Earlier this week, it was reported that Orioles catcher Matt Wieters will start the 2015 season on the disabled list, as he continues to rehab his way back from Tommy John surgery. Luckily, the Orioles still have four catchers in major league camp, who will be competing for starting and backup duties to begin the season. Today at the ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I take a look at those options.
Direct Link to Article –> Orioles Catching Options to Start the Season
The 2015 season hasn’t even started yet, but today at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I start to take a look at what the 2016 Baltimore roster could potentially look like. It may sound too early to be talking about such things, but the Orioles find themselves in a somewhat unique situation, as 11 of their players are currently scheduled to hit free agency following the end of the 2015 season. If all 11 leave, the resulting depth chart may not look so pretty…
Direct Link to Article –> Another Look at the 2016 Orioles
After inadvertently taking the entire month of February off, I’m finally back with a new article. Nearly two weeks ago, MASN writer Steve Melewski created an uproar by tweeting the following.
Pretty cool per @masnroch that guys like Tillman/Britton watched a kid like Hunter Harvey throw today. Can’t put a sabermetric stat on that.
— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) February 21, 2015
Today at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot I examine that while he’s technically right, he misses the mark.
Direct Link to Article –> The Misunderstood Relationship Between Team Chemistry and Sabermetrics
On Tuesday the Baltimore Orioles finally decided to do something this offseason by acquiring Pirates outfielder Travis Snider for minor league left handed pitcher (and Baseball Prospectus #9 Orioles prospect) Stephen Tarpley, along with a “player to be named later”, which is rumored to possibly be minor league left handed pitcher Steven Brault. Today at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I take a quick look at what the Orioles have in Snider and what they gave up to get him.
Direct Link to Article –> Orioles Acquire Travis Snider, Gain Much Needed Depth
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
Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop had a tough 2014 season at the plate. The combination of his aggressiveness, poor pitch recognition, and pull tendencies led him to be the worst hitting second baseman (minimum 450 plate appearances) in all of baseball by wRC+. However, it’s possible that he made a small (but important) adjustment during the postseason that could be a good sign of things to come in 2015. Today over at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I take a look at what that adjustment may be.
Direct Link to Article –> Did Jonathan Schoop Make a Subtle Adjustment in the Postseason?
My first post of the new year is over at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, and it’s about the recent signing of Delmon Young. The good news is that there’s nowhere to go but up!
Direct Link to Article –> Delmon Young Returns to Orioles, Makes Blogger Sad
Over the last couple of weeks, the San Diego Padres have signed and/or traded for every single outfielder in major league baseball. Ok, that’s not entirely true, but it’s definitely felt that way. As a result, the Padres have a genuine surplus of major league quality outfielders on their roster and only three spots on the field to play them, although the boys at Cespedes Family BBQ had a good suggestion.
Padres gonna have to go with the 4 man softball outfield
— Cespedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) December 19, 2014
Since the Orioles are looking for potential upgrades in the outfield, it’s natural to wonder if San Diego can send one of those players east to Baltimore. Today at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I take a look at whether any of them may be wearing orange and black in 2015.
Direct Link to Article –> Should Orioles Take Advantage of San Diego’s Outfield Surplus?
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)
Orioles Proving Ground 