Warning: the following may contain blasphemy.

I have to confess that I'm a bit worried about a member of our bullpen.  Jamie Walker helped to hold our tattered 'pen together last year and is one of only two returning bullpen members from 2007 (the other is Chad Bradford).  However, I'm worried that he sucks.  Shall we examine the evidence?

Year   ERA  WHIP   BAA
2007  3.23  1.21  .244
2008  5.06  1.64  .326

I know that ERA doesn't mean much, but in this instance BAA is the stat that confirms what my eyes have told me: dude is getting rocked. Now, relievers are well-known to go through ups and downs and to suffer slumps. That's fine. But I'm a bit worried that this isn't a slump.

Here's the thing that blows me away. Ostensibly, until he was thrust into the closer's role at the end of last season, Walker was our situational lefty out of the bullpen. This season? He's pitching better against righties, and it's not even close:

vs  WHIP   BAA
LH  1.92  .389
RH  1.29  .219

In 2007, lefties only hit .216 against him.

Thus, my question for the masses: Is Jamie Walker any good any more? If he's not any good (as I suspect), can/should the team do anything about it?

All-Star voting ends at 11:59 PM ET on July 2, 2008, so there are less than three weeks left before the All-Star starters are chosen.  It goes without saying that the Orioles won't get a sniff at a starting position.  According to this article on MLB.com (scroll down to the bottom), the highest ranking Oriole is Brian Roberts at 2B, and he is in fifth place, waaay behind Red Sox (surprise) second baseman, Dustin Pedroia.

The managers' selections will come out a few days after the starters are announced.  So, here's the question: since every team must be represented, who will be the Orioles' representative at the All-Star game?  The only reasonable options for position players would have to be Roberts and Markakis, right?  Since the OF positions are always jammed with potential selections, and since Roberts is having a relatively quiet year, I don't see Terry Francona picking either of these two guys.

So that leaves a pitcher.  Just from my observations it would appear that the one-and-only-one teams usually end up getting their closer chosen.  I could see Sherrill getting the nod from us, since he's currently second in the majors in saves (21, behind Francisco Rodriguez's 27).  Frankly, I don't like this, as I would be willing to bet money he gives up a home run in the game (assuming he ever gets into it).  As SC pointed out yesterday, he "has a tendency to make it exciting," and the Orioles have been enough of a laughingstock on the national stage for my taste without an All-Star game debacle.

I couldn't see any other pitcher being chosen.

So, for those that care about such things, any opinions?