Steve Melewski
Steve Melewski

Another look at Dylan Bundy's 2019 season

Another look at Dylan Bundy's 2019 season
For two straight years, right-hander Dylan Bundy has led all Orioles pitchers in starts, innings and strikeouts. He's been dependable. He takes the ball and gives you all he's got. But Bundy is also 15-30 with an ERA of 5.13 and homer rate of 1.9 per every nine innings over those two seasons. We've certainly seen flashes of Bundy pitching well but there have also been some games when he gives a big number to the opponent. In 2019, the 26-year-old went 7-14 with a 4.79 ERA over 161 2/3...
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Steve Melewski

O's played at a 99-win pace with quality starts this year

O's played at a 99-win pace with quality starts this year
It is a statistic that has some importance. How much is debated and some discount it. It is the quality start statistic. A starting pitcher records one when he allows three earned runs or less in six innings or more. One reason some don't see its importance is that three earned runs allowed in six innings results in an ERA of 4.50. That is not all that impressive. But of course that is the worst ERA outcome you can produce in a quality start. And a high number of outings produce a single-game...
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Steve Melewski

A look at pitchers that could be part of next wave of rebuild

A look at pitchers that could be part of next wave of rebuild
As the Orioles look to put together a starting rotation for 2020, one question will be how soon will some of their homegrown prospects get their chance at the starting five. When will some of the up and coming pitching prospects - homegrown or not - get their shot? Based on how executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias and his staff ran the minors and promoted players in 2019, it is probably likely that they won't often have prospects skip levels or more as fast through the system as...
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Steve Melewski

The Orioles will feature five coaches at each affiliate in 2020

The Orioles will feature five coaches at each affiliate in 2020
The Orioles affiliates from the Rookie-level team through the Triple-A International League squad will each have five coaches, counting the manager, during the 2020 season. Each club last year had a manager, pitching coach, hitting coach and one field/development coach. New Orioles director of player development Matt Blood, hired by the organization Sept. 16, said that will change next season. As previously reported on MASNsports.com by my colleague Roch Kubatko, the six men expected to manage...
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Steve Melewski

The path to the World Series might be with top 100 prospects

The path to the World Series might be with top 100 prospects
This comes up a lot here when we talk about prospect rankings. Some fans say that "the rankings don't mean much." I can't agree with that. Although we can certainly find misses. But without a specific study or stat to prove my point, I took note of an article yesterday by Jim Callis on MLBPipeline.com. In this story, he pointed out that 24 of the 50 players on the World Series rosters - 12 on each team - were once ranked on a top 100 list. That seems like a pretty high percentage to me,...
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Steve Melewski

Baseball stars lack in popularity compared to NBA, NFL stars

Baseball stars lack in popularity compared to NBA, NFL stars
Why are stars of Major League Baseball not quite as popular as those of other sports? This was an interesting question discussed in a New York Times story published yesterday with the headline "How Popular is Baseball, Really?" While this article (subscription may be required) points out that baseball blows away the National Football League and National Basketball Association in ticket sales, of course baseball has so many more games in which to sell tickets. The article also notes how well...
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Steve Melewski

Looking at the pitch mix for the World Series teams and the O's

Looking at the pitch mix for the World Series teams and the O's
The World Series teams both have plenty of quality starting pitchers who can throw big-velocity fastballs. They just don't throw them as much as many other teams. For instance, the Houston Astros this year threw the lowest percentage of fastballs of all 30 major league teams at 45.6 percent. This despite the fact that Houston's average velocity of 94.2 mph ranked second in the big leagues, according to FanGraphs stats. As for Washington, the Nationals this season rated 15th in fastball usage...
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Steve Melewski

Looking at 2019 notes on Castro, Villar, Mancini and more

Looking at 2019 notes on Castro, Villar, Mancini and more
The Orioles public relations staff sent out a package of extensive season-ending notes on the club and its players recently. Let's take a look at a few of those notes today. Miguel Castro: His 73 1/3 innings as a reliever ranked as the 10th-most in the American League. He posted a 0.89 ERA when pitching on three or more days of rest. Castro is durable and often available - he threw 86 1/3 innings the year before - but you can't afford to have a reliever who would need that much rest each...
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Steve Melewski

The path to .300: strikeouts down, base hits up

The path to .300: strikeouts down, base hits up
Can a player with a career batting average of .192 coming into the 2019 season hit over .300? Can he do that if he was waived four times between the 2018 and 2019 seasons? If that player is Hanser Alberto, he can. Alberto stunned a lot of people this year when he became the first Oriole to hit .300 or better since 2008. His making the team was a mild surprise since the Orioles designated him for assignment on Feb. 19 and re-signed him on March 1. By the way, Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff both...
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Steve Melewski

Are big changes on the horizon throughout minor league baseball?

Are big changes on the horizon throughout minor league baseball?
The look of affiliated Minor League Baseball could be in for major changes beginning in 2021. Baseball America's J.J. Cooper reported Friday that 42 teams could be eliminated, reducing the number of minor league clubs to 120 starting in 2021. This is a proposal from Major League Baseball in current negotiations with Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as part of a remodeled agreement from the one that ends with the 2020 season. It is a long story, but is filled with details and worth your...
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Steve Melewski

Richie Martin made big improvement in second half; what does that mean for 2020?

Richie Martin made big improvement in second half; what does that mean for 2020?
There was just one position this year where the Orioles used only two players for the entire 2019 season, and that position was shortstop. Rule 5 pick Richie Martin made 90 starts at short and Jonathan Villar made 72. For Martin, that was the third-most shortstop starts by a rookie in Orioles history behind Cal Ripken Jr. with 91 in 1982 and Ron Hansen with 149 in 1960. But the immediate future of the position in Baltimore is uncertain. Villar could be retained, offered arbitration and wind up...
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Steve Melewski

Cedric Mullins' season included slow start, fast finish

Cedric Mullins' season included slow start, fast finish
Things can change fast in a year in baseball. Outfielder Cedric Mullins won the Brooks Robinson Award as the Orioles' 2018 Minor League Player of the Year. Adam Jones moved over to right field that August so that Mullins could take over in center for the parent club. But in 2019 Mullins lasted just 22 games as the O's starter in center, was sent down to Triple-A Norfolk in late April and then was demoted to Double-A Bowie in mid-July. He ended the year playing well for the Baysox, both late...
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Steve Melewski

Which of these players has the most potential?

Which of these players has the most potential?
Today let's take a look at five young Orioles position players. Then give us your take on how much promise and potential they hold for future Orioles teams. Rate these five - listed here alphabetically - on future potential and upside: Hanser Alberto, Austin Hays, Rio Ruiz, Anthony Santander, Dwight Smith Jr. Alberto hit .305 in 139 games and finished eighth in the American League in batting average. It was the 44th time an Orioles player finished at .300 or better, and the first since Nick...
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Steve Melewski

A statistical look at O's pitching in 2019

A statistical look at O's pitching in 2019
Captain Obvious checked in to remind me that the Orioles will need to pitch better in 2020. He said that O's fans have seen 223 losses and a lot of poor pitching over the last two years. The Orioles were last in the American League in ERA, bullpen ERA, homers allowed, first-strike percentage, homers-per-fly-ball ratio and rotation OPS in 2019, to point out a few categories. If you want a stat that is hard to explain, for the second year in a row, the Orioles allowed a lower hard-contact...
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Steve Melewski

After inconsistent 2019, is Mychal Givens' future role in doubt?

After inconsistent 2019, is Mychal Givens' future role in doubt?
He still has the mid-90s fastball that can touch higher. He can still feature an at times devastating slider and solid changeup. He was still tough on right-handed batters this season and had a very strong stretch of games late in the year. But the season didn't end well for O's reliever Mychal Givens. And in 2019, he posted career worsts in ERA, homers, homer rate and Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP). In 2019 he had the second-highest walk rate of his five years in the majors. While O's...
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Steve Melewski

Early offseason edition: "10 questions for O's fans"

Early offseason edition: "10 questions for O's fans"
Welcome in to the first offseason edition of 10 questions. There will be others as we progress into fall and winter. As always, answer all 10 questions, just a few or even just one. Provide short answers or long. Respond to other readers' answers. It's all good and always interesting to check the responses. So here we go. 1) What will the Orioles' record be next year? 2) Who will lead the 2020 Orioles in home runs? 3) Who will lead them in wins? 4) Will the Orioles offer Jonathan Villar...
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Steve Melewski

His prospect status took a hit, but a door is still ajar for Yusniel Diaz

His prospect status took a hit, but a door is still ajar for Yusniel Diaz
It was a year when Orioles minor league outfielder Yusniel Diaz dealt with some injuries and saw his prospect rankings take a hit. But he ended the year hitting well and there is optimism that the key player acquired in the July 2018 Manny Machado deal could still become a key future player for the Orioles. The 23-year-old Cuban-born Diaz was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers for $15.5 million in November 2015. A penalty doubled that and the Dodgers' expenditure was $31 million for Diaz. He...
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Steve Melewski

After tough outing, Kershaw shines in postgame interview

After tough outing, Kershaw shines in postgame interview
The Los Angeles Dodgers are becoming a bit of a tortured franchise. They have won seven straight division titles - something incredibly impressive - but they are already out of the 2019 playoffs. They lost Game 5 of the National League Division Series at home to Washington. Since the Dodgers started this run, four different teams have won the American League East title. But just one has won in the National League West. So the heartbreak was big when they blew a 3-0 lead after two innings and a...
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Steve Melewski

The Orioles may be forced to part with Jonathan Villar

The Orioles may be forced to part with Jonathan Villar
It is going to come down to this: Can a team still in the early stages of a rebuild in 2020 afford a $10 million middle infielder? MLBTradeRumors.com yesterday came out with its arbitration projections for this winter, and predicted that the Orioles would have to give Jonathan Villar a salary of $10.4 million for next year, more than doubling his $4.825 million paycheck from this past season. That was a much higher projection than I expected. It surely was a strong year for Villar, who hit...
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Steve Melewski

Three needs for the Orioles, and maybe one more job for Showalter

Three needs for the Orioles, and maybe one more job for Showalter
Former Orioles skipper Buck Showalter's name is coming up for some of the various managerial openings around Major League Baseball. He's been somewhat connected to the openings in San Diego and with the New York Mets. He could be a candidate if there is an opening soon in Philadelphia. Showalter certainly did great things in Baltimore. Ironically, he left the Orioles with an overall losing record at 669-684 (.494). But a lot of that, of course, was due to the last-place finishes in 2017 and...
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