More on Wieters

This morning, the Baltimore Sun ran a piece which asks the question, where in the lineup do you bat Matt Wieters? Let's hold on a minute, here folks.

Wieters had a good game last night. And yes, he's hitting well with runners in scoring position. But the Orioles coaching staff needs to focus on getting runners on base before they start shuffling the lineup. If Wieters is coming around, that's great. Maybe his hot streak will start catching on to guys batting before him (Brian Roberts and Vlad Guerrero both had 3 RBI nights last night) so that he'll have someone to hit home when he gets up to bat. But let's not get crazy and put him in the number 3 spot yet because Derrek Lee is having a slow start.

Wieters hasn't turned 25 yet. What's the use of moving him up in the lineup and adding more pressure on a young player just because he's had a recent hot streak? Let him stay in a comfortable slot and see if he can start to produce more than his .239 batting average suggests he can.

My lips to yours.

A Quick Note on Matt Wieters

Here is a rather frightening statistic on Matt Wieters so far this season. He is 5 for 5 with runners in scoring position (according to espn.com). In those at bats, he has 8 RBI, with 2 of those at bats and 4 of those RBI coming from tonight's 11-0 drubbing of the Minnesota Twins.

Why is that frightening? Because he usually hits between the 6th and 8th position, right after the supposed "heart" of the Orioles' lineup. And so far, he has only had 5 at bats with runners in scoring position. That means, tonight aside, the bulk of the lineup is not getting on base. Now granted, with his .239 average, Wieters hasn't been getting the job done for the most part either, but he is proving that he can hit when it counts.

Tonight was a good sign for the Orioles' offense (their pitching was fantastic too; anyone notice Gregg and Gonzalez not pitch tonight?). If they can keep giving Wieters a chance to hit when it counts, they can keep giving themselves a chance to win.

My lips to yours.