Archive for Baltimore Orioles – Page 2

Mar
1

Is Tuesday’s power outburst a look in to the O’s future?

by Jeff Wolfson

Yes, it’s spring training and yes, the games mean nothing, but the Orioles put on quite the power display Tuesday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the area where the Birds struggled most last season, they’ve succeeded two games in to the spring training Grapefruit League schedule.

Facing their division rival, and a pitcher they are likely to see a lot in Andy Sonnanstine, the O’s showed off their muscle blasting five home runs in the first two innings of the game. Two of the more encouraging home runs came from right fielder Nick Markakis, who was more satisfied knocking the ball to left field than hitting a home run last season.
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0 Categories : MLB
Feb
4

Orioles agree with Guerrero

by Jeff Wolfson

This is the rumor that wouldn’t die all winter long. It finally came true. According to multiple reports, the Orioles agreed to terms with designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero on a one-year $8 million contract.

The Guerrero agreement has a very good chance of being the last of the major roster moves by Baltimore this offseason. With the designated hitter on board, the Orioles can now pencil him in the cleanup spot every night and build the lineup around him.

Andy MacPhail went in to the offseason with a mission to upgrade the offense and pitching staff. He spent the first part of the winter upgrading the offense, then focused on pitching and now has upgraded the offense to bookend the winter months.

Now that Guerrero appears to be a member of the team (he needs to pass a physical and they need to make a roster move to get him on the 40-man roster) let’s compare this year’s projected lineup and last season’s opening day lineup:
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0 Categories : MLB
Dec
9

O’s acquire Hardy, Harris for two minor leaguers

by Jeff Wolfson

Baseball’s Winter Meetings was eventful for the Baltimore Orioles this season. They kicked off the meetings Monday by acquiring third baseman Mark Reynolds from the Arizona Diamondbacks for David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio.

Tuesday was largely uneventful, but there were rumors swirling that the Birds were going to trade for Tampa Bay’s Jason Bartlett. At first, it appeared that Nolan Reimold and Alfredo Simon were headed to the Rays for Bartlett, but Baltimore pulled out of that deal. And it’s nice that they did.
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Dec
7

O’s acquire Reynolds, more players on the way?

by Jeff Wolfson

They vowed to improve their offense this offseason and the Baltimore Orioles have done just that with their acquisition of third baseman Mark Reynolds from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Reynolds only hit .198 last season, while striking out 211 times and blasting 32 home runs. Baltimore traded relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio to get the power hitter.

He is the middle of the lineup hitter that the O’s have desperately needed for the last few seasons. Reynolds will provide protection for Nick Markakis and Adam Jones especially if he can cut down on his strikeouts.

The 27-year-old third baseman has had positives to go along with his high strikeout total. He walked 83 times in 499 at-bats and his walk totals have increased each year since 2007. If Reynolds can cut down on his strikeouts he will be very dangerous in the O’s lineup. However, it appears the Birds aren’t finished with just obtaining Reynolds
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Oct
5

Grading the 2010 Orioles

by Jeff Wolfson

After a dreadful 2-16 start to the season, the Baltimore Orioles ended 66-96 giving them their 13th losing season in a row. However, the O’s took a roundabout way to get to the 66 win plateau. It took three managers and a hot August and September, but Baltimore pulled out 34 wins since Buck Showalter took over on Aug. 3.

Now, for grades.

Catcher: Matt Wieters/Craig Tatum/Jake Fox – C+
Wieters made strides defensively, but his offense wasn’t as good as what was expected going in to his season with the Major League club. Tatum played well in limited action. His defense was impressive and he didn’t look overmatched at the plate. Fox only played catcher a few times, but seemed to have a feel for calling a game. When he got a chance to hit, Fox liked to swing from his heels and was an all or nothing type hitter.
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Aug
24

The O’s with Showalter at the 20 game mark

by Jeff Wolfson

Buck Showalter officially took over the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 3. The team had 32 wins at the time and appeared to be spinning its wheels towards another lost season.

This season is another lost season, but Showalter has the Orioles at 12-8, a .600 clip, since he began running the show.

The starting pitching has improved, with a few bad outings sprinkled in, the rotation has gone deeper in to games and given up fewer runs than at any point this season. Also, the bullpen has improved because the pitchers seem to know their roles better than at any time this year, except the closer’s role.
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0 Categories : MLB
Aug
10

O’s continue roll under Showalter, but still have work to do

by Jeff Wolfson

A week in to the Buck Showalter era and the Baltimore Orioles appear to be a vastly different squad than they were before he officially took over last Tuesday. However, they aren’t very different, except for some of their injured players have returned from the disabled list.

Although the team is 6-1, there are still issues that need to be dealt with going in to the 2011 season. I’ve noticed that there have been some base running errors and some fundamental mistakes. During Sunday’s game, although shortstop Cesar Izturis had a solid game, he made a bad base running mistake. He hit a leadoff double and Josh Bell did right by hitting a fly ball to the right fielder, instead of advancing, however, Izturis went halfway between second and third and had to retreat to second base. Luckily, there was a pass ball and Izturis wound up on third base anyway.
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0 Categories : MLB
Aug
5

Showalter successful two games in, but questions still remain

by Jeff Wolfson

Buck Showalter took over as manager of the Baltimore Orioles August 2, and managed his first game August 3. After a game that was one of the best played all season on Tuesday night, the Birds struggled to win their game Wednesday night.

Brian Matusz was fine for the first six innings, allowing just one run. Rain delayed the ball game for a little while and Matt Albers was brought in to a 9-1 game. That’s where things got interesting. Albers allowed four earned runs in just one-third of an inning.
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0 Categories : MLB
Aug
1

Showalter brought in; Tejada, Ohman shipped out

by Jeff Wolfson

The end of July and beginning of August have signaled a new era for the Baltimore Orioles. These changes, at least on the surface, appear to be for the better.

Thursday afternoon, news leaked that the Birds hired former Yankees, Diamondbacks and Rangers manager Buck Showalter. Showalter is a proven winner, rejuvenating the Yankees franchise, building Arizona from the ground up and giving a new attitude to the Rangers. Showalter is 882-833 as a Major League manager.
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0 Categories : MLB
Jul
15

What’s ahead for the O’s in the second half?

by Jeff Wolfson

For much of their first 88 games, the Baltimore Orioles were nothing short of terrible. They’re not a very good defensive team, as Andy MacPhail admitted earlier this season. The offense hasn’t been good situationally, although they’ve gotten slightly better lately. Baltimore’s pitching, although better than in years past, has still been suspect. All of this raises the question: What do the Orioles need to do to improve, not only in their last 74 games, but for 2011?

First, the Orioles must hire a proven manager. Although this isn’t an indictment of Juan Samuel, he has been in Baltimore the past four seasons and the team has been losing so he just shouldn’t stick around. Samuel has shown he knows how to manage and the decisiveness that Major League managers need is definitely there, but Baltimore can’t take a risk having a rookie manager as they have done for their last three managers (Lee Mazzilli, Sam Perlozzo and Dave Trembley).
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0 Categories : MLB
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