Jones shows his character: Adam Jones delivered one of the best months of his career in April, batting .400 with five home runs, 19 RBIs and just 10 strikeouts. He’s a strong candidate for American League Player of the Month, but it’ll be tough to get past the amazing start of former teammate Nelson Cruz, who led the majors with 10 homers and 22 RBIs while batting .322 for the Mariners.
No matter. The thing that impressed me most was the way Jones responded to the civil unrest in Baltimore. He continues to grow as a team leader and major asset to the city.
Jones’ work with inner-city kids is well known and he takes every opportunity to be an ambassador for baseball in the community. He doesn’t yet have the influence of a Ray Lewis, but he may get there if he continues to burnish his superstar status and remains committed to making a difference with the strong voice he has developed.
Davis getting his groove back: There was a point a couple of weeks ago when you had to wonder which Chris Davis had shown up for the 2015 season — the one who batted below the Mendoza line last year or the one who was a force of baseball nature the year before.
This year’s Crush is probably somewhere in between, but he has bounced back from an early inability to make contact and is now hitting for both power and a respectable average. He’s always going to strike out a lot, but he seems to be gaining momentum and confidence at the plate at a time when the banged-up Orioles need him most.
Ubaldo’s transformation: Can’t say I’m not surprised at the terrific performance of Ubaldo Jimenez, who has bounced back from last year’s frustrating first season in Baltimore to re-establish himself as a premier starting pitcher.
Will it last? That’s impossible to say, but he definitely has made some key mechanical adjustments that have given him much better command of all his pitches. If he can sustain that, he could be a major difference-maker on a team that already had a pretty good rotation and wasn’t really depending on him at the outset.
It’s also good to see because he’s a good guy who carried himself with class last year during a difficult period. Tough not to root for a player like that.
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