Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
The trade that the Baltimore Orioles pulled off to bring in Bud Norris from the Houston Astros was met with mixed reviews. Some thought it was a great move and a good change of scenery for Norris while others thought that he wouldn’t be the type of pitcher that the Orioles needed to push them over the hump. While Norris has done better than some thought and certainly has shown that a pennant race doesn’t scare him one bit, he still needs a little tweaking in order to fully help the Orioles to the 2013 MLB Postseason.
Over the first three starts he made with his new team Norris didn’t give up more than two runs. That worked out well but two starts ago he gave up four and last start he gave up seven to the Oakland Athletics. This suggests that the inconsistency that was there with the Astros remains still. It isn’t a huge thing if it is only once every four starts but two in a row make it appear like more of an issue. Plain and simply put, Norris needs more consistency in his game if he plans to prove himself good enough down the stretch run.
I like Norris and I believe he has the stuff to do exactly what the Orioles thought he would do. Especially if Jason Hammel comes back from the disabled list pitching well, a consistently good Norris would be enough for the Orioles to make up that two-game difference between themselves and the A’s and keep them behind them. They would still need to worry about other teams but the point here is that they have time and they can do it. It would be nice for them if Norris can give them six strong innings giving up three or fewer runs from here on out. If he does then his performance would have proved the O’s move correct.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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