O's pondering AFL decision for Bundy

O's pondering AFL decision for Bundy
It sounds like the Orioles are leaning toward sending their first-round draft pick, pitcher Dylan Bundy, to the Arizona Fall League, although a final decision has not been made. The AFL season runs from Oct. 4 through Nov. 17. If the Orioles make that move with Bundy, I would guess he would not throw many innings there. As they plan the next year for this young talent, they have to work off one fact: He pitched just 71 innings during his high school schedule this season in Oklahoma and did...
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O's possible comeback win turns into a frustrating loss in the 12th at Anaheim

O's possible comeback win turns into a frustrating loss in the 12th at Anaheim
For a few minutes, anyway, it looked like the Orioles were changing the script. Down 5-3 after three innings and 6-4 in the eighth, they rallied to tie this game in the eighth and went ahead 8-6 in the top of the 12th on Adam Jones' fourth hit of the night. On came Kevin Gregg and the lead was soon gone and moments later a promising rally had turned into just another loss. Gregg gave up a single and a hit by pitch to the first two batters in the 12th to quickly put the tying runs on base. A...
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Adam Jones comes up with rare road homer

Adam Jones comes up with rare road homer
When Adam Jones homered in the top of the fifth at Anaheim tonight, it was a bit of a rare occurrence. Jones' road home run. The solo shot brought the Orioles to within 5-4 in game two of this series. It was his 22nd homer of the year, adding to his career-high, but just his fourth all year on the road. It was his first road homer in just about two months. He hit all three in June, on the 1st at Seattle, the 18th at Washington and the 21st at Pittsburgh. Since then, his last ten homers all...
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Minor league news and notes

Minor league news and notes
The Orioles are finalizing plans for their 2011 instructional league camp and workouts. Last year, they held a scaled-down version at Camden Yards while their Sarasota complex was being renovated. This year, the Orioles will hold instructional league workouts in Sarasota and they figure to host around 25 players from mid September to around October 5th or a few days later. The list of players that will take part has not been announced, but it figures to be a mix of some first-year players and...
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Tommy Hunter gets the next chance to plug a hole in a very leaky rotation

Tommy Hunter gets the next chance to plug a hole in a very leaky rotation
When looking at how the Orioles are playing these days, it is hard to imagine that they were doing so well a year ago after Buck Showalter took over. They went 34-23 in the last 57 games under Buck last year. What's the difference? Easy, pitching. Orioles' starting pitchers worked to an ERA of 3.16 with 36 quality starts in those final 57 games of 2010. Contrast that with the mess the rotation has become now. Over the last 20 games, O's starters have just four quality starts and an ERA of...
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The job of the minors is to develop players, but winning is nice too

The job of the minors is to develop players, but winning is nice too
At a time when the Orioles minor leagues and player development system is getting criticism from the media and fans, three of the seven Orioles farm clubs have already qualified for the playoffs and a fourth may join the list. Friday, the O's teams in the Dominican Summer League and Gulf Coast League clinched playoff berths and Frederick had already clinched the first-half division title in the Carolina League and leads in the second half also. Bowie would have an Eastern League playoff spot...
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Some stats, facts & notes as the O's take on the Angels

Some stats, facts & notes as the O's take on the Angels
Checking in with plenty of stats and notes as the Orioles begin a weekend series in Anaheim tonight against the Angels: *The Orioles have lost two in a row, five of seven, eight of 11 and 14 of their last 19 games. Since they were 30-31 on June 10, the Orioles are 17-43 over the last 60 games, a winning percentage of just .283 in that time. *The Orioles have won seven of their last nine games vs. the Angels. They went 6-0 last year against Los Angeles, sweeping the season series for the first...
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The Orioles GCL and DSL teams clinched the playoffs, plus other notes

The Orioles GCL and DSL teams clinched the playoffs, plus other notes
Two Orioles' minor league teams clinched playoff berths today. The Orioles entry in the Dominican Summer League is headed to the playoffs and clinched its division with a record of 45-24. The DSL Orioles have the third best record in that 33-team league. In the DSL, six teams make the playoffs, the five division winners and a wild card team. Two teams get opening-round byes and the first two rounds are best of three series with the championship series a best of five-game set. The O's DSL...
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Can Reimold recapture 2009 form in season's final games?

Can Reimold recapture 2009 form in season's final games?
There are several players that need to step up their games and show what they can do in what is left of this Orioles season. One player I put in that category is outfielder Nolan Reimold. Reimold is finally getting to start just about every day in left field and he needs to start looking more like the player the Orioles saw in 2009 than what he has shown the past two years. In 2009 in 104 games, Reimold hit .279 with 15 homers, 45 RBIs and an .831 OPS in 358 at bats. He was the American...
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What makes a good draft?

What makes a good draft?
Here is a question I get a lot from fans about the baseball draft. What makes a good draft? How many of the Orioles' draft picks can be expected to make the major leagues? My experience has been that very few players make it and very, very few become stars. But I went to a great source with that question the other night on my radio show on 105.7 FM the Fan in Baltimore when I asked Jim Callis of Baseball America that question. What makes a good draft? "If you look at the percentages of the...
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O's third-round pick got his feet wet at Aberdeen before moving to Delmarva

O's third-round pick got his feet wet at Aberdeen before moving to Delmarva
It was during the third round of the First-Year Player Draft in June and East Carolina pitcher
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Another losing series for the Orioles after loss at Oakland

Another losing series for the Orioles after loss at Oakland
It's one to thing to lose a game, but yet another to look bad and greatly contribute to your own demise. The Orioles did that today at Oakland. Buck Showalter talks to Jim Hunter about the Orioles' loss in Oakland A few things went wrong in their 6-5 loss at Oakland: * After taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Alfredo Simon and his defense gave it right back as Oakland scored three in the last of the first. That rally included Nolan Reimold misplaying the ball on a line to drive...
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The GCL Orioles are closing in on a division title

The GCL Orioles are closing in on a division title
If the Orioles lose today and fail to win another series after taking the first game of the set, the fans' frustration level will just ratchet up again. It would make me want to be a caller, not the host, on my radio show tonight and vent a little. You can call in and do that tonight on Baltimore Baseball Tonight postgame from 10 p.m. to midnight on 105.7 FM the Fan in Baltimore. A couple of more quick notes from the minors: The Orioles squad in the Gulf Coast League is closing in on its...
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Frederick outfielder Trent Mummey unlikely to return this season

Frederick outfielder Trent Mummey unlikely to return this season
Outfielder Trent Mummey of the Single-A Frederick Keys had an MRI on his injured hamstring that has kept him out since June 8 and he has not recovered well enough to return this year with just a few weeks left in the minor league season. The 22-year-old Mummey was the club's fourth-round draft pick last year out of Auburn and will wind up having played just 29 games this season. He hit .291 to start the year in 14 games with Single-A Delmarva with two homers and 12 RBIs. After moving to...
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Delmonico is a kid from a baseball family

Delmonico is a kid from a baseball family
I wanted to let you in on a few other quotes and notes about Nicky Delmonico from my interview with him yesterday. He is the Orioles' sixth-round pick from Farragut High in Knoxville, Tenn. that signed just before Monday's deadline, accepting a $1.525 signing bonus from the O's and giving up his scholarship to play college ball and join his brother at Georgia. Giving up that size of a bonus, clearly the Orioles deemed Delmonico as a first-round talent, and he got more money than did 10...
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With a win Wednesday afternoon, the Orioles can pick up an elusive series victory

With a win Wednesday afternoon, the Orioles can pick up an elusive series victory
After Tuesday night's loss at Oakland, the Orioles play the A's this afternoon and a win would give them their first series win in nearly two months and their first road series win in more than three months. The Orioles' last win in any series was when they took two of three from the Reds at home June 24-26. Since then, they have lost 11 series and tied one. During that stretch, the Orioles have won the first game of the series three times, but they lost every other game in those three...
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Will Matusz bring Triple-A success with him tonight?

Will Matusz bring Triple-A success with him tonight?
Brian Matusz will be back on a major league mound for the first time in six weeks tonight when he pitches at Oakland. In his last start, June 30 at home against St. Louis, he gave up eight runs over 3 1/3 innings. Let's hope the Orioles kept Matusz in the minors long enough to get his game together. I wonder if they did. I was kind of expecting to see Matusz stay with Triple-A Norfolk until the Tides season ended in early September. Had the Orioles chose, they could have had Matusz make four...
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Nicky Delmonico on the phone call that convinced him to be an Oriole

Nicky Delmonico on the phone call that convinced him to be an Oriole
After the Orioles drafted Nicky Delmonico in the sixth round in June, they knew it would be difficult to sign him. The now 19-year-old from Farragut High in Knoxville, Tenn., had a strong college commitment to Georgia. But late last night, Delmonico came to terms with the Orioles - and the signing bonus of $1.525 million is first-round money. He was signed to a 2012 contract. By the way, the Orioles signed all three players yesterday - Dylan Bundy, Jason Esposito and Delmonico - to 2012...
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As it turns out, the Orioles did get the "big three"

As it turns out, the Orioles did get the "big three"
During a season in which the Orioles have had a lot of bad days, Monday was not among them. And I'm not talking about the win at Oakland. I'm talking about scouting director Joe Jordan signing what I had been calling the "big three." He got Dylan Bundy, Jason Esposito and Nicky Delmonico. The pressure was on Jordan and his staff to get the deals done. Fans are fed up with this season and felt the Orioles could not afford to let any good young talent in the draft get away. At a time when...
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Joe Jordan: "It's a great day, we got everything we wanted"

Joe Jordan: "It's a great day, we got everything we wanted"
Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan just finished a telephone press conference with Baltimore reporters. Here is the entire transcript. Q: How excited are you to get all this done? "Really, when we got to today and especially this afternoon, the one I was most concerned about was (Nick) Delmonico. I really felt good that (Jason) Esposito would come to us and I felt like we would do enough to get (Dylan) Bundy signed. "Delmonico was a little bit of a wild card. It was an amazing day. We...
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