The first half of the 2010 season was a disaster for the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles are 29-59 on the season which has them in last place in the A.L. East, 27 games behind the Yankees. Not everything has been awful for the Orioles this season and here is a look at some of the surprises and disappointments of the first half for them:

Pleasant Surprises: Ty Wigginton came into this season as a backup player but the injury to Brian Roberts and the lack of performance of the O’s at 1B opened up a lot of P.T. for him and he is the Orioles’ All-Star tonight. Wigginton has played in 83 games for the Orioles this year and he is 76 of 302 (.252 avg, .768 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 14 homers and 45 RBIs. 30-year old lefty swinging outfielder Corey Patterson was signed to a minor league deal with little expectation. But since coming up for the Orioles he has been one of the best players on the team. Patterson has played in 50 games for the Orioles this year and he is 58 of 201 (.289 avg, .758 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 5 homers, 21 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. 29-year old righty reliever Alfredo Simon’s performance has been even a bigger surprise than Patterson this year. Simon has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he is 2-1 with 13 saves, 3.24 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. His main problem has been his control as he has walked 13 batters in 25 innings this season. 26-year old righty reliever Jason Berken was terrible in 2009 as a rookie starting pitcher. They moved him to the bullpen this season and he has been the O’s best pitcher in 2010. Berken has pitched in 32 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he is 2-1 with a 1.95 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.

DISAPPOINTMENTS: 24-year old catcher Matt Wieters was supposed to be the next big thing at catcher and he still might be down the road but he has not played well this year. Wieters has played in 77 games for the Orioles this year and he is 66 of 269 (.245 avg, .672 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 6 homers and 29 RBIs. Garrett Atkins was signed to be the starting 1B for the O’s over the winter but he has already been released as he was downright terrible. Atkins played in 44 games for the Orioles this season and he was 30 of 140 (.214 avg, .562 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs. Kevin Millwood was brought in to be the ace of the Orioles starting rotation but he has been pitching a lot of batting practice this season. He has started 18 games for the Orioles this year and he is 2-8 with a 5.77 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Millwood has allowed 135 hits (20 homers) in only 107 2/3 innings this season for the O’s and that’s awful. 32-year old lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez started this season as the O’s closer but he didn’t last long before going on the D.L. He has pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he is 0-2 with 1 save, a 18.00 ERA and a 4.50 WHIP.

The Orioles are in last place in the A.L. East coming into this week with a 2-11 record which has them 8 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. The Orioles have been outscored 66-42 this season as they are neither hitting or pitching well this year. The Orioles are on the road this week against the Mariners (three games) and the Red Sox (3 games this weekend). They need to get things going soon or some heads are gonna start rolling in Baltimore.

The Orioles got swept by the Blue Jays over the weekend. They are now 1-5 on the season which has them in last place in the A.L. East, 4 games behind the Blue Jays. The Orioles have been outscored 27-19 so far this season as they have been having offensive and bullpen troubles so far this year. The Orioles are only hitting .236 as a team with a .689 OPS and that’s pretty awful for a team with a nice collection of hitters. The Orioles have a full week playing at home for three games against the Rays starting today and then they leave for Oakland for a four game series starting Thursday Night.

The Orioles deserved better than they got in Tampa. Sure, they were outscored 12-11 by the Rays but they could have just as easily won all three ballgames. New closer Mike Gonzalez blew a ninth inning lead in the opener (which the Orioles lost). The silver lining here with the Orioles as they played hard in all three games and they got solid starting pitching. They begin a three game series with the Blue Jays this weekend and despite the fact that the Jays are 2-1 on the year they aren’t anywhere near as good as the Rays.

It’s about time for the Orioles to give up on using Daniel Cabrera as a starting pitcher and make him the closer for 2008.  With Chris Ray and Danys Baez out most, if not all of 2008, the Orioles have a need.  Cabrera has unhittable stuff and he might be able to handle coming in for 1 inning and throwing 100 mph gas.  Cabrera is having another rough season as a starter and he is 9-17 with a 5.51 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP.  In 194.1 innings, Cabrera has allowed 191 hits, walked 104 batters and whiffed 160.  For his career now, Cabrera has pitched in 115 games (114 starts) and he is 40-48 with a 4.97 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.  Cabrera has now worked 651.1 innings in his career and he has allowed 610 hits, walked 384 batters and whiffed 550.  If the Orioles look at recent history they will see a few pitchers who were awful starting pitchers that turned into excellent stoppers when they could just let it all go for 1 inning at a time.  Jose Mesa was awful as a starter with the Orioles and Indians as he was 27-40 with a 5.03 ERA in that role.  The Indians converted him into a closer and he is 53-69 with 321 saves and a 3.97 ERA as a reliever.  LaTroy Hawkins was really stinky as a starting pitcher with the Twins as he was 26-44 with a 6.17 ERA.  Out of the bullpen however, Hawkins has been good as he is 30-32 with 75 saves and a 3.28 ERA.  Eric Gagne also wasn’t a great starter as he was 11-14 with a 4.61 ERA for the Dodgers.  Out of the bullpen, Gagne is 17-9 with 177 saves and a 2.47 ERA.  For Cabrera to be able to join these standout relievers he would have to throw strikes which has been a problem for him his whole career.  The Orioles are now 64-86 which has them in 4th place in the American League East only 2 games ahead of the Devil Rays for the basement.