We parked in G lot, which isn’t too much of a haul to OPACY. In fact, I enjoyed the walk. Well, except for the homeless people begging for change. It breaks my heart.

After arriving on Eutaw St. we immediately went to Fan Assistance to turn in the tickets for our shirts, which was part of the $21 promotion. They are white with a license plate on the front that says “2110 Eutaw St.” Above it, it says “I live at” and, of course, there is the required Oriole logo and the names of Adam Jones and Nick Markakis. The shirt isn’t one that I would wear to a game. It’s white! In my opinion, only orange and black is allowed.

After picking up the shirts we went to the store to get a few items, more shirts, hats, etc. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a shirt of Bergesen or Nolan Reimold. The two I really wanted! Strangely, they did have shirts of Felix Pie and Ty Wigginton, but I got a black #30 Luke Scott shirt with orange lettering and numbers. Now that’s a totally appropriate shirt for rabid fans and supportive of the O’s team colors! I also picked up a Jake Arrieta rookie card and an Oriole key chain that says, “#1 Wife.” Aw, ain’t I sweet?

With 30 minutes until game time, we went to our seats in Bleacher 94 – seats 12 and 13. Our section was packed, but the other outfield viewing areas were sparse. The game attendance was 21,621. After two national anthems (don’t forget – USA and Canada) the game was underway.

Bergesen had a little trouble in the first inning keeping the ball down in the zone, but quickly overcame those struggles and pitched a very economical 6.2 innings. When the 7th inning began, Brad’s pitch count was at 70. I looked at my wife and said, “You know, hon, we may see history today,” as I was hoping for Brad’s first complete game shutout. This wasn’t to be. Brad’s pitches began to elevate and he quickly gave up two runs and was pulled from the game. Damn! Still, a quality start and his 8th in the last 9 games.

Brian Roberts looked good at the plate going 2-4, one being a 2-bagger and his 29th of the year. He also had a ninjaesque swipe of 3rd base. It was like he teleported there. Neither my wife or I saw it happen. Weird. Oscar Salazar’s homerun was a liner that cleared the left centerfield fence easily. The crack of the bat was monstrous! Other than that, hitting was average against a pitcher who really needs to buy a vowel for his last name: Rzepcynski

I hate to admit this, but after watching the game from the outfield, I’m starting to believe that Nicky is just an average player. It seems that AJ has much better fielding instincts (disregarding his mistaken third out blunder). Moreover, I’m a huge Nolan Reimold fan, but he’s clearly new to his position. At times, he appears lost. AJ is the centerpiece of the outfield. Make no mistake about it. If he improves his batting by laying off sliders and taking the ball the opposite way, the O’s will have quite an All-Star on their hands.

Good game. O’s win 4-2.

"The ceiling is so high on this kid, I don’t know what else to tell you," said Norfolk pitching coach Mike Griffin. "His ability to adjust or adapt to things very quickly at such a young age is phenomenal. I’ve never had a young pitcher … adapt and correct things immediately the way he can. It’s something you can’t teach, it’s something he has within himself."

Baltimore Sun Full Story

Luke Scott

We’re one series from reaching the All-Star Break, the unofficial midway point of the baseball season. Scheduled to start are two rookies (Jason Berken, Brad Bergesen) and an ailing Jeremy Guthrie – who, in my opinion is actually injured and not ill. Also, the Orioles have finished their last West Coast trip of the season. Thank God.

This past trip against the Angels and Mariners was better than most road trips the Orioles have had this year. Even though they sported a losing record in the 7-game stretch (3-4) they could have easily taken 3 from the Angels – twice losing after blowing 4-0 leads. That would have made The Birds 5-2 and given the fans plenty to be happy about and some higher expectations for the second half of the year. It didn’t happen. Let’s put it behind us and move on.

On the trip, David Hernandez didn’t suffer a loss, picking up 1 win and a no-decision. In both efforts he had 2 Quality Starts. Nice. He and Bergesen (1 QS) were the only ones to to do it. Two rookies – Three total Quality Starts. Two wins – One loss. Not at home, but on the road. That says a great deal about the young arms of the Orioles organization considering neither are part of the Big-3 and, at best, were projected to be #4 or #5 starters. I like the Birdland youth movement.

Nick Markakis on the other hand, wasn’t as enjoyable to watch as Hernandez and Bergesen. Some have started calling him Nick the Stickless. (Aw, that’s not nice.) However, it’s also not nice that Nick didn’t produce with bases loaded and no one out twice against Seattle and his team trailing on Wednesday. To me, Nick looks thin. I know he’s thin anyway, but he looks even thinner. His power is also absent. Let me guess. He has the flu? This flu epidemic with the Orioles gives a whole new meaning to The Bird Flu. (Okay, that was bad.)

Luke Scott on the other hand? Brilliant! A career high 7 RBI’s against the Mariners who were thumped 12-4 on Tuesday. I know Luke’s trade value is high – he’s under control for a few years, affordable and talented. I like it! But, if the O’s trade Aubrey Huff, they may consider keeping The Force, which will add desperately needed pop to the lineup and depth at left field and 1st base. Luke completed his second full inning at 1st Base of his MLB career on Wednesday when Huffstache was sidelined with a groin injury. (Talk about inexperience!)

Now that the road trip is over, the Orioles have a 3-game home stand against the other Birds, The Blue Jays. Do you know what would be great? With an ailing Guthrie (get better soon, bro) maybe we’ll see Chris Tillman pitch a little earlier than expected on Sunday. I have tickets to that game (the 2110 Eutaw St. promotion) and would love to say, “I saw Tillman pitch his first game in the Orange and Black!” Fingers crossed.

Before laptops, spreadsheets and VORP, the wizard of Baltimore was winning pennants by following his own internal baseball calculus.

"TEAM SPEED? GET SOME BIG#$@&*%$*! WHO CAN HIT THE #$@&*%!$* BALL OUT OF THE PARK!"

On a Saturday afternoon in mid-March, the most irascible manager in the history of the Baltimore Orioles is watching an Orioles pitcher get pasted, one hitter after another. This is only a spring training game at quaint Fort Lauderdale Stadium, not something that counted back at Baltimore’s old Memorial Stadium, on 33rd Street. But Earl Weaver, cap pulled low, that leprechaun’s twinkle in his eyes gone dark, does not like what he sees. All of his great teams—and they were all pretty great—were built on a foundation of reliable pitching. ¶ He won the pennant one year by making only 167 pitching changes in 159 games. Another year he won a championship by using 12 pitchers—not just in the World Series but the whole season.

Whack!

"Mix in a wild pitch or something!" the old manager blurts out.

Whack!

"Oh, my God!" Weaver croaks. Another shot, some 400 feet of solid contact, disappears out of sight, foul.

Whack!

"Who the hell is pitching?"

It does not diminish Weaver’s agitation that this is a spring training game. His reason for being is pretty simple. If somebody is keeping score—be it in the Grapefruit League, in the World Series or in Ping-Pong games against blue-haired ladies on a cruise ship—Earl Sidney Weaver desperately wants to have more of whatever is being counted than you have. What drove him absolutely crazy as a manager, or absolutely [bleeping] crazy in the Weaver patois, were all the messy obstacles to his simple desire to win. What stood maddeningly in his way, besides the guys on the other side of the field, were ballplayers of his who made outs on the base paths, umpires, people who thought the hit-and-run play was good baseball, sacrifice bunts, umpires, the five-man rotation, that smart-aleck Palmer, umpires, pitchers who didn’t throw strikes, fans who wanted the Orioles to run more and, well … those bleeping umpires.

Weaver: You’re here for one [bleeping] specific reason.

A MIND FOR THE GAME – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

B.J. Ryan

Jordan Bastian is reporting/tweeting that Toronto Blue Jays have released former Oriole closer B.J. Ryan.

Bastian’s tweet

Miguel Sano

The Orioles may be close to offering Miguel Angel Sano a deal that could surpass the $2.4MM they awarded top pick Matt Hobgood this year, according to Steve Melewski of MASN.com. ESPN.com’s Jorge Arangure Jr. said Monday that the Orioles were not going to award Sano more than Hobgood or 2008 draftee Brian Matusz, who received $3.2MM. Now, Melewski says the O’s could offer Sano more than $2.4MM, as they value him more than a late first rounder.

The Orioles are expected to wait for confirmation that Sano is 16 years old before committing to the Dominican prospect, who’s also being courted by the Twins and Pirates.

From MLB Rumors

MASN

Boston revealed to the O’s what a complete ball club looks like, and if there was anything to be gained from last night’s loss, it’s that the young and up-and-coming players observed that they will have to work harder than ever. They will also have to be patient with the Orioles franchise and executives until more pieces of the puzzle can be developed and/or obtained.

In rebuilding a ball club, it all starts with starting pitching, and the Orioles have done this by acquiring Chris Tillman in the famous Bedard trade, and drafted Jake Arrieta and Brian Matusz. By continuing to draft highly ranked pitchers, the most recent being Matthew Hobgood – 2009’s 5th overall pick and Gatorade’s 2008-2009 Baseball Player of the Year (video) – the Orioles are finally solidifying their future. However, it will be awhile before they arrive in the big leagues and even then they will need some time to adjust to upper-tier hitting, something you won’t find in the minors consistently.

Next, the Orioles will need a quality defense at all positions.

Nixk Markakis has a gun for an arm, leading the AL in assists, but some view his defense as shaky as he’s 78th in the AL in Fielding Percentage and is tied for 3rd in errors committed (3). Personally, I wouldn’t call Nick a bad outfielder, but his defense has room for improvement. At 25-years-old, The Stick is still maturing and developing on defense.

Adam Jones is in a contract year and it’s imperative that we sign him to a long-term contract. Since Nicky signed for $66 million, it wouldn’t surprise me to see something in the neighborhood of $80+ million given AJ’s 5-tool capabilities. Some have anointed AJ the lone outfielder to reach Willie Mays potential. Ugh, that’s a bit of a stretch. He’s good, but Willie Mays good?

With the arrival of Nolan Reimold in left field, we’ve added a great power bat that can also hit for average (currently leading all AL rookies in homeruns and RBI’s and is batting ), but his defense will need to improve, and it has been. Nolan picked up his first assist of his young career a few days ago against the Washington Nationals, throwing out Elijah Dukes at 3rd base. Once he starts taking better routes to the ball, which comes through playing time and that he’s a converted centerfielder, he’ll be an average defender with a great bat.

With those 3 players under control for 5+ years, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better outfield (offensively/defensively) on any team.

Our defensive infield is up in the air in this rebuilding process. You can expect Aubrey Huff, Ty Wigginton and Cesar Izturis to all be gone in the next 24 months with Huff not escaping the 2009 season’s trade deadline, and hopefully Melvin “E5” Mora to retire at the end of the season. (In fact, if I were the Mets, I would give the Orioles a sweet deal. Somehow, they’re still in contention.) This should be Mora’s last year and I can’t see the Oriole’s bringing him back, even in a stopgap situation.  Unfortunately, the infield lacks depth, therefore, the O’s will have to rely on their farm system to develop corner and middle infielders in a hurry in order to contend sooner rather than later.

Jeremy Guthrie

It’s no different now than when it was April 27, exactly 2 months and 1 day when the Orioles lost to Texas 6-4 (Box). Well, some things are different, like the outcome. The O’s were fortunate to beat the Gnats 6-3 (Box). But, the outcome should have been the same today as it was against Texas on a Monday night at OPACY, except the Natinals are so bad that they gift wrapped a win for our ace-by-slot.

Comparing the game against Texas on April 27 and today’s game against D.C.’s worst, you’ll find very similar data (Top row Texas, bottom row Washington):

Texas – Pitches-strikes: 101-69, Groundouts-Flyouts: 2-9, Batters Faced – 22

D.C. – Pitches-strikes: 95-58, Groundouts-Flyouts: 7-6, Batters Faced – 21

The big issue, and one that has been well discussed and documented, is Guthrie’s 1st inning troubles. Usually it’s round-tripper issues, but ultimately the biggest problem is high pitch-counts. In April versus the Rangers, Jeremy’s 1st IP was 37. Against the D.C. Nasties it was 38. To me, these two game (and a whole lot of other ones) are remarkable and eerily similar to what he does practically every outing, almost to the pitch! Therefore, when a pitcher’s numbers are that predictable, you know you’re not dealing with a slump. You’re dealing with habit. Guthrie has a mechanics issue – pure and simple.

Now, I’m not Rick Kranitz, so I can’t  explain to Jeremy how to keep his fastball out of the middle of the plate and belt high. I also can’t teach him how to add movement to his fastball other than to tell him not to overthrow the pitch. But, the guy is just serving up juicy meatballs over and over. If the Nationals were hungry they would have enjoyed Jeremy’s buffet.

Orioles 2 – Marlins 5

Baltimore Sun