With the fourth pick in tonight's draft the Orioles selected Oklahoma prep right-hander Archie Bradley. His name first surfaced in the last 18 hours or so as someone that could be high on the O's draft board.
Bradley, out of Broken Arrow High, goes 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds and this year went 12-1 with an ERA of 0.29. In 71 innings he walked 11 and fanned 137.
Bradley pitched a two-hit shutout and fanned 14 when his school, Broken Arrow, beat Bundy's Owasso squad for the Oklahoma 6-A state...
With the fourth pick in tonight's draft the Orioles went for a college left-hander and took Bethesda, Maryland's Danny Hultzen from the University of Virginia.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder is a two-time ACC pitcher of the year and three-time All-ACC first team pick.
This year so far he is 11-3 with an ERA of 1.57 in 15 starts. Over 103 1/3 innings, he has allowed 69 hits, just three homers, with 17 walks and 148 strikeouts. His batting average against is .189.
Hultzen has pitched four...
While he was not talking in any specifics about tonight's draft, Orioles manager Buck Showalter was asked his take today on the age-old draft question: Should a team take a college player that can get to the majors quicker, as opposed to a high school player that could eventually be the better player?
"I think it depends on who they are," Showalter said. "If you look at, for us to get where we want to go, we hope one of the guys we might draft become a one or two starter. For us to...
O's manager Buck Showalter said he has talked to scouting director Joe Jordan today and that "Joe feels like he's going to have to make a choice between two. Two guys are going to be there (that he likes)."
Showalter is very interested in all things about the game, including the draft, and was asked about his outlook for tonight where the Orioles have the fourth overall pick.
"From listening to Joe talk, we're going to get a good player at four. Happy with all the possibilities. There...
It didn't take long for some fans to get worked up over the possibility that the Orioles may take high school pitcher Archie Bradley with the fourth pick in tonight's draft.
Before we go any further, please keep in mind that Keith Law has Bradley rated 5th on his latest top-100 board and Baseball America lists him 9th.
They would not be reaching into the late first-round to draft a player fourth, but Bradley's name has not been linked to the Orioles much in the last few days and some fans...
Here is a bit of a surprise: The Orioles may be considering another Oklahoma right-handed high school pitcher for the fourth pick in the draft.
They have been linked for weeks to pitcher Dylan Bundy from the Sooner state, but now there are indications they are also considering Archie Bradley, a 6-foot-4 inch, 215-pounder, for their first-round pick.
Bradley pitched a two-hit shutout and fanned 14 when his school, Broken Arrow, beat Bundy's Owasso squad for the Oklahoma 6-A state championship...
Here is something to keep in mind about the First-Year Player Draft in baseball that begins with round one tonight: The large, large majority of the players taken through 50 rounds will never make the majors. The math says most draft picks have little shot. It's even dicey for first-round picks. There are no sure things.
Baseball America executive editor Jim Callis is one of the best experts anywhere on the draft. He told me that perhaps less than 50 players drafted this week will have better...
Well, in the end, the Orioles did take Oklahoma high school hurler Dylan Bundy with the fourth pick in tonight's first round.
Bundy is an 18-year-old right-hander out of Owasso (Okla.) High near Tulsa. This year, he went 11-0 with an 0.20 ERA. In 71 innings, he walked just five and fanned 158. He pitched one no-hitter and six one-hitters.
Now there are two Bundys on the O's farm. His brother, Bobby, was drafted in round eight in 2008 and now pitches at Single-A Frederick.
Baseball...
For the last week or two, most pre-draft speculation has centered on the Orioles taking Oklahoma high school pitcher Dylan Bundy with the fourth pick in tonight's draft.
But what if University of Virginia lefty Danny Hultzen and Bundy are both still on the board when the Orioles pick?
What if Hultzen is gone, but Trevor Bauer of UCLA is still out there?
(I am kind of assuming that Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon will be gone by the fourth pick, but nothing is for sure in the draft).
A...
Playing with a labrum tear in his right shoulder, Luke Scott got a cortisone ejection in that shoulder today. He hopes that allows him to begin to play pain free and put up some stats like he did last year when he was the Orioles team MVP.
"It still bothers me and subconsciously it's a challenge to deal with. So this was an opportunity to get a cortisone shot and see how that goes," Scott said.
He had said earlier it impacted him more with throwing than hitting, but today had to admit it...
The Orioles had a chance to win a series today against a Toronto team that tormented them last year, by winning 15 of 18 against them.
But Yunel Escobar's three-run homer in the fourth off Jeremy Guthrie broke a 2-2 tie and Toronto went on to a 7-4 win this afternoon in front of 25,431 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles are just 7-22 in their last 29 games against Toronto and are just 3-10 this season in their last 13 games versus American League East opponents.
Guthrie falls to 2-8 with an ERA...
The Orioles began today with a record of 8-13 on the year against American League East clubs and a record of 18-17 against everyone else.
The East is still a bit of a beast and is the only division in baseball that features four teams right now with .500 or better records. The Orioles are not one of those four as you probably knew.
While the Orioles won five of their first nine games this season against the East, they are just 3-9 over the last 12 and trail by three runs today versus Toronto...
Orioles 2010 first-round draft pick Manny Machado today has been officially activated off the disabled list and is in uniform for Single-A Delmarva against West Virginia. He has been out since May 5 with a left knee injury.
Machado injured his left knee on May 5 against Asheville and was placed on the disabled list on May 7, retroactive to May 6. He has missed the last 29 Shorebirds games recovering from the injury. In 25 games, he was batting .333 (30-90) with 20 runs scored, six doubles,...
It has been a tough season for the Orioles' 2010 minor league Player of the Year, Joe Mahoney. He has been on the disabled list twice this year due to a quad injury and this past week had a hamstring issue that set him back a few days at extended spring training.
But, the Orioles have their fingers crossed that Mahoney could finally return to play next weekend.
Since Double-A Bowie will be on a road trip in Maine then, Mahoney may come north and join the Single-A Frederick Keys for a few...
The much-maligned Orioles bullpen has been pretty solid lately. Over the last six games, the 'pen has combined to allow just one run and 10 hits covering its last 18 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.49.
The Orioles got three scoreless innings out of the 'pen last night as Jim Johnson, Koji Uehara and Kevin Gregg combined to fan five batters without a walk.
Here is an update on some of the bullpen pitchers:
Jeremy Accardo: Has allowed just one run and five hits over six innings in his last five...
After getting two hits last night in the Eastern League, Derrek Lee returned to the Orioles and got two hits tonight in four at bats in the American League.
He had been out since May 16 with a strained left oblique and said he came through the game with no issues physically.
"I feel fine, felt good," he said.
Batting fifth in the order for the first time on the year, Lee came up with singles in the second and sixth innings and scored both times.
"I am just going to go out there and play...
Mark Reynolds came to the plate with the bases loaded in the sixth inning tonight, but he wasn't thinking about trying to hit a grand slam.
"No, I wasn't," he said. "That would be the best result possible, but I was trying to get a pitch to hit, trying to barrel the ball. The home run was a bonus. I was just trying to hit a hard ground ball up the middle or shoot a gap, just tie the game. It's a bonus that the ball went out."
It did and, with one swing, Reynolds produced his first...
In his 53rd career at-bat with the bases loaded, Mark Reynolds delivered his first grand slam.
His shot to left in the last of the sixth tonight unloaded the bases and gave the Orioles a 5-3 lead. They won by that score over Toronto in front of 20,086 at Camden Yards.
It was just the O's seventh win in their last 28 meetings with Toronto.
Until the slam, Reynolds was a career .115 hitter with a slugging percentage of .192 with the bases loaded. He was 6-for-52 with four doubles and 26...
With the First-Year Player Draft now less than 48 hours away, is it becoming more likely that the Orioles take a college pitcher rather than Dylan Bundy, the high school right-hander that so many mock drafts have linked the club with?
The answer is: Quite possibly.
In a tweet tonight, Baseball America's Jim Callis said his best projection now has Bundy going with the third pick to Arizona after Pittsburgh, picking first, takes Gerrit Cole of UCLA and Seattle nabs Rice infielder Anthony...