What's the first weekend of the season without a little controversy?
As if it hadn't been talked about enough, Paul and I discuss Chance Sisco's now infamous bunt in the ninth inning against the Twins on Sunday to start off this week's Orioles episode of the "MASN All Access" podcast.
Was Sisco in the wrong, or did he do the right thing when he bunted during José BerrÃos' one-hit shutout? We'll weigh in with our thoughts and hear from MASN analyst and Orioles Hall of Famer Rick Dempsey.
We then debate which is a greater cause for concern through the first four games: the bats or the rotation. The Orioles currently rank last in all of baseball in batting average (.134), on-base percentage (.231), slugging (.260), OPS (.491), hits (17), and second-worst in runs scored (six). So yeah, the offense has been bad.
But the starting pitching has been the Achilles heel of this team for a while now, and the rotation hasn't done much better. Opponents are batting .298 off Orioles starters, who are posting a 6.30 ERA and have given up seven home runs.
So does the offense or the rotation concern you most through the first four games?
And it doesn't get any easier for the Orioles through the rest of this month. After this three-game series in Houston, the Birds fly to New York to take on the Yankees for four games. The Orioles also face the Red Sox in Boston and host the Indians later this month, which means they face all five of last year's American League playoff teams in the season's first month. How to the Orioles right the ship with a daunting upcoming schedule?
Check out the new Orioles episode of the "MASN All Access" podcast below, and please rate, review, subscribe and share! You can now also subscribe to the "MASN All Access" podcast on Apple Podcasts and Google Play. If you have any other platforms you'd wish to get "MASN All Access" on, please let us know!
You can also follow myself (@Bobby_Blanco) and Paul (@PaulMancano) on Twitter to give us your take on Sisco's bunt and your greater cause for concern. Tweet us your thoughts and questions, and you can also submit them in the comments section below.
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