If you want to criticize Steve Pearce for his 2015 season, you will have to get in line behind at least one person - and that is Pearce himself.
Pearce is a player quick to point the finger at himself if he doesn't do well. When Pearce got off to a slow start last season, at one point he called himself "a one-man rally killer."
A player who hit at times in the middle of the Orioles order in 2014, Pearce's offense fell off big in the 2015 season:
Pearce in 2014: .293 average, 21 homers, 49...
The Kansas City Royals are one win from heading to the World Series for a second straight year. The Toronto Blue Jays are two wins from a 3-1 comeback in the American League Championship Series.
The teams meet tonight at K.C.'s Kauffman Stadium with the Royals looking to end the series and Toronto, down 3-2 in games, looking to extend it to a seventh and final game.
The Blue Jays won 7-1 on Wednesday to stay alive in the ALCS. Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer and Marco Estrada gave up...
It is certainly reasonable to assume that a bigger payroll for a Major League Baseball team provides them a better chance to win. After all, you get what you pay for, right?
For many years in the American League East, this held true. The big spending New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox controlled the division. They threw money at their problems and, in a sport without a salary cap, they won.
But that has not held true for some time now. The Tampa Bay Rays won the AL East in 2008 with an opening...
When the Orioles claimed pitcher Vance Worley off waivers from the Pirates earlier this week, they added a right-hander to their 40-man roster that could prove to be a solid addition to their bullpen. He's also a pitcher that has made 81 major league starts.
If he heads north with the Orioles next April, my guess is he does so in a relief role. He could be a multi-innings reliever. In 2015, he pitched to an ERA of 2.83 with an average against of .236 out of the bullpen.
Now 28, the Phillies...
Orioles pitching prospect Dylan Bundy is headed to the Arizona Fall League, MASNsports.com has learned. An Orioles club official would not comment on the move.
Once ranked as high as the No. 2 prospect in the sport by Baseball America, Bundy has made strong and steady progress in recent weeks after dealing with shoulder soreness. The right-hander had Tommy John surgery in June 2013.
Dr. James Andrews cleared Bundy last month to start a throwing program after he was shut down with discomfort...
In search of their first World Series title since 1985, the Kansas City Royals are now one win away from a return to the Fall Classic. They take a 3-1 lead into Game 5 today of the American League Championship Series at Toronto's Rogers Centre.
Kansas City has been bashing the baseball and posted a 14-2 win yesterday over Toronto. The top three in their order - Alcides Escobar, Ben Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain - went a combined 6-for-11 with a homer, four runs and nine RBIs. K.C. went 8-for-11...
Today, I will be taking a look at some stats and information, and ending this blog with a question. Some of the stats are courtesy of the Orioles public relations staff, some from FanGraphs.com and some from the Melewski research bureau.
* Since 2012, the Orioles lead the majors with 854 home runs. That is 62 homers ahead of the next closest team, the Toronto Blue Jays, at 792.
* Manny Machado is the active major league leader in consecutive games played at 162. According to STATS, LLC., Kole...
After scoring just three runs in losing the first two games of the American League Championship Series, the Toronto Blue Jays bats broke out last night. Because of that, the Blue Jays can even the ALCS at 2-2 today with a victory against Kansas City.
Toronto won 11-8 last night as Ryan Goins, Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson homered. Toronto had 13 hits combined in the first two games and recorded 11 Monday night. The Blue Jays went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position after going...
There is some logic behind the thinking that Zach Britton should return to the Orioles rotation.
The reasoning goes that the Orioles may need a left-hander in the rotation if Wei-Yin Chen leaves via free agency. And a rotation that ranked next to last in ERA in the American League last year could use a boost and infusion of a talent like Britton.
But should the Orioles rob Peter to pay Paul, as Buck Showalter might say? Should they remove one of the AL's best closers from that role? Could...
When the Kansas City Royals play at Toronto tonight in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, they can tie an Orioles record with a victory.
The O's hold the LCS record of 10 straight wins. Kansas City has won nine in a row in the LCS after taking the first two games of the series with Toronto. The Royals win streak dates to 1985.
The Orioles recorded three consecutive 3-0 series sweeps in the ALCS in 1969, 1970 and 1971, when it was a best-of five series. Then the O's won Game 1...
How much pressure is on the Orioles to re-sign Chris Davis? Probably a lot. Some fans are stirred up that the Orioles won 15 fewer games last year, a season that began without two key free agents from the previous year in Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz.
There is a segment of the fan base that doesn't want to see another key Oriole leave the nest. There have even been fans calling talk shows and writing on blogs like this one, saying they will not to go games if Davis leaves.
But the Orioles...
So much for what happened in the regular season holding much meaning now. The Chicago Cubs went 7-0 against the New York Mets during the regular season. But the Mets took the opening game of the National League Championship Series last night and host Game 2 tonight at Citi Field.
The Mets won Saturday night 4-2. Matt Harvey went 7 2/3 innings allowing four hits and two runs to get the win. Jeurys Familia got the final four outs for a save. Daniel Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud hit solo homers, and...
It is starting to become more prevalent in baseball. Some fans no doubt will love it and embrace it while others will say, "Enough already."
It is Statcast technology. It can now measure and tell us the exit speed of the ball off the bat. It can measure in miles per hour how fast a player runs and in route efficiency how efficient a fielder was in tracking a ball hit to the outfield. It can measure the spin rate of a curveball or slider, or the quickness of someone's first step. It can...
Any Orioles fans that are rooting against the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series now have another reason to root for a Royals loss this afternoon.
Kansas City is chasing the Orioles in the record book. The Royals have won eight straight ALCS games dating to 1985. That is the second-longest win streak in Major League Baseball history. The Orioles hold the mark with 10 wins in a row in the ALCS, from 1969-73.
On the mound this afternoon, left-hander David Price pitches...
Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop turned 24 yesterday. Is his future so bright that you need sunglasses to look at it?
Johnny Baseball was likely the most improved player on the 2015 Orioles and he had the stat sheet to prove it:
Schoop in 2014: .209 average, .244 OBP, .354 slugging, .598 OPS, 65 OPS+ Schoop in 2015: .279 average, .306 OBP, .482 slugging, .788 OPS, 110 OPS+
Schoop's walk rate (which is too low) and his strikeout rate (which is too high) didn't change much in 2015 from...
The two teams with the best records in the American League meet tonight in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series when Kansas City (95-67) hosts Toronto (93-69).
Both teams produced stirring comebacks to advance to this series. The Blue Jays became only the third team to win a best-of-five series when losing the first two at home as they beat Texas. Kansas City trailed Houston 2-1 in the series and trailed by four runs in the eighth inning of Game 4 before a comeback that led to...
Has anything in baseball gotten as much attention recently as Jose Bautista's bat flip? Well, actually, yes: Chase Utley's takeout slide/rolling block. But now no one is talking about that anymore.
The Orioles have a long history with Bautista, who actually was once briefly an Oriole. He has angered Orioles fans and players several times. How can we forget Bautista and Adam Jones screaming at each other in April at Rogers Centre?
Bautista had a pitch thrown behind him by Jason Garcia. The...
Three of the final four teams are set for the playoffs and the fourth will be determined tonight when the Los Angeles Dodgers host the New York Mets in the fifth and deciding game of the National League Division Series.
Tonight's winner will host the Chicago Cubs Saturday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. The Cubs announced that Jon Lester (11-12, 3.34 ERA) will start that game.
Tonight, the Mets start right-hander Jacob deGrom (14-8, 2.54 ERA) against Dodgers right-hander...
Another Orioles instructional league season has come to a close. From Sept. 22 through Tuesday, more than 50 O's minor leaguers took part in workouts and games under the sun in Sarasota, Fla.
Instructional league features mostly players who are early in their careers getting a lot of hands-on instruction to work on improving for the future.
"Instructional league went great," Orioles director of player development Brian Graham said. "The most impressive thing about instructional league was...
One game to decide the series. Both American League Division Series have reached that point, and today we will see a pair of Game 5s to decide which two teams advance to the American League Championship Series.
Toronto hosts Texas this afternoon with right-hander Marcus Stroman (4-0, 1.67 ERA) facing left-hander Cole Hamels (13-8, 3.65 ERA).
The Blue Jays' offense was held to seven runs and a .171 batting average in the first two games. But in Games 3 and 4 at Texas, Toronto scored 13 runs...