Each week, two PressBox baseball writers weigh in with their thoughts on a different question. Now, Stan "The Fan" Charles and Matt Palmer discuss the most surprising positive and most surprising negative for the Orioles so far this season.

By Stan "The Fan" Charles 

The key word here is surprise; otherwise, the biggest positive surprise on the team would be Nolan Reimold. But I have long been a booster of Reimold and thought he'd be an eclectic but effective leadoff hitter in lieu of Brian Roberts. So Reimold's hot start is not a total surprise.

That leaves me in the Chris Davis camp. I felt for the Orioles' lineup to become a force, the usual suspects -- Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis and Mark Reynolds -- all had to do their thing ... and that Chris Davis and Reimold had to take the steps necessary to prove their big-league mettle.

Chris Davis

As stated above, I felt I knew enough and had seen a large enough sample of Reimold up-close to have made my judgment. While acknowledging Davis' importance, I had no clue whether he could convince me otherwise. To date, he seems to be doing just that. A .294 batting average, along with five doubles and a home run, have me increasingly optimistic.

But -- and isn't that three-letter word always a big one? -- he has struck out 15 times and walked just twice. That is a ratio that, if sustained, will inevitably lead to a batting average in the .220s.

The most surprising negative development so far in 2012 has been the sloppy fielding, which seems to have become a team-wide issue. When Jake Arrieta has not one, but two, errant pickoff throws during one game; when Gold Glove catcher Matt Wieters has three errors; and when Mark Reynolds continues to butcher the hot corner, it's just not very pretty. If it stopped at just those three, it would be one thing, but the sloppiness seems to be an epidemic.

Mark Reynolds

Think the errors are no big deal? Think again. The Orioles have a respectable ERA of 3.64, in part because they are cutting down on the number of home runs allowed. Yet the 12 unearned runs allowed ties them with the San Diego Padres for the most in Major League Baseball.

So far this season, the shoddy defense has probably only cost them in back-to-back losses to the Yankees two weeks ago. But with a team whose margin for error is so limited, the leather play has got to be turned back around in a hurry.

By Matt Palmer 

The most surprising positive thing about the Orioles this season is the continued success of Jason Hammel, who was part of a trade that sent Jeremy Guthrie to Colorado. Hammel is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA during three starts.

Jason Hammel

He has struck out 18 and has a nasty slider, which has made him a formidable arm. At first, acquiring Hammel seemed like a salary move for the Orioles. They have him for a year more than they would have had Guthrie, and his contract, paired with Matt Lindstrom, the other piece in Colorado deal, would equal Guthrie's demands.

Lindstrom, too, has been pretty solid in 5.2 innings of work. He's allowed no runs and struck out seven.

For now the Orioles have gotten the better end of the Guthrie deal, which I didn't think was possible. Guthrie's best years were squandered by bad Orioles’ offenses, and even though he had 17 losses a year ago, he pitched better than that.

The most surprising negative thing -- and it shouldn't be that surprising -- is the continued collapse of Brian Matusz. Some people were speculating he was done after a nightmarish 2011 season, but when he succeeded in the spring and gained some velocity back, Matusz looked to be on the road to recovery.

Brian Matusz

But during the regular season, Matusz has been hittable and had a series of short outings that have taxed the bullpen. Manager Buck Showalter has largely refused to bury the 2008 first-round pick through the media, but there's only so long the skipper can build up something that's broken.

Matusz needs time in Triple-A Norfolk again before anyone can officially proclaim him finished. MLB just isn't the place to work out his kinks and rekindle the magic.

Posted April 24, 2012