How the Chris Davis Suspension Affects the Rest of the Season

Posted in Offense, Playoffs with tags , on September 13, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

Yesterday, Chris Davis was suspended for 25 games by major league baseball for using performance enhancing drugs.  He’ll miss the team’s remaining 17 regular season games and at least 8 playoff games, as long as the Orioles are fortunate enough to play that many.  Today at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I take a look at how that may affect the team moving forward.  Surprisingly, it may not change much at all.

Direct Link to Article –> How the Chris Davis Suspension Affects the Rest of the Season

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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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Minor League Recap: August 4-August 10

Posted in Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

We’re going to keep this Minor League Recap short and sweet, just like they used to be. For most of this season (leaving out the 6 weeks I took off from actually doing a recap), I’ve included a little blurb on every single player I’ve mentioned. It’s gotten to the point where some of it has just become nonsense, and as I admitted in last week’s installment, sometimes I simply just can’t think of anything instructive to say.

The Baltimore minor league affiliates had a week to forget. I think it’s safe to say that the hot streak of Norfolk Tides, which had cooled 2 weeks ago, is officially over as they only came away with one victory last week. Bowie was the only team that came away with AT LEAST a .500 record, but even that doesn’t look quite as good since they were outscored by 6 runs. None of these 3 teams are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but I would not hold out hope for a postseason appearance.

Weekly Summary

Norfolk (AAA): 1-5 (W-L), 16 RS, 30 RA

Bowie (AA): 3-3, 21 RS, 27 RA

Frederick (High-A): 2-4, 21 RS, 33 RA Continue reading →

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Minor League Recap: July 28-August 3

Posted in Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 6, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

There hasn’t been too much to report on last week in the minor leagues. Oh wait, there was a trade that happened, and there seemed to be a lot of people that didn’t appreciate my take on it. Other than that, the Norfolk Tides cooled off a bit after an extremely hot 3 weeks and we saw some position player pitching in Norfolk, as third baseman Cord Phelps took the mound in extra innings on July 31 against Toledo. Phelps didn’t last long, pitching 0.1 innings, while giving up two hits and the game-winning run. The fact that the game ended quickly after Phelps entered the game was probably for the best.

Norfolk also saw the additions of Ubaldo Jimenez and Ryan Webb to the Norfolk roster, as Jimenez was there for a rehab assignment (he won’t be there long), while Webb was designated off the 25-man roster (similar to being optioned and different from being designated off the 40-man roster – it’s confusing I know, so you can read more about it HERE). I don’t understand the move by the Orioles to send Webb to AAA, as he has been their third best reliever this year, only slightly less valuable than Darren O’Day. It puzzled me enough that I went on a mini-twitter rant about it the other day. Continue reading →

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Orioles Give Up Too Much for Andrew Miller

Posted in Pitching, Trades with tags , , , , , , on August 1, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

One of the busiest trade deadlines that I can remember is now over and the Orioles came out of it with one move.  Similar to (one of) their deals at the 2013 trade deadline, Baltimore traded one of it’s more highly regarded prospects for 2 months of a reliever, sending LHP Eduardo Rodriguez to the Boston Red Sox for left handed reliever Andrew Miller.  It’s not a strategy I typically like, although Miller has been one of the most valuable relievers in all of baseball this year.  Today over at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I give my taken the Rodriguez /Miller swap.

Direct Link to Article –> Orioles Give Up Too Much for Andrew Miller

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Should the Orioles be Interested in Emilio Bonifacio?

Posted in Offense, Trades with tags , on July 31, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

You hear all sorts of things as the trade deadline approaches. Yesterday, shortly after the Cleveland Indians traded RHP Justin Masterson to the Cardinals (therefore making THIS post completely obsolete after being on the internet for 9 hours), there was word that the Orioles were interested in Chicago Cubs second baseman Emilio Bonifacio. If this is true, I’m not sure why they would be interested. And since this is my third straight post in as many days, I’m going to be lazy and explain why by inserting some of my own tweets from yesterday. Continue reading →

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