Though you won't welcome Matt...
As in, though you won't welcome Matt Wieters to Baltimore, you can still enjoy his exploits in Double-A Bowie.
Yeah, I know, it's a reach.
Wieters went 2-for-3 with his 11th home run tonight in Bowie's 4-2 victory over Binghamton. He also collected his 14th double, walked and drove in two runs, raising his RBI total to 48 and his average to .357.
David Hernandez improved to 9-4 with a 2.58 ERA as he vies for your attention over Brad Bergesen and Chris Tillman. He allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, walking three and striking out five. Julio Manon recorded his 31st save.
Moving on to Triple-A Norfolk, Andy Mitchell held Charlotte to one run over nine innings, but the Tides were beaten by an unearned run in the 10th with Jim Miller on the mound.
Chris Roberson hit his sixth home run to tie the game in the seventh inning.
Why doesn't Andy Mitchell get a chance in September to start a few games?
Excited for Weiters, Markakis, Adam Jones to be on the team. Although probably won't happen, wouldn't mind a hot-hitting Mora, Roberts, and Huff to surround them.
Roch,
Your question earlier about Cabrera, the guy is currently the #2 starter on the staff. #2! Figuring Guthrie as #1 that means the O's are looking at 4 starters next year. Even if Tilman is one who does that leave? At best Tilman and maybe Bergesen are viable #4 or #5 starters next year but that is at best. Major decisions next year for AM. Two more stop gaps?
Why do we not hear mpre about Hernandez. He had impressive stats last year and again this year. Is there something the brass does not like about him?
Roch give Wieters a shout out for USA Today Minor League Player of the Year voting:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/minors/2008-08-19-player-of-year-voting_N.htm
I think the School of Roch alone can help Matt overcome David Price who has gained a large lead in the last few hours.
Wieters should be up in Baltimore. The excuses that the Orioles are giving for keeping him down there are hogwash. The real reason they are keeping him down is to not start his service clock.
And on that note vote for Matt Wieters for Minor League Player of the Year. He deserves it over Price!
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/minors/2008-08-19-player-of-year-voting_N.htm
Roch spread the word if you can! Maybe even give it a mention on MASN...
Manon is kind of old and too experienced to still be down in AA, unless he's there to impart the wisdom of age or to show others what AAAA pitching is all about.
Good to know we're still getting returns on the Rodrigo Lopez trade, with Miller undeservedly taking the blow tonight. Somehow the organization didn't think that the other acquisition, Jason Burch, was worth very much and cut him from Bowie earlier this month, but he's since been picked up by Toronto's New Hampshire Fisher Cats and will no doubt come back to haunt the Orioles someday.
I've refrained from pushing Jim Johnson for the rotation, but I think we should experiment with it in spring training. Between Ray, Sherrill, Baez, Cherry, Mickolio, McCory, Sarfate and Bierd, we have more than enough candidates for late inning relievers. (And I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting right now.)
It's the rotation that needs the most help. Maybe that's where Johnson would be the biggest asset, assuming he's up to it.
The bell tolled this evening on Olympic Baseball and no one was there to hear it ring. Try as I might I couldn't find any live TV coverage of Team USA, least of all a chance to actually see O's prospect Jake Arrieta do his thing ( he pitched 6 scoreless inning while in China.) With Davey Johnson signed on as skipper it would have been entertaining to have him miked up for a game or two. The IOC has given many reasons for giving baseball the boot from the Olympics, with Reason Number One being: We had to make room for Mens Synchronized Swimming. Those Eurocentric sticky-bits rarely have room for sports where your HANDS as well as your FEET are important and they jumped at the chance to snag back a few medals from Japan, Korea, Cuba, and USA. Maybe the World Baseball Classic can get its act together to become an established event...
Roch- Are we gonna see Reimold? I mean, what are we doing? I thought we would see some of the future this season. Markakis is the real deal and Jones showed glimpses of brilliance. But, What about the pitching we here is stockpiling?
Can you rank in order of likelyhood Reimold, Bergesen, and Hernandez.
Or is it just gonna continue to be Waters and Mitchells career AAA types? Frustrated.
You know for a bunch of kids and a few of seasoned has-been/never-was's these guys know how to get it done. They grit it out and pull through with pitching and defense. The Orioles haven't really extracted from the nucleas of the team and added some a key piece when the brought Wieters up from Frederick. One thing is for sure, these guys might not be facing major league teams but they sure are playing like a major league winner. Good luck to Bowie in the post-season. Thanks for listening.
Don't forget about Jason Berken! He's been pretty dominant of late as well.
Roch, I am one of those impatient fans that wants to see Wieters too but don't the O's gain an extra year of contractural control if they don't bring him up until sometime in April next year? If he truly turns out to be the monster player at the major league level that he is already at the minor league level, I would love to have him under contractural control for one more year in the future before he would inevitably test the FA waters! If these are truly the facts then I can wait. Can you confirm?