Baltimore Orioles catching a break with David Price out?

The Baltimore Orioles are catching a break in the American League East with the likes of Boston’s David Price potentially sitting out to start the season. There’s no if’s and’s or but’s about that. The Orioles obviously have their own concerns with Chris Tillman, however the fact that they aren’t the only one in this situation does help.

At this point, Price has yet to appear in an exhibition game, similar to Tillman. Manager John Farrell told reporters that he felt it would be tough to envision Price being ready to go on Opening Day. The difference with the Orioles is that we knew that all along with regard to Tillman. Boston’s just starting to deal with that realization now.

So in effect, one cancels the other out. Boston’s down an ace, as are the Orioles. Some might argue that’s more of an advantage for Tampa, Toronto, or New York, and they might be right. However the fact remains that one of the Orioles are going to be at less-than-full strength. And now it appears that one of their division rivals will be in the same boat.

The Birds ended up falling to Tampa yesterday afternoon, 9-6. Even with their reserves, Tampa played their normal game of bleeding the Orioles to death with simple paper cuts. They put together four consecutive two-out singles against starter Wade Miley in the first inning, which was enough to score two runs. And they were off to the races.

As we know, these small ball teams give the Orioles absolute fits. Whereas the O’s are looking to come up to bat each time and smack the ball into oblivion, teams like Tampa, Kansas City, Cleveland, and others are just looking to get on base. And the fact is that the Orioles pitch in a manner that would be consistent with a big ball team. Them’s the breaks, I suppose.

The Birds will travel to Bradenton this afternoon to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ubaldo Jimenez will get the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Pittsburgh’s Jameson Taillon. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Joseph and Rickard key in win vs. Philadelphia

Last spring it was a foregone conclusion that Joey Rickard would break camp with the Baltimore Orioles. He was a Rule 5 pick, and would have to be sent back to Tampa if he was sent down. That’s not the case this year, however Rickard’s making his case to be on the Orioles’ roster one way or the other this spring.

Kevin Gausman got the start this afternoon against Philadelphia, however while he did struggle I think his numbers are a bit deceiving. Gausman’s line: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 earned), 1 BB, 3 K. Gausman in essence had to record five outs in the first inning because of two errors – one of which cost the Orioles a run. Caleb Joseph misplayed a throw home on a grounder in the infield, allowing a run to score on a fielder’s choice and an E2.

Point being, Gausman probably would have thrown one additional inning, and perhaps a bit better across the board if not for that first inning. He also allowed an RBI-single to Saunders in the third which gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.

However the Orioles battled back, and Joseph atoned for his prior mistake. His third inning solo homer put the Orioles on the board, and cut the Philadelphia lead to 2-1. They’d extend that to 3-1 in the fourth on a wind-aided homer by Stassi, but that was nothing more than false hope if you were rooting for the boys from the city of brotherly love.

Mark Trumbo‘s RBI-single in the last of the fourth cut the lead to 3-2, which brought Rickard to the plate later in the inning with Trumbo and Mancini on base. Rickard’s three-run homer put the Orioles in the lead for the first time on the afternoon at 5-3. One inning later Hyun-Soo Kim would add an RBI-single, and Phialdephia would get one back in the eighth on a homer by Williams. But this was the Orioles’ day at the end, and they fought to a 6-4 win.

At one point it was almost accepted that Rickard would probably start the season in the minors. However he’s putting a lot of pressure on the club to bring him north when the time comes. And that’s a good problem to have if you’re the Orioles. You want people to be banging down the door to get to or stay in the big leagues. So hitting the go-ahead and eventual winning three-run homer this afternoon certainly helps.

As I’ve said previously, if you’re going to play these games that don’t count, you might as well win them. And Rickard did his part to ensure that the Orioles did that today. Incidentally, J.J. Hardy got his first start of the spring this afternoon, going 0-for-2 at the plate with a walk. The Orioles are hoping to get him 40 at-bats or so before they head north.

The Birds will remain in Sarasota tomorrow with Tampa coming to town. Wade Miley will get the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Blake Snell. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Chris Tillman headed back to square one

It’s looking increasingly like Chris Tillman is not going to break camp with the Baltimore Orioles. It’s unclear if Tillman is destined for the DL or perhaps extended spring training, however the idea of him pitching in the first week of the season isn’t looking good. Tillman was supposed to play long toss at Ed Smith Stadium yesterday, and he was shut down with further discomfort in his right shoulder after only a few throws.

This is turning into a bit of a problem for a franchise that’s relying on Tillman to do great things this year. Tillman has been the Orioles’ ace the past few years, and in many cases he’s been the only pitcher who’s shown any sort of consistency for the team. Whether he can do that this year is very much in doubt.

This was also to be big year for Tillman himself, as he’s fast approaching the time when he’ll need a new contract. The last thing that he personally is going to want is an injury attached to his name or his performance. Buck Showalter said that in his mind the worst-case scenario is that Tillman starts over from scratch in terms of ceasing baseball activities (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

The worst-case scenario for me, well, not worse, is that he kind of starts over from scratch and stays down here in extended spring. It looks like he’s got a chance to be left here with (minor league medical coordinator) Dave Walker, but I’m hoping something changes here in the next week. He may try it again, I don’t know, or we may get back and he’s headed for another opinion. Because this is a big year for him. That’s when you know there’s something wrong.

With all of this said, read a bit between the lines there. What Showalter did not say was that Tillman would need to have surgery or anything along those lines. That’s not to say that surgery isn’t an eventuality, but I suspect that’s not on the table right now. But needless to say, this is a major concern.

Meanwhile, the O’s defeated the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers yesterday afternoon, 8-6. Catcher Austin Wynns‘ two-RBI double in the top of the ninth broke a 6-6 tie, and put the Birds in the lead. The Orioles led for all of about 20 minutes in this game – yet it still counts as a win.

Dylan Bundy struggled in this game however, having to exit earlier than he would have liked. Bundy’s line: 2.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 K. After his outing Bundy admitted that he was catching too much of the plate with his pitches, however keep in mind that’s why we’re playing these games. Given the Tillman situation, the Orioles are going to be relying on Bundy to be a sturdy part of the rotation moving forward. No pressure or anything…!

The O’s will return home to Ed Smith Stadium this afternoon to take on the Philadelphia Phillies. Kevin Gausman will get the start, and he’ll be opposed by Philadelphia’s Jeremy Hellickson. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: David Washington walks Pittsburgh off

David Washington is quietly having a very good spring for the Baltimore Orioles. While it’s hard to get overly excited about a wind-aided off home run in a spring training game, a walk off home run is a walk off home run. It allowed the Orioles to defeat Pittsburgh yesterday, 7-6.

Starter Mike Wright was slated to go four innings yesterday, however his pitch count seemed destined to prevent him from doing so. Wright’s line: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 earned), 1 BB, 0 K. Wright had a few struggles in the game, however one thing that was good to see was that he kept his composure. That’s been an issue here and there for the young right-hander.

The Orioles got things going early on RBI-singles by Kim and Trumbo in the last of the first, and they led 2-0. However Pittsburgh would take those two runs and raise the Orioles to three with an RBI-single and a two-RBI single in the second. Obviously they came to play, not go away.

With Pittsburgh leading 4-2 in the sixth, the Orioles started battling back themselves. Giavotella’s RBI-single cut the lead to 4-3, and he would later score on Santander’s two-run homer which gave the Birds the lead back at 5-4. However Pittsburgh would later tie the game, and then in the top of the ninth take the lead with an RBI-double.

But the home team bats last, and that’s where Washington’s heroics came in. At first it appeared to be a lazy fly ball to right field, however it got into the wind and it carried out. And that can happen in spring training quite frequently. In that case, it obviously benefited the Orioles.

The Orioles also made some news yesterday when they re-signed Pedro Alvarez (to a minor league deal). It’s unclear whether or not Alvarez is expected to break camp with the club or how long he might be in the big leagues when he comes up, but somehow I don’t see him staying in the minors for too long. My personal opinion is that he’s an Oriole on day one.

The O’s will head back down the pike to Fort Myers this afternoon to take on the Minnesota Twins. Dylan Bundy will get the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Minnesota’s Phil Hughes. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Ubaldo Jimenez struggles in loss vs. Boston

The Baltimore Orioles’ string of starters not struggling too much in games came to an end this evening with Ubaldo Jimenez. In fairness to Jimenez, Oriole bats were unable to generate much in the way of offense, especially with the B and C-teams in the lineup against Boston’s regulars. But it all begins and ends with starting pitching. Jimenez’s line: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 earned), 2 BB, 3 K.

Now Orioles fans shouldn’t fret too much over this. First off, Jimenez has had a great spring – possibly the best of his career with the O’s. However he also was able to right himself after a very rough first inning. A first inning in which we actually saw action in the Orioles’ bullpen – not a good sign in any game.

Boston’s Young got the scoring started with an RBI-single in the first, followed by one by Travis. Again, in fairness to Jimenez, the Orioles did appear to get out of the inning after yielding only those two runs. However the Birds couldn’t turn a double-play on a bounding ball to Rutledge, and an additional run scored.

Jimenez allowed a base hit to start off the fourth, and he was then relieved for the evening. However that run came around to score on a throwing error by Pena behind the plate, and that sealed the Orioles’ fate with a 4-0 loss. But no harm, no foul…the game didn’t count.

For his part, Jimenez knew that he struggled but he also knew that he was able to recoup his composure and get things in order (quotes courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

They told me I was rushing a little bit, my mechanics were a little bit too fast. And then in the second I was able to get it back.

Jimenez went onto say how good he was feeling thus far on the spring, which certainly bodes well for the Orioles come the regular season:

I feel good, I feel really good. Physically, mentally and everything. Everything’s good. I’m just throwing the pitches that I need in order to be ready for the season.

One bad outing or inning shouldn’t change that for the Orioles, Jimenez, or even for the fans. There are those reading this who just assume that now the real Jimenez comes out. You have to look at the whole body of work in the sense that this game is the exception to the rule – for the spring. One bad inning shouldn’t change that.

The Orioles return home to Sarasota tomorrow afternoon to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mike Wright heads to the bump for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Pittsburgh’s Clay Holmes. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles started something with Ed Smith Stadium

This is the Baltimore Orioles’ eighth season at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. It’s been a beneficial move for everyone involved. The Birds got a decent facility that they turned into a state-of-the-art place, and Sarasota got a team that they could embrace and who wanted to be embraced by Sarasota. It’s been a win-win.

Many people’s issues with the Grapefruit League as opposed to the Cactus League is that the teams are spread so far apart. And that’s not anything that’s going to change so far as I know. Yes in the future the Orioles will actually be sharing Sarasota with the Atlanta Braves, but for the most part you’re looking at getting on a bus for an hour for road games. In Arizona, often times ballparks are 5-10 minutes apart.

However that aside, the O’s really started something with Ed Smith Stadium, much like they did in 1992 with Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Since then, Minnesota, Boston, Houston, and Washington have all moved into new state-of-the art facilities. And I feel that’s really given the Grapefruit League a shot in the arm in a sense.

It’s kind of rejuvenated the idea of going down to Florida and hitting several different parks in the span of a few days. And I think that the coolest part of these new ballparks is that teams are working extra hard to incorporate as much of their home ballparks into their spring training facilities – both for players and fans. Fields are often the same dimension as their home field, as an example.

For fans, the idea of “Fenway South” is a cool idea and experience. At Boston’s Jet Blue Park, it’s all but a miniature replica version of Fenway – complete with a green monster. I mentioned Houston and Washington above; this year they began sharing the new Ballpark of the Palms in Palm Beach. In Washington’s case, they bring their racing Presidents down with them to give the feel of a game at Nationals Park.

But the first team to start this movement was the Orioles. And mind you, Ed Smith Stadium isn’t new. The facility’s been there for years. The O’s just cleaned it up and gave it a whole new look and feel. The seats are the original seats that they had in Camden Yards, and they were shipped to Sarasota after they re-did the seating in Baltimore. The food they serve has a Baltimore flavor to it, with several crab options on the menu. And yes folks, they play “Country Boy” in the seventh inning!

The Orioles will hit one of the ballparks I mentioned above this evening when they travel to Ft. Myers to take on the BoSox at Jet Blue Park. Ubaldo Jimenez will get the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Kyle Kendrick. In a rare night game in spring training, game time is set for just after 6 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Seth Smith homers in victory over Toronto

Seth Smith smacked his first spring training home run as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, as the Birds defeated Toronto 6-4 yesterday afternoon. I know that I always say wins and losses mean nothing here in spring training. However until they came into Ed Smith Stadium yesterday afternoon, I didn’t realize that Toronto had only won two games on the spring. So they’ve definitely been struggling.

In contrast, the O’s moved their record to 7-5 with yesterday’s victory. Again, it’s a meaningless stat. But if you’re going to play these games that literally don’t count, you might as well win them.

Wade Miley turned in another strong performance as a starter for the Orioles. Miley’s line: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. The starting pitching has been very solid for the O’s thus far, and that’s a great sign. Does that mean that it translates into a solid year for starting pitching come the regular season? Not in the least. But it’s a good sign. Needless to say, we aren’t sitting here talking about how suspect Oriole pitching has been.

The O’s took an early 2-0 lead in the last of the first when Trumbo smacked an RBI-single, and Kim added a sac fly-RBI. Craig Gentry would add a three-run homer in the last of the second, which broke the game wide open in the Orioles’ favor at 5-0. Three innings later, it was the aforementioned Smith’s turn, as his solo shot made it 6-0.

Smith is a guy that the Orioles brought in this off season for defensive and OBP purposes. But occasionally he’ll put one over the fence as well. So the Orioles won’t commplain when that does occasionally happen. Unfortunately for Smith this one came with nobody on base, but that’s life…!

Toronto would muster four runs in the sixth and seventh innings, however the Orioles were able to hold on in the end for the win. Again, wins and losses don’t mean much here. However for what it’s worth the Orioles sit smack in the middle of the Grapefruit League “standings.”

And with that said, the Birds have arrived at the first break in the schedule. Today is an off day for the Orioles, and there’s no game scheduled. Normally teams get one day off during spring training. But this year with the WBC teams are getting two. The Birds have one now, and one towards the end of spring training.

Baltimore Orioles score one for the US of A

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Dominican Repubic National Baseball team and their hot shot third baseman, Manny Machado, yesterday afternoon by the sore of 5-4. Yes, I just wrote that, and no it’s not backwards day! International competition can sometimes provide us with strange visuals in sports, and the image of Machado at Ed Smith Stadium in the visitors’ third base side dugout in road grays competing against the Orioles is one of them.

Kevin Gausman got the start for the Orioles against his teammate and the Dominican Republic, and he was strong from the beginning. Gausman’s line: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. Gausman continued a “tradition” of sorts with Orioles starters looking good in their muted outings in these spring training games. I suspect that towards the end of this week or over the weekend starters will start going four or five innings as we get into the meat of the Grapefruit League season.

The Birds took a 2-0 lead in the last of the third on Kim’s two-RBI single. The DR would tie it in the sixth on a walk with the bases loaded, and a wild pitch. However the Orioles’ Perez would give them the lead back in the last of the eighth on his infield RBI-single.

However in the ninth inning the DR would strike for two runs. Cruz’s RBI-single tied the game, and Marte reached on an E5 which scored a run and gave them a 4-3 lead. It’s important to note that the Orioles played this like one would play a traditional spring training game. The starters got a few innings and were lifted. However the DR’s team is in essence an all-star team stacked with big leaguers – such as Machado and Cruz. So at the end when the DR had a few reserves in against the Orioles’ reserves, they were still big leaguers in a sense.

However the Birds ended up prevailing none the less. Rickard laid down a sacrifice bunt, which resulted in a throwing error (E1). That allowed the tying run to score, and with Mancini at the plate Washington was able to score on a wild pitch to win the game for the Orioles.

I suppose it’s fun to say that the Birds represented America in this game, and in a sense they did. But this is a DR team full of their friens and peers, so it’s not quite that intense. However as I said above, this was an Orioles team at the end full of reserves. And they made the most of it.

After the game manager Buck Showalter was asked what the strangest part of a somewhat strange gameday was, and he didn’t hesitate (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

Watching Manny play for another team. Not much fun.

Showalter went onto say that he knows what a big deal it is for Machado to represent his family’s home country. But at the end of the day, Manny’s an Oriole. And he’ll return to Ed Smith Stadium at some point and still be an Oriole.

The Birds will remain in Sarasota this afternoon to take on the Toronto Blue Jays, in the final game before an off day tomorrow. Wade Miley gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Mat Latos. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles seeing good things from Dylan Bundy

The Baltimore Orioles are seeing good things thus far in camp out of presumed starter, Dylan Bundy. He was given the start in this afternoon’s matinee in Lakeland against the Detroit Tigers, and with great results. Bundy’s line: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the third on Giavotella’s RBI-single. That third inning ended up being a six-run affair, with the Birds putting run after run on the board. Orioles fans can’t be upset by the fact that the Birds’ B-team put up a crooked number against Detroit’s starters. Whether that reflects more on Detroit or the Orioles is another story. But the O’s sure did clamp down on Detroit at the plate.

For the purposes of the game itself, Bundy set a tone that was followed by the entire team. And that’s what you want from your starter in any game. The O’s also followed the recent move of allowing a “presumed starter” to go three innings. Bundy is expected to be in the rotation – both by the Orioles’ brass, as well as this writer!

Tomorrow should be an interesting day in Sarasota. The O’s will take a step out of Grapefruit League play and take on the Dominican Republic’s national team, who’s tuning up for the WBC. The Dominican Republic team features none other than Manny Machado – at shortstop. So the image of Machado playing at Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium against the Orioles will be a bit strange. But needless to say it’ll be an interesting day.

Kevin Gausman will head to the mound against the DR tomorrow, with no opposing starter having been announced yet for the DR. My understanding is that similar to the final tuneup in Norfolk against the Tides, this game won’t count against Grapefruit League standings – if you care about that type of thing. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Mike Wright leads the way and the day

Behind a solid effort by starter Mike Wright, the Baltimore Orioles avenged an earlier spring training loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Okay, perhaps that’s a bit overly melodramatic. It might even be overly melodramatic to say that the O’s defeated Philadelphia in front of a sun-splashed crowd on a chamber of commerce day in Sarasota. These games don’t count – remember?!

But the Orioles do have a few things about which to get excited in this game, starting with their starter. Wright’s line: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K. The lone run Wright surrendered was on a Coghlan RBI-single, which scored Alther – who had reached on a HBP. Ironically, Alther didn’t react like he thought the pitch hit him, but the umpire gave him first base. Nevertheless, Wright pitched out of it, indicating that mentally he might be in a better position that he was in the past.

The Orioles evened the game on a Castillo RBI-double in the last of the fourth. It was wind-aided for sure, although not how one might think. The wind turned it into a lazy pop fly to left, and the fielder dove and had the ball pop up and smack him in the fact. it was ruled a double, and the game was tied.

Philadelphia would re-take the lead in the sixth on a Rupp homer, however Janish’s sac fly-RBI in the last of the seventh tied it again (at two). Later in the inning, Schafer’s comebacker was knocked down in the infield, with the bases loaded. That forced in what ended up being the winning run, and the O’s had themselves a 3-2 victory in spring training.

Again folks, the wins and losses aren’t important here. What is important is the fact that Wright looked good. Also noteworthy were the performances of Darren O’Day and Donnie Hart. O’Day struck out two, and Hart one. Neither surrendered a hit, walk, or run. We know O’Day will be on the final roster, however as I’ve written before Showalter really liked using Donnie Hart late in the season last year. He showed a lot of value to the team, and Showalter seemed to trust him coming out of the bullpen in later innings.

The Orioles will look a lot different after today, as the likes of Machado, Jones, Givens, Nuno, and Castillo will depart to play for their respective countries in the WBC. This means opportunity for quite a few younger players, who will replace these guys in games. However it also means that the games after they return become all that more important for team-building.

The Orioles will head to Lakeland tomorrow to take on the Detroit Tigers. Dylan Bundy will get the start for the Orioles, however Detroit has not yet named a starter. game time is set for just after 1 PM.