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Chris Tillman: Good Pitcher, Not an Ace

Posted in Pitching with tags , , on January 26, 2015 by oriolesprovingground

The question of whether Chris Tillman is an ace is not a new subject.  However, previous attempts at analyzing his “ace-hood” have focused on his FIP and WAR (Fangraphs version).  Since those statistics rely on aspects of pitching that he doesn’t excel at (strikeouts, walks, and home runs), it’s not really surprising that he’s fallen short of ace status.  While Tillman’s FIP has never been that impressive, he has done a good job at preventing runs.  With that in mind, today I take a look at whether Tillman can be considered an ace based on his run prevention over at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot.

Direct Link to Article –> Chris Tillman: Good Pitcher, Not an Ace

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Non-Tendered Players Who Could Help the Orioles in 2015 (and Beyond)

Posted in Free Agency, Offense, Offseason, Pitching, Prospects with tags , , , , , , , on December 5, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

The deadline to tender arbitration eligible players ended at midnight this past Wednesday morning.  While the Orioles tendered contracts to all of their (11!) arbitration eligible players, many other teams decided against it, giving the league 32 new free agents.  With the recent departures of Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis, the Orioles will need to find some replacements.  While those replacements won’t be found in this group, there could be a few players who could help the team this year, and possibly next.  Today at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I look who those players could be.

Direct Link to Article –> Non-Tendered Players Who Could Help the Orioles in 2015 (and Beyond)

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Orioles Sign Oliver Drake to a Major League Contract

Posted in Free Agency, Offseason, Pitching with tags , on November 20, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

On Tuesday, the Orioles signed RHP Oliver Drake to a contract. Drake, who was drafted in the 43rd round of the 2008 draft by the Orioles out of the United States Naval Academy has spent his entire professional career in the Orioles minor league system and had become a minor league free agent following the 2014 season, which he spent entirely in Bowie (AA). In fact, Drake has only appeared in AAA once, throwing 2 innings for Norfolk in 2011. The fact that the Orioles signed Drake isn’t all that interesting (they signed a bunch of guys who aren’t expected to see much time in the major leagues yesterday). What’s interesting is that they signed him to a major league deal.

The fact that Drake gets a major league deal, doesn’t mean that he’ll be on the major league club, but it does mean that he’ll be occupying a spot on the 40-man roster (at least for the moment). Kiley McDaniel, the lead prospect analyst for Fangraphs gives the details of the deal.

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Darren O’Day’s Game 1 Mistake to Alex Gordon

Posted in Pitching, Playoffs with tags , , , , on October 13, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

After playing two close games to start out the ALCS, the Orioles find themselves down 2-0 to the Kansas City Royals as the series resumes tonight in Kansas City for Game 3.  With the first two games being played so closely, there were several key moments that ultimately altered the outcome of each game.  One of those moments was when Darren O’Day faced off faced off against Royals LF Alex Gordon in the top of the 10th inning in Game 1.  Today over at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I examine how what looked like a good pitch from O’Day, actually wasn’t a good pitch at all.

Direct Link to Article –> Darren O’Day’s Game 1 Mistake to Alex Gordon

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Leaving Kevin Gausman Out of the Playoff Rotation Would Be a Mistake

Posted in Pitching, Playoffs with tags , , on September 24, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

The Baltimore Orioles have the AL East all wrapped up and one of the (many) things they are trying to figure out is who will be included in their postseason starting rotation.  We got a sneak peak at Game 1 yesterday, although it wasn’t much of a surprise…

The current rumor is that Kevin Gausman would be left out of the playoff rotation.  I think this would be a mistake, and today over at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I explain why.

Direct Link to Article –> Leaving Kevin Gausman Out of the Playoff Rotation Would Be a Mistake

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Minor League Recap: August 25-September 1

Posted in Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 5, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

The minor league season came to an end on Labor Day, and with Norfolk, Bowie, and Frederick all missing their respective postseasons, this will be the final installment of the weekly minor league recap for the 2014 season. Don’t worry, it will return next year with some old faces and some new faces, and possibly a revamped format.

With the end of the minor league season also comes the expanded rosters in the major leagues. The Orioles decided to bring up pitchers Evan Meek, Joe Saunders, and Ryan Webb, along with catcher Steve Clevenger and outfielder Quintin Berry. Additionally, the team made trades for Kelly Johnson and Alejandro De Aza. I discussed each of those moves (and more!) in a post yesterday up on Camden Depot.

Each of these affiliates played at least 9 games over the last week and a day of the season, so there’s a lot to get to.

Weekly Summary

Norfolk (AAA): 4-5 (W-L), 30 RS, 29 RA

Bowie (AA): 5-4, 46 RS, 47 RA

Frederick (High-A): 6-4, 48 RS, 37 RA Continue reading →

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Quick Thoughts on Recent Roster Changes

Posted in Offense, Pitching, Trades with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 4, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

The Orioles continue to command the AL East, with several media outlets giving them over a 99% chance to not only make the playoffs, but to win the division.  With the playoffs in mind, Baltimore made a couple of transactions (through trades and expanded rosters) to not only help finish the season strong, but to also improve the team for the postseason.  Today at ESPN Sweetspot Orioles blog Camden Depot, I take a quick look at these roster moves and how they’ll help the team moving forward.

Direct Link to Article –> Quick Thoughts on Recent Roster Changes

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Minor League Recap: August 18-August 24

Posted in Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 29, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

I apologize for this version of the weekly minor league update being late, but I was busy…like REALLY busy. The minor league season is coming to an end next week (which may or may not be good news), so there will only be one more installment of the weekly minor league recap after this one.

What was the big story last week? Of course it was the Manny Machado knee injury and the revelation that Machado would miss the rest of the season because of it. The injury is in the opposite knee from the one he injured last year, and isn’t considered to be as serious, as Machado is expected to be 100% ready to go by the start of spring training. The other positive aspect to this development was reported by Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.

Continue reading →

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Minor League Recap: August 11-August 17

Posted in Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 19, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

The Orioles are in first place by a healthy margin (the HEALTHIEST in all of baseball), but there was still a legitimate reason for fans to freak out last week.

But you can relax, because he was injured while running and it had nothing to do with his throwing arm.

This injury will shut him down for the rest of the year, and that is not a bad idea. There is only a couple of weeks left in the minor league innings anyway, and in the best case scenario (and even this would have been highly unlikely), Bundy would have been pitching out of the Baltimore bullpen late in the season. Baltimore’s bullpen is excellent, and their least effective relievers are out of options, so taking this option off the table may even be a good thing. The next step for Bundy will be to rest and pitch some innings in the Arizona Fall League in October (provided he’s physically cleared to pitch). Hopefully he’ll be 100% ready to go when spring training begins in March. Continue reading →

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Why is Ryan Webb Pitching in Norfolk?

Posted in Minor Leagues, Pitching, Trades with tags , , , on August 15, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

Ryan Webb has been one of the best relievers in the Baltimore bullpen this year.  So when the Orioles traded for Andrew Miller at the deadline two weeks ago, they naturally made room for Miller on the roster by designating Webb off of the 25-man roster (technically a different action than optioning him to the minor leagues, but essentially the same thing).  It was a curious move at the time that has only become more curious by the fact that he’s been down in AAA for the entire time.  Today at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I try to figure out why.

Direct Link to Article –> Why is Ryan Webb Pitching in Norfolk?

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