35-year old righty swinging 1B Derrek Lee is off to a very slow start with the bat for the Orioles. He has played in 26 games for the Orioles so far this year and he is 23 of 101 (.228 avg, .591 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Lee has also whiffed 27 times as he has been very impatient at the plate. The Orioles are happy with Lee’s defense but they need him to relax at the plate and let his natural skills take over. He’s too good of a hitter not to catch fire with the bat pretty soon.

Backup IF/OF Robert Andino is off to a very slow start with the bat. He has played in 3 games for the Orioles so far this year and he is 0 for 10 (.000 avg, .091 OPS) with 1 run scored. Andino is in line to get some more P.T. with J.J. Hardy out, but it won’t happen if he continues to flail and miss with his bat at the plate. I have really never liked Andino much and in due time I don’t think the Orioles will either. He thinks he’s a home run hitter…..and he’s not.

26-year old lefty swinging RF Nick Markakis has hit o.k. for average this year but his power was just not there. He has played in 151 games for the Orioles so far this year and he is 174 of 594 (.293 avg, .791 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 10 homers, 54 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Markakis has now played in 777 games in his first five years with the O’s and he is 878 of 2,959 (.297 avg, .828 OPS) with 442 runs scored, 87 homers, 416 RBIs and 43 stolen bases. Unless Markakis can hit six homers the rest of the year he will establish a new career low. The Orioles need Markakis to get back into a production groove in 2011 if the team is going to start to really compete in the A.L. East.

23-year old switch hitting 3B Josh Bell is looking overmatched at the plate so far this year. He has played in 45 games for the Orioles so far this year and he is 31 of 145 (.214 avg, .535 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers and 12 RBIs. Bell’s biggest problem so far is that he swings at everything! He has whiffed 51 times while only walking 2 times for the Orioles. Bell had batter adjust to major league pitching as pitchers will scour scouting reports and pitch to his weaknesses if he won’t take a walk.

26-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Nolan Reimold played in 29 games for the Orioles earlier this year and he was 17 of 83 (.205 avg, .639 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 10 RBIs. He was then sent to AAA and he hasn’t being playing any better in the minors. Reimold has played in 52 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 39 of 190 (.205 avg, .611 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 6 homers and 19 RBIs. Despite a possible fire sale I don’t see the Orioles calling Reimold back to Baltimore until he starts to show something in the minors.