[champain2002]

Guthrie gets rocked again in Baltimore's 13-2 loss to the Florida Marlins. His era rose to 10.57 in 15 1/3 innings and 12.32 counting his two appearances in the WBC.

A consensus of fan observations was that his fastball (hit the most) location was poor(high and over the plate)/inconsistent and its movement was negligible. Unfortunately, P f(x) data was not available for the game.

Here are a few hypotheses for his results.

Quote

Some Orioles officials are aware that Guthrie's confidence begins to crumble as soon as he starts to struggle, and that's something that has held him back.

This was a reason given why Guthrie was traded from Cleveland, and subsequently improved in Baltimore. Alluded to by the reference below, there's a stark difference between the Guthrie that was DFA'd by Cleveland in 2006 and the Guthrie with the Orioles in 2007. Granted 2006 was an absurdly sss, but the two previous years results were similar.
2006 - 19 ip, 24 hits, 14 k's, 15 bb, 2 hr, .941 OPS
2007 - 175.1 ip, 165 hits, 123 k's, 47 bb, 23 hr, .712 OPS
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/roc...my_guthrie.html

Guthrie frequently mentions that he is a creature of routine. The WBC (fan favorite excuse) changed his spring training routine by limiting his innings and not giving him enough time/work to straighten out his mechanics. Fans mentioned that his stride and follow through looked short causing him to aim the ball and lose velocity.

Ft. Lauderdale is looking at a bleak spring training future. This game may have been the last exhibition game here for the Orioles as they look for a new home. Also, Tampa Bay, Boston and Cincinatti have refused to play minor league games at Sarasota due to the poor field conditions.

edited for clarity, and for accuracy.

This post has been edited by champain2002: 02 April 2009 - 04:52 PM

[champain2002]

Fallout from the Penn trade:

Quote

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail confirmed the trade means the team will go with 13 position players and only 12 pitchers.

It also means veteran infielder Chris Gomez will be given his outright release after it became clear he wasn't going to make the Opening Day roster and he had no interest in playing at Triple-A. Nonroster infielder Jolbert Cabrera likely will accept the Triple-A assignment.

Baltimore Sun

This post has been edited by champain2002: 02 April 2009 - 11:54 AM

[champain2002]

And its official, Mark Hendrickson and Alfredo Simon have made the rotation.

Greg Zaun threw in the outfield and the elbow feels fine. He'll DH against the Mets today and catch Saturday in DC.

Quote

Trembley hasn't eliminated Brian Bass as a possible addition to the 12-man pitching staff, but I'm not sure where he'd fit. Trembley said Adam Eaton's start today isn't an "audition," though he wants to see how the right-hander looks before commenting further on the staff. And there's no indication that the Orioles will eat the final year of Danys Baez's contract.

MASN

[champain2002]

As the O's head north they leave facility issues behind. Existing spring and minor league facilities are seen as unsafe, and in general, not major league quality.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/basebal...0,1025945.story

The Sun looks at alternatives:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/basebal...0,6015866.story

Quote

The Orioles reassigned non-roster invitees catcher Robby Hammock and infielder Jolbert Cabrera to minor league camp on Thursday, trimming their spring roster to 26. Hammock's demotion settles the backup catcher competition in favor of veteran Chad Moeller.

Hammock was the better hitter but Moeller was the better defensive option.

The last move will probably be the result of the competition for the last spot in the bullpen involving Brian Bass and Danys Baez or possibly Matt Albers, who still has options.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/basebal...0,7053784.story

[crstoner97]

Guthrie, Uehara, Hendrickson, Eaton, Simon

Sherrill
Ray
Johnson
Walker
Sarfate
Albers
Baez or Bass

Rich Hill will be in the rotation before the end of April.. Hendrickson will go to the pen, and Walker possibly released.

Brad Bergesen likely to take Eaton's job by the end of April as well.

Roberts 2nd
Jones CF
Markakis RF
Huff 1st
Mora 3rd
Scott DH
Zaun C
Pie LF
Izturis SS

Moeller, Wiggington, Freel, Andino

Some conjecture Wieters will not be up until June (Super 2), but most believe he will be promoted April 17th (O's in Fenway that night) when the Orioles gain the extra year of elgibility.


http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com...ting-state.html
http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com...confidence.html
http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com...-and-goals.html
http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com...ding-final.html

[cannonball 1729]

I was at the Orioles Fan Fest yesterday, which included, among other things, open question and answer sessions with Andy McPhail, Dave Trembley, and the coaching staff (among others). Some highlights:

The Orioles are really, really high on Koji Uehara. They think he does everything well and doesn't walk anyone.

McPhail was also excited about Cesar Izturis. He said that they'd played last year "without a shortstop" and that Orioles fans should be happy about Izturis.

A fan asked Andy McPhail if the O's had kicked the tires on Pedro Martinez and if Petey was too expensive. McPhail answered that Pedro had been asking for reasonable money ($5-$8 million), but he didn't feel like Pedro fit any long or short term goal that the franchise had. He said that Pedro had a reputation of bringing his own program to the club, and that wouldn't work with the long term goal of establishing a "lunch-pail" clubhouse culture where 25 guys played together and no one had their own program. Andy said that if he felt the O's were only one player away, that would be a different story, and he predicted that some team that felt they were one player away would give Pedro a call mid-season.

Every other question was about Matt Wieters. McPhail said that he'd never heard anyone as hyped as Wieters, but the guy still hadn't seen AAA pitching for any extended period of time and isn't quite ready yet. He said that if Wieters comes up and scuffles, he becomes "the failed prospect" in a hurry, and that's tough for a young kid to shake, particularly when the expectations are so high to begin with. (Of course, later in the day, the minor league head said, "No matter what the front office is telling you, Matt Wieters is ready for the bigs, and the only reason he's still in the minors is because of contract stuff.")

Multiple people in the organization said that the O's are looking to get out of their ST location; apparently, the facilities are inadequate, and the minor league facilities are 3 hours away.

The organization has a new mantra about acquiring talent: "Grow the arms, buy the bats." McPhail felt that the track record of free-agent starting pitching indicated that it was a bad investment.

Some guy in a Phillies jersey and an O's hat asked the coaching staff a long rambling "question" that somehow involved the coaching staff, Brooks Robinson, the death penalty, the fact that "there are 60,000 African-American kids nearby that are as talented as some of the clowns on this ballclub," and his expectation that the Orioles will win the World Series this year because the Gashouse Gang did it in the '30s. It was a remarkable spectacle that I can't do justice in print. (FTR: Pitching coach Rick Kranitz responded with, "I appreciate fan support, but I won't stand for my players being called 'clowns.'")

Someone asked Trembley and McPhail about whether they should have a quicker hook with starters. McPhail said that the O's recent history of collapse was related to the burning out of the bullpen over the course of the year, and so the starters might get more rope than you'd expect.

Multiple fans thanked McPhail for putting "Baltimore" back on the away jersey. Apparently, that was a big deal around these parts.

Someone asked about Mark Teixeira. McPhail said that they'd offered him a 7 year, $140 million contract, to which he said essentially thanks but no thanks. For the next couple months, McPhail would periodically call up Scott Boras and say, "Hey, how about Teixeira?" and Boras would answer, "Hey, any interest in Pudge Rodriguez?" Basically, they were never led to believe that Tex was all that interested.

Finally, Dave Trembley couldn't overstate how much he supported the WBC. He felt that it was extremely important for the game, even if it meant that Brian Roberts didn't get as many ST at-bats as he would have liked.

This post has been edited by cannonball 1729: 05 April 2009 - 07:22 PM

[twoBshorty]

Orioles won their Opening Day match against the Yankees, 10-5. They got CC Sabathia for 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings, 5 BB, 0 K. Some balls were really hit on the screws, but in other cases it was "death by a thousand slow-rolling infield grounders." They were helped by very high OBP from the top of the lineup and a questionable HR call that could have just as easily been ruled a double on fan interference. At one point it looked like Guthrie and the bullpen were trying to give it all back, but they finally stemmed the bleeding at 6-5 and never looked back.

Mark Teixeira got booed to hell every time he stepped out of the dugout. The MASN announcers pointed this out multiple times.

[champain2002]

Koji Uehara ( JPB profile) makes his MLB debut vs the MFY today at 7:05 PM at Camden Yards. See Yomiuri Giants stats here. In Uehara's last start against the Nationals, he threw first pitch strikes in 15 of the 20 at bats and allowed 3 hits. In 14.2 spring training ip he posted a 3.68 era over 5 starts, allowing 9 hits and 6 runs with a 17/4 k/bb ratio. He exhibited excellent control.

He throws a newly found change up taught to him by Rick Kranitz, the O's pitching coach, a split finger fastball, a 91 mph fastball, a forkball with late movement, a shuuto (liberties please - faster screwball with less downward break), a new curveball he threw with good results in spring training, and an occasional cutter.

There's no telling what will happen in tonight's game. One of his old teammates on the Giants was Hideki Matsui. No telling if that will have an impact. The two teams have not faced each other yet, even in the Grapefruit League.

I'm intrigued by the guy. He's experienced a bit of success so far, and if he is on tonight, it should be a pretty good game. He faces another question mark tonight in the Yankees' starter. Wang tonight starts for the Yankees. Posting a 4.15 era in 6 spring training starts. He had a normal spring training for him, but questions remain. Will he have the stamina and control necessary. His running has been restricted this spring as he rehabs from his lisfranc surgery last year. His control has been spotty this year. Is he ready for the year?

After the opening day suprise, this one may be too close to call.

[champain2002]

The Orioles, consensus pick for last place in the AL East at the beginning of the season, are presently tied for 1st atop the AL East with Toronto.

Prior to tonights win over the Rays, the Orioles were tied for first in MLB with Florida in team batting average and OBP with .313 and .398, 6th in slugging at .510, 8th in runs with 19, 7th in hits, tied for 1st in doubles, etc....and of course 24th in ERA(5.75).

The suprise of the early season is tonight's performance by Mark Hendrickson against the Rays. He allowed just one run, a homer to Longoria, 6 hits and two walks, for an ERA of 1.69, in 5-1/3 innings. The second would be the 1-2/3 inning of perfect relief with 4 K's by Danys Baez. Hendrickson and Baez are both former TB pitchers. Hendrickson was 1-2 4.50 ERA in 4 games and Baez 0-1 6.00 in 8 games in spring training. George Sherrill, the closer, also impressed Trembley, despite being the only O's pitcher to allow someone not named Longoria to homer or drive in a run this evening. Sherrill gave up a homer to Navarro to narrow the lead to 5-4 before striking out Iwamura to end the game.

Orioles hitting coach, Terry Crowley, has been working with LH Felix Pie who is sharing time in left field with Ryan Freel. He is working on shortening his swing and using the whole field. He had two of the 7 hits the O's had against A.J. Burnett on Thursday, both to left center field.
Baltimore Sun Orioles Notebook

Koji Uehara, 1-0 1.80 ERA, was quite excited about his first MLB start.

Quote

After the third out of each inning, Uehara pounded his fist excitedly into his glove. At the end of the game - after the Yankees scored three ninth-inning runs but couldn't complete the comeback - Uehara playfully climbed onto Orioles catcher, Greg Zaun's back and hugged manager Dave Trembley and pitching coach Rick Kranitz......Uehara, 34, called it one of the biggest moments of his professional career.

82 Japanese media members from 33 agencies descended on Camden Yards for the game
Dan Connolly; Baltimore Sun

Quote

On the farm Thursday, Brad Bergesen of Norfolk, Jake Arrieta of Bowie, Brian Matusz of Frederick and Rick Zagone of Delmarva, were the starting pichers.All four threw well, in fact, they combined to allow just 3 ER with 11 hits and 24 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings for an ERA of 1.45.

MASN

[twoBshorty]

Orioles beat TB again tonight, 6-0, thanks largely to Jeff Niemann crapping himself and giving up 5 runs (4 on a grand slam by Melvin Mora) before recording an out in the first inning. He became a completely different pitcher after Joe Maddon finally made a mound visit, but the damage was already done. Tampa couldn't manage anything off Jeremy Guthrie, who gave up 5 hits in 6 innings with 2 strikeouts and no walks.

The Orioles have assured themselves of winning both series during the first week of the season. Adam Eaton takes on James Shields for the sweep tomorrow at 1:35.

[champain2002]

The rest of the story from Saturday in "The Schmuck Stops Here:

To get Eaton on the roster to start tomorrow's finale against the Rays, the Orioles optioned reliever Matt Albers to Triple A Norfolk. The other possibility was Brian Bass who can eat up more innings and is out of options. Albers has a "fragile shoulder" and has allowed a run and 4 hits in 2-2/3 this year.

Orioles Firsts from Orioles PR wizard Jeff Lantz:
1. Won back-to-back series for the first time since taking two of three games from the Yankees July 28-30 and the Mariners Aug. 1-3 last year.
2. Opened a season with two straight series victories since 1998, when they won five of their first six games, taking two of three from the Royals and sweeping the Tigers.
3. Jeremy Guthrie won his first two decisions of the season for the first time in his major league career.

Minor League Notes:
Through the first two games of the Triple-A season, Nolan Reimold is batting .444 with a pair of home runs and Lou Montanez is batting .625. Pie who stayed with the big league team, instead of them after spring training, is hitting .182 (2-11).
Albers optioned
Orioles Firsts
Minor League Notes

[crstoner97]

http://baltimorespor...outing-for.html



http://baltimorespor...etain-bass.html



http://baltimorespor...il-17th-in.html



http://baltimorespor...all-to-4-2.html



http://baltimorespor...ontanez-vs.html



http://baltimorespor...il-13-15th.html



http://baltimorespor...-hernandez.html



http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com...-in-action.html

[champain2002]

It was a wild one in Texas Monday night with the O's holding on for a 10-9 victory over the Rangers. The top 5 and the eighth hitter (Pie has his first homer as an Oriole) combined for 15-30 at the plate. Aubrey Huff broke out with a 4-5 game to raise his average to .346, recovering from his slow start to the season. Joining him with multiple hits were Roberts and Pie with 3, and Markakis and Wigginton with 2. The top 4 in the batting order are now hitting a collective .373 (41-110) with 23 rbi, 14 bb, 14 doubles, and 29 runs in 7 games, a total of 60 bases amongst them.

Pitching was another story. Uehara, in winning/surviving his second game, threw 87 pitches, 56 for strikes, in 5+ innings. They ended up as 7 hits (2 HR's), 4 BB, and 3 K's. Baez surrendered the other 2 runs in 2 innings of work. If its any consolation to O's fans, Vincent Padilla, one of the O's favorite BP pitchers surrendered 7 runs on 11 hits in 3.1 innings. He was lifted after surrendering 5 straight rbi hits. Sherrill faced 5 batters in the 9th for another nail-biting save, with help from a great catch by Markakis at the right-field wall on Michael Young's drive that would have tied the game.

In other words, just another Texas Rangers Game.
Baltimore Sun
Gameday
MLB.com Stats

[champain2002]

Melvin Mora, who originally injured his left hamstring in the WBC playing for Venezuela, was lifted from Sunday's game with Tampa Bay. He also did not play yesterday against Texas and is not sure when he'll return. He has stated that he felt the hamstring tighten up in the cold weather, and that it has been feeling "worse and worse." Mora, hitting .313/.421/.500, has been part of the top 5 of the O's batting order which, without him, is hitting .373. Mora has been replaced in the meantime by Ty Wigginton, who has gone 2-6 with 2 rbi's in his absence.

Baltimore Sun

[champain2002]

Rich Hill is slowly making his way back. After his 15 day disabled list jaunt, he will begin a 30-day minor league rehab assignment, allowing him to rejoin the team on May 3rd.
Chris Stoner, Baltimore Sports and Life

On the farm:
Norfolk beat Charlotte 7-0 yesterday. Norfolk had a two pitcher no-hitter going into the 8th before Bob McCrory, in his 1 inning of relief, gave up the only 2 hits Charlotte would get. Chris Tillman, making his first AAA start, pitched the first 4 with 3bb and 5 K's. Ross Wolf went the next 3 with 2 bb and 2 K's for the win. Andy Mitchell finished up with a perfect 9th.

Other notable prospects:
*Montanez went 3-5 with an rbi and is now hitting .588.
*Weiters 2-4, now .200.
*Reimold, 3-4, .412.
*Jolbert Cabrera hit a grand slam in the 8th.
Milb.com

[budcrew08]

champain2002, on Apr 14 2009, 10:27 AM, said:

Rich Hill is slowly making his way back. After his 15 day disabled list jaunt, he will begin a 30-day minor league rehab assignment, allowing him to rejoin the team on May 3rd.
Chris Stoner, Baltimore Sports and Life

On the farm:
Norfolk beat Charlotte 7-0 yesterday. Norfolk had a two pitcher no-hitter going into the 8th before Bob McCrory, in his 1 inning of relief, gave up the only 2 hits Charlotte would get. Chris Tillman, making his first AAA start, pitched the first 4 with 3bb and 5 K's. Ross Wolf went the next 3 with 2 bb and 2 K's for the win. Andy Mitchell finished up with a perfect 9th.

Other notable prospects:
*Montanez went 3-5 with an rbi and is now hitting .588.
*Weiters 2-4, now .200.
*Reimold, 3-4, .412.
*Jolbert Cabrera hit a grand slam in the 8th.
Milb.com

To piggyback on champain2002's post, a story by Spencer Fordin from orioles.com on Rich Hill and making his return back to the big club.

Rich Hill working his way back

[budcrew08]

Tonight's contest: Alfredo Simon vs. Brandon McCarthy, from Orioles.com

Orioles-Rangers middle game of three-game series tonight


This has the potential to be another high-powered offensive game, like last night's 10-9 affair, but they could surprise.

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

champain2002, on Apr 14 2009, 09:49 AM, said:

Uehara, in winning/surviving his second game, threw 87 pitches, 56 for strikes, in 5+ innings.

Uehara apparently still having trouble gripping the ball. I wonder if Dice-K ever got through that?

Youtube has this not that great video of Price vs Wieters on April 11 (BTW, there is no way that the Os bring up Wieters on April 17):

bkSMNLJYykM&hl

[champain2002]

The Orioles have been doing pretty well, despite some shaky pitching. However, I can say for a fact that the following bit of news from Tuesday's game isn't going to help.

Quote

Simon left the game after 1 1/3 innings with right elbow discomfort and will return to Baltimore on Thursday to have it examined by team doctors. Though it would be premature to speculate on his long-term status, his scheduled start on Monday at Fenway Park appears very much in jeopardy.

Manager Dave Trembley said: "I saw him throwing in the first inning and I saw his velocity was down. It really caught my attention right off the get-go. ... I went out there and said, 'Is it your elbow?' and he said, 'Yeah.'

"He just wasn't throwing like I've seen. Usually, the guy is throwing. 94 or 95, and he was throwing 88 or 89. Obviously, there's a problem there and we have to get it checked out."

Baltimore Sun
Joining him in his probable dl stint is

Quote

third baseman Melvin Mora who is expected to be placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday with a strained left hamstring, a decision that will lead to the call-up of Matt Albers and give the team a 13-man pitching staff.

ballemer sun
So basically all those who thought the O's were going to go with 13 pitchers were right, just not right off. No word yet on who will replace Simon if he does go on the DL. But Jeff Zrebiec in the Sun speculated that:

Quote

Simon could join Mora on the disabled list as well, allowing the Orioles to add another pitcher before Wednesday's series finale. They could choose to call up a reliever, such as Radhames Liz, and then send that pitcher down in favor of a starter, possibly Triple-A Norfolk's Brad Bergesen, on Monday.

(From the first Sun article)
Peter Schmuck had stated that Bergeson might make the team out of camp, and Trembley had stated that he was sent to minor league camp at the end of spring training so they could call him up in case of injury. Well Bergeson, after 1 start in Norfolk, has a 1.8 era with 4 hits, 1 earned run, 6 k's, 1 bb and a 1.00 whip. Simon is the #3 starter. The Orioles could probably use the injury to address the relative weakness of their starting pitching.

This post has been edited by champain2002: 15 April 2009 - 01:15 AM

[twoBshorty]

For the second night in a row, George Sherrill looked terrible. Everything he threw was getting clobbered, he just got lucky with 3 balls getting hit at fielders before Texas was able to tie the game. It definitely bears watching.