Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez left tonight's start in the fifth inning with a right groin strain. He had a similar injury in 2012 and did not go on the disabled list. He hopes to avoid the DL again this time and is hopeful of making his next start.
"I hope so. I hope I can. If not, in 2012, kind of did the same thing. Missed a start and I was able to go after that," Gonzalez said after tonight's game.
"Just felt some discomfort and really thought that I could keep going. But it just...
The Orioles did not beat their former farmhand who is now pitching well with Boston. But they did beat Boston. Pushing across the game's only run on a wild pitch, the Orioles beat the Red Sox 1-0 at Camden Yards in the series and homestand opener.
Miguel Gonzalez was throwing well on his way into the fifth inning of a good pitchers' duel with Eduardo Rodriguez when he was forced from the game by a right groin strain.
Four Orioles pitchers combined on a five-hitter as the O's recorded their...
Matt Wieters was pretty happy to return to the Orioles roster over the weekend, and tonight he gets to play in front of the home fans for the first time since May 10, 2014.
"I'm excited, this is a great place to play," Wieters said this afternoon. "Been looking forward to getting back to playing at Camden Yards for a long time now. I'm ready to go and excited we have a big series here with Boston."
Wieters is 5-for-12 with a double, a triple, a homer, 3 RBIs and an OPS of 1.301 in his...
Nolan Reimold was back in the Orioles clubhouse today. It's been a while. He has not played in a game for the Orioles since July 13, 2013, but tonight he'll bat sixth and start in left field against Boston.
"It's been a long, windy road, I guess," Reimold said this afternoon. "But made it back and it's been a goal of mine to get back here for a long time. Made it and it feels good to be here and just really happy that things worked out. I was getting at-bats pretty much every day down at...
One question that has come up since the end of day one of the First-Year Player Draft last night concerns the two high school players the Orioles drafted.
After selecting Florida State outfielder DJ Stewart in round one, the O's took Florida high school shortstop Ryan Mountcastle No. 36 overall and Georgia high school pitcher Jonathan Hughes at No. 68.
Mountcastle was ranked No. 110 by MLBPipeline.com and No. 122 by Baseball America. Hughes was ranked No. 188 by MLBPipeline.com and No. 255 by...
Florida State outfielder DJ Stewart said he cried when he was drafted with the 25th pick in round one by the Orioles last night.
"It was an awesome feeling, just a lot of emotions throughout the day, but to finally hear my name called, I cried because this is something that you dream of your entire life. To see your name come up is just awesome, I am happy Baltimore selected me," Stewart said in a Seminoles press release.
"It's always exciting whenever you have the opportunity to pursue...
On an Orioles conference call for reporters early this morning, O's scouting director Gary Rajsich spoke directly to his first-round draft pick, Florida State outfielder DJ Stewart, before reporters asked questions.
"You were the one we wanted all the way and I'm glad you got there (to the 25th pick). I think you are going to be a great fit here," Rajsich said to Stewart.
A 21-year-old left-handed batter, Stewart hit .318 this year for the Seminoles with 10 doubles, two triples, 15 homers,...
There are an alarming number of pitching injuries and Tommy John surgeries in pro baseball. As he gets set tonight to oversee his fourth draft as Orioles scouting director, Gary Rajsich, along with his staff, must factor injury risk into the equation when ranking and/or selecting any pitcher.
Scouting directors and scouts always have to do that, but maybe more now than ever. There is a school of thought that some injuries we see after a player has been in pro ball for a year or two may have had...
So on the first day of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft, the Orioles will make three picks tonight, much different from last year when they didn't make a pick until the second day in the third round.
Scouting director Gary Rajsich and his staff and scouts have been at the Warehouse at Camden Yards in meetings and final draft preparation for several days now.
Tonight, the Orioles have the 25th, 36th and 68th overall picks, and all selections will be televised on MLB Network.
Analysts have...
We are now just hours away from the start of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. It begins at 7 p.m. tonight and will be televised live on MLB Network.
For the second time in club history, the Arizona Diamondbacks have the first overall pick. They also selected first in 2005. The draft will span three days, as it has since 2009, and will last 40 rounds.
Tonight's picks go through the second round and Competitive Balance Round B that follows it. Selections come tomorrow in rounds three through 10...
The Orioles offense looks a lot better when they get some clutch, two-out hits with runners on base. They got some today and Bud Norris appreciated that in his return to the team.
The Orioles added to a 1-0 lead with a three-run fourth inning and went to beat Cleveland 7-3 this afternoon to take two of three in the series. Cleveland had won 14 of 20 coming into this series.
The Orioles had scored six or more runs just once in the previous 16 games and were held to one run in Saturday's loss....
The numbers for the Orioles offense were good - in April. But since then, we've seen nothing but inconsistency that has led to losses. Losses in winnable games like Saturday, where the O's could have forced extra innings with just two runs and won with three. But they could not do that.
The O's offense:
* Has produced one run or less 11 times this year. * Has produced two runs or less in five of the last nine and 14 of the last 27 games. * Has produced three runs or fewer in 24 games and the...
The Orioles have a lot of pending free agents. They could be a very different looking team next year. They also have four picks in the top 102 selections of the First-Year Player Draft that begins tomorrow.
Does that mean the club should look to draft more college players this year? Players that are closer to reaching the big leagues and that can help the big league team sooner?
Jim Callis of MLBPipeline.com, one of the top draft experts in the industry for many years, said that would not...
So much for Friday's feel-good victory for the Orioles.
The Cleveland Indians could not often take advantage of their many baserunners today, but the Orioles did not have that many runners at all.
The O's were held to six hits today in a 2-1 loss at Cleveland that drops them to 2-4 on this road trip and 25-30 for the season.
The game ended when Matt Wieters struck out and Chris Davis, who had walked, tried to get to second on a pitch in the dirt but was thrown out.
Manny Machado's...
Well, for one day, the 2015 Orioles resembled the 2014 American League East champions. Matt Wieters returned, J.J. Hardy was at shortstop and Chris Tillman pitched well. They got a key homer from Adam Jones and shutdown work from the bullpen. The defense was sound.
Sounds good. Now can they do it again?
The Orioles are now exactly 33 percent into this season and on a 75-win pace at 25-29. They've got some work to do.
A win this afternoon at Cleveland would mean they have followed up a...
Adam Jones' home run drought is clearly over. Chris Tillman's struggles may be, too. That would be big for the Orioles. Matt Wieters returned tonight and that did prove big for the Orioles.
Jones hit his second tiebreaking homer in two days and Tillman got his first win since April 18 as the Orioles beat Cleveland 5-2 in the opener of a three-game series.
The Orioles have their first two-game win streak since May 28 and 29 as they improved to 10-17 on the road and 25-29 overall.
Wieters...
The Orioles have named Double-A Bowie first baseman Trey Mancini their minor league Player of the Month for May and Single-A Delmarva left-hander Donnie Hart as minor league Pitcher of the Month.
Mancini earned the awad for his play at Single-A Frederick and was promoted to Bowie yesterday. Frederick's Drew Dosch was the April award winner.
In May, Mancini led all Carolina League hitters with a .362 average to go along with five home runs, 19 RBIs and eight doubles. The former Notre Dame...
When it comes to sizing up the First-Year Player Draft, it is hard to find two more knowledgable and experienced pros than John Manuel of Baseball America and his former colleague, Jim Callis, who is now with MLBPipeline.com.
I had the chance to interview both in the last few days to get their thoughts on the 2015 draft class and what the Orioles might do.
I'll publish Manuel's thoughts today and Callis' before the start of the three-day draft on Monday, when the Orioles have two first-round...
Without outfielders on their active roster that can be optioned, the Orioles have not yet called up an outfielder from Triple-A Norfolk.
But they are certainly presenting themselves as options to help the big club, as manager Buck Showalter might say.
Nolan Reimold has hit safely in eight of his last 12 Tides games, batting .421 (16-for-38) with four doubles and four RBIs. Reimold has raised his average 42 points over that 12-game stretch (from .238 to .280), a span that has included five...
Recently we have been hearing much about platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for pitchers in professional baseball. In recent weeks, Orioles minor league pitchers Hunter Harvey and Branden Kline had PRP injections.
PRP is blood plasma that has been enriched with platelets and stimulates the healing of bone and soft tissue. A pitcher that gets such an injection usually must rest for about six weeks.
Long before Harvey and Kline had PRP injections - and they are much more prevalent now -...