In a live interview tonight on "MASN All Access" coverage of the First-Year Player Draft, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias explained his reasons for making Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman the No. 1 pick.
"Well, just the switch-hitter (aspect). A polished college bat," said Elias, minutes after making the selection. "The approach, the plus hit, plus power from both sides. Really, the mental makeup, I think, is a separator with him. He brings leadership...
When you select with the No. 1 pick in the First-Year Player Draft, as the Orioles will do tonight, you could select a future Hall of Famer like Ken Griffey Jr. or Chipper Jones. You could also select Matt Bush, Matt Anderson or Brien Taylor.
Who? Exactly. There are no guarantees, no sure things, no such thing as can't miss. They can all miss.
You aim for the stars and hope you don't just produce wind with a big swing and miss. But the baseball draft is very different from all others. You...
The Orioles wrap up a three-game series and six-game homestand when they host the San Francisco Giants this afternoon. They went 1-2 against Detroit to start the homestand and are 1-1 in this series. They won 9-6 Friday night and lost 8-2 Saturday afternoon.
The Orioles (18-40) became the first team to lose 40 games yesterday as they lost for the 11th time in the last 14 games. They've also lost 18 of 23, are 2-3 in interleague play and 8-22 at Oriole Park.
San Francisco (23-34) is now 5-7 in...
As with any and every decision the Orioles make under their new front office, advanced data and analytics will factor into the Monday's First-Year Player Draft as well. There is much more data available on college players, but there is also some available for high school players.
On MASN's "O's Xtra" on Saturday, Mike Bordick interviewed Sig Mejdal, the Orioles' vice president and assistant general manager for analytics. How much will the data factor in for this draft?
"It's quite a...
After their 9-6 win over the San Francisco Giants last night the Orioles will win this series if they get a victory either today or tomorrow. That would give the team its first series victory since April 22-24 at Oriole Park against the Chicago White Sox.
The Orioles scored just seven runs in three games earlier this week against Detroit. Last night they had eight by the second inning. Their night included Dwight Smith Jr.'s grand slam in the first, Trey Mancini's two-run shot in the second...
One of the most exciting days of the 2019 baseball season is approaching for Orioles fans. It is a day where their team won't even play a game. But fans are clearly getting excited about the club's No. 1 draft pick that will be made Monday night.
With the Orioles currently contending to pick No. 1 again next year, selling hope for the future might truly be the best marketing tool the Orioles have right now.
But beyond marketing, this draft and the start of the July 2 international amateur...
After losing two of three to Detroit to start this homestand, the Orioles host the San Francisco Giants this weekend. It's their second interleague series after losing two of three at Colorado.
The Orioles last met the Giants in August 2016, and they won two of three in Baltimore. They have hosted San Francisco at Oriole Park just once before and lost two of three in June 2004 when Barry Bonds hit two homers and drove in five runs.
Right-hander Andrew Cashner (5-2, 4.55 ERA) will take the...
We are now just days away from a huge night for the Orioles. The 2019 First-Year Player Draft begins Monday at 7 p.m. It will be televised live on MLB Network and, for the second time in team history, the Orioles have the first pick in the draft.
The draft consists of 40 rounds, and a team may pass on its selection in any round and not forfeit its right to participate in other rounds. The 2019 draft will span three days, as it has since 2009. On Monday, the first 41 selections, through...
When the Orioles host the San Francisco Giants this weekend, a few members of the Orioles 2013 draft class, to include Austin Wynns and Trey Mancini, plan to get together with the 14th-round pick that year. That is outfielder Mike Yastrzemski.
A non-roster invitee to O's spring training this year, Yaz went 3-for-18 (.167) in spring games, was optioned to minors camp at Twin Lakes park and on March 23 was traded by the Orioles to the Giants for pitcher Tyler Herb, who is 3-2 with a 5.06 ERA for...
For the Orioles, it was another night of strong pitching by left-hander John Means. He was on his way to his sixth win with a strong six-inning outing and a one-run lead. But Mychal Givens, tasked with pitching a second inning, gave up a game-tying home run. Branden Kline, tasked with holding the tie, gave up a two-run homer in the ninth and Detroit stormed back to win.
Scoring three times the last two innings, Detroit beat the Orioles 4-2 tonight at Camden Yards. The Orioles were going for...
Looking for a series win for the first time in more than a month, the Orioles (17-38) host the Detroit Tigers (20-32) tonight in the rubber match of this series. The Orioles won 5-3 Monday and lost 3-0 last night, their ninth loss in the last 11 games and 16th in the past 20.
Before this series, the Orioles had a seven-game stretch where they scored 43 runs on 74 hits with 11 homers and batted .356 with runners in scoring position. In these two games, they've scored five runs on 13 hits while...
When Austin Wynns catches lefty John Means tonight for the Orioles in the Detroit series finale, it will be the first time he's caught Means in the bigs this year. But far from their first time ever. Wynns caught Means' big league debut late last year at Boston and this pairing took place often on the farm.
Wynns wasn't even sure how many times he has caught Means over the years - too many to even hazard a guess - but he knows him very well and it's been a lot. This will be a comfortable...
The Orioles welcomed two young pitchers from the Single-A Frederick Keys last night as right-handers Blaine Knight and Cody Sedlock came to Camden Yards on an off-night for their team. Before the game, they met some Orioles players, saw the sights at Camden Yards and did a round of interviews.
Knight, drafted in round three last year out of the University of Arkansas, made five starts at Single-A Delmarva to begin this season, pitched to an ERA of 0.68 and was promoted to Single-A Frederick. In...
Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy threw a strong game, recorded a quality start and picked up his 500th career strikeout tonight. And DJ Stewart had three hits in his season debut. But Detroit lefty Matthew Boyd outdueled Bundy and overcame Stewart's strong night.
Boyd threw scoreless ball over six innings plus two batters as the Tigers beat the Orioles 3-0 to even this three-game set a win each. The rubber match is Wednesday night.
Detroit, which had lost three in a row and 12 of its past 13,...
The Orioles last had a two-game winning streak on May 6 when they wrapped up wins versus Tampa Bay and Boston around a rainout. They'll try for two in a row tonight when they host Detroit at Camden Yards.
Renato Núñez hit a two-run homer, his 13th, and Jonathan Villar's 456-foot solo shot was No. 7 in Monday's 5-3 win over the Tigers at Oriole Park. Núñez has hit five homers his last six games and six in his last eight. Nunez has recorded an RBI in a career-high six straight...
DJ Stewart got into 17 games in the major leagues last September, batting .250 (10-for-40) with three doubles, three home runs and 10 RBIs after joining the Orioles' expanded roster and making his major league debut on Sept. 12.
It was exciting to be called to the majors. But when Stewart found out he was coming to join the Orioles today from Triple-A Norfolk, it was a different feeling - and, he said, an even better excitement level for him. And he's starting tonight in right field, batting...
The Orioles are now days away from making the first pick in the first round of the First-Year Player Draft. That selection will be made on Monday night. The Orioles hold the No. 1 overall pick for just the second time since the draft began in 1965. In 1989 they chose LSU right-hander Ben McDonald 1/1.
In the Orioles clubhouse this week the player that can most relate to being taken with the first pick is pitcher Dylan Bundy, who came close to that. He was the No. 4 overall pick out of Owassa...
When the first two hitters he faced today combined to produce a run, it looked like right-hander Dan Straily might have another rough outing. But he turned it around and gave the Orioles a solid long-relief job as the Orioles beat the Tigers 5-3 at Oriole Park.
As the Orioles won for just the third time in 14 games, Straily allowed just one run over four innings. He began the game with an ERA of 9.09 overall and 12.09 at home and had recently been moved from the starting rotation. In fact,...
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said after his recent struggles that reliever Mychal Givens - he was on the mound for two walk-off losses at Colorado - may pitch in lower-leverage situations in the short term moving forward.
Over his last four games Givens has allowed eight runs on seven hits and six walks in three innings. He's suffered two blown saves and three losses in this span.
"I think it's just command," Hyde said this morning. "I look at his numbers at this point last year and he's...
After losing two of three at Colorado in a quick road trip two times zone away, the Orioles return home this afternoon to host the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers (19-31) will be at Camden Yards for three games and, after Thursday's off day, the San Francisco Giants play three in Baltimore starting Friday night to complete a six-game homestand.
The Orioles (16-37) are 6-19 at home and have lost eight of the last nine games at Camden Yards. They were swept four straight at home by the New York...