Here are the Orioles' "break camp" rosters for their four full-season minor league affiliates. They are Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, Single-A Frederick and Single-A Delmarva. These are preliminary rosters and not completely set for opening day in the minors on Thursday. These rosters are subject to some changes.
NORFOLK
Pitchers: Todd Redmond, Odrisamer Despaigne, Terry Doyle, Nick Additon, Oliver Drake, Pedro Beato, Richard Rodriguez, Andy Oliver, Jason Stoffel, Edgar Olmos, Cesar...
When the Orioles announced their opening day roster this afternoon, outfielder Hyun Soo Kim was on it. He did not accept an asssignment to the minor leagues and the Orioles are not prepared to release him.
"Very happy to be on the roster and will try my best," Kim said through translater Danny Lee this afternoon in the Orioles clubhouse.
Kim said, "Not too much," when asked if he considered the minor league assignment. He had the contractual right to refuse such an assignment and did.
He...
Thankfully, we are almost out of time to predict and project and prognosticate on what may happen during the 2016 baseball season. That is because it starts today for six teams and for the Orioles tomorrow afternoon.
The long spring is finally over. But in our final hours leading up to opening day, here are three questions about the 2016 Orioles. There are many others we will get answers on during the season, as well.
How will the rotation fare?: This is the big one and one we'll be tracking...
While many of us were focused on Hyun Soo Kim, Joey Rickard's nightly stellar play, Nolan Reimold's late-spring surge and Garabez Rosa's seemingly nightly late-inning hit, the X-man was laying in the weeds.
Has the Orioles' 2008 second-round draft pick Xavier Avery made this team? He has had one impressive spring which included a two-run homer to left by the lefty hitter last night in Philadelphia.
In 32 spring at-bats, Avery has hit .313/.476/.813 with four homers. He bounced around at...
PHILADELPHIA - The Orioles played their final exhibition game tonight in Philadelphia and some roster decisions remain.
Chief among them: Will outfielder Hyun Soo Kim make the opening day roster? In his first public comments tonight since the Orioles requested that he accept an assignment to the minor leagues, Kim was asked about his status on the team right now.
"Everyone around here are treating me the same way," he said through interpreter Danny Lee. "I still feel I am part of this team...
PHILADELPHIA - The Phillies added a run in the sixth tonight and now trail the Orioles 6-4 in the eighth in the spring finale. Todd Redmond allowed one run over 2 2/3 innings after Edgar Olmos gave up two solo homers. T.J. McFarland is now pitching. With Zach Phillips outrighted, McFarland's chances to make this team likely got much better.
Vance Worley was scheduled to throw around four innings and 60 pitches here tonight. Due to a rain delay, he went two innings and 34 pitches at Citizens...
PHILADELPHIA - It's pouring and very dark, and the Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies are in a rain delay with this game tied 1-1 after two and a half innings at Citizens Bank Park.
One day after playing their Grapefruit League finale, the Orioles were back in a major league ballpark tonight for their final spring training game in a matchup with the Phillies.
After the Orioles were retired in the first by Philadelphia right-hander Aaron Nola, the Phillies took a 1-0 lead on Vance Worley in the...
PHILADELPHIA - There is still no resolution to the situation involving the Orioles and outfielder Hyun Soo Kim.
The Orioles would like to send him to the minors to the start the season. But Kim, through his agency, informed the club last night he won't agree to the assignment.
Kim is with the Orioles here tonight for the spring training finale in Philadelphia.
"He's not starting. We'll see what the game brings," manager Buck Showalter said.
Is Showalter now preparing for Kim to start the...
If Joey Rickard gets the chance to start in left field for the Orioles, he could bring the team two very needed elements - speed and on-base capability.
This spring, through Thursday's games, Rickard was batting .387 to rank seventh among all American League players during spring training. He ranked third with a .465 OBP and was 22nd in slugging at .565. Rickard also has played solid defense.
Ironically, Rickard could bring some things to the table the Orioles thought they were getting when...
When the Orioles ended a run of 14 straight losing seasons and returned to the playoffs in 2012, right-hander Miguel Gonzalez went 9-4 with a 3.25 ERA. He then pitched a gem against the Yankees in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, but the O's lost in extra innings. When the Orioles won 96 games and took the American League East in 2014, Gonzalez went 10-9 with a 3.23 ERA.
As his tenure with the team has apparently come to an end, we should not forget how good Gonzalez was for most...
Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez pitched well. Matt Wieters was back behind the plate. And we found out officially that outfielder Hyun Soo Kim will not be on the Orioles' opening day roster.
Some clarity emerged last night as the Orioles spent one of their last days in Florida.
Gonzalez is far from alone here, but he has given some fans reasons to be concerned about him when the season starts. But my guess is he will be in the season-opening rotation. Last night, he allowed one run in...
So who was the last Orioles pitcher before Chris Tillman to make the start on opening day? It was Jason Hammel, who got the starting assignment in 2013.
It was announced Monday that Tillman will make his third straight opening day start on Monday afternoon at home against the Minnesota Twins.
Tillman is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.54 on opening day the past two years. In 2014 he gave up one run over five innings as the Orioles beat Jon Lester and Boston 2-1. Last year he gave up one run over 6 2/3 as...
The Orioles are now down to just five spring training games remaining. They have four in Florida and the last one in Philadelphia on Friday night. Opening day is April 4 at home against Minnesota.
So with the spring almost over here is a look at a few bright spots and a few concerns:
Hardy looks healthy: When J.J. Hardy homered in three straight games from Thursday to Saturday, that was a welcome sight for any Orioles fan. From 2011-13, Hardy led all major league shortstops in both homers (77)...
When MLB Network made its annual trek to the Orioles spring training camp, the analysts verbalized a familiar theme - the O's have plenty of offense, but will the starting pitching hold up?
The Orioles were featured on the network's "30 Clubs in 30 Days" segment last night.
Former player and current network analyst Mark DeRosa interviewed some players in Sarasota, Fla., and came away impressed by the O's offense.
"A message to the American League teams out there," DeRosa said. "Do not...
According to a report from MLB Network's Jon Heyman, the Orioles have been in touch with the San Diego Padres to inquire about right-handed starting pitcher James Shields.
On the surface, this makes sense with Kevin Gausman's recent shoulder issue and the rotation's generally shaky overall pitching this spring. But then you have to consider that Shields is 34, owed at least $65 million through 2018 and coming off his poorest season since 2010. Considering this, it doesn't quite add up that...
Here is a good question about the Orioles' starting rotation: How many jobs are available to be won right now? Are there two, one or none?
For a while, and it still may hold true, Miguel Gonzalez's spot was shaky with his spring struggles. That meant pitchers like Tyler Wilson, Mike Wright, Odrisamer Despaigne and Vance Worley could be chasing one potential rotation opening.
Then right-hander Kevin Gausman received a cortisone injection for shoulder tendinitis. So does that mean two spots are...
After a high school career in Jacksonville, Fla., where he played on five state championship teams, and a decorated college career at Florida State, DJ Stewart finally played baseball but did not have consistent success last summer.
The Orioles' first-round draft pick last June, taken 25th overall, Stewart hit just .218 in 62 games at short-season Single-A Aberdeen in 2015 with six homers, 24 RBIs and a .633 OPS.
Stewart, 22, batted .318/.500/.593 with 15 home runs, 59 RBIs and 62 runs scored...
He has not pitched in a minor league game since July 25, 2014. But after a 2015 season where he dealt with an injury setback or two, Orioles 2013 first-round pick Hunter Harvey is hopeful for full health in 2016.
The 21-year-old right-hander has missed time due to a strained right flexor mass in addition to a shin injury that happened when he was hit by a batted ball last March.
About a week ago at spring training, Harvey told me, "I feel great. It is nice to finally not have any pain. That...
It was during instructional league play in the fall of 2014. A right-hander for the Boston Red Sox organization pitched a couple of times against the Orioles. He faced 18 hitters and struck out 14 of them. His fastball looked impressive and overpowering, and his hit list included Chance Sisco, Christian Walker and Chris Davis.
A few months later the Orioles would acquire that right-hander. It was Jason Garcia. They technically acquired him in a trade with Houston for cash. Houston took him...
SARASOTA, Fla. - No doubt the Orioles have a power-packed lineup. They've hit 200 or more homers four straight years and that streak should grow to five this season.
But the homers won't always be there and some nights the team will have to manufacture runs. One player who agrees with this assessment is one of the club's power hitters, new Oriole Mark Trumbo. He has averaged 26.2 homers over the past five seasons. But Trumbo believes there are going to be nights the O's can't simply rely...