If some one were to ask you whom, after 19 regular season games, would be hitting .364, have a major league leading (not to mention career SEASON high) seven home runs (Tied with the likes of David Ortiz & Paul Konerko), be second in the majors with 20 RBI (behind only teammate Miggy Tejada) and be tied for third in stolen bases, would the name Brian Roberts even have come into your head!? I know it wouldn't have entered my thoughts. I might have thought Derek Jeter was havin a strong power start or that A-rod was finally playing like A-rod is supposed to. I might have thought that Johnny Damon surprised everyone by coming back with the same power with which he hit last season or that Ichiro had decided to try to hit for power. Maybe I would have even had thoughts that Carlos Beltran was showing just how worth the money the Mets spent on him that he is. (This is not to say that he isn't, just making a point) Never in a thousand guesses though, would I have guessed Brian Roberts.
Not since Brady "90210" Anderson & his Brandon Walsh hair cut has Baltimore seen such productivity from its lead off man. But, one season after crushing 50 bombs from the lead off spot, Brady began to fall apart. He had many of the symptoms suffered by known & alleged steroid abusers too. Oh, did I mention that he put on a butt load of weight over that previous off season to his home run parade? At any rate, I don't see this as the case with Roberts.
Roberts has put on some weight since last year but nothing that is remarkable. Standing at 5'9" & 178lbs, B-Rob (as those of us lucky enough to be his friend call him) is a pretty standard sized guy for an athlete. He still has full flexibility (right Rey Ordonez?) and he can still run like the wind & play defense like a mother! So what has changed? According to his hitting coach, nothing but selection & opportunity has changed.
For the last couple of season Roberts has had to contend for playing time with his good friend Jerry Hairston Jr. During this past off-season though, Hairston became part of a trade with the Cubbies that brought Sammy Sosa (probably minus most of his needles & pills) to the O's. Brian Roberts saw his opportunity to become a full time player, started to be more selective about his pitches & the result has been this amazing start. Now I don't expect B-Rob to hit 50 taters. Hell, HE doesn't even expect himself to continue with the power surge. I certainly don't expect his OPS to stay at 1.183! That is just ridiculous! Still, Roberts has always been a productive player. He has gotten on base with fair regularity over the last couple of years despite having always had to look over his shoulder and worry about making mistakes because of Hairston being there. He stole 29 bags last season which, in todays majors, is nothing to sneeze at. He also drove in 53 runs last season.
This is a different season though. Brian Roberts is relaxed. He knows that he is the every day second baseman. He knows that teams are going to continue to pitch to him too because 2-5 in that line-up (Melvin Mora, Miguel Tejada, Sammy Sosa & Raffy Palmero *Don't worry, his pills are ok!*) are a pretty murderous bunch to face as an opposing pitcher. As long as he continues to go out & just play baseball, as long as he avoids trying to do too much, as long as he doesn't start going to the plate LOOKING to hit a home run, he is going to have a great season. I don't think that he will stay on THIS pace, but a .330 season with somewhere in the range of 20 HRs, 70 RBI & 35 stolen bags is not unrealistic. Brian Roberts, welcome to stardom!
I saw him play for the Red Wings in Roch back when they were Orioles' AAA team. I thought maybe he had the Brady 'Roid rage thing goin' on but I never realized not much changed in his body size. I guess he's just more selective and it's helping him out. It's unfortunate that the O's have ZERO pitching to keep up their hot start, though. I'm sorry but Sidney Ponson is no ace.
Posted by: Big J | April 27, 2005 at 01:48 PM
That is very true. Sidney Ponson WAS an ace at one time but things have fallen off for him in a bad way. I said at the beginning (In my AL preview) that this team was going to be able to produce a ton of runs but that their pitching would never let them reach the post season. I think that the Yankees are on the verge of bustin out and once Boston gets everyone back & healthy, they will win enough games to finish ahead of the O's. It is still nice to see them playing so well & Brian Roberts is just a really fun player to watch.
Posted by: Eddie Zyglis | April 28, 2005 at 12:26 AM