FORT MYERS, Fla. - During a game that took 3 hours, 19 minutes, where his team allowed runs in five different innings, Orioles manager Buck Showalter saw some good and not so good today.
On a plus note, Pedro Alvarez played for the first time as an Oriole. He crushed a 1-1 pitch in the top of the first for an RBI double during a 1-for-3 day. But O's pitchers allowed 15 hits and 10 walks in a 14-5 loss to Minnesota. The Orioles are 1-11-2.
"Yeah, he (Alvarez) was solid," Showalter said. "I...
ORIOLES QUICK WRAP
Score: Twins 14, Orioles 5
Recap: Pedro Alvarez ripped an RBI double in his first O's at-bat in the top of the first. It came on a 1-1 pitch from Ricky Nolasco. Alvarez also grounded out and flied out in his first O's game. Miguel Gonzalez struggled again, allowing six runs and seven hits over 1 2/3. He has allowed 14 runs in 5 2/3 over three spring starts for an ERA of 22.24. Gonzalez has allowed six or more runs in two of his three starts. Hunter Harvey gave up five runs...
FORT MYERS, Fla. - There will be no prolonged hitless streak for new Oriole Pedro Alvarez. He crushed a 1-1 pitch off the right-center field fence for an RBI double in the first inning here today against the Twins.
Alvarez smoked the offering from Minnesota right-hander Ricky Nolasco to provide the Orioles a 1-0 lead during their three-run first inning at Hammond Stadium.
Joey Rickard led off with an infield single to third base and one out later, Christian Walker singled ahead of the Alvarez...
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Orioles catcher Matt Wieters might have a sore right elbow, but for now it appears the concern level is low.
Before today's game here, manager Buck Showalter said no MRI for Wieters is planned yet. Wieters spoke with reporters about his elbow in Sarasota.
"There is a reason an MRI is not scheduled at this point," Showalter said. "If the next two or three days don't manage as we hope, that might happen. That is up to Richie (Bancells, head athletic trainer). He should be...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Earlier here we discussed the Orioles' top 10 ranked prospects, according to Baseball America. Here is the previous story and another look at the top 10:
1) Dylan Bundy 2) Hunter Harvey 3) Chance Sisco 4) Jomar Reyes 5) Mychal Givens 6) Chris Lee 7) Ryan Mountcastle 8) Trey Mancini 9) D.J. Stewart 10) Mike Wright
According to the Baseball American Prospect Handbook (which went to press in early December), here are the players rated 11 through 30 with a comment on each and...
A few more notes and thoughts on the Orioles - and, yes, we are still waiting for the first spring training win.
* After Friday's 7-1 loss to the Yankees, the Orioles are 0-10-2. According to STATS, the last team with a longer winless streak to start spring training was the 2009 Astros at 0-16-3. That Houston team went 74-88.
After Thursday's loss left the Orioles at 0-9-2, they were the first team to go winless in their first 11 spring games since the 2012 Nationals, who were 0-10-1. That...
A few notes and random thoughts on the Orioles while we await that first spring win:
* I'm not sure exactly what to make of this stat, but the Orioles homered in the same exact number of games both in 2014 and 2015. But they won a higher percentage of those games both with and without homers in 2014 on their way to the American League East championship.
The 2015 Orioles went 70-42 when they homered, a winning percentage of .625. In the same number of games the year before, they went 79-33...
Strikeouts can frustrate fans. The batter failed to put the ball in play and if you can do that, at least you have a chance to get a hit. Even mishit balls like bloops can fall in for basehits. But not much good can come from a strikeout.
Since 2012, the Orioles have ranked among the top five teams in the American League in batter strikeouts three times. They had the third-most strikeouts in 2012, were ranked 11th in 2013, fifth in 2014 and third last year.
The Orioles struck out 1,331 times...
Now that the Orioles have acquired this power-packed lineup, just how many home runs might the 2016 Orioles mash? Can they set records?
With power throughout the lineup and with a team playing in a hitter friendly ballpark, another 200-homer season seems very likely.
Starting with 2012, the Orioles have hit 214, 212, 211 and 217 homers. They have ranked in the top three in the league in homers each year, leading the American League in 2013 and 2014. But those teams didn't have Mark Trumbo,...
In a recent entry here, I wrote that the Orioles could field a lineup this year with five players that have hit 30 or more homers in one season in the major leaguers. Change that number to six.
The Orioles agreed to terms with Pedro Alvarez last night on a one-year deal, pending a physical. Here are career-high homers totals for six Orioles, adding Alvarez:
53 - Chris Davis 36 - Pedro Alvarez 35 - Manny Machado 34 - Mark Trumbo 33 - Adam Jones 30 - J.J. Hardy
Alvarez, who turned 29 on Feb. 6,...
Around this time last year, left-hander Tanner Scott headed to Orioles minor league camp as a little-known reliever coming off hand surgery. A year later, he could be a pitcher on a fast track after throwing well last season and in the Arizona Fall League, with a fastball that has reached triple digits.
The 21-year-old Scott is not flying under the radar anymore. Perhaps he once was as a sixth-round draft pick in 2014, but now those days are over for a pitcher who averaged 12.8 strikeouts per...
So far in spring training the Orioles have lost a few games, had a few injuries and have seen a few shaky pitching performances.
No need for major concern yet, not over a few exhibition games. But not everyone agrees, including the fan that tweeted this to me yesterday:
"If there are any pitchers available who can win at a major league level, baltimore needs to get them. This is an embarrassment."
On that note, on to the latest edition of 10 questions. Answer as few or as many as you like....
Orioles pitching prospect David Hess, a 22-year-old right-hander, will be interesting to watch this year. Can he carry over his great finish to 2015 to the 2016 season?
Hess was struggling early last year at Single-A Frederick, but then he got on a tremendous roll. That led to a late-season promotion to Double-A Bowie where he pitched two big games in the playoffs for the Baysox as they won their first Eastern League championship.
Over his last 16 starts of 2015 - including 12 for Frederick and...
When many or probably pretty much all Orioles fans think about third baseman Manny Machado, eventually two questions likely come to mind: Will the club be able to sign him to a long-term deal and how much will it cost?
At 23, he already has won two Gold Glove Awards, one Platinum Glove and made two All-Star teams. In 2013, he finished ninth for the American League Most Valuable Player award and last year he finished fourth.
For Machado, 2015 was a special season and he filled up the stat sheet....
For Orioles left-handed pitching prospect Chris Lee, a trade from the Houston Astros to Baltimore last May has really advanced his career.
With Houston, he pitched in rookie ball three straight seasons, from 2011-2013, and was in low Single-A ball all during the 2014 season and was back at that level to start last season. But the Orioles then acquired him May 18 for two international bonus slots.
He finally moved past low Single-A ball when the Orioles assigned him to Single-A Frederick of the...
Here is the lengthy list of players who will be reporting to the Orioles' minor league spring training camp later this week in Sarasota, Fla. Pitchers and catchers report this Friday, March 4, while the position players report date is Tuesday, March 8 at the Buck O'Neil Complex at Twin Lakes Park. Just like at major league camp, many players are already at this camp, well ahead of the reporting dates.
These players will join a group of 37 players who reported to an early camp over a week ago....
The qualifying offer is sure to come up during labor negotiations this year as the players and owners work on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Some believe the system is broken, but I do not agree. This year, teams extended 20 players qualifying offers, which meant those players could re-sign with their club and take the one year offer for $15.8 million or go on to test the free agent market.
The catch for players that turn down a qualifying offer is that a team signing them now loses a...
We should certainly not be surprised anymore. But when some analysts released their lists of Major League Baseball power rankings for the 2016 season, they don't see the Orioles as very powerful.
The latest publication to predict a poor season for the Orioles is Sports Illustrated. In his first MLB power ranking of the 2016 season for SI.com, Jonah Keri has the Orioles rated No. 23 out of 30 teams.
As for the rest of the American League East, the prediction is No. 8 for Boston, No. 9 for...
As any fan of the Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays or Tampa Bay Rays could tell you, and perhaps even say with some level of pride, the American League East is no longer a two-team race.
Once the domain of the big spending Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, the AL East has produced four different division champions the past four seasons. Over the last six seasons - since 2010 - all five AL East teams have won the division title.
If you look at the composite AL East standings since 2012, New York is...
Trey Mancini, the Orioles' 2015 minor league Player of the Year, has been a solid hitter since the day the Orioles drafted him in round eight of the 2013 draft.
Mancini hit .328 that first pro season in 2013, earning team MVP honors for short-season Single-A Aberdeen. Since then, he has also hit .300 or better at Single-A Delmarva, Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. But it was when his power increased, joining his solid bat for average, that he took his game to another level last year.
A...