In an interview with Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette on Wednesday at Camden Yards, Duquette made it clear he is not a fan of young pitchers throwing cut fastballs.
The Orioles have forbid their top pitching prospect, Dylan Bundy, from throwing his cutter this year and based on Duquette's comments yesterday, that policy may not be changing anytime soon.
"The philosophy of the organization is to encourage pitchers to develop a good delivery, command of...
One mark of a good team is to have a big innning when your opponent makes a critical mistake. Tonight, a key error by Boston opened the door for the Orioles and they kicked it in by scoring five times in bottom of the sixth in a 5-3 win over Boston.
The win gives the Orioles a record of 64-53 and they are 11 games over .500 for the first time since June 18 when they were 39-28.
The Orioles have now won five of the last six series against Boston and are 8-3 this year against the Red Sox. They...
I wonder if Miguel Gonzalez will have some extra motivation for tonight's game. He'll be pitching against his previous organization, Boston, tonight.
It's not that the Red Sox let him go, though. In fact, they signed him away from the Angels as a Rule 5 pick in December of 2008. Then he needed Tommy John surgery and spent the entire 2009 season on their major league roster without pitching an inning.
Last year, Gonzalez pitched at three levels on the Red Sox farm, with most of his innings...
There are few players more qualified to talk about defense than Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy. He's a good guy to go to for an early assessment of how Manny Machado is doing at third base as the guy that plays right next to him on the field.
"He has made some nice plays and he's made the routine plays," Hardy said. "He looks comfortable. I think sometimes the guys will come up and can look like a deer in headlights, but he's always aware of what is going on. Always, you know, checking...
Jim Thome was in Bowie last night. Not to play on an injury-rehab assignment but to watch a top prospect play. He was sent to watch Dylan Bundy make his Double-A debut and left impressed with the 19-year-old right-hander.
"His physical appearance - his arm, you know," Thome said about Bundy. "I'm not going to tell you everything (I liked about him), but he's got so much upside to him. He might be one of the best young pitchers I've seen in quite a while.
"He looks like a great pitcher....
There once was a time when the Orioles lost to the Red Sox - a lot. Things are different now. A win by the Orioles in one of the next two games would give them the series win in five of the last six series against Boston.
The Orioles lead the season series this year 7-3 and have won 10 of their last 14, and 13 of the last 17 games versus the Red Sox. That is a 13-4 run against the same club that the Orioles went 2-16 against in 2009. It's a new day, indeed.
There are eight games left in the...
BOWIE, Md. - After his first start at Double-A Bowie, right-hander Dylan Bundy was generally pleased with his outing. But in answering the first question about his night, Bundy noted the one area on the stat sheet that he wasn't pleased with.
"Three walks," Bundy said. "You know I'm disappointed about that, I always am. Other than that, they weren't squaring too many balls up. I think they had two or three doubles, but I made quality pitches pretty much when I needed to with guys on...
BOWIE, Md. - On his first day in the Eastern League, Dylan Bundy didn't have his best command, but he was good enough to get the win as he moved to his third minor league level this year in Bowie's 5-3 win over Erie in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Bundy pitched 5 1/3 innings allowing five hits and three runs (two earned) with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 96 pitches, 56 for strikes in his Double-A debut.
Bundy retired the first six batters before allowing a leadoff double in the...
BOWIE, Md. - This is your destination tonight for all the news and notes of Dylan Bundy's first Double-A start. I will keep this blog live during tonight's Bowie-Erie game, updating it often as Bundy pitches, coming up at 6:05 p.m. in his first Bowie start.
Bundy is 7-3 with an ERA of 1.92 this year over 19 starts between Single-A Delmarva and Single-A Frederick. He began this season with 33 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run before that ended in his first Frederick...
BOWIE, Md. - Yes, there is a little excitement at Prince George's Stadium as Dylan Bundy gets set to make his Double-A debut at 6 o'clock in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Bowie's Gary Kendall has never managed Bundy but he saw him in spring training in Sarasota. He was impressed with what he saw.
"How focused he was," Kendall said. "There is urgency with him. He wants to move up as quick as he can. Not to say that isn't in every kid, but you see it in him more. You see really good work...
BOWIE, Md. - Dylan Bundy will make his Double-A debut at Prince George's Stadium for the Bowie Baysox tonight, starting in game one of a doubleheader with Erie at 6:05 p.m. It will mark the third level the 19-year-old has pitched at this year, following his time with Single-A Delmarva and Single-A Frederick.
They play seven-inning games in minor league doubleheaders so Bundy possibly could pitch a complete game as he will be working with a pitch count of around 100 tonight.
Bundy's pitch...
Goofy. Quirky. Superstitious.
Those are some of the words that can be used to describe the Orioles' first-round draft pick, former LSU pitcher Kevin Gausman, who has pitched six shutout innings on one hit over two outings so far for short-season Single-A Aberdeen.
Gausman doesn't seem eccentric or weird, he's just got some things he does that are a little different - from the ritual he uses to put on his socks when he pitches to eating donuts during games to what he does with his first...
Three members of the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds will play in tomorrow's New York-Penn League All-Star game at Mahoning Valley in Niles, Ohio.
All three were drafted this year from the college ranks. They are 10th-round pick Joel Hutter, Aberdeen's shortstop out of Dallas Baptist University; 18th-round pick Sam Kimmel, a catcher from Stetson; and 26th-round pick Lucas Herbst, a right fielder from Santa Clara.
The 22-year-old Hutter is batting .306 with no homers, 23 RBIs and an...
Here is a question for you Orioles fans: How are you dealing with all this good news?
Let's see, the team is currently the holder of the second AL wild card, Manny Machado seems to set a new record daily, Dylan Bundy is moving to Double-A and Baltimore still could be in his near future, and now the club's latest first-round pick, Kevin Gausman, looks like the real deal.
I ask that question somewhat tongue in cheek. I know you'll find a way to deal with a lot of good news if it keeps coming...
ABERDEEN, Md. - In his second pro outing, Aberdeen IronBirds pitcher Kevin Gausman was very impressive today, so much so that the Orioles may even be thinking about altering the original plan, which was for Gausman to make all his starts this year at Aberdeen.
After seeing Gausman dominate in a three-inning outing today, it appears the O's are open to the possibility of having Gausman pitch at a higher level, even though they want him limited to three-inning outings after he threw 124 innings...
ABERDEEN, Md. - Kevin Gausman's second pro outing didn't last very long, but it was another good one for the Orioles' 2012 first-round pick.
The right-hander out of LSU, taken with the fourth pick in the June draft, had retired all nine batters he faced on Monday at State College in his pro debut.
This afternoon, against the Connecticut Tigers, he gave up just one hit and retired nine of the 10 batters he faced with three scoreless innings on just 30 pitches.
He worked fast, threw...
ABERDEEN, Md. - Today at Ripken Stadium, Orioles 2012 first-round pick Kevin Gausman, will make his second pro start and first at home for the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds. Game time is 2:35 p.m.
Gausman pitched three perfect innings on Monday night at State College, retiring all nine batters he faced, two on strikeouts. He threw 31 pitches, 23 for strikes in that outing. He is expected to pitch just three innings today and in each of his outings the rest of this season.
The...
Pitcher Jason Hammel was back in the Orioles clubhouse on Saturday for the first time after his right knee surgery. While he is in the early stages of a process he hopes leads him back to the team by early September, yesterday he was just excited to be among his teammates once again.
"A lot of new faces, but I've already talked to all of them," he said. "This feels like the first day of school where you come back to see your buddies you haven't seen all summer long. I've missed the guys...
Chris Tillman had allowed two earned runs or less in five of his first six Orioles starts this year. But tonight, the Royals got six runs and six hits off him over 5 2/3 innings in a 7-3 Kansas City victory at Camden Yards.
"Not a very good night for me. A frustrating night. I was working up in the zone and didn't have my breaking ball going for the whole game. I wish I would have pitched better," Tillman said after his 109-pitch outing.
"It was a battle. I fell behind (in the count)...
Chris Tillman has been pitching well and not giving up the longball for the Orioles. Tonight, though, he gave up three homers and six runs as Kansas City beat the Orioles 7-3 in front of 40,456 at Camden Yards.
Tillman had allowed just two homers over 34 innings in six O's starts, but tonight he gave up that trio in the first 2 2/3 frames as K.C. led 4-0 after three innings and 7-0 heading to the last of the seventh.
Tillman gave up six hits over 5 2/3 innings, along with two walks and five...