Daniel Clark: Reassessing the O's active roster

Worn fingernails, mood swings and high blood pressure - Welcome to the life of an Orioles fan. A frustrating season has continued to fray the nerves of us fans this past week or so, after our team failed to take advantage of eight consecutive quality starts by winning just four games. Those that follow me on Twitter (@DC_TBLDaily) will know I speak my mind and immediately after Monday night's painful loss to the Rays, I said there won't be any holding back in this week's blog post. I'm staying true to my word. The harsh reality is that it's unlikely our team will reach the playoffs if they continue to hover around the .500 mark and lose games they ought to be winning. After 70 games, the O's have a 36-34 record and sit third in the American League East standings, four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. They're close enough to challenge for the division title, but they need to establish a significant winning streak soon and I feel that this will require some changes being made. Thus far, 34 players have appeared for the O's and by the end of the season, history suggests this number will increase to approximately 50. With current form and future needs taken into consideration, listed below is what I believe the ultimate active roster will look like. Position Players Chris Davis, Jonathan Schoop, J.J. Hardy, Manny Machado, Ryan Flaherty, Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz, Steve Pearce, Delmon Young, Steve Lombardozzi Catchers Steve Clevenger, Caleb Joseph Rotation Bud Norris, Wei-Yin Chen, Kevin Gausman, Miguel Gonzalez, Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez Relievers Brian Matusz, Ryan Webb, Tommy Hunter, Zach Britton, Darren O'Day, T.J. McFarland This means Steve Clevenger and Steve Lombardozzi would be in line for a return, at the expense of David Lough and Nick Hundley. Prior to the announcement of Matt Wieters' season-ending surgery on Monday, I had him and Clevenger as the two catchers on the roster, but that's obviously now changed. Clevenger was somewhat surprisingly sent back to Triple-A Norfolk in late May, with Joseph instead staying with the team. Clevenger had performed well in his 24 games with the O's, hitting .243 with an on-base percentage of .300. He has also performed well in his time with the Tides since, hitting .393 in 16 games. Joseph's offensive struggles have overshadowed the value he adds to the team behind the plate. After ­23 games, he's hitting just .131 and has an on-base percentage of .232. He has, however, been impressive defensively, making crucial plays late in games when opposing hitters have bunted to move runners around. In addition, he has thrown out a Wieters-esque eight of 18 base-stealers. Despite being more experienced than Clevenger in the majors, Hundley has struggled to find consistency since joining the O's in late May, hitting just .147 with an on-base percentage of .184 in 10 games. He has also thrown out just one of eight base-stealers and has made an error. All things considered, with Wieters now out for the season I believe the Clevenger/Joseph combination is the best way forward for the O's as Clevenger appears to be the best offensive option, while Joseph's defensive skills and ability to throw out base-stealers will be of benefit in close games. All of this, however, is subject to change should Hundley regain form. As for Lombardozzi, similar to Clevenger he was also unlucky to be sent down to Triple-A Norfolk. Despite hitting .288 with an on-base percentage of .297 in 20 games, he was sent down in late May. Having since appeared in 36 games for the Tides, he has performed solidly with the bat, hitting .275. In addition, he has also spent much of his time playing well in left field and has proven himself worthy of a recall. This could come at the expense of Lough, who despite his impressive defense in the outfield, is hitting just .182 with an on-base percentage of .262 in 51 games. On the pitching front, a six-man rotation has a number of benefits and is an approach worth pursuing. Gausman, who pitches today in the series finale against the Rays, has been impressive since being called up in early June, allowing just two runs in 13 innings of work. Gonzalez has just returned from injury and despite allowing four runs in his outing last night against the Rays, he is a valuable member of the rotation. Not only will keeping these two in a six-man rotation lessen the workload of each starter in what could be a physically demanding playoff run, but it would also allow a long-relief option should the inconsistent starts from Tillman and Jimenez continue. At this stage, it's just the two changes I'd make to the Orioles' active roster, but there are others on shaky ground - in particular, reliever Tommy Hunter, whose ERA has blown out to 6.52. I'd be interested in reading your thoughts on the best way forward for the O's, so be sure to leave a comment below. Daniel Clark blogs about the Orioles at The Big Leagues Daily from Melbourne, Australia. Follow him on Twitter: @DC_TBLDaily. 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.