Pitching updates (updated)
You already know that Jeremy Guthrie is starting tomorrow's game against the Yankees in Tampa, but we had some uncertainty over the bullpen because of the rainout. Alfredo Simon, Jason Berken, Cla Meredith, Matt Albers and Alberto Castillo also are making the trip.
Brian Matusz starts Sunday against the Phillies, followed by Jim Johnson, Koji Uehara, Kam Mickolio and Will Ohman. Jake Arrieta starts the B-squad game in Pirate City, followed by Brandon Erbe, Troy Patton, Chorye Spoone and Luis Lebron.
Brad Bergesen and Chris Tillman are scheduled to pitch Monday against the Red Sox in Fort Myers, as manager Dave Trembley tries to keep the starters on a normal schedule.
Tomorrow's B-squad game against the Marlins isn't open to the public. You'll be disappointed if you show up.
Update: The following minor league players will participate in tomorrow's "B" game vs. the Marlins...
Tyler Henson - LF
Ronnie Welty - RF
Danny Figueroa - extra OF
Joel Guzman - DH
Andy Gonzalez - Middle INF
Phil Britton - C
Brian Ward - C
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Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
Great updates today.
King Crimson is great to whoever posted that comment.
Turner is definitely a viable option to take over for Roberts if necessary, he was pretty solid all last year in Norfolk.
Anyone else sick of Hinckley?
GO TERPS!!!
I see an early HH in your future Roch..... ENJOY the BBALL games. A FRIDAY rainout....SWEEEEEEET.
Have you checked out the bars down past the hospital? I highly recommend you do...
This is assuming the "friend" is a guy... :-) Why does the phrase...don't take sand to the beach... pop up in my mind?
Sorry, can't recall the street, but there are several of spots there. JUST past the hospital take a right, go to the end of that street , it T's there. Park there & you have your pick. The best one is just left of that T about 2 down on the left...
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Yeah, friend is a guy. Former Sun reporter. - Roch
Roch,
Why are some games not open to the public?
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It's a B game that was just added to the schedule today. - Roch
No game on a Friday just feels wrong.
BaltJohn: I didn't mean the "Circle of Hands" Uriah Heep. I meant the Charles Dickens Uriah Heep, the character in David Copperfield that the band took its name from. He was memorably smarmy and unctuous and false. Trollboy's completely disingenuous post brought that loathsome character to mind.
But, yes, just coincidentally I'm terrifically old. Barely the wrong side of 50.
OJC, yeah, Tommy Boy, well worth the time. It has the best beginning I think I've ever seen. Young chubby boy climbs down from treehouse and rushes to back door of house. He doesn't realize the sliding glass door is closed and runs face first into it. You can actually see his cheek flaten out against the windowpane. Cracks me up just thinking about it. The movie is full of good old fashioned slap-stick.
And I'm with the guy who says, "what the..." after reading some of your vocabulary. Luckily, I keep a dictionary handy.
And I forgot in my last post to make fun of BO, so here goes:
"People don't realize how important B-Rob is to the Os." Dude, really? I think everyone here knows exactly how important he is. Duh!
In fact, that was so stupid, it reminded me of the Saturday Night Live skit about Mike Vick. It was done before the whole dog fighting fiasco, so it's worth a google search. I think it was called, "Michael Vick, really?"
10 Things That Are Andy MacPhail's Fault:
1. Sideways Rain in Sarasota (the next Miley Cyrus movie)
2. The gap in time between the Use Your Illusion albums and Chinese Democracy
3. Peter Schmuck's shirts
4. Brian Robert's back injury
5. Luke Scott not wanting to be a DH
6. Brangelina
7. Jersey Shore
8. my cable company not carrying MASN
9. Rug Pee-ers
10. ...and Hugh Jackman
Roch,
Have you seen Wilfrido Perez? How is his stuff, and does he have any chance to make the team?
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He has an outside chance to make the team, though I think he's behind Ohman and Castillo. Has good stuff. - Roch
Glad they got the pitching mess straight..they all get there work in....it has stopped raining in Ft Myers Beach but looks like it still could more....hope Guts is on tomorrow and the rest cause I will never hear the end of it from my friends at the game in Tampa..their first visit there in a long time...geez I hate Yankees fans...that Monday match up Bergy and Tillman against the Red Sox...that should be fun. Matusz better beat the Phillies too so I can rub it in on my son.
Brian said:
I see an early HH in your future Roch..... ENJOY the BBALL games. A FRIDAY rainout....SWEEEEEEET.
Have you checked out the bars down past the hospital? I highly recommend you do...
This is assuming the "friend" is a guy... :-) Why does the phrase...don't take sand to the beach... pop up in my mind?
Sorry, can't recall the street, but there are several of spots there. JUST past the hospital take a right, go to the end of that street , it T's there. Park there & you have your pick. The best one is just left of that T about 2 down on the left...
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Yeah, friend is a guy. Former Sun reporter. - Roch
March 12, 2010 1:33 PM
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OMG, not MEASE I hope... no way you will get la.... with him as wingman!
Roch,
How do you pronounce Matusz? Is is MATT'-us? mat-OOZE'? Something else?
Thanks for keeping us posted here in NY. You are my official source of O's information.
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Matt-us. - Roch
Hi Roch, sorry if you answered this before but doesn't the disable list starts when the season starts and therefore doesn't really exists until opening day? So there is no DL to put anyone on.
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You can backdate an assignment to the DL, though I don't recall how many days off the top of my head. - Roch
Roch
I am trying to determine what a "small" herniated disc is. I have a disc problem that is classified as a "small" bulging disc. Since it is not pressing on a nerve there is no problem. However, a herniated or ruptured disc occurs from the "gel" (not formal medical parlance) seeps out of a tear in the disc wall, a much more serious condition. Generally, herniated discs are operated on to remove the fragments from the outer disc wall that is within the spinal area and can cause tremendous pain. It's beginning to sound like BRob has a herniated disc with the corresponding problems.
Hey Roch great job. Keep up the great reports. I just had one question. Do the players prefer day or night games in spring training? And what is your prefrence? thanks
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I've never asked them, but probably mixed. Nice to have mornings free, but nobody likes working until late at night. - Roch
I've got to say, I'm horribly disappointed. Not at the rain-out, not at the Orioles performance, and certainly not at Roch's fine work. It's the "what's plan B" material: it's just so last year! Smacking of a complete lack of originality! Does this mean next month we'll be hearing about Andy MacPhail's golf game again? Will the tired "MacSweatervest" be far behind? I expected so much more...
-- Pirate City. Sounds like either the roughest place in Florida, or the most fun. Arrrrrrgh.
Hey, Roch. What are your thoughts on Patton thus far? I haven't heard much on that front...
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Haven't seen him much. I'll have to check on him. - Roch
PHIL Britton? So we could have an all Britton battery? God Save the Queen!
Roch,
It's raining so lets speculate:
You're McPhail and you trade Scott. Who to and for who?
Thanks,
Jay in Northern Virginia
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I really don't know what teams would be interested. That's a hard one. - Roch
Roch,
Just a heads-up to any of your readers regarding travelling to spring training via motor vehicle. From I95 to W I295 around Jacksonville, DO NOT TAKE US301 S toward Gainesville via Lawtey/Waldo, and 24W to I75. This area is No. 1 IN THE NATION as speedtraps-ville. Just Google it. My son and I know first hand. This is no joke.
Sorry about the rain-out today - was looking forward to our only game at Ed Smith.
/dep
Steve Johnson has only thrown two innings for the Giants so far this spring. He has walked 3 and hit a batter while not allowing a run. Considering the NL west is real competitive and he's barely thrown, do you think we will be getting him back?
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I'm told he's thrown three scoreless, unless one of them was in intrasquad and doesn't count in the stats. The Giants really like him. Not sure what's going to happen. - Roch
Roch-
With Colon willing to take a AAA assignment, do you think it might be smart to look into him with having some young guys?
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Not really. - Roch
OCJ, I'm of the opinion that B_O and his imaginary progency are more like Bleak House than David Copperfield.
"Unctuous." Always loved that word.
Notes from Nicaragua earlier today -
I was in Costa Rica this week for a company awards trip (I was there as my wife's guest - she gets all the credit). A group of us headed north for a day touring Nicaragua. Our tour guide was very good and very knoweldgeable and passed on a few cool stories and facts that may be of interest to some readers here (particular those on the wrong side of 50, who seem to be coming out of the woodwork!)
1 - The national sport in Nicaragua is not soccer, nor boxing (#2), nor bull-fighting. It is Baseball. Every sizable city and town has a stadium and it is the country's premier spectator and participatory sport.
2 - Former Oriole Star Dennis Martinez is a big hero down here. The tour guide mentioned that Denny, in addition to throwing a perfect game, and being one of only 8 pitchers to win 100 games in both leagues still holds the records for career victories by a latin American player. We drove past a property owned by Martinez but we did not go into Managua, the capital city, where the national stadium is named the Dennis Martinez Stadium. Martinez runs the Dennis Martinez Foundation to help poor children here and around the world.
3 - In Novemeber, 1972, Nicaragua hosted the Amateur Baseball Championship Series. All the top teams were present for the opening ceremonies including USA, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, etc. The Puerto Rican team was being managed by a guy who, when introduced to the crowd, received a 5+ minute standing ovation. In Nicaragua. His name was Roberto Clemente. Although Oriole fans may have held a grudge against Clemente for leading the Pirates to a 7 game WS victory over the birds, he was beloved everywhere in Latin America. Nicaragua went on to make the finals, and defeat Cuba in the championship game for what remains their only world title. 3 weeks after the championship, a huge earthquake leveled the city of Managua, killing 5,000 injuring 20,000 and leaving 250,000 homeless.
In the week following the quake, Clemente sent 3 planeloads of food and supplies into Nicaragua to help the earthquake victims. But he found out that the corrupt Somoza government was stealing the supplies and not distributing them to the victims. So, on New Years Eve, 1972, Clemente decided to fly down in person with the 4th planeload of food, medicine and other supples, to ensure that it reached its intended recipients. Unfortunately in one of baseball's great trajedies, the plane crashed a few miles from Puerto Rico killing Clemente.
The adoration for Clemente from the people of Nicaragua continues to this day, as each year, on the anniversary of the plane crash, the front page story in the country's newspapers is always about Clemente, and his selfless actions on behalf of Nicaraguara.
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So here I am, half a world away from Baltimore, or even Sarasota and I am hit head-on by just how integral baseball can be to the people around the world. And just how powerful can be the noble actions of noble men. And how incredibly valuable is the opportunity provided to the elite players of the game. We need more Clementes. And more Ripkens. And less selfish, disinterested, me-first millionnaire atheletes.
One other point. The experince down here in Nicaragua has convinced me that Clemente deserves the Jackie Robinson-level honor of having his number retired from all teams. I was against it before. Because I didn't want to, in any way, diminish Robinson's accomplishments. But now I think Clemente was just that important. If we are every lucky enough to get a third hero that makes the impact of those two great men, then I am sure we will be happy to retire their number too.
Don't worry Sheets, all those "compliments" will be making a long awaited return on here along with some new additions I have been working on all winter. :)
Oh and the countdown to a losing season and 100 losses may also see the light of the day very very early in the season. I feel it should be very relevant this year given the fact that "Wins and Losses matter more!"
Cheers,
The Brumster
If you had to pick the key player this year for determining the team's success,who would it be? There's quite a few players in position to have a breakout year. People are saying Nick is more serious and focused. What about Tejada's possibility of have 45 doubles and 200 hits? To me Jones has the most potential to be a big run producer but lacks discipline.I was surprised to see Wieters has 43 RBI's after such a slow start.If he hits coming out of the gate we could pile up some runs.Bergy's also important as a possible starter in the middle of the rotation. How about Matt Albers pitching like it's 2008 and being a force in the bullpen? Forget all these guys, the most key player to me in Atkins. Will he give us much needed surprise production at 1st base?
Mark C - thanks, that was awesome.
Roch,
Do you have the rest of the lineups for the B squad game today?
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No. Sorry. - Roch