Berken's immediate future
If you're projecting the Orioles' rotation, you'll have to make room for Jason Berken.
Tonight wasn't a one-night stand.
"When he came in today, he said, 'Hey, I'm here to pitch,'" manager Dave Trembley said. "He's a real neat kid. He said, 'I want to help the team.' And I said, 'Yeah, I know you want to help the team. Just go out and pitch tonight. You're going to pitch again.'
"I didn't want him to think today was make-or-break, life-or-death for him. I said, 'You're going to pitch again after today. Don't worry about it.'"
Berken wasn't invited to spring training, but he made an appearance for the Orioles in Fort Myers two months ago when the Orioles carried a few extra pitchers.
"He has a quality about him," Trembley said. "He's good."
He's also an inspiration to other pitchers and players who aren't included on the camp roster. You can still make it to The Show.
"It's probably a rarity, but it should give a whole lot of other people a shot in the arm and some incentive, that's it not where you start, it's how you end up," Trembley said. "And the direction that we're going is opportunity. I think we've said that and I think Andy (MacPhail) has echoed that. It's about opportunity. You can feel sorry for yourself and all that stuff. Get the job done. Show us. Show people. Obviously, Berken did, and you can take it a step further and say (Matt) Albers. He didn't go down and feel sorry for himself. He got himself straightened out and he's come up here and pitched like he did last year. Tremendous."
Albers gave the Orioles two more scoreless innings tonight after replacing Berken in the sixth. But this night was more about the rookie.
"It was great," he said. "It's obviously been a dream of mine since I was a kid. To come out here and get a win, I couldn't ask for anything better.
"I knew if I kept working hard and kept pitching well, my time would come sooner or later. Biggest thing I've learned in my years in pro ball is you can't concentrate on things you can't control. I just focused on working hard and getting better every day."
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Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
Position Breakdown:
1- Cavalary is Here & Coming
2- Future is NOW
3- Re-sign Huff for his Bat, Glove & Leadership
4- B-Rob locked down
5- Mora? Could bring prospects but no replacement in the minors
6- Isturiz has it for the next 2yrs
7- Rollin' with Nolan
8- Bazooka is Loaded
9- Nick the Stick
DH- Scott, Wiggy
Feels Good to type that roster.
No room for dessert, er Pie.
Hey Roch,
In the end, where does the organization see Hernandez? I'm sure he'll get a chance to start but my friends and I were talking about him being our future closer a'la Pappelbon. Not that we would expect him to be that good but one could hope, right. What are your thoughts?
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Some people project him as late-inning power reliever - not necessarily closer - but he'll get a chance to start. - Roch
i love this kid, battle and come out on top. Of course jack@$$ would say we shoulda brought up Berkin.
We have the best outfield in baseball now hands down.
Who "delivered" the pie, Roch?
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Good quesiton. I missed it. - Roch
glad it wasn't Felix in the face!
bms,
They did bring out Berken.
Hey Roch "Just not IN the sun" Kubatko, that's the first time I'd ever seen you commercial (embedded with the video of Berken).
pretty cool, congtrats!
It's great to see the young guys come up. I hope we get to see more of the young guys soon. It is great to watch guys play with fire and passion for the game. Go O's
The way Trembley always leaves himself outs,it's hard to tell if he's in the rotation for good.Wouldn't surprise me if they send him back down for Scott today which would suck.
hey is there away that you could tell us how good are outfield is compared to the rest of best baseball by the numbers ... errors, hits taken away, and assits?
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Hits taken away? Is there a stat for that? I couldn't do the rest without a lot of research, and I'm a little pressed for time. Sorry. - Roch