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2131 and Beyond
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
O's Notes 4/8/10 at Rays
Well, we finally got the W and are on our way! The team is supposed to get home from St. Pete around 3 a.m., figure bed by 4:30, then at OPACY by 9ish. Oy!
Hitting:
Orioles
Rays
Okay, I like those box scores a lot better.
So finally, Roberts hit safely. He actually reached base 3 times. He walked in the 3rd, then got his first hit on a blooper single to Bartlett that was bobbled and was counted as a base hit. Later, he got his first legit hit in my book with a nice smack down the 1st base line that turned into a stand up double.
Otherwise, I guess hitting was better. Wieters had his third multi-hit game in a row, the first Oriole ever to do that to open a season. The crucial at bat for him was when he got up with the bases loaded and no outs and took a way high pitch to shallow center for a single.
What I was disappointed with was so many first pitch swings. Roberts lead off the game, swinging at the first 3 pitches thrown to him, 2 for foul balls. Jones came up then and, on the first pitch, popped out to center. Markakis then got up, and even though he took his first pitch, swung a few later and grounded out.
Atkins came to hit again going 2-4 with 2 RBIs. His crucial hit was after Wieters' single with the bases loaded and, after fighting off some nice pitches from Sonnanstine, ripped a double in the left center gap that scored 2 runs.
There is still a lack of production coming from Miguel Tejada. Luke Scott had an alright night. Nolan Reimold led off the third with a solo blast to deep left field.
Once again, Longoria had a strong night for the Rays. We just don't have an answer for him. Not that many teams really do...
Now the interesting part of the night. The pitching:
It won't let me copy the pitching lines for now for some reason. I am switching over to MLBlogs soon.
Brian Matusz had a strong effort against an experienced, speedy, and clutch Rays lineup. His line was 5 IP 2 H 2 ER 7:5 K:BB. He showed some good stuff in the first few innings, but really hurt in the 3rd. He walked the first three batters he faced, and then gave up a single and sacrifice fly to the heart of the Rays lineup, but luckily got out of the bases loaded no out jam with only 2 runs thanks to a wicked breaking ball that Longoria swung on to strike out and end the inning. Solid again in the 4th, and then, even though the team had Berken warming up in the 3rd, Matusz stayed through 5. The 5th inning was his best. 3 straight K's. His pitch count had broken 100 by that time.
Albers came on to throw 2 average innings, allowing a few hits and a run, while striking out 1 and retiring the first 4 batters he faced. Will Ohman was brought on in the 8th to deal with Crawford, who he got to pop out.
The main issues came when the set up and closing guys took charge. JJ came in in the 8th after Ohman pitched his one man, and supposedly healthy, let up 2 hits and a run before closing out the 8th. The score at that point was 5-4.
Gonzalez, with the horrible first impression in his debut with the blown save and loss, was given the call in the 9th. Although he walked 2 and let up a hit, and at one point had the bases loaded, he also struck out 2 and finished it off in stressful fashion for the Orioles victory.
The Rays had an interesting night in terms of pitching. Their starter, Jeff Niemann, was hit in the left shoulder (he is a lefty, too) by a line drive off of the bat of Miguel Tejada in the start of the 2nd inning. Niemann tested it, but Maddon decided to play it safe and take him out. In came Andy Sonnanstine, who was a starter in the Rays rotation at the beginning of last season, so it was a sign for the Rays that a bullpen guy could eat away at the innings. His final numbers were 3.1 IP 4 H 1 ER 1:1 K:BB, also giving up that Reimold homerun. Other than Reimold, no Orioles seemed to be able to produce against him. No film had been studied for the guy, so it was a surprise when the O's found out that the starter they had studied would only be in for 1.1.
Otherwise, the Rays bullpen was off mostly, with Ekstrom earning the loss since he was the man in charge of the inning with Wieters and the bases loaded.
Fielding:
Luke Scott started in left field, and Lugo started at SS. Scott looked fine, although he had no balls to run down like Reimold did so not much to criticize, but he made the catches. He did have a lousy throw home at one point on the sac fly that the Rays scored on.
Matusz was brilliant in the beginning because of his pickoffs. In the first 1st then 2nd innings, he got the only man on base each inning out through a pickoff move. In each of the two cases, Matusz moved which signaled the runner to go in their mind, but since he is a left he could make the turn back to first. With both Crawford and Longoria (not shabby guys to pick off) off to the races on his movement, Matusz threw to first and then Atkins proceeded each time to throw to Lugo who tagged for the out at 2nd.
The Orioles scored one of their runs somewhat courtesy of the home plate umpire. On a pitch that the Shoppach didn't hold onto low in the dirt, the ball hit the ump's knee and bounced off to the side. This allowed the 3 men on base to advance, including Miggi home to score.
Speaking of Miggi, he showed a sign of great leadership tonight. When Matusz got in his jam in the 3rd, Miggi called for time and ran in to help Matusz calm down. The rest of the infield soon joined in, but Tejada stepped up to make sure the young lefty was cool and collected and to let him know it was all going to work itself out.
Notes for this weekend in Baltimore:
I am going to give notes for the series, because I will be in attendance at all three games and not sure if I will have time to write an extended post each night.
-The Orioles committed 0 errors in the 3 game series. Keep it up. With Tejada and Atkins both playing new positions, Roberts and Reimold aggravated by injuries, and even the last minute write-in of Reimold for yesterday's game, its good to see that although things like Reimold's catch on the run ability might not be up to par, the team is not making any true mistakes in the field.
-Baserunning has been brilliant. Keep it up. That's about it for it, I just know on the wild pitch, and then last night with the error at first, the guys knew to go home. Heads up baserunning will always help in the long run.
-Do not rely on the umps. It seems like this whole series, especially tonight, the entire ump staff was giving calls in our favor. Things like called strikes, check swings, close baserunning calls, and then the call Demuth made about Crawford's diving grab in left tonight are all things we cannot afford to assume will be there day in and day out.
-Bring the offense early still. It works. It helps the pitchers. With Bergesen coming back after a bad ending to his '09 campaign, help him tomorrow by putting some runs up so he knows there is a team backing him up early. On Sunday, come out and show Millwood you want him to get the W in his stat chart. Help Hernandez in the field by letting him have the confidence to keep up the Spring stat of 20:3 K:BB
-We can get the starters out if each guy takes another pitch or two. I know they are anxious to get on board, but chill out. The hits will come, but only if you let them and not force them into place.
That's it for tonight. I will be at OPACY by 10 a.m. tomorrow, and I hope to see everyone out there!
Hitting:
Orioles
| Baltimore Orioles | |||||||||
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP |
| B Roberts 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | .143 | .200 |
| A Jones CF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | .286 | .286 |
| N Markakis RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | .200 | .429 |
| M Tejada 3B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | .083 | .214 |
| L Scott LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | .200 | .333 |
| M Wieters C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | .500 | .500 |
| N Reimold DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | .250 | .250 |
| G Atkins 1B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 17 | .333 | .333 |
| J Lugo SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | .000 | .000 |
| Totals | 36 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 143 | ||
Rays
| Tampa Bay Rays | |||||||||
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP |
| J Bartlett SS | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | .385 | .429 |
| C Crawford LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 21 | .200 | .357 |
| B Zobrist 2B-RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | .308 | .308 |
| E Longoria 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | .417 | .417 |
| C Pena 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | .250 | .250 |
| B Upton CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | .200 | .333 |
| P Burrell DH | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 23 | .111 | .333 |
| G Kapler RF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | .000 | .500 |
a-R Brignac PH-2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .750 | .750 |
c-S Rodriguez PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .200 | .200 |
| K Shoppach C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | .200 | .333 |
b-D Navarro PH-C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | .500 | .600 |
| Totals | 30 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 172 | ||
Okay, I like those box scores a lot better.
So finally, Roberts hit safely. He actually reached base 3 times. He walked in the 3rd, then got his first hit on a blooper single to Bartlett that was bobbled and was counted as a base hit. Later, he got his first legit hit in my book with a nice smack down the 1st base line that turned into a stand up double.
Otherwise, I guess hitting was better. Wieters had his third multi-hit game in a row, the first Oriole ever to do that to open a season. The crucial at bat for him was when he got up with the bases loaded and no outs and took a way high pitch to shallow center for a single.
What I was disappointed with was so many first pitch swings. Roberts lead off the game, swinging at the first 3 pitches thrown to him, 2 for foul balls. Jones came up then and, on the first pitch, popped out to center. Markakis then got up, and even though he took his first pitch, swung a few later and grounded out.
Atkins came to hit again going 2-4 with 2 RBIs. His crucial hit was after Wieters' single with the bases loaded and, after fighting off some nice pitches from Sonnanstine, ripped a double in the left center gap that scored 2 runs.
There is still a lack of production coming from Miguel Tejada. Luke Scott had an alright night. Nolan Reimold led off the third with a solo blast to deep left field.
Once again, Longoria had a strong night for the Rays. We just don't have an answer for him. Not that many teams really do...
Now the interesting part of the night. The pitching:
It won't let me copy the pitching lines for now for some reason. I am switching over to MLBlogs soon.
Brian Matusz had a strong effort against an experienced, speedy, and clutch Rays lineup. His line was 5 IP 2 H 2 ER 7:5 K:BB. He showed some good stuff in the first few innings, but really hurt in the 3rd. He walked the first three batters he faced, and then gave up a single and sacrifice fly to the heart of the Rays lineup, but luckily got out of the bases loaded no out jam with only 2 runs thanks to a wicked breaking ball that Longoria swung on to strike out and end the inning. Solid again in the 4th, and then, even though the team had Berken warming up in the 3rd, Matusz stayed through 5. The 5th inning was his best. 3 straight K's. His pitch count had broken 100 by that time.
Albers came on to throw 2 average innings, allowing a few hits and a run, while striking out 1 and retiring the first 4 batters he faced. Will Ohman was brought on in the 8th to deal with Crawford, who he got to pop out.
The main issues came when the set up and closing guys took charge. JJ came in in the 8th after Ohman pitched his one man, and supposedly healthy, let up 2 hits and a run before closing out the 8th. The score at that point was 5-4.
Gonzalez, with the horrible first impression in his debut with the blown save and loss, was given the call in the 9th. Although he walked 2 and let up a hit, and at one point had the bases loaded, he also struck out 2 and finished it off in stressful fashion for the Orioles victory.
The Rays had an interesting night in terms of pitching. Their starter, Jeff Niemann, was hit in the left shoulder (he is a lefty, too) by a line drive off of the bat of Miguel Tejada in the start of the 2nd inning. Niemann tested it, but Maddon decided to play it safe and take him out. In came Andy Sonnanstine, who was a starter in the Rays rotation at the beginning of last season, so it was a sign for the Rays that a bullpen guy could eat away at the innings. His final numbers were 3.1 IP 4 H 1 ER 1:1 K:BB, also giving up that Reimold homerun. Other than Reimold, no Orioles seemed to be able to produce against him. No film had been studied for the guy, so it was a surprise when the O's found out that the starter they had studied would only be in for 1.1.
Otherwise, the Rays bullpen was off mostly, with Ekstrom earning the loss since he was the man in charge of the inning with Wieters and the bases loaded.
Fielding:
Luke Scott started in left field, and Lugo started at SS. Scott looked fine, although he had no balls to run down like Reimold did so not much to criticize, but he made the catches. He did have a lousy throw home at one point on the sac fly that the Rays scored on.
Matusz was brilliant in the beginning because of his pickoffs. In the first 1st then 2nd innings, he got the only man on base each inning out through a pickoff move. In each of the two cases, Matusz moved which signaled the runner to go in their mind, but since he is a left he could make the turn back to first. With both Crawford and Longoria (not shabby guys to pick off) off to the races on his movement, Matusz threw to first and then Atkins proceeded each time to throw to Lugo who tagged for the out at 2nd.
The Orioles scored one of their runs somewhat courtesy of the home plate umpire. On a pitch that the Shoppach didn't hold onto low in the dirt, the ball hit the ump's knee and bounced off to the side. This allowed the 3 men on base to advance, including Miggi home to score.
Speaking of Miggi, he showed a sign of great leadership tonight. When Matusz got in his jam in the 3rd, Miggi called for time and ran in to help Matusz calm down. The rest of the infield soon joined in, but Tejada stepped up to make sure the young lefty was cool and collected and to let him know it was all going to work itself out.
Notes for this weekend in Baltimore:
I am going to give notes for the series, because I will be in attendance at all three games and not sure if I will have time to write an extended post each night.
-The Orioles committed 0 errors in the 3 game series. Keep it up. With Tejada and Atkins both playing new positions, Roberts and Reimold aggravated by injuries, and even the last minute write-in of Reimold for yesterday's game, its good to see that although things like Reimold's catch on the run ability might not be up to par, the team is not making any true mistakes in the field.
-Baserunning has been brilliant. Keep it up. That's about it for it, I just know on the wild pitch, and then last night with the error at first, the guys knew to go home. Heads up baserunning will always help in the long run.
-Do not rely on the umps. It seems like this whole series, especially tonight, the entire ump staff was giving calls in our favor. Things like called strikes, check swings, close baserunning calls, and then the call Demuth made about Crawford's diving grab in left tonight are all things we cannot afford to assume will be there day in and day out.
-Bring the offense early still. It works. It helps the pitchers. With Bergesen coming back after a bad ending to his '09 campaign, help him tomorrow by putting some runs up so he knows there is a team backing him up early. On Sunday, come out and show Millwood you want him to get the W in his stat chart. Help Hernandez in the field by letting him have the confidence to keep up the Spring stat of 20:3 K:BB
-We can get the starters out if each guy takes another pitch or two. I know they are anxious to get on board, but chill out. The hits will come, but only if you let them and not force them into place.
That's it for tonight. I will be at OPACY by 10 a.m. tomorrow, and I hope to see everyone out there!
Tonight's game
Notes I know so far:
-Two guys seen on Oriole Park field today, I can only assume it's Bergesen and Hernandez. I guess they're staying at team hotel so this is their place to throw around? Who knows. Pic of guys
-Roch Kubato is taking over for Jim Palmer in terms of commentary during the game. Palmer, if people heard last night, has almost no voice and a sore throat. Post-game he could barely speak
-Julio Lugo is starting for Izturis at SS tonight
-Luke Scott is being given the chance to start in left field tonight and Reimold will DH. Pie will be available to do off the bench stuff like he did last night. Like the decision to sit Reimold from the field after a more than dissappointing performance out there last night.
-Jim Johnson stretched and threw and is ready to go tonight.
Will post anymore pre-game notes here.
-Two guys seen on Oriole Park field today, I can only assume it's Bergesen and Hernandez. I guess they're staying at team hotel so this is their place to throw around? Who knows. Pic of guys
-Roch Kubato is taking over for Jim Palmer in terms of commentary during the game. Palmer, if people heard last night, has almost no voice and a sore throat. Post-game he could barely speak
-Julio Lugo is starting for Izturis at SS tonight
-Luke Scott is being given the chance to start in left field tonight and Reimold will DH. Pie will be available to do off the bench stuff like he did last night. Like the decision to sit Reimold from the field after a more than dissappointing performance out there last night.
-Jim Johnson stretched and threw and is ready to go tonight.
Will post anymore pre-game notes here.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Update on bullpen
Thank you to Brittany Ghiroli for this bit of news.
If anybody thought of this, Jim Johnson did not pitch in the 8th today, but Cla Meredith did.
Trembley told the press that he had arm tightness. He sat tonight but will hopefully be good to go tomorrow. Could've really used him after seeing the outcome of Meredith's time out there.
If anybody thought of this, Jim Johnson did not pitch in the 8th today, but Cla Meredith did.
Trembley told the press that he had arm tightness. He sat tonight but will hopefully be good to go tomorrow. Could've really used him after seeing the outcome of Meredith's time out there.
O's Notes 4/7/10 at Rays
Well, I had some hope there when Atkins got that double that scored Wieters. Just couldn't finish that comeback.
Hitting:
Baltimore
Nothing impressive there. The O's got their 2 runs in the 1st (the 3rd in the 9th). One run was because Zobrist didn't throw home when he could have gotten Jones out, and the other was because of the error when the throw was low to 1st on Wieter's ground ball to Rodriguez at 2nd. The positive on that error besides that we got the run was how we got it. Markakis was on 2nd at the beginning of the at bat, and when the ball was hit, he ran to 3rd. They showed a replay of just him. He got to 3rd and looked over, saw the error, and made the sprint home. Brilliant baserunning.
The top 5, who should be leading this team with consistently racking up hits, got only 2 between them tonight, both in the 1st inning. Looking at the Rays, their top 5 hit safely 7 times, so it shows that we just couldn't keep up. The rest of the game, the only hitting that was positive was Wieters going 2-4, and then seeing Atkins bring his slugging side on with his ground rule double in the 9th. Izturis 0-2 as expected. Reimold got a hit which is good since he is back, but much negativity on him later.
Pitching:
Hitting:
Baltimore
| AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | SB | LOB | Season Avg | ||
| B. Roberts 2b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .000 | |
| A. Jones cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .444 | |
| N. Markakis rf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .167 | |
| M. Tejada 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 | |
| L. Scott dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .143 | |
| M. Wieters c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | |
| N. Reimold lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .250 | |
| G. Atkins 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .250 | |
| F. Pie pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| C. Izturis ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | |
| T. Wigginton ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| Totals | 34 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 10 | ||
| Tampa Bay | |||||||||||
| AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | SB | LOB | Season Avg | ||
| J. Bartlett ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .375 | |
| C. Crawford lf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .250 | |
| B. Zobrist rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .375 | |
| E. Longoria 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .375 | |
| C. Pena 1b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .375 | |
| B.J. Upton cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .286 | |
| P. Burrell dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .143 | |
| K. Shoppach c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .250 | |
| R. Brignac 2b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | |
| Totals | 32 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 15 | ||
Nothing impressive there. The O's got their 2 runs in the 1st (the 3rd in the 9th). One run was because Zobrist didn't throw home when he could have gotten Jones out, and the other was because of the error when the throw was low to 1st on Wieter's ground ball to Rodriguez at 2nd. The positive on that error besides that we got the run was how we got it. Markakis was on 2nd at the beginning of the at bat, and when the ball was hit, he ran to 3rd. They showed a replay of just him. He got to 3rd and looked over, saw the error, and made the sprint home. Brilliant baserunning.
The top 5, who should be leading this team with consistently racking up hits, got only 2 between them tonight, both in the 1st inning. Looking at the Rays, their top 5 hit safely 7 times, so it shows that we just couldn't keep up. The rest of the game, the only hitting that was positive was Wieters going 2-4, and then seeing Atkins bring his slugging side on with his ground rule double in the 9th. Izturis 0-2 as expected. Reimold got a hit which is good since he is back, but much negativity on him later.
Pitching:
| Baltimore | ||||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | WHIP | Season ERA | ||
| J. Guthrie | 6.1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1.58 | 4.26 | |
| W. Ohman | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| C. Meredith | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.00 | 13.50 | |
| Tampa Bay | ||||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | WHIP | Season ERA | ||
| M. Garza | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0.75 | 1.12 | |
| R. Soriano | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.50 | 4.50 | |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
O's notes continued
The last post for some reason is messed up at the end so I have to write the rest here.
Continuing on pitching:
Ohman came in solid again with a scoreless inning, so until he messes up I don't have much to say. He doesn't have incredible stuff that I need to tout, but hey, it's enough to get the job done I guess.
Meredith looked okay for the most part, except for the Longoria homerun he let up in the 8th. Meredith has never been a high speed fastball pitcher, so the fastball Longoria hit was an easy one because it was located in the middle and not too fast. I think along with his mixup of pitches and how he throws side-arm, he needs to work on velocity, otherwise it will hurt him in the long run.
Rays pitching was Matt Garza mostly. 8 IP. At one point, Randy Choate (Rays lefty specialist) was warming up, but they sat him down most likely because they saw that Garza was still striking guys out and throwing in the mid-90s. No reason to sit a guy who keeps up the stuff he was throwing in the first innings. Soriano came in and, although let the one run go, held on in the clutch to get Wigginton and Roberts out.
Fielding:
Decided to add this section for any fielding notes I have. No stat box to throw in though.
Miguel Tejada made some nice catches and rocket throws tonight. Still hasn't had to make a huge extension or jump for one, but I'm impressed with his performance so far. The most impressive one was when the Rays had men on 1st and 2nd in the 2nd with 1 out and Pat Burrell grounded to a deep Tejada; Tejada got it, charged to third to tag then threw an absolute beam to Atkins at first to end the inning. This was one of the jams Guthrie got out of that I was talking about earlier.
Both Adam Jones and Carl Crawford made nice rundowns on fly balls that they were able to barely catch. Twice, though, Reimold missed catches on the run that I believe Pie would easily get. Both times he was close enough to get it. The first he just missed with his glove and the second he just wasn't ready for it seemed. Very dissappointed. I have always said since last season that he isn't fit for left field. I think soon enough he will move to 1st. Especially when Atkins is gone, I think that spot should become Reimold's.
2 interesting plays in the field today. In one of Guthrie's upcoming jams, the ball was a chopper up the 1st base line and when Guthrie got it, he ran at Crawford (I do believe it was him) with it. Crawford jumped out of the line to avoid the tag and then when he ran past the bag, Roberts (who had run over) called for the ball and tagged first for the out since the runner never touched.
Thank you to my friend Andrew, who reminded me of the second one. In the bottom of the 7th, with Brignac on 1st, Ohman (who had just entered the game, this was his first batter) had 2 strikes on Carl Crawford. Crawford decided to check swing on the pitch (it ends up, after watching replays, that he did not go), and as Crawford, thinking he had drawn the walk on the 3-2 pitch, jogged to 1st, Wieters checked with 3rd base umpire Dana Demuth, who called Crawford out on swinging. Crawford didn't realize until he got to 1st what had happened since he assumed he didn't go, and even the home plate umpire didn't think to check with Demuth since the swing truly was not enough to call it. Either way, Brignac starting jogging to 2nd without thinking to check the call to make sure it was a walk and he saw Crawford go so he assumed to go to, and once Wieters got the strike 3 call, he gunned the ball to Izturis at 2nd who then tagged Brignac for the out!
Overall, the hitting was really the problem tonight. Clutch hitting with RISP wasn't a problem, mainly since there were none of those RISP situations. Noone really was able to hit much off of Garza to begin with.
For tomorrow:
-Matusz on the mound. I like that we have taken the lead first in both games, but then again, that led to the depressing stat that we are 0-2 when scoring first. I still say it's good to continue that trend, but keep it up. Bring the later inning hits.
-Also with hitting; be more patient! To Roberts mainly; he swung on the first pitch of his first at bat and his clutch at bat in the 9th when the O's needed a hit with Pie on 3rd to tie it, and both times he flew out. Be more patiend. If Roberts and others would take some more pitches instead of being anxious to swing, not only would more solid at-bats happen, but then we could have gotten Garza's pitch count up to bring on the bullpen. Now, for tomorrow, their bullpen is completely ready since they didn't need to even touch it tonight.
-Matusz needs to continue the pitching trend with keeping the runs low, but I think he needs to find a way even moreso to keep the hits down. Millwood and Guthrie are veterans and handle the pressure of baserunners well usually, but we don't want Matusz in situations where he feels nervous about the men on the bags; he needs to have a 1st start where he can focus on his pitching and nothing else.
-I think Lugo should start at 2nd. Really, he should be our every day guy at SS I believe, but at least tomorrow at 2nd. The O's need a win for now, and with the leadoff guy going 0-9 so far, we just need a temporary change tomorrow.
-I also hope Pie will be ready tomorrow. If not, then okay, but I have a feeling that if it is Reimold again, we will let up some runs that wouldn't be let up if it weren't Reimold in charge of fielding some balls.
Overall, the O's need to come out and get the closing win so they can come home on a good note for the Oriole Park opener.
Continuing on pitching:
Ohman came in solid again with a scoreless inning, so until he messes up I don't have much to say. He doesn't have incredible stuff that I need to tout, but hey, it's enough to get the job done I guess.
Meredith looked okay for the most part, except for the Longoria homerun he let up in the 8th. Meredith has never been a high speed fastball pitcher, so the fastball Longoria hit was an easy one because it was located in the middle and not too fast. I think along with his mixup of pitches and how he throws side-arm, he needs to work on velocity, otherwise it will hurt him in the long run.
Rays pitching was Matt Garza mostly. 8 IP. At one point, Randy Choate (Rays lefty specialist) was warming up, but they sat him down most likely because they saw that Garza was still striking guys out and throwing in the mid-90s. No reason to sit a guy who keeps up the stuff he was throwing in the first innings. Soriano came in and, although let the one run go, held on in the clutch to get Wigginton and Roberts out.
Fielding:
Decided to add this section for any fielding notes I have. No stat box to throw in though.
Miguel Tejada made some nice catches and rocket throws tonight. Still hasn't had to make a huge extension or jump for one, but I'm impressed with his performance so far. The most impressive one was when the Rays had men on 1st and 2nd in the 2nd with 1 out and Pat Burrell grounded to a deep Tejada; Tejada got it, charged to third to tag then threw an absolute beam to Atkins at first to end the inning. This was one of the jams Guthrie got out of that I was talking about earlier.
Both Adam Jones and Carl Crawford made nice rundowns on fly balls that they were able to barely catch. Twice, though, Reimold missed catches on the run that I believe Pie would easily get. Both times he was close enough to get it. The first he just missed with his glove and the second he just wasn't ready for it seemed. Very dissappointed. I have always said since last season that he isn't fit for left field. I think soon enough he will move to 1st. Especially when Atkins is gone, I think that spot should become Reimold's.
2 interesting plays in the field today. In one of Guthrie's upcoming jams, the ball was a chopper up the 1st base line and when Guthrie got it, he ran at Crawford (I do believe it was him) with it. Crawford jumped out of the line to avoid the tag and then when he ran past the bag, Roberts (who had run over) called for the ball and tagged first for the out since the runner never touched.
Thank you to my friend Andrew, who reminded me of the second one. In the bottom of the 7th, with Brignac on 1st, Ohman (who had just entered the game, this was his first batter) had 2 strikes on Carl Crawford. Crawford decided to check swing on the pitch (it ends up, after watching replays, that he did not go), and as Crawford, thinking he had drawn the walk on the 3-2 pitch, jogged to 1st, Wieters checked with 3rd base umpire Dana Demuth, who called Crawford out on swinging. Crawford didn't realize until he got to 1st what had happened since he assumed he didn't go, and even the home plate umpire didn't think to check with Demuth since the swing truly was not enough to call it. Either way, Brignac starting jogging to 2nd without thinking to check the call to make sure it was a walk and he saw Crawford go so he assumed to go to, and once Wieters got the strike 3 call, he gunned the ball to Izturis at 2nd who then tagged Brignac for the out!
Overall, the hitting was really the problem tonight. Clutch hitting with RISP wasn't a problem, mainly since there were none of those RISP situations. Noone really was able to hit much off of Garza to begin with.
For tomorrow:
-Matusz on the mound. I like that we have taken the lead first in both games, but then again, that led to the depressing stat that we are 0-2 when scoring first. I still say it's good to continue that trend, but keep it up. Bring the later inning hits.
-Also with hitting; be more patient! To Roberts mainly; he swung on the first pitch of his first at bat and his clutch at bat in the 9th when the O's needed a hit with Pie on 3rd to tie it, and both times he flew out. Be more patiend. If Roberts and others would take some more pitches instead of being anxious to swing, not only would more solid at-bats happen, but then we could have gotten Garza's pitch count up to bring on the bullpen. Now, for tomorrow, their bullpen is completely ready since they didn't need to even touch it tonight.
-Matusz needs to continue the pitching trend with keeping the runs low, but I think he needs to find a way even moreso to keep the hits down. Millwood and Guthrie are veterans and handle the pressure of baserunners well usually, but we don't want Matusz in situations where he feels nervous about the men on the bags; he needs to have a 1st start where he can focus on his pitching and nothing else.
-I think Lugo should start at 2nd. Really, he should be our every day guy at SS I believe, but at least tomorrow at 2nd. The O's need a win for now, and with the leadoff guy going 0-9 so far, we just need a temporary change tomorrow.
-I also hope Pie will be ready tomorrow. If not, then okay, but I have a feeling that if it is Reimold again, we will let up some runs that wouldn't be let up if it weren't Reimold in charge of fielding some balls.
Overall, the O's need to come out and get the closing win so they can come home on a good note for the Oriole Park opener.
Britt's notes today
Loved some of her notes today, had to post them here.
My notes will be in parentheses after each note.
My notes will be in parentheses after each note.
*Also, in case you missed it, I talked to Robert Andino about clearing waivers this afternoon. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said Andino will get the bulk of playing time at shortstop in Triple-A Norfolk. (best of luck to him there, I hope another team wants him though because he has a solid future and I am more for him as a person which is why I would be okay if he is traded since I guess it isn't a fit in Baltimore)
*Mike Gonzalez was the first guy in Dave Trembley's office this morning and told the Orioles manager he wants the ball tonight. We'll see what happens. Close friend Rafael Soriano (who got the win for the Rays) texted Gonzalez words of encouragement following an ugly blown save. (agreed. give it to him. let him prove us wrong. if he does it again, then question it.)
*Brad Bergesen and David Hernandez Friday and Saturday's starters in Baltimore, boarded a 6 p.m. flight earlier tonight to go back to Birdland. They'll get a chance to settle in and prep for their starts. Hernandez threw a bullpen yesterday and told me he's pretty excited. (cant wait for the weekend when i can see em in person)
*New Oriole Julio Lugo was coloring in the white parts of his cleats with an orange permanent marker pregame. He's still waiting to get his Orioles spikes, but this way he fits in. (sounds awesome, love that he is gettin into it.)
Season has begun!
So I haven't posted here because I realized following Britt Ghiroli is a lot easier and I get my info from there a lot too. Instead I will post here my opinions on games, some news, and then personal Orioles experiences.
So this first post will be about last night.
Hitting:
Well, it's a two-sided issue. On the bright side, 7 of the 9 guys in the lineup hit safely. That is a positive that most of the lineup was able to produce a hit. The main negative was being 1-12 with RISP. That's just sad. We can hit, but not in the clutch. I think it's not only up to the players to produce at those times, but to the coaches, specifically Shelby and Samuel, to give the right signals for the situation and the guys at bat to give them the best opportunity to succeed.
Update: I did just hear Roberts talk. He brought up a good point. Three times (Tejada to LF in 9th, Roberts to SS, and Jones to 2B) there were hits with RISP that were great defensive plays. Jones' hit would've gone through by most 2B, then Roberts and Tejada just got unlucky because both of theirs were beautiful hits every day except the guy happened to be RIGHT THERE. Hopefully the ball location can be better now!
Cesar Izturis went 2-4. That's a stupid stat to read too much into. Both hits were blooper infield taps that were both just played badly by the shortstop. Don't expect him to be a consistent hitter, although I wish he was. Put Lugo in there!
Pitching: Looked quite good through 8. Millwood came out and pitched 5 innings of 2 run ball. With a solid 6:2 K:BB ratio, he will want to work on inducing more ground balls for DP and some fly balls too. He allowed 9 hits in those 5 innings, which means he leaves his first game with a horrendous WHIP of 1.83. The bullpen proved to be great in middle relief last night. Albers threw 1.1, Ohman 0.2, and JJ 1, allowing only one hit between the 3 in those 3 innings and no runs. The issue came with Mike Gonzalez. Throughtout Spring he had said he was down in speed and with health but would show up in the regular season. He told the truth about the speed, breaking 90 and hitting 93 at his max for the night. The whole health thing, I guess he was healthy enough to pitch, didn't look in pain. But about showing up to play well, he didn't exactly do that. Gonzalez had his big debut in the 9th. The Orioles had the 3-2 lead, and although that wasn't a huge lead, it should still be enough to hold a win for our much touted new closer. He struck out the first batter of the inning. From there, without going into details, he walked one, allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, and got the blown save. Lost it on a 2 run scoring single by Carl Crawford. He said in post-game interviews that he is disgusted by his performance. I guess he gets by with that response, but I didn't need to hear it. It was known to all.
The O's come out tonight to battle again at the Trop. My hopes for tonight:
-Guthrie throws some good stuff and keeps the hits down. The Rays only scored their first two runs last night because of so many hits, not much slugging except Longoria's 437 ft. blast. Can he please return to '07 form? I just want 6 innings of low run count baseball out of him!
-Clutch hitting needs to show up. When there's men on second and third with no outs (happened last night), don't pop up, strike out, then ground out. Get some guys in!
-Bullpen needs to continue to be solid. We saw some last night, so expect Hendrickson and/or Berken to make their debuts.
-I know the bottom of the lineup sort of produced, but I much rather see some production from Roberts. He leads off and even Adam Jones said in a pre-game interview how Roberts sets the tone right from the beginning. Tejada too. Come on.
So this first post will be about last night.
Hitting:
| AB | R | H | RBI | HR | BB | K | SB | LOB | Season Avg | ||
| B. Roberts 2b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .000 | |
| A. Jones cf | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .600 | |
| N. Markakis rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 | |
| M. Tejada 3b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .000 | |
| L. Scott dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | |
| M. Wieters c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | |
| F. Pie lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .250 | |
| G. Atkins 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .250 | |
| C. Izturis ss | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .500 | |
| Totals | 37 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 21 | ||
Well, it's a two-sided issue. On the bright side, 7 of the 9 guys in the lineup hit safely. That is a positive that most of the lineup was able to produce a hit. The main negative was being 1-12 with RISP. That's just sad. We can hit, but not in the clutch. I think it's not only up to the players to produce at those times, but to the coaches, specifically Shelby and Samuel, to give the right signals for the situation and the guys at bat to give them the best opportunity to succeed.
Update: I did just hear Roberts talk. He brought up a good point. Three times (Tejada to LF in 9th, Roberts to SS, and Jones to 2B) there were hits with RISP that were great defensive plays. Jones' hit would've gone through by most 2B, then Roberts and Tejada just got unlucky because both of theirs were beautiful hits every day except the guy happened to be RIGHT THERE. Hopefully the ball location can be better now!
Cesar Izturis went 2-4. That's a stupid stat to read too much into. Both hits were blooper infield taps that were both just played badly by the shortstop. Don't expect him to be a consistent hitter, although I wish he was. Put Lugo in there!
Pitching: Looked quite good through 8. Millwood came out and pitched 5 innings of 2 run ball. With a solid 6:2 K:BB ratio, he will want to work on inducing more ground balls for DP and some fly balls too. He allowed 9 hits in those 5 innings, which means he leaves his first game with a horrendous WHIP of 1.83. The bullpen proved to be great in middle relief last night. Albers threw 1.1, Ohman 0.2, and JJ 1, allowing only one hit between the 3 in those 3 innings and no runs. The issue came with Mike Gonzalez. Throughtout Spring he had said he was down in speed and with health but would show up in the regular season. He told the truth about the speed, breaking 90 and hitting 93 at his max for the night. The whole health thing, I guess he was healthy enough to pitch, didn't look in pain. But about showing up to play well, he didn't exactly do that. Gonzalez had his big debut in the 9th. The Orioles had the 3-2 lead, and although that wasn't a huge lead, it should still be enough to hold a win for our much touted new closer. He struck out the first batter of the inning. From there, without going into details, he walked one, allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, and got the blown save. Lost it on a 2 run scoring single by Carl Crawford. He said in post-game interviews that he is disgusted by his performance. I guess he gets by with that response, but I didn't need to hear it. It was known to all.
The O's come out tonight to battle again at the Trop. My hopes for tonight:
-Guthrie throws some good stuff and keeps the hits down. The Rays only scored their first two runs last night because of so many hits, not much slugging except Longoria's 437 ft. blast. Can he please return to '07 form? I just want 6 innings of low run count baseball out of him!
-Clutch hitting needs to show up. When there's men on second and third with no outs (happened last night), don't pop up, strike out, then ground out. Get some guys in!
-Bullpen needs to continue to be solid. We saw some last night, so expect Hendrickson and/or Berken to make their debuts.
-I know the bottom of the lineup sort of produced, but I much rather see some production from Roberts. He leads off and even Adam Jones said in a pre-game interview how Roberts sets the tone right from the beginning. Tejada too. Come on.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Mark Hendrickson
The Orioles have officially signed LHP Mark Hendrickson. They inked a one year deal worth $1.2 million, which also includes a $1.2 million option for the 2011 season.
Last season in review for Hendrickson:
As a starter, Mark was 6-5 with a 4.37 ERA in 11 starts. In relief, where he was much more effective doing middle relief work, Hendrickson posted a solid 3.44 ERA in 53 innings pitched.
This is a signing that MacPhail saw as necessary this offseason. Although the bullpen will be much more bolstered this year using possibly Koji Uehara, David Hernandez, Jason Berken, or a mix of those 3 doing relief work for the O's, Hendrickson brings a very strong left handed pitcher into the mix. For a more extended outlook on the bullpen situation now, check out this article: Look towards the bottom of the article for the bullpen situation/scenarios
Last season in review for Hendrickson:
As a starter, Mark was 6-5 with a 4.37 ERA in 11 starts. In relief, where he was much more effective doing middle relief work, Hendrickson posted a solid 3.44 ERA in 53 innings pitched.
This is a signing that MacPhail saw as necessary this offseason. Although the bullpen will be much more bolstered this year using possibly Koji Uehara, David Hernandez, Jason Berken, or a mix of those 3 doing relief work for the O's, Hendrickson brings a very strong left handed pitcher into the mix. For a more extended outlook on the bullpen situation now, check out this article: Look towards the bottom of the article for the bullpen situation/scenarios
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Dennis Sarfate
RHP Dennis Sarfate has officially been designated for assignment by the Orioles. We knew someone needed to be sent down to make room for Tejada, so this is the move most were expecting.
Not a surprise at all. Sarfate accumulated a lousy 5.09 ERA over only 20 appearances this past season. His right hand was nagging him throughout the season with his circulatory problem. He has shown a bit of an upside in the Winter Mexican League this offseason, though, so watch out for another team to take a risk and grab him.
Not a surprise at all. Sarfate accumulated a lousy 5.09 ERA over only 20 appearances this past season. His right hand was nagging him throughout the season with his circulatory problem. He has shown a bit of an upside in the Winter Mexican League this offseason, though, so watch out for another team to take a risk and grab him.
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