Steve Melewski
Steve Melewski

As Yovani Gallardo's strikeout rate decreased, so did his ERA (plus prospect notes)

As Yovani Gallardo's strikeout rate decreased, so did his ERA (plus prospect notes)
There has been some discussion about free agent pitcher Yovani Gallardo and his declining strikeout rates in recent years. But at the same time, while the strikeouts have declined, so has his ERA. Over the last four years, his two lowest seasons of strikeouts per nine innings have also produced his lowest ERAs in that stretch: 2012: strikeouts per nine innings rate of 9.0 and 3.66 ERA2013: strikeouts per nine innings rate of 7.2 and 4.18 ERA2014: strikeouts per nine innings rate of 6.8 and 3.51...
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Steve Melewski

Notes on Yovani Gallardo, Dexter Fowler, O's payroll and more

Notes on Yovani Gallardo, Dexter Fowler, O's payroll and more
Are the Orioles going all-in on the 2016 season? First came reports yesterday of their pursuit of free agent pitcher Yovani Gallardo. His signing would cost them one draft pick. Then reports surfaced that if the O's signed Gallardo, they could then also sign free agent outfielder Dexter Fowler and lose a second draft pick. The O's lost two picks for signing Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz before the 2014 season. It was a season that ended with 96 wins and an American League East championship....
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Steve Melewski

Will these players put up better stats for the Orioles in 2016?

Will these players put up better stats for the Orioles in 2016?
The Orioles have a few players that they are counting on to perform better in the 2016 season than they did last year. It is pretty easy to point to starting pitchers Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez, and shortstop J.J. Hardy as players who can clearly upgrade from their 2015 statistics. In the three seasons from 2012-2014, Tillman went a combined 38-16 with an ERA of 3.42. In those years, he ranked tied for 11th in the American League in wins and was 15th in ERA. But last season, he went...
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Steve Melewski

Slow start, big finish: O's pitching prospect ended 2015 season with a flourish

Slow start, big finish: O's pitching prospect ended 2015 season with a flourish
Can a pitcher who had an ERA of 5.83 last June 20 for Single-A Frederick be considered one of the Orioles' top pitching prospects? He can if he was able to turn his season around to the point where he got a late-season promotion to Double-A Bowie. And then he pitched two huge games in the playoffs to help the Baysox claim the Eastern League championship. Right-hander David Hess, 22, didn't just turn around his season. He pitched so well that he was the O's minor league Pitcher of the Month...
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Steve Melewski

Another look at the possibility of the Orioles giving up a draft pick

Another look at the possibility of the Orioles giving up a draft pick
So what is the value of a draft pick? On the one hand, we know that most players that get drafted never make the major leagues - and even some of the highest-drafted players never make it. Look at the first-round picks for just about any draft and check out the number of players that never made it or never did very much in the majors. On the other hand, teams seem to value the picks now more than ever. They don't part with them easily. All organizations value young talent that is on the lower...
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Steve Melewski

Looking back at when a Super Bowl-winning QB was an O's draft pick (with Alvarez note)

Looking back at when a Super Bowl-winning QB was an O's draft pick (with Alvarez note)
With the 50th Super Bowl set for later today, it is not a bad time to revisit a story I first wrote here about two years ago. It was not long after the Seattle Seahawks beat Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the Super Bowl. Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson passed for 206 yards and two touchdowns that day. The championship came for Wilson less than seven years from the time when Wilson was a draft pick of the Orioles. That 2007 baseball season was the year the Orioles selected...
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Steve Melewski

Mancini wraps up his degree work, Walker on his strong 2015 second half

Mancini wraps up his degree work, Walker on his strong 2015 second half
Not long after he was named the Orioles minor league Player of the Year and helped Double-A Bowie win the Eastern League championship last September, first baseman Trey Mancini took on a different but familiar role - that of a student. He returned to Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., in pursuit of a degree and he got it. Mancini added 24 credits over two offseasons to earn a political science degree from the prestigious university. Mancini took 18 credits in the offseason after the 2014 season...
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Steve Melewski

Still talking about starting pitching

Still talking about starting pitching
Are the Orioles stockpiling fifth starter candidates? And not just fifth starter candidates, but rotation options that can be optioned. If the Orioles cannot add a more established starting pitcher to their staff, could it be that they intend to have a revolving door of sorts with optionable pitchers in the fifth starter's role? Maybe take a look at several pitchers and/or go with the hot hand in that spot? That list could include Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson, Chris Jones and now Odrisamer...
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Steve Melewski

Comparing the O's 40-man roster construction to the rest of MLB

Comparing the O's 40-man roster construction to the rest of MLB
FanGraphs.com took an in-depth look at the 40-man roster makeup of every Major League Baseball team. The findings show that the Orioles' 40-man roster construction mirrors that of many other teams. FanGraphs lists 11 Orioles as being acquired by the team through the First-Year Player Draft, with the major league average at 12. It lists seven added via free agency (with the MLB average at seven). There are 13 Orioles that were acquired through a trade (average is 14). There are three added via...
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Steve Melewski

There is no crying in baseball, but is there tanking?

There is no crying in baseball, but is there tanking?
Is tanking really becoming an issue in baseball? It appears it may be, and that there is concern in the sport that some teams have set up their rosters to lose games in order to come up with higher draft picks. ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the issue of tanking was raised at the recent MLB owners meetings. "Houston is often cited within the sport as the model of a team that has benefited from losing a lot," Olney writes. "From 2011 through 2013, the Astros became the first team since the...
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Steve Melewski

Trey Mancini and Christian Walker talk about Chris Davis re-signing with the O's

Trey Mancini and Christian Walker talk about Chris Davis re-signing with the O's
Christian Walker was the Orioles' minor league Player of the Year after the 2014 season, winning the Brooks Robinson Award. Trey Mancini took that same honor after last season. But going into the 2016 season, both prospects' path to the Orioles is potentially blocked by first baseman Chris Davis. He plays the same position they do and Davis re-signed with the club, agreeing to a seven-year contract through the 2022 season. What does this mean to the futures for Mancini and Walker with the...
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Steve Melewski

Notes on Pedro Alvarez, position rankings and prospect rankings

Notes on Pedro Alvarez, position rankings and prospect rankings
Providing a few thoughts on a few different topics today: Is Pedro Alvarez still a fit for the Orioles?: Probably only in the sense that they could use another left-handed bat. But when Chris Davis re-signed, that put a real dent into the possibility of Alvarez as an Oriole - unless the O's are OK with a lineup of Davis at first, Mark Trumbo in right and Alvarez at DH or one that would leave Trumbo on the bench. It seems pretty unlikely that Alvarez would ever use his glove much as an...
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Steve Melewski

Pre-spring training edition: "10 questions for Orioles fans"

Pre-spring training edition: "10 questions for Orioles fans"
Yes, it is indeed time for the latest edition of "10 questions." Answer one, two, three or all of them. Give a short answer or long one. I look forward to the responses. Now, on to the questions: 1) What is Matt Wieters' future with the team? Does he get signed to a new long-term deal, get a qualifying offer after the 2016 season or get traded? 2) If the Orioles can eventually sign Manny Machado to a new contract, how huge will that deal be? 3) How would you rank the American East starting...
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Steve Melewski

A look at a few reasons to keep the 14th pick

A look at a few reasons to keep the 14th pick
There are a few good reasons that the Orioles have been reluctant to part with the No. 14 pick in the first round of next June's First-Year Player Draft. If the Orioles had signed or do sign a player that turned down a qualifying offer, they have to part with that draft pick. For one, the Orioles hope to get a player with that pick that will advance to the major leagues and help them win games for years. But beyond that, money to sign the picks is involved. The Orioles currently have six of...
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Steve Melewski

Another look at the pitching and the starting rotation

Another look at the pitching and the starting rotation
When you compare the 2014 Orioles pitching staff to the 2015 version, the 2014 team wins easily. That certainly is no big surprise to anyone who watched the team drop from 96 to 81 wins. We've been hearing words like "bounceback" and "rebound," and we are not talking about basketball here. We're talking about the Orioles' ability to pitch as individuals and collectively as well as they did in 2014. Is that realistic? Comparing the pitching the last two seasons: 2014: 3.43 ERA, .244...
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Steve Melewski

A look at MLB commissioner Rob Manfred one year into the job

A look at MLB commissioner Rob Manfred one year into the job
On Jan. 25, Rob Manfred celebrated his one-year anniversary as commissioner of Major League Baseball. He started a five-year term last year as Bud Selig's successor. Manfred served as MLB's vice president of labor relations before being named the league's chief operating officer in 2013. A Harvard Law graduate, he had served as the head of labor negotiations for 19 years since the 1994 strike and he was a key component in implementing baseball's current drug testing system. Manfred has a...
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Steve Melewski

A look at some rotation stats, plus a Navarro note and Reyes ranked

A look at some rotation stats, plus a Navarro note and Reyes ranked
If you read this blog daily, first of all, thanks. Second of all, you know by reading the comments that fans do worry. They worry a lot. Right now, Orioles fans are worried about a starting rotation that ranked 14th in the American League last year with an ERA of 4.53. That was one season after the O's starting pitcher ERA ranked fifth in the AL at 3.61 and the club won 96 games and the AL East championship. Yes, pitching is pretty important. It is just one writer's opinion, but USA Today...
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Steve Melewski

Now that the huge deal is signed, can Chris Davis live up to it?

Now that the huge deal is signed, can Chris Davis live up to it?
So how will Chris Davis handle the pressure to produce now that he has signed what is easily the richest contract in Orioles history? No one has a crystal ball on that front. In three of his four full seasons in Baltimore, he has produced an OPS of at least .827, hit at least 33 homers and recorded an OPS+ of at least 121. We all recall that when he was trying to follow up his 53-homer season in 2014, he hit just .196 with 26 homers, 72 RBIs and a .704 OPS. O's fans certainly hope that will be...
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Steve Melewski

Ranking the Orioles' top rivals

Ranking the Orioles' top rivals
After reading this article about some of the top rivalries in baseball, I wondered which team is the biggest rival for the Orioles? At one time that answer was pretty clear-cut: the Yankees. But does that still hold true? Also what makes a matchup a rivalry anyway? That definition is the eye of the beholder. But here is my take ranking the Orioles' rivals: 1. Orioles vs. Yankees: There is just so much history here. Jeffrey Maier. Alan Mills dukes out Darryl Strawberry. Earl Weaver against...
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Steve Melewski

Minor league notes on Bobby Bundy and farm system managers

Minor league notes on Bobby Bundy and farm system managers
Three years before the Orioles drafted pitcher Dylan Bundy, they selected his older brother Bobby in the eighth round of the 2008 draft. The right-hander was signed to a $600,000 bonus. Like Dylan, Bobby has battled injuries in his career. He was throwing well early last season for Double-A Bowie - touching 93 and 94 mph - when he suffered a season-ending right knee injury. He was injured while fielding a ball on May 5 against Akron. He had ACL surgery on that same knee in high school. But the...
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