Archive for Jemile Weeks

Is a Reunion With Jim Johnson a Good Idea?

Posted in Free Agency, Pitching with tags , , , , , on November 18, 2015 by oriolesprovingground

Late last week, there was an interesting exchange between Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter and the Orioles beat reporters involving former Orioles closer Jim Johnson. The discussion revolved around whether it was a good idea for the Orioles to bring him back as a free agent after being gone from the team for the past two years. Today over at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot, I explore whether that would be a good idea.

 

Direct Link to Article –> Is a Reunion With Jim Johnson a Good Idea?

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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: April 14-April 20

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

This recap is now a week late, and a lot has happened since then. For example, a whole entire week has passed! With that in mind (let’s throw in a little laziness as well), I’m going to leave out pretty much all analysis/commentary.

Weekly Summary

Norfolk (AAA): 2-5 (W-L), 22 RS, 37 RA

Bowie (AA): 1-4, 18 RS, 22 RA

Frederick (High-A): 4-2, 22 RS, 18 RA

The Good:

Hitters

Norfolk (AAA): 2B Jemile Weeks – 5/18 (H/AB), 2 2B’s, 1 3B, 9 BB’s, 4 SO’s Continue reading →

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Orioles Still Have a Problem Getting On Base

Posted in Offense with tags , , , , , , on April 11, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

Over the last 2 off seasons, one of the main issues the Orioles have needed to address was their lineup’s ability to get on base.  That issue wasn’t addressed before the 2013 season, as the team finished towards the bottom of the league in OBP, and was ranked dead last in BB% in the American League (ok, they weren’t DEAD last, they were tied for dead last).  While they made some newsworthy acquisitions during this past offseason, it wasn’t clear that they did anything to improve their on base skills, and two weeks into the season, it’s starting to look pretty obvious that they didn’t.  It’s very early in the season though, so do they have a chance to be a better OBP team?  I take a look at it today over on ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot.

Direct Link to Article –> Orioles Still Have a Problem Getting On Base

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Minor League Recap: March 31-April 6

Posted in Minor Leagues, Offense, Pitching, Prospects with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

With the new season back in full swing, it’s time for the return of the weekly installment of the Minor League Recap, which looks at the performances of Baltimore’s AAA (Norfolk Tides), AA (Bowie Baysox), and High-A (Frederick Keys) minor league affiliates. Since this was an idea that came to me with 2 weeks remaining in the 2013 minor league season, there have only been 2 previous installments. However, I’m planning on making it a weekly post in 2014. This first week is a light one, with each of the team’s playing only 4 games.  If you remember back to when I began doing these posts last season, the following is based on a player’s on-field performance for the current week only, and is not to be considered a list of prospects or future major league contributors.

Weekly Summary

Norfolk (AAA): 1-4 (W-L), 7 RS, 10 RA

Bowie (AA): 4-0, 35 RS, 14 RA

Frederick (High-A): 2-2, 20 RS, 14 RA

The Good:

Hitters

Norfolk (AAA): 2B Jemile Weeks – 6/12 (H/AB), 2 3B’s, 2 BB’s, 2 SO’s

Weeks was in the mix to make the opening day roster as the starting second baseman or the backup middle infielder.  He landed in Norfolk instead, despite the extra roster spot in Baltimore due to Manny Machado’s knee rehab placing him on the DL to start the season.  Weeks is off to a hot start in the first few games, even getting a start in CF.  He has a good chance to be the first player called up if J.J. Hardy hits the DL or Ryan Flaherty continues to struggle. Continue reading →

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Projecting the 2014 Orioles: Pitching

Posted in Offseason, Pitching, Projections with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

Last week we looked at what the Zips projection system over at Fangraphs thought the Baltimore Orioles position players were capable of in the 2014 season.  Comparing those projections to the wins (fWAR) the team received at each of the offensive positions in 2013 resulted in the 2014 Baltimore offense to be worth 4.7 wins worse than the previous year’s team.  Today we’ll take a look at the pitching staff and see if we can bring that number back into the positive.

Starting Pitcher

2014 Zips Projection

2014 Zips Projection

In 2013, Baltimore starting pitchers as a whole were one of the weakest parts of the roster.  The starters combined for only 7.4 fWAR, which placed them 24th among all major league starting rotations.  Much of that production came from Wei-Yin Chen, Chris Tillman, and Miguel Gonzalez.  Scott Feldman and Bud Norris also added about 1 win each in a little less than half a seasons worth of work for the Orioles.  Other than that, 9 other pitchers produced anywhere in between 0.5 fWAR (Jason Hammel) and -0.8 fWAR (Freddy Garcia).  I looked at how the starting rotation fared in depth at ESPN Sweetspot Network Orioles blog Camden Depot earlier in the offseason, so if you would like a more detailed analysis, you can find it here. Continue reading →

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Projecting the 2014 Orioles: Offense

Posted in Offense, Offseason, Projections with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2014 by oriolesprovingground

Following a surprise playoff appearance in 2012, the Baltimore Orioles finished the 2013 season with an 85-77 record, 12 games out of first place in the American League East and 7 games out of the wild card spot.  Despite not making the playoffs, the 2013 team was arguably more talented than the 2012 team, due to reasons that we’ve discussed before. This offseason was relatively quiet until around the start of spring training when the team made several moves to improve roster holes leftover from 2013 (starting rotation and designated hitter). Despite what looks to be an upgraded team, the Zips Projection System at Fangraphs currently sees them finishing the 2014 season at the bottom of the AL East with a record of 78-84. Let’s take a closer look at how Zips came to that conclusion.*  This is more informative than actual analysis, but I think it is still be a worthwhile exercise.

*Note: this post as written before Zips made its final projections for the season, so things will probably change slightly in the next week.

Catcher

2014 Zips Projection

2014 Zips Projection

In 2013, Baltimore catchers produced a total of 1.9 fWAR, which placed them 18th in all of baseball. The bulk of that production came from Matt Wieters (2.4 fWAR), but the backups added -0.5 wins in only 101 plate appearances.  Offensively, Zips sees Wieters improving on his disappointing 2013 season, while once again playing a lot at the position.*  I personally believe that the projection for Wieters is slightly on the low side, and that he has a decent chance to exceed it.

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