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Call
August the month of the cycle.

 

Felix
Pie became the third player of the month to hit for the cycle on Friday and
the seventh all season.

 

Of
course, the main difference between Pie and the other six cyclists — Orlando
Hudson, Ian Kinsler, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer, Melky Cabrera and Troy
Tulowitzki  — is that the others are actually regulars. They don’t ride
the pine three or four or five nights in a row.

 

Friday
marked Pie’s eighth start since the All-Star game, with his playing time gradually
decreasing over time. If anything, credit the Orioles for sticking by him this
long through thick and thin, like when he finished April hitting just .157, or
when he entered Friday night hitting just .188 for the month.

 

In
other words, anyone who tells you they saw this coming is not telling the
truth.

The
good news is that the 4-for-5 effort added 20 points to Pie’s average, a vast
jump for someone who’s been with Baltimore for most of the season. The bad news
is that he’s still hitting .254 to go along with three jacks , 15 RBIs and one
stolen base.

 

Does
Pie still have 20-20 potential? Sure, while his stock has certainly fallen in recent
years, he’s hardly a finished product at age 24 years old.
Still, when all is said and done, one big game doesn’t erase three years of disappointing
production. All that matters now are results.

So
the question isn’t whether Pie is worth adding in fantasy leagues, but whether
Friday’s cycle does anything to break the perception of him as a bench player.

 

With
superior bats blocking his path back to a starting role — namely,  Nolan Reimold, Luke Scott, Adam Jones
and Nick Markakis — the right
answer should be easy as pie.

 

— Alex Cushing, MLB.com