Dillon Atkinson: Is Joey Rickard being overused?

After breaking camp with the Orioles following an impressive spring training, outfielder Joey Rickard quickly won the hearts of O's fans. He opened up the season with a seven-game hitting streak in which he slashed .370/.367/.556 with a 152 wRC+. From the beginning of the season through April 21 against the Blue Jays, he slashed .350/.359/.483 with a 135 wRC+.

As of lately, he hasn't been as fortunate, gathering two hits - one being an infield single - over his last 20 at-bats. On the season, he is now hitting .288/.306/.388 with a 90 wRC+. Is Rickard coming back to earth, or is he just in a slump?

The rookie outfielder has been complimented on his ability to work walks and get on base, slashing .283/.390/.397 in four minor league seasons in the Rays organization. In 2015, he owned a 21.3, 13.8 and 9.6 walk percentage in high Single-A, Double-A,and Triple-A, respectively. So far in 85 plate appearances at the major league level, Rickard has recorded a 3.5 percent walk rate, which is the third lowest on the Orioles - who have a current team 8.0 percent walk rate to this point - above Caleb Joseph at 3.4 percent and Mark Trumbo at 2.5 percent. Rickard also has a strikeout rate of 21.2 percent. That isn't necessarily that bad for a hitter on the strikeout-heavy Orioles, but it is a lot for a low power, low on-base hitter.

Also, what's a little bit alarming is Rickard currently holds a high .349 BABIP and a low 17.2 percent hard hit rate. The high BABIP is a sign of future regression. It has shown in the past, and Jimmy Paredes is a perfect example. In 2015, through the month of June, Paredes slashed .316/.345/.507 with a 130 wRC+, 4.6 walk percentage, 25.2 strikeout percentage and a high .392 BABIP. From July through the rest of the season, Paredes hit .210/.253/.268 with a 40 wRC+, 5.5 walk percentage, 34.9 strikeout percentage and .326 BABIP. Rickard's current .349 BABIP should keep you aware that regression could hit at any point, and a low hard hit rate of 17.2 percent might help back that up.

Stepping away from the plate, Rickard is not liked by defensive metrics. In 100 innings in left field this season, he has recorded -6 defensive runs saved (DRS) and a -4.6 ultimate zone rating (UZR). Some people don't believe defensive metrics much, but he hasn't passed my eye test either. Although he has made some impressive plays in the field, like robbing Troy Tulowitzki of a borderline homer, he has also dropped a pop fly, although saving himself by throwing the runner out at home. Aside from that play, it seems like he takes poor routes to balls from time to time, in my opinion. I don't think Rickard has been all that great in left field so far, although I do think the defensive metrics are being a little too harsh on him.

It still may be too early to figure out who the real Joey Rickard is. There's a decent chance he'll fall off soon, but there's also a chance he busts out of the current slump he's in and continue to be a starting left fielder. But it's also worth noting that the 24-year-old left fielder - along with Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop and Chris Davis - has played in every single game this season. While he's in this slump, it may be best to give Rickard a day or two off, and give those reps to either Nolan Reimold or Hyun Soo Kim. Rickard has the lowest fWAR on the team at -0.4, and through the current 2-for-20 slump, it doesn't hurt to give Reimold or Kim the reps for a day or two while letting Rickard rest his mind and body. Rickard may need one or two days of rest after all, in case of the emergency that Adam Jones gets hurt again and Rickard has to go cover center field full-time.

Dillon Atkinson blogs about the Orioles for Orioles Uncensored. Follow him on Twitter: @DAtkinsonOU. 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.