Breaking Down The Orioles 25-Man Roster

The roster is set. Let’s play some damn ball.

One more sleep until Opening Day. I don’t know about you, but I’m like a kid before Christmas right now. On Saturday, the Baltimore Orioles finalized their 25 man roster. Here it is:

• C – Matt Wieters
• 1B – Chris Davis
• 2B – Jonathan Schoop
• 3B – Ryan Flaherty
• SS – J.J. Hardy
• LF – David Lough
• CF – Adam Jones
• RF – Nick Markakis
• DH – Nelson Cruz
• C/1B – Steve Clevenger
• 1B/OF – Steve Pearce
• IF/OF – Steve Lombardozzi
• OF – Delmon Young
• SP – Chris Tillman
• SP – Ubaldo Jimenez
• SP – Wei-Yin Chen
• SP – Miguel Gonzalez
• SP – Bud Norris
• RP – Tommy Hunter
• RP – Darren O’Day
• RP – Ryan Webb
• RP – Brian Matusz
• RP – Evan Meek
• RP – Zach Britton
• RP – Josh Stinson

That’s a good looking list, eh?

The O’s will start the season with a four man bench and seven man bullpen. There are a couple of roster surprises in my opinion. For starters, I didn’t think Jonathan Schoop would make the cut, but Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter must really like what they saw this spring. Personally, I think it says a lot about how long they expect to be without Manny Machado, who starts the season on the disabled list. Jemile Weeks will begin his year down on the farm.

Two non-roster invitees cracked the 25-man roster, Delmon Young and Evan Meek. Young hit .298/.298/.447 in 47 plate appearances for the Orioles this spring. Meek allowed just one earned run over nine innings of work in eight appearances. He earns a spot over guys like Suk-min Yoon, T.J. McFarland, Steve Johnson, Kelvin De La Cruz, Luis Ayala and Brad Brach.

Here’s my prediction for the Opening Day lineup:

• RF – Markakis
• LF – Lough
• 1B – Davis
• CF – Jones
• DH – Cruz
• SS – Hardy
• C – Wieters
• 3B – Flaherty
• 2B – Schoop

What do you think?

Image Credit: Keith Allison