O’s at the Break

July 16, 2009

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Well, here we are at the All-Star break so what better time to summarize the Orioles 2009 season than at the halfway point.  So yeah…this could will be a long post.  First things first, I have to preface this post by mentioning that I couldn’t care less about the Orioles record this year.  No one (including the front office) expected the Orioles to contend or even come close to contending this year.  When COO and GM Andy Macphail took over in 2007 he said he didn’t expect to put a contender on the field until 2010 at the earliest.   The key to this season for the O’s is progress…on the major league club and in the minors.  So if you go by that judgment scale, the first half of ’09 has to be seen as a success.  So let’s break it down:

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Posted by Hawkins

The Comeback

July 1, 2009
Red Sox Orioles Baseball

Oscar Salazar gets congrats after his 3 run shot.

I’m not the kind of guy who stops watching his team when the game is out of hand, no matter what sport. I still like to watch to see how some of the youngsters perform and maybe take some positives out of an otherwise lousy game. And every so often, I am rewarded with something I can say I was able to see while everyone else flipped the game off (such as Nolan Reimold’s first career homerun off Mariano Rivera earlier this season…the only player to EVER do that). But nothing could have prepared me for last night’s improbable, exhilarating, and downright stunning comeback win for the O’s over the Red Sox.

Down 10-1. 7th inning. Against the best bullpen in baseball. No problem. The O’s scored 10 straight runs capped by Nick Markakis’s two run double and won it 11-10 (and didn’t even need the 9th inning to do it).

Pie and Markakis celebrating the comeback victory.

Pie and Markakis celebrating the comeback victory.

Everybody stepped up, from the usual guys like Markakis and Roberts (nice time to break out of an 0-18 slump) to the youngsters Wieters and Reimold. But how about Oscar Salazar pinch hitting for Mora when the game was seemingly out of hand, and hitting a 3-run bomb to spark the rally? And how about Mark Hendrickson pitching a very nice 3 innings of relief after the rain delay and only giving up a run to keep the Orioles within striking distance (as unlikely as it seemed)? But for me, the best performance came from Felix Pie who was only in the game because Adam Jones slammed his head against the wall trying to rob a Youkilis homer in the first inning. All Pie did was contribute with an RBI triple in the third and a clutch RBI single in the 5 run 7th. However, the play of the game that no one will see was Pie gunning down a Sox runner at the plate to close out the 8th inning. The O’s had just scored 5 runs to close within 10-6. If the Sox are able to tack on a run right after that rally, the wind would be taken out of the O’s sails and all momentum would have been lost. He made a perfect throw to Wieters to save a run and gave the Orioles even more momentum to build on going into what would be an amazing 8th inning complete with a Sox bullpen meltdown including Papelbon’s first ever blow save against the O’s.

Phew! The Orioles exercised a lot of demons with last night’s win, and it serves as a bit of redemption from the Mother’s Day Massacre against the Sox back in 2007 that (eventually) cost Sam Perlozzo his job.  It’s wins like these that can get the entire organization excited.  Imagine the calvary down in the minors hearing about this and how pumped they must be.  It’ll be interesting to see how the team responds to this comeback (the greatest in O’s history) and if they can build upon it not only this season, but even looking further down the road.  But I’m not even going to worry about that now.  I’m just going to bask in the glory of returning the Red Sox and their bandwagon nation to their glory days of being world class choke artist.  But that almost gives the Sox too much credit for this.  The Orioles players won this game because they played the full 27 outs, plain and simple.  Go O’s.

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Posted by Hawkins

My My, How Things Have Changed

June 12, 2009

So while I was on vacation, visiting places like this and this, the Orioles were making loads of changes to their roster and actually put together a nice little string of victories.  Of course, as soon as I returned home the O’s reverted back to playing poorly which leads me to think that for the O’s benefit I should either: a) stop paying any attention to the team, or b) get paid by the Orioles to go on many more vacations across the globe.  I’ll go with b) as long as the O’s are up for it.

Matt Wieters finally got the call

Matt Wieters finally got the call

Anyway, during the 10 days I was out of the country, the Orioles called up the already legendary and #1 prospect in all of baseball Matt Wieters, another member of the calvary in David Hernandez (he’s since been optioned back to AAA), and less heralded pitching prospect Jason Berken.  To make room for Wieters, Chad Moeller was placed and waivers and eventually sent down to AAA.  Hernandez was called up to fill the rotation spot of Koji Uehara who had to be placed on the DL with a strained left hamstring, and Berken took the rotation spot of Adam Eaton who was finally cut after putting up an ERA of almost 9 (!) throughout the first month and a half of the season.  Oh, and to go along with those moves, former closer Chris Ray was sent down to AAA to get his problems corrected, and Lou Montanez was lost until probably September with torn ligaments in his right thumb.  So yeah, lots of moves.  Meanwhile, Luke Scott was activated off the DL and responded by winning the AL Player of the Week after hitting 6 homers and driving in 14 runs while hitting .444.  Oh, and while all this was happening, Nolan Reimold was solidifying his spot as the O’s leftfielder and putting himself in the AL rookie of the year race.  Whew!  So man, I missed a lot while I was gone, but lets break it down a little:

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Posted by Hawkins

Best CF in Baseball?

May 21, 2009
Adam Jones

Adam Jones

Ever since the Erik Bedard trade that brought Adam Jones to Baltimore, he was anointed the Orioles CF of the future and deemed to possess all the tools necessary to make him a future superstar.  He was given the reigns to the Orioles center field job in 2008 at the age of 22, when on any other team he probably would have still been in AAA.  But the Orioles had nothing to lose, and decided to give him a shot.  In the first half of the season he struggled just like any “rookie” would (he wasn’t eligible for rookie of the year due to the at bats he got the year before, but ’08 was his first full season), but in the second half of the season, Jones started to put the pieces together and O’s fans saw a glimmer of what was to come.  Heading into this season, Jones was the Orioles little secret.  Other than a few blurbs here or there (mainly fantasy baseball related) Jones wasn’t getting much publicity, but O’s fans knew he was primed for a breakout season.  So, imagine my amazement when this morning as I’m doing my usual news surfing on the web (yes, while at work) I come across this little headline on the front page of MSN.com nestled at the bottom of the Fox Sports section.

Adam Jones Article

“23-year-old might be best CF in majors”?!?  I knew right away what player they were talking about.  Of course, it was none other than Adam Jones.  It really is one of the best articles I’ve seen written on any O’s player in a while.  Not only does it highlight Jones’ baseball prowess but also talks about the great guy AJ is (something O’s fans have known ever since he was aquired…once again, thank you Mariners!).  There really has been a surge of news surrounding Adam Jones in the last few weeks as article after article has mentioned AJ as “the real thing” or one of those rare “5-tool players” that usually can’t live up to the hype, but in this case, do. (By the way the Orioles have two legit 5-tool studs in the outfield in Jones and Markakis…just sayin’.)  And just a few weeks ago when ESPN’s Baseball Tonight was comparing Hall of Famers to current players, Jones was called the next Willie Mays!  Now, I consider Mays the greatest baseball player of all time, so that’s an absurd statement, but still, high praise indeed.  So it seems the national media is starting to catch on to the CF of the Baltimore Orioles…finally. There really is nothing more I can add to what has already been said in today’s article but I would like point out one thing he said when downplaying the idea that he’s already at the top of his position when compared to guys like Torri Hunter:

“They’ve done it for eight to 10 years…I’ve been consistent for a month and a half. They’ve been consistent for most of their careers. You can’t compare those things.”

He certainly isn’t boastful and he definitely has a good head on his shoulders, and oh yeah, he’s right. We’re not even two months into the season so it’s way to early to crown Jones the best CF in baseball.  Guys like Torri Hunter, Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltran that the article mentions have been doing this for years.  AJ is having a great season and the numbers show he has been the best CF in the game so far this year, but it’s no different than someone having a hot streak before fizzling out and coming back down to earth.  I think Jones is legit, and most scouts do as well, but he knows as well as anybody that he needs to do this for more than a couple months to be considered one of the game’s best.

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Entering games Wednesday, Jones has the highest OPS of any major league CF.

There is no doubt in my mind that if Jones played for the Yankees or the Red Sox, he would have been a household name long before now because of ESPN’s love affair with those two teams.  If on the Yanks or the Saawwwxxx, he would already be a lock for the All-Star game and would maybe even be getting some attention for MVP.  But alas, he’s an Oriole and his actual production on the field is what must merit him attention from the national media rather than just the jersey he wears.  Heck, it was only a couple weeks ago that ESPN finally updated last years unfortunate player profile pic to this years, something most other sports media outlets did long ago.

The article mentions a quote from Adam after last nights loss to the Yankees; “I’ll put our lineup against anybody’s”, and he’s a big reason for that.  Whether or not he is the best CF in baseball, or ever will be, I’m just happy the guy is an Oriole.

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Posted by Hawkins

Meet Nolan Reimold

May 14, 2009
reimoldHRAP

Reimold on a HR trot during Spring Training. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

The best Orioles position prospect not named Matt Wieters makes his major league debut tonight against the Royals in KC.  Nolan Reimold has been one of the hottest hitters in all of the minor leagues so far this season batting .394 with 9 bombs and 27 RBIs sporting a ridiculous OPS of 1.228.  Oh and AAA Norfolk plays in Harbor Park which is considered one of the best pitcher ballparks in the minors, so yeah, pretty impressive.  I remember when Reimold (pronounced Rye-Mold) was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2005 draft out of Bowling Green and was thought of as an intriguing pick but possibly a reach that high in the draft.  Well, he silenced the critics right away and has been considered one of the O’s top hitting prospects ever since.  He’s struggled through some injuries setting his development back which is why he’s only making his debut now at age 25, but he’s never had an OPS lower than .834 in 5 minor league seasons and has been in and out of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects lists throughout his time in the minors.  The O’s were probably hoping to keep him in AAA a little longer, but he forced their hand with those crazy stats (and the fact that in the past week 4 of the O’s 5 outfielders on the roster have gone down with injuries).

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Nolan Reimold

The dude has power, a good arm and speed.  I don’t see him being a superstar but if he can turn into a solid #6 or #7 hitter, that’d be pretty nice to go along with Adam Jones and Nick Markakis in the outfield.  With the Felix Pie experiment likely coming to an end (although he did go 2-2 with a bomb last night replacing the injured Adam Jones) and Lou Montanez really not having the complete toolset that Reimold has, the LF job could be Reimold’s to lose…let’s hope he takes advantage of it, because Pie (pronounced Pee-Yay) and Montanez certainly haven’t.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see him get sent down once Luke Scott, Jones, and Montanez all get healthy because the O’s would rather see Reimold playing everyday in Norfolk rather than platooning in LF in Baltimore, but if he puts up good numbers, it might be time to wave bye-bye to Mr. Pie (but most likely Montanez).  It wouldn’t surprise me to see him struggle, but according to The Sun’s Roch Kubatko, the man just looks like a ball player and shows all the skills to be successful.  That might not mean much, but it’s more that can be said about Pie.  Go O’s.

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Posted by Hawkins

The Story of Adam Loewen

May 7, 2009

This is a long one…but a good one (if you’re a baseball fan, not just an O’s fan).  I definitely encourage a read.

Loewen

Adam Loewen

Loyalty is a term that is thrown around a lot in sports, from a player’s loyalty to his hometown team or just a team that gave him a shot to hit it big, to a organization’s loyalty to a player that spent years of his career giving his all to win games for that team.   Both sides want something from the other side because they feel their loyalty over the years should be repaid.  However, sports is a business and more often than not loyalty is nothing more than a word that fans, organizations, and players can use to chastise the other side when they betray that trust.  Thus is the case of former Oriole pitcher, Adam Loewen.

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Posted by Hawkins

“The Calvary is Coming”

April 21, 2009
The Calvary

The Calvary

[Photo courtesy The Baltimore Sun]

The title of this post was the famous (atleast for Orioles fans) quote by O’s manager Dave Trembley during spring training this year.  He was referring to the abundance of young arms in the Orioles minor league system that are all a year or so away from making a splash in the majors to hopefully bring the Orioles out of the cellar in the AL East.  Well, as I sit here and watch the O’s/White Sox game (thank you mlb.tv) and the first of that calvary, Brad Bergesen, make his major league debut, I figure this is a perfect time for my first Orioles post on the new blog.

Brad Bergesen was the Orioles minor league pitcher of the year in 2008 after splitting time between Class High-A Fredrick and Class AA Bowie.  Before this season, the 23 year old had never pitched above AA, but in spring training he was dominant and got the attention of the O’s coaches and cemented his case to be a part of the major league rotation at some point this season.  He was sent down to AAA to start the season, but it was evident he would be the first call up if needed.  Well, when #3 starter Alfredo Simon went down with a degenerative elbow problem (that sounds bad), Bergesen was on his way…and here we are tonight.  However, heading into this season, Mr. Bergesen was thought of as just the 7th or 8th best pitching prospect in the O’s system.  Yes, the O’s minor league pitcher of 2008 isn’t really considered one of the O’s elite pitching prospects (we’ll get to that later).  His upside really isn’t more than just a #4/5 starter in the majors, with his main attribute being fantastic command.  He’s not a strikeout pitcher by any means with a fastball that sits in the low-low 90’s.  His sinker does induce loads of groundballs, but he isn’t a guy who’s going to set the world on fire.

Brad Bergesen

Brad Bergesen

[Photo courtesy mlb.com]

So why am I so excited to see this guy make his debut?  Well, because this is just the beginning and it shows the depth of the O’s minor league system.  Only the Rays can boast minor league pitching of this caliber, and I honestly think the O’s have passed them now with the progression of guys like Bergesen.  Any Orioles fan (and soon to be any baseball fan) knows that the “calvary” Dave Trembley was really eluding to is what is known as the Big 3 in the form of Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta, and Brian Matusz.  These guys are 3 of the top 20 pitching prospects in all of baseball…and they’re all in the O’s system.  At this point they’re spread throughout the O’s system really in reverse order of how ready they are for the majors. Tillman, aquired from the Mariners in the Bedard trade, is only 21 years old in AAA but dominated AA last year as a 19/20 year old.  His command is holding him back now, but hey, he’s only 21. Jake Arrietta split his time last year between Fredrick and the Olympic team and Dave Trembley actually thinks he’ll be the best of the 3.  At 23 years old, he could easily see the majors later this summer.  And finally down at Class High-A Fredrick right now is last year’s first round draft pick (and best pitcher taken in the draft) Brian Matusz.  The most polished of the 3, Matusz could easily hold his own in the majors right now.  He already has four major league ready pitches, and has drawn comparisons to Cole Hamels.  He should move up very fast through the system, but I think it’s more likely we’ll see him next year at the earliest.

So as Brad Bergesen makes his debut tonight and you maybe hear a blurb or two about how impressive an O’s youngster was in his first game (5 2/3 Innings, 1ER), keep in mind this is just the beginning.  Bergesen’s game tonight signifies something O’s fans haven’t had for a while…hope.  So yes, the calvary is well on its way to Camden Yards, and it’s about time.

(ps. Even though he’s not a pitcher, I guess it’d be okay to mention this guy as part of the calvary.  You didn’t expect me to go an entire Orioles post without mentioning Matt Wieters right?)

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Posted by Hawkins