in the First-Year Player Draft. Maybe there's the son of a coach or team employee who will get the call in the late rounds. The sons of Mike Hargrove, Jeff Newman and Sam Perlozzo have been drafted by the Orioles in past years. The Orioles face another left-hander tonight, Oakland's Josh Outman, who held them to two runs in six innings in a 4-2 victory on May 28. Outman gave up six hits and walked five. It's not like the Orioles didn't have a few chances against him. Zach Britton hasn't won in his last six starts, though non-existent run support is partly to blame. But the drought dates back to May 1. Britton gave up six runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings against Oakland on May 29. Josh Willingham hit a three-run homer. Does J.J. Hardy bat leadoff tonight, or does Robert Andino start at second base and return to the top of the order? Andino is batting .379 against lefties this season, though he's driven in one run. He's 1-for-2 with two walks against Outman. Hardy is 0-for-2 with a walk. Small sample sizes. I like Hardy leading off, but maybe it's because he homered last night and the Orioles won. I'm easily impressed and I tend to only remember things that happened within the last 24 hours. Manager Buck Showalter thought about batting Adam Jones first last night with Andino and Felix Pie out of the lineup. Jones hit third again and went 3-for-4 with his eighth home run. Jones improved his average to .301 with 32 RBIs. He's playing a great center field. He's got to be the Orioles' All-Star representative at this point. None of the Orioles are in the Top Five in voting. Here are the American League outfielders: 1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays, 2,142,867 2. Curtis Granderson, Yankees, 1,725,654 3. Josh Hamilton, Rangers, 1,229,040 4. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners, 970,622 5. Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox, 871,897 6. Nelson Cruz, Rangers, 768,115 7. Carl Crawford, Red Sox, 747,644 8. Nick Swisher, Yankees, 712,924 9. Grady Sizemore, Indians, 616,328 10. Brett Gardner, Yankees, 597,890 11. Jeff Francoeur, Royals, 573,420 12. Shin-Soo Choo, Indians, 524,758 13. J.D. Drew, Red Sox, 501,187 14. Matt Joyce, Rays, 497,847 15. Sam Fuld, Rays, 433,784 No Adam Jones. Pity. I'll leave you with a draft-related question that Showalter has posed to reporters. If you knew that you could select a player in the first round who would have a major impact, someone who would be in your rotation or lineup for years to come and make a bunch of All-Star teams, would you forfeit the other 49 picks that year?