The Orioles felt obligated to give Freddie Bynum his first chance at a starting job replacing Luis Hernandez at shortstop. But he better get his bat going soon or he will soon go back to being a reserve infielder. Bynum has played in 27 games this season for the Orioles and he is 18 for 83 (.217 avg, .538 OPS) with 10 runs scored and 4 RBIs. If Bynum doesn’t pick up the pace soon the Orioles will turn to veteran Alex Cintron to start at shortstop. He has played in 13 games for the Orioles this season and he is 9 for 30 (.300 avg) with 1 RBI. The Orioles would be smart to switch shortstops now as Cintron is simply a better player than Bynum is.

The Orioles have recalled 25-year old switch hitting infielder Eider Torres from AAA to replace Adam Loewen on the roster. Torres will likely steal playing time at shortstop from light hitting Luis Hernandez and Brandon Fahey. Torres has played in 18 games in AAA this season and he is 25 for 74 (.338 avg, .795 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Luis Hernandez hasn’t hit much at all this season for the Orioles. Hernandez has played in 19 games for the Orioles this year and he is 8 for 39 (.205 avg, .529 OPS) with 5 runs scored and 3 RBIs. Brandon Fahey also hasn’t hit a lick this year. In 12 games for the Orioles, Fahey is 4 for 20 (.200 avg, .488 OPS) with 1 RBI. If Torres can’t beat out Hernandez and Fahey, Alex Cintron will and he’s getting ready in AAA as we speak.

Outfielder Jay Gibbons of the Baltimore Orioles has been suspended for the first 15 games of the 2008 season due to a violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Gibbons looked drug free last season as he played in 84 games and was 62 for 270 (.230 avg, .620 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 6 homers and 28 RBIs. Gibbons has now played in 779 games in his major league career and he is 724 for 2,787 (.260 avg, .767 OPS) with 348 runs scored, 121 homers and 405 RBIs. The Orioles got screwed by Gibbons who is being paid big money for all of the homers he hit while he was doing drugs, but, the return they get is a clean, untalented without drugs Jay Gibbons.

Jay Payton has been so bad in the second half of the season that he is losing playing time to Tike Redman.  Since the All-Star Break, Payton has played in 47 games and he is 33 for 151 (.219 avg, 565 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers and 16 RBIs.  Payton has been a huge disappointment for the Orioles this season as he has played in 118 games and he’s only hitting . 253 (.646 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 5 homers and 47 RBIs.

The Orioles have a few players that have been ice cold this season.  Aubrey Huff hasn’t been cold and he’s a notorious second half player but that doesn’t excuse a first half in which he hit .259 with 6 homers and 38 RBIs.  Look for Huff to be much better in the 2nd half of 2007.  Ramon Hernandez has been hurting this season and it has shown in his play on the field as he only hit .236 with 4 homers and 34 RBIs in the first half.  Corey Patterson has been a huge disappointment for the Orioles after he played so well for them last season.  He is hitting a weak .232 with 2 homers, 21 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.  If Patterson doesn’t pick it up soon Jay Payton could take some of his playing time away.  Jay Gibbons has also been a huge failure this season as he is hitting .212 with 5 homers and 21 RBIs.  Gibbons has already started losing playing time and that will continue unless he starts hitting like the Orioles know he can.