Cabrera looks to take control in '08
Catch all the Orioles action tonight on MASN2, with O's Xtra pre-game beginning at 6:30pm.
Tonight, MASN's Amber Theoharis talks with pitching coach Rick Kranitz about his work with Daniel Cabrera and with Adam Jones on his opening-day nerves.
The 2008 season is a key one for several Orioles to improve their performances and show that they will be a key part of a brighter O's future.
A player at the top of that list is 26-year-old righty Daniel Cabrera, who is beginning his 5th season as part of the O's rotation. He will get the start Wednesday night at 7:05pm at Camden Yards vs. Tampa's Matt Garza.
It's a matchup of pitchers unbeaten in thier careers vs. the other team. Cabrera is 6-0 vs. the Rays while Garza is 3-0 vs. Baltimore.
Cabrera has shown plenty of glimpses of his talent, but has never consistently put it together and last year was, 9-18 5.55. He led the American League in losses, just as the O's Rodrigo Lopez did, with 18, the year before.
But Tampa is one team that has seen Cabrera when he is on his game. In 2007, he was 3-0 3.46 vs. the Rays, allowing just 18 hits in 26 innings. And, he is 6-0 3.04 in his career vs. TB.
For Cabrera, 2008 is time for his potential to be matched by his performance.
Garza is 24 and was one of the league's top rookie pitchers last year with Minnesota. In 15 starts, he was 5-7 3.69. Last season vs. the O's he was 1-0 1.80 and has career numbers of 3-0 2.16 vs. Baltimore. He was acquired by the Rays in a 6-player deal November 28th.
Garza, who pitched to an ERA of 2.45 this spring, will be making his 25th big-league start. He was a first-round draft pick (25th overall) of the Twins in 2005 out of Fresno State. In 2006 he was named USA Today's minor league player of the year, after starting the season in Class A and getting to the majors.
It seems that usually major league teams have several off days in April. But not this year for the O's. Tonight they begin a stretch where they will play 19 games in the next 19 days. The next scheduled off day is Monday April 21.
Tampa Bay went 18-8-2 during spring training, that tied Oakland for best record in the majors in spring. In the last 11 years, the team with the top spring record has made the playoffs six times. It was the Rays best Grapefruit League mark since 1999. Tampa led all AL teams with 36 stolen bases and ranked 3rd in the AL slugging, 4th in runs and tied the Orioles for 5th best AL ERA at 4.41.
The Birds had just six hits, only one for extra bases, in the opening-day, 6-2 loss to the Rays. Kevin Millar knocked in both runs with a first-inning double. The Orioles had only one hit after the fourth inning. Is this a trend ? The club scored more than four runs just once in the last 11 spring games and was shutout three times in that stretch.
Brian Roberts is one Bird with a nice batting average right now. It's 1.000 after he went 2-2, with two singles and two walks. The rest of the team hit a combined 4-28 Monday, an average of .143.
BJ Upton had a two-run single for the Rays, while Dioner Navarro had three hits and an RBI and Eric Hinske hit a solo homer.
And check back on this website before, during and after the game. I'll be reporting from Camden Yards and have some pre-game notes and quotes from the O's clubhouse.
Still, would like to know what hold D.Cabrera, has on Orioles management, to let him, show how bad a pitcher he, is. Just, wonder how, many years this farce is going to go on?