Baltimore Orioles: AL East vs. the rest of the league

2016 was obviously considered a down year for the Baltimore Orioles. However while not officially, for all intents and purposes they finished in the neighborhood of .500 (37-39) against their division, the AL East. This kind of works against the grain because in general you figure if you can compete in your division, you’re going to win games.

Having said that, the Orioles actually play non-AL East teams for more games than they do division teams. This discrepancy is slight, but it’s there. But how could the O’s finish in that .500 neighborhood in division play, but still end up 18 games out of first place when all was said and done?

It’s actually fairly simple if you think about it. The Orioles are constructed to compete in the AL East. The division has always been about bludgeoning your competition to death. Look at the Orioles and look across the division – it’s just a fact of life.

Whether it’s Davis, Jones, Mancini, Machado, or someone else, the Orioles can hit the ball out of the ballpark. The past few spring games have told us that as well. And that’s how you win games in the American League East. This is true both in the present, as well as historically.

However this is also just another way of saying that Oriole pitching hasn’t held up it’s end of the bargain. The Orioles both win and lose games 9-8 and so forth. Ideally you’d rather win 9-1. Now last year may not be the greatest example off which to look, given that everything kind of went south at once. Odds are against that happening in general. But it did.

So the question is whether or not the Birds would be better off trying to compete with the rest of the league as opposed to the AL East? And my answer is no. If you take ten division wins away does that mean you’re adding 20 wins in non-divisional games? Odds are against it. The best way forward for the Orioles is to maintain their divisional record, and improve their non-division record. If they can do that, they’ll have a better shot at the post season.

The Orioles will resume play this afternoon, traveling to Ft. Myers to take on the Minnesota Twins. Hunter Harvey gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Minnesota’s Adalberto Mejia. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles keeping the beer cold after all these years

Today is the Baltimore Orioles’ lone off day during Grapefruit League play. At first I was a little surprised that it was this early on, however the schedule’s a bit different this year in that spring training ends on a Sunday and Opening Day’s on Thursday. So the players will have some time off right before the season starts.

So with no game to cover I wanted to get to the business of a column that I write in some form every spring training. Nobody honors the past quite like the Orioles, and a big part of that past resides in the broadcast booth. Do the words ain’t the beer cold?!, or Go to war, Ms. Agnes! mean anything to you?!

Chuck Thompson called Orioles games on both TV and radio from the 1950’s until finally retiring for good after the 2000 season. Thompson retired from full time duty in 1983, however came out of retirement a few years later to work games part-time on the radio. Speaking for myself, that’s how I remember him and how I was introduced to his work.

Simply put, nobody was as good as Chuck behind the mic – NOBODY. He had that smooth delivery which brought along with it thoughts of hometown, summertime, vacation, and good times. His call of games could lend to the belief that one was sitting on the front porch sipping lemonade while following the game, or perhaps laying on a beach in Ocean City – down-y oshun!

Chuck Thompson came of age in the baseball broadcasting business when the concept of the hometown announcer was a huge idea. Back then precious few games were televised, and people followed the team on radio if they couldn’t get to the game or if the team was out of town. Thompson acted as a liason of sorts between the team and the fans. This is still an important aspect in the jobs of the men who cover baseball today, however in an age of mass media and online columns (including this one!) people find different ways to follow teams.

When you use the term the voice of the Orioles people of a certain age immediately think of the great Chuck Thompson. He was to Baltimore what Vin Scully was to Los Angeles. And Mel Allen to New York, Ernie Harwell to Detroit, Jack Buck to St. Louis, Jack Brickhouse/Harry Caray to Chicago, or Harry Kalas to Philadelphia. All of those men were of similar age and broadcasting characteristic. And all of them seemingly came to represent the cities and teams that they served.

Speaking for myself, I loved Chuck Thompson’s aforementioned catch-phrases. Everyone did. However I think the thing I remember the most about him as how he always seemed to emphasize the second O in OriOles. It’s little things as such that endeared broadcasters to their hometowns. Chuck Thompson walks in lockstep with Orioles fans of a certain age. He represents not only Orioles baseball, but summertime. And he’ll nary be forgotten, even as the years go on.

Baltimore Orioles win a donnybrook of a spring game

I suppose that Gabriel Ynoa was the one member of the Baltimore Orioles who kind of took it on the chin this afternoon. Some of these spring training outings can be interesting affairs, especially when the opponent is the Boston Red Sox, and they bring some of their regular players on the trip – a rarity at this stage of spring training. Ynoa’s line: 2.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

Ynoa retired the first two hitters of the game, and then the struggles began. And this is something I’ve noticed since last year for the Orioles. It’s almost as if they let up just a bit when they get two outs in an inning. The same is true when they get to two strikes in an at-bat – suddenly the opponent has always been able to find a way. And that’s continued into this spring.

In Ynoa’s case, it was a double and a walk that led to two runs in the top of the first inning. Boston picked up right where they left off in the second, plating four additional runs – including two homers. Going back to what I said above, Ynoa said after his outing that it was just a case of him leaving the ball too high in the strike zone (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

I was leaving the ball up in the zone. That was the main issue with me. The ball was just up in the zone.

One would have thought however that those first two innings would have cast a pall over the O’s. However that was not to be. Adam Jones doubled a runner home in the last of the third, and Trey Mancini plated a runner as well on a fielder’s choice. Mark Trumbo‘s fielder’s choice-RBI then cut the lead in half at 6-3.

One inning later, the pressure from the Birds continued. Tim Beckham‘s RBI-single got them to within two, and Manny Machado would tie the score with a two-RBI double later in the inning. The Birds would later take the lead on an RBI-double by Jones, leaving it at 7-6 after four innings.

And as I’ve said in the past folks, these games will happen in the spring. On one hand Ynoa wasn’t that sharp today, which from his perspective is concerning because he’s in a spot where he thinks he has a chance to be a starting pitcher on the Orioles. But you can’t put caddywampus-like comeback numbers up like that unless you’re down big early in a game. The Orioles were…and the Orioles did!

Boston would yield two more runs, however the Birds kept the pressure on. Beckham would smack a two-run homer in the fifth, and Pedro Alvarez would do the same in the sixth. The Orioles would also get Brad Brach into a game for the first time this spring, and he yielded one hit.

The Orioles got good news before the game on first baseman Chris Davis, who had an MRI on his forearm yesterday. There appears to be no structural damage to anything, and he’s expected to miss another few days. That’s good news – for now. It’s something to keep an eye on as the spring progresses, and certainly once the regular season begins.

The Orioles are off tomorrow for the first and only time this spring. So there’s no pitching match-up for me to set up! Incidentally going back to Davis’ aforementioned injury, the Birds are on the road for the first two days coming out of the off day, so the next time Orioles fans potentially would have seen him in a game would have been this coming Thursday when Toronto comes to Ed Smith Stadium.

Baltimore Orioles: Kevin Gausman shines in near shared spring no-no

The Baltimore Orioles and Kevin Gausman almost had a shared no-hitter this afternoon in Clearwater against Philadelphia. Oriole pitching took the no-no seven and a third innings this afternoon, and it was broken up by none other than Ryan Flaherty, with a base hit. Gausman’s line: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K.

Nevermind the potential no-hitter, but this was easily the best outing of the spring by any Oriole starter. Gausman faced nine batters, retired them all, and in fact struck out all but one of them. When asked after coming out whether he was happy with the results of the outing, Gausman adamantly said that he was (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

Absolutely. I think anytime you take a step in the right direction is good, especially in spring training. Just to even get up and down three times, that’s a good step in the right direction.

Chance Sisco smacked an RBI-double to the left field corner in the top of the second to give the O’s a 1-0 lead. And that score stood up for quite awhile. After that it was really just pitchers on both sides retiring hitters. Obviously as time went on the game grew a life of it’s own because the O’s hadn’t surrendered a hit.

No-hitters during spring training happen (in fact, Philadelphia threw one a few years ago against the Orioles), but they don’t count towards any statistics in terms of no-hitters in a franchise’s history. Certainly it’s still something on which to hang one’s hat, and obviously the Orioles were hoping that they could close it out. But while this is still spring and you don’t really judge wins and losses, while the game’s going on between the lines you’re certainly trying to win. The O’s still did that today, so that’s to their credit.

Anthony Santander‘s two-run homer in the eighth extended the Orioles’ lead to 3-0. The only downside of the game however was that the Orioles loaded the bases twice in that eighth inning, and only netted one run – on a Susac walk with the bases loaded later in the inning. However the name of this game was pitching, and I think we got a look at some of the pitching depth that the Orioles actually do have in the organization.

Philadelphia did threaten in the last of the eighth, but they couldn’t catch up. A sac fly-RBI and an RBI-double cut the Orioles’ lead to 4-2, however that’s as close as Philadelphia got. At the end of the day the O’s went home to Sarasota with a 4-2 victory – and a near no-hitter.

First baseman Chris Davis underwent an MRI this afternoon on his elbow/forearm area. He’s had soreness there the past few days, and it caused him to DH in the Orioles’ last two home games in Sarasota. This is something to watch, as it would be a major blow to the Birds to have Davis injured and miss any amount of regular season time. The Orioles also announced that they had optioned pitcher Chris Lee to triple-A Norfolk.

The O’s will return to Ed Smith Stadium tomorrow for their first home meeting with the division rival Boston Red Sox. Gabriel Ynoa gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Jalen Beeks. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Manny Machado homers as Birds win at batting practice

The good news for the Baltimore Orioles is that Manny Machado and the other regulars are starting to get into their groove. If there’s one thing however which is somewhat concerning, it’s how some of the presumed starting pitchers are getting dusted up; today it was Dylan Bundy struggling against Pittsburgh reserves. Bundy’s line: 2.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 0 K.

To be fair, not many pitchers had good outings in today’s ballgame. In reality, it was akin to batting practice. However it was the second inning that got Bundy, and he admitted as much after the game (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

I got a couple guys with two strikes and gave up some hits there. Didn’t really put them away and execute the pitches. I was leaving them … all the pitches out over the plate today. Last outing, I was just missing off the plate. This outing, I was just missing too much on the plate I felt like and a little bit up. I’ve just got to keep working during spring.

Losing guys with two strikes (or two outs) was a problem all of last year. The Orioles’ coaching staff really needs to review film on all of their pitchers to see if there’s anything that’s fundamentally different once they hit two-strike counts or once two outs are recorded. The last thing this team needs is that concern to be following them this year as well.

The Birds took an early 1-0 lead on Manny Machado’s RBI-double in the last of the first. However as I said above, the second inning was Dylan Bundy’s bugaboo today. He allowed a three-RBI triple to Frazier, and an RBI-double to Marte. One other thing I’ve noticed is that regardless of who’s pitching or catching, opposing teams are stealing bases at will against Oriole batteries. It happened in that second inning to get a second runner into scoring position, and it happened a couple of other times in the game. Again, the coaching staff needs to look at these scenarios and see if teams are picking up on something in terms of being able to steal at will against the O’s. Otherwise come regular season time, singles quickly turn into doubles.

The O’s would swap runs with Pittsburgh in the second and third, with Colby Rasmus smacking his inaugural spring homer as an Oriole (in the second), and Moran doubling home an additional run for Pittsburgh in the third. Cunningham would add a sac fly-RBI an inning later, and the Birds trailed 6-2. But the fireworks were about to start.

Tim Beckham‘s RBI-double in the last of the fourth would cut that lead to 6-3. Trey Mancini  would single Beckham home, and suddenly the Orioles were in the game, trailing only by a single run. Machado would come up again later in that fourth inning with two runners on, and he ceremoniously put the O’s in the driver’s seat for good with a three-run homer.

While Pittsburgh would threaten a couple more times and net two additional runs, Beckham’s two-run home run in the fifth would propel the Orioles to a 10-8 victory. Again, one might draw some concern in this game regarding Bundy and how he looked. But any smart baseball person will tell you that this was just one of those games. On the flip side, sometimes you win games 2-1 which leave you walking away wondering long term what happened to your teams’ bats…and you just say it’s one of those games.

This was the third win for the Orioles on the spring, but perhaps more importantly it was the first home win, meaning that most of the guys in the lineup were starters. Before the game the Birds announced that they had signed former Oriole and longtime journeyman Danny Valencia to a minor league contract. Valencia is expected to be infield depth, and obviously could see time in the big leagues. But whether in Norfolk or in Baltimore, he’s in the Orioles’ organization again.

The Orioles tomorrow will head to Clearwater to take on the Philadelphia Phillies. Kevin Gausman gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Philadelphia’s Tom Eshelman. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Nestor Cortes shines in victory over Tampa

Unfortunately for the Baltimore Orioles, they don’t play the Tampa Rays everyday in the Florida Grapefruit League. The Birds are now 2-1 against Tampa (2-0 on the road against Tampa), and winless against the rest of the field. Rule 5 pitcher Nestor Cortes got another start this afternoon, and was fairly impressive. Cortes’ line: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K.

The Orioles took an early 1-0 lead on a sac fly-RBI by Pedro Alvarez in the first inning. That gave Cortes the lead before he even took the field. Cortes surrendered the lead almost immediately on a solo homer by Sucre, but he limited the damage. As we know, solo home runs don’t beat you.

Buck Showalter said after the game that he’s viewing Cortes as a starter, which isn’t overly surprising (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

…he’s going to tell you anything you want to hear right now, so you’ve got to be careful, but those are things you look for. Right now, we’re looking at him as a starter.

People love to criticize how aggressive the Orioles are annually in the Rule 5 draft. However the fact is that if you’re picked up by the Orioles in that manner you know that you’re going to get a chance to compete for a job at the big league level. Cortes is trying to make the most of his opportunity.

The O’s took the lead back in the sixth on Mountcastle’s RBI-double, however after a Tampa RBI-triple in the last of that sixth inning it was tied back up at two. However one inning later the “Baby Birds” worked some counts and loaded the bases. DJ Stewart drew a walk, and suddenly the O’s led 3-2. A wild pitch and a sac fly later, and the Orioles had a solid 5-2 victory on their hands in Port Charlotte.

Again, you can’t take results of these games seriously. Now with that said from a player’s perspective if you’re on the field wearing a uniform and competing you feel a lot better about yourself if you win than you do if you lose. The Orioles also announced before the game that first baseman Chris Davis has been bothered by soreness in his forearm, which is why he served as the designated hitter in Wednesday’s game.

We also saw in that seventh inning that things can happen when you load the bases. Sure they drew one run on a walk and another on a sac fly, but the Tampa pitcher also uncorked a wild pitch. Those things can happen when you put people on base. It puts more pressure on the pitcher and sometimes you catch a break like that.

The O’s return to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota tomorrow for an afternoon matinee against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dylan Bundy gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Pittsburgh’s Tyler Glasnow. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles offense comes alive in loss

The good news for the Baltimore Orioles is that the bats came alive this afternoon. The bad news is that they surrendered an eight-run lead in the seventh inning. However even still, the silver lining is that starter Mike Wright looked good in his abbreviated appearance. Wright’s line: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.

The Birds loaded the bases in the last of the third with nobody down, bringing Manny Machado to the plate. And Machado hit his first home run of the spring, in the form of a grand slam. St. Louis did net a run back in the fourth on an RBI-single, however the Orioles appeared to be off to the races.

That Machado homer was complimented in the last of the fifth with a three-run homer off the bat of Chris Davis. This gave the O’s a 7-1 lead, in a game that seemed to be turning into a laugher. Tack on a solo homer by Trey Mancini later in the inning, and one in the sixth by Ryan Mountcastle, and the O’s had a 9-1 lead in the middle of the game.

It’s important to note that from a pitching standpoint, Wright did his job – and did it well. Wright’s spot on the roster isn’t guaranteed, but he has a shot. The only other pitcher who entered the game today that will be on the big league roster was Darren O’Day. And he pitched a clean inning, striking out one.

However before the Orioles knew it, St. Louis had put an eight-run seventh inning on the board. This isn’t how you want any game to go. But again, nobody that pitched in the game at that point is going to be a big leaguer. In fact, the regulars had long since departed the game overall by that point.

St. Louis also would also put a run on the board on an RBI-single in the eighth to take a 10-9 lead. And there’s your ballgame. However the takeaway from this game should be that the bats came alive. As I’ve said, hitters are behind pitchers for the first part of spring training. If today’s game is any indication, it appears that the Orioles’ hitters are catching up. That’s a good sign.

The Orioles will return to Port Charlotte tomorrow to take on the Tampa Rays once again. Nestor Cortes Jr. will get the start, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Jake Faria. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles net first win in Hunter Harvey’s spring debut

Hold onto your hats folks…because the Baltimore Orioles have won a spring training game. Yes, you read that right. Not only that, but Hunter Harvey made his spring debut in an Orioles’ uniform. Harvey’s line: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K.

Harvey’s outing wasn’t perfect. However the part that stuck out to me was that he minimized the damage. Tampa’s first two hitters recorded base hits in the game, putting runners at the corners with nobody out. However Harvey induced a double-play, which yielded a run. It also put two outs on the board and cleared the bases.

And that’s really the key in terms of evaluating pitchers in these spring games. How are they doing in situational cases? If this were a regular season game with Harvey on the bump, you take that every time in the first inning. The idea is to stay out of a big inning. Harvey did that.

Harvey felt good about the outing afterwards, although when asked where he needed to improve he was very up front (all quotes courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

Really, just controlling my body. I kind of felt a little crazy out there. I guess it was just the first time being out there in a long time. Trying to get my body back under me and just command the ball a little better.

Manager Buck Showalter was very complimentary of Harvey after the game, referencing the fact that he minimized the damage in that first inning:

Good, real good. Fun to watch. Happy for him, excited. It’s more than just the stuff, it’s just the way he carries himself. He’s got a lot of things you look for off-ball, so to speak. Other than just pitching. It’s going to be hopefully a fun year for him. I’m really happy for him. I think we were all excited in the dugout for him. But he wears it well.

He threw some good changeups, a couple good breaking balls. I like he didn’t implode in the first inning. A big double play on a breaking ball, and he got his work in. It was fun to watch.

That’s high praised coming from Showalter. The Orioles did lose a player today, as pitcher Chris Lee left the game in the middle of an inning after straining his right oblique. The Orioles don’t have much information about a timeline for Lee as of yet, only that he’ll miss time. You’d rather these injuries happen now as opposed to later.

The Birds got a solo homer from Garabez Rosa in the sixth inning, to tie the game at six. Reuben Tejada‘s RBI-single in the seventh gave the O’s a 2-1 lead, which held up as the final. None of the regulars for the most part played in this game, however make no mistake about the fact that the organization is happy to have gotten it’s first spring win. The flip side is that the Orioles’ roster of reserves beat many of Tampa’s regular players.

The Orioles return to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota tomorrow afternoon to take on the St. Louis Cardinals – who will be coming from across Florida. Mike Wright will get the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by St. Louis’ Jack Flaherty. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Kevin Gausman injured in Birds’ latest loss

The fact that the Baltimore Orioles fell to Detroit 8-6 yesterday should be of no interest to fans. If anything, the bats showed some promise. However the condition of starter Kevin Gausman should be more concerning. He left the game after pitching 1.1 innings after a freak play. Gausman’s line: 1.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

Gausman left the game after colliding with a member of the Tigers who was too far out of the on-deck circle while backing up home plate after an RBI-single. Gausman remained on the turf for several minutes. He would later leave Ed Smith Stadium on a cart, but would later return to sit in the dugout.

It appears that Gausman is going to be okay, although it’s unclear whether or not he’ll miss time. However that’s exactly the type of thing that the Orioles need to avoid. Things could go south quickly if their presumed starters have to miss time – even in spring training.

It’s worth mentioning that Gausman was slated to go two innings when he came out for the injury. So he himself could have potentially limited the damage in the game as opposed to five runs scoring in the inning. Gausman was the first to mention however that he could have been sharper in the outing overall. However he did notice that he had some pitches working for him (quote courtesy of Brittany Ghirolli, MLB.com):

I didn’t get a chance to talk to Chance when I came out of the game, but that’s one thing I wanted to ask him. He was calling [the sinker] a lot. Usually when a catcher is calling something, it means you kinda got it that day. He was calling my sinker a lot and calling my slider. Those are the two pitches I’m working on, especially this spring.

The Orioles will travel to Port Charlotte this afternoon to take on the Tampa Rays. Hunter Harvey will make his much-anticipated spring debut for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Nathan Eovaldi. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Preferential treatment?

Kevin Gausman will make his spring debut for the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium this afternoon. My personal prediction is that Gausman will end of being the Orioles’ Opening Day starter, but time will tell. Nevertheless, it all starts for him today.

The Orioles are a team who’s physicals have been scrutinized severely over the years. Everyone remembers the situation with Grant Balfour, and a few others. The team was also dragged through the mud in these cases, because people just assumed it was the Orioles being a tough customer. However with that said, with the investment that teams make in players it’s not difficult to understand why they’d want everything to check out on a physical.

However Boston signed J.D. Martinez last week. The signing isn’t being announced until today. The rumor is that the BoSox saw something on the physical that they didn’t like. That has never been stated, however over the weekend apparently the contract was re-worked to better protect both sides.

Did Boston scrutinize Martinez’s physical in the same manner that the Orioles do with free agents? I’m not saying that they would be wrong to do so – in fact, I’m saying that they’re right to do it. However the fact is that the story isn’t getting the publicity that the Orioles got for doing this. Why is that? Is there a bias?

There may well be, however the other side of the coin is that the Orioles were up front about the fact that they backed out because of the physical’s results. Boston is saying it’s a non-factor. Of course the Orioles weren’t helped in the Balfour case by the fact that the player got in the media and criticized the Orioles’ physical himself. And in that case, the player went onto pitch for Tampa and was out of baseball due to injuries a year later. So maybe closely looking at the results isn’t such a bad thing.