Wieters wielding a hot bat

Now that the smoke has cleared from last night's offensive eruption at Rogers Centre - better keep that roof open - we can get a clearer view of Matt Wieters' statistics.

They're eye-opening, to say the least.

Did anyone predict that Wieters would produce a slash line of .344/.382/.590 on April 24? Or that he'd have three doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs?

If so, I'm just as impressed by your ability to look into the future and ignore the trends.

Wieters owns a career .321 on-base percentage and .424 OPS, easily forgotten with his sizzling start.

It's basically a small sample size, less than a full month into the season, but Wieters has been a force at the plate. And especially from the left side of it.

The switch-hitting debate has quieted with Wieters batting .386/.440/.568 with two homers against right-handed pitching, compared to .235/.222/.647 with two homers against lefties. He went 3-for-5 last night and homered off southpaw J.A. Happ.

I find it amusing that the Orioles finally keep a left-handed hitting backup catcher, Steve Clevenger, and Wieters is now more prolific from the left side.

Wieters has a career .248/.313/.397 line versus right-handers and a .280/.341/.491 line versus lefties. Hence the debate among fans over his desire to remain a switch-hitter.

Last season, Wieters batted .214/.270/.358 against right-handers and .282/.326/.546 against lefties. In 2012, he batted .224/.303/.412 against right-handers and .323/.404/.504 against lefties. In 2011, he hit .237/.293/.372 against right-handers and .339/.430/.694 against lefties. But in 2010, he hit .263/.347/.394 against right-handers and .210/.236/.328 against lefties. And in 2009, he batted .313/.357/.447 against right-handers and .248/.313/.358 against lefties.

That's way too many numbers before noon. My apologies.

Anyway, I doubt that Wieters will win the batting title in the American League this season, but he's doing a lot more this month than just pulling his weight - and hitting it.