Should We Be Worried About Ubaldo Jimenez?
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NO. UbaldO has always been a slow starter. He holds a career 5.55 era in April. Also, last year his first three starts he went 0-2 with a 11.25 era. So he has improved this year as he has started 0-3 with a 7.31 era. He finished off last season good enough to earn a 4 year $50 million contract.
To Jimenez’s credit he hasn’t gotten a lot of run support. In his 3 starts he has a total of 7 run support. The Orioles really should be able to score around 4 runs a game. Then again, Jimenez should not be giving up 4 or 5 runs again.
If Jimenez can not get it going, I’m confident that Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter can find someone to take his spot in the rotation. They have plenty of options, whether it be Johan Santana, Zach Britton, or Kevin Gausman, or even an outside pitcher.
My fear is that Peter Angelos sees that the one pitcher the team spends money in forever flops, and never spends money again. With Chris Davis, and Matt Wieters, among others, contracts running out, I fear that Angelos will not be willing to spend the money. In the end, I feel that Jimenez will pay off for the Orioles.
