Steve Melewski

Another look at the chances to have a baseball season

Another look at the chances to have a baseball season
The chance that we are going to see something resembling a baseball season in 2020 seems to be getting better. But we still have no idea what that could mean or look like. It seems many plans and options continue to be discussed. Nothing has been settled on. There is nothing that can be settled on at this point. Baseball officials obviously are aware that nothing will happen unless it can be deemed safe for all. At one point we heard about the Arizona plan. Then there was an Arizona/Florida...
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Roch Kubatko

Taking the latest Orioles quiz during the shutdown

Taking the latest Orioles quiz during the shutdown
If you sense that I'm giving you a quizzical look this morning, well, scroll down for verification. Or maybe the headline gave it away. This is the latest coronavirus edition. We could use the distraction and a few smiles. Extra credit awarded for expanding on "none of the above" by making a prediction. The season is going to start: A. In June B. In July C. In 2021 D. None of the above Games will be played: A. Exclusively in Arizona B. In Florida and Arizona C. In no more than five states D....
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Mark Zuckerman

State of the Nats roster: Infield

State of the Nats roster: Infield
We begin today a periodic look at the state of the Nationals roster at the point spring training was suspended and project how things may look whenever baseball is played again. Up first is the infield ... No aspect of the Nationals roster underwent as much change last winter as the infield. There was only one major departure (Anthony Rendon) but Matt Adams and Brian Dozier also left as free agents, leaving general manager Mike Rizzo with a couple of different paths in an attempt to make up for...
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Mark Zuckerman

Tales from the clubhouse: Stanton's balk-off

Tales from the clubhouse: Stanton's balk-off
This extended break is offering us a chance to write some stories we wouldn't normally write and to take a few trips down memory lane. So here's a trip back in time for you that includes an epic behind-the-scenes story from the postgame clubhouse. Maybe this will be the first of several such stories that can be shared with you until we have real baseball again. The date is July 15, 2005. The Nationals are in Milwaukee, facing the Brewers in front of a packed Friday night house at Miller Park....
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Steve Melewski

Baseball shutdown impacts O's rebuilding efforts

Baseball shutdown impacts O's rebuilding efforts
So the question has now been asked countless times: Does the shutdown of baseball hurt a rebuilding team like the Orioles? An obvious answer is yes, because young players, especially those in the minors, are not getting at-bats or innings right now. They're not working with coaches and gaining information from data and analytics. They are not competing against an opponent and learning how doing the small things right can lead to big wins and big personal gains. The good news is that no team is...
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Steve Melewski

On the passing of the guy with the blazing fastball who never made it

On the passing of the guy with the blazing fastball who never made it
We don't know for sure, since there were no radar guns at the time, but those that saw lefty Steve Dalkowski pitch have said he threw his fastball well over 100 mph. Maybe 110 mph, maybe even 115 mph. Not kidding. His fastball was legendary. But so was his walk total. Dalkowski, once an Orioles farmhand, died recently at 80. Sadly, he died due to the coronavirus. As a kid, I heard about and read a bit about Dalkowski. He was an O's legend of sorts. One who never threw a pitch in the majors....
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Mark Zuckerman

Rizzo on employee payments, season prep and Nats charities

Rizzo on employee payments, season prep and Nats charities
In addition to paying all full-time employees' salaries through at least the end of May, the Nationals have not yet discussed asking for the organization's highest-paid employees to reduce their salaries while baseball is shut down during the coronavirus pandemic. General manager Mike Rizzo, during his regular conference call with reporters today, confirmed the Lerner family's recent commitment to pay all full-time employees full salary and benefits through May, following a trend established...
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Roch Kubatko

Recalling where Orioles played one year ago and bullpen woes

Recalling where Orioles played one year ago and bullpen woes
At the risk of rubbing salt into an open wound caused by the sports shutdown, the Orioles are supposed to be playing the Royals tonight to begin a four-game series at Camden Yards. I would have spent the following weekend in Chicago for the three-game set against the White Sox, as the season rolled merrily along. A year ago today, the Orioles were in the middle of a series against the Twins in Minnesota that treated them with concrete gloves. No kidding. The Orioles were swept by a combined...
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Roch Kubatko

LeBlanc on life at home without baseball

LeBlanc on life at home without baseball
Wade LeBlanc expected to be pitching for a new team this season rather than becoming a stay-at-home dad. He was waiting to be placed on the 40-man roster, bypassing the opt-out date last month in his contract. But he retains status as an invitee to spring training despite the camp's closure and a sports shutdown with no known date to reopen. I've found it interesting how players are maintaining their focus on the season, with the Orioles keeping everyone connected and dispensing information...
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Mark Zuckerman

Nats commit to pay full-time employees through at least May 31

Nats commit to pay full-time employees through at least May 31
The Nationals informed full-time employees they will continue to receive full pay and benefits through at least the end of May, a source familiar with the decision confirmed. Following the lead of nearly every other major league organization in recent days, Nationals ownership sent an email out to all full-time employees Thursday with news they will continue to be paid through May 31. The club previously had committed to paying full salaries through the end of April. A decision on payments...
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Roch Kubatko

LeBlanc: "I just want to play ball"

LeBlanc: "I just want to play ball"
A world that no longer simulates normalcy during the coronavirus pandemic keeps tossing pitcher Wade LeBlanc in directions he couldn't imagine. From a professional standpoint, he settled for a minor league deal with the Orioles on Feb. 3 after the Mariners declined his $5 million option. He made $2.5 million in 2019 and is supposed to earn $800,000 this summer if he's on the club. The bonding process with teammates was interrupted in spring training with the March 12 shutdown. He participates...
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Mark Zuckerman

After "magical" fall, Rizzos adapt to spring of confinement

After "magical" fall, Rizzos adapt to spring of confinement
Mike Rizzo spends his life in motion. If he's not in his office at Nationals Park, he's in the clubhouse meeting with the coaching staff. Or he's on the field watching batting practice from right behind the cage. Or he's on the team charter flying to nearly every road game during a season. Or on the rare occasions he's not with the big league club, he's somewhere else in America watching a top college or high school prospect who's on the Nats' radar for the upcoming draft. What, though,...
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Mark Zuckerman

Zimmerman willing to play in empty parks, but has other concerns

Zimmerman willing to play in empty parks, but has other concerns
As various proposals to play an abridged and altered Major League Baseball season get leaked, and the sporting public debates the practicalities and merits of them all, we must remind ourselves of the following key point: Eventually, MLB is going to have to make an official proposal for the 2020 season. And then the players are going to have to agree to it. And the second part of that equation is essential to any plan actually becoming reality. Players and owners haven't exactly seen eye to...
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Steve Melewski

Notes on a simulation sweep, KBO starting up and more

Notes on a simulation sweep, KBO starting up and more
So much for that. We had a 12th seed over a fifth seed in the opening round of the 32-squad MLB Dream Bracket. The fifth-seeded all-time Orioles were swept in four straight games by the No. 12 all-time Houston Astros. I recently wrote about how this simulation tournament worked here. So in the simulation, a team of Birds that included Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Jim Palmer didn't win a game. What the heck! They lost to Houston by scores of 9-3, 2-1, 8-3 and...
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Mark Zuckerman

Zimmermans grateful for new charity support, double goal

Zimmermans grateful for new charity support, double goal
Ryan and Heather Zimmerman were a couple of weeks into their unexpected spring together at home with nowhere to go when they started wondering what they could do to help their community through the coronavirus pandemic. They immediately thought of the doctors, nurses and other health care workers who were being overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, didn't have enough personal protective equipment and didn't have enough time to take care of themselves and their families while simultaneously taking...
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Mark Zuckerman

Schedule design could have big effect on eventual season

Schedule design could have big effect on eventual season
We don't talk about the schedule much in baseball, because it really doesn't matter all that much under normal circumstances. During the course of a 162-game season, every team in the majors is going to play every other team in its division 19 times, every team in its league's two other divisions six or seven times and then 20 interleague games. Sure, teams in tougher divisions - and those that play the toughest division in interleague play - have a little bit of a disadvantage. But rarely...
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Roch Kubatko

A few Orioles questions that can't be answered

A few Orioles questions that can't be answered
If the baseball season begins in its altered state, and in whichever states are deemed acceptable for hosting teams, we're still going to be left wondering what would have happened under the usual circumstances. It's impossible to simulate normal with spring training shut down on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic and months lost past the anticipated opening day. For example, no matter how many games are salvaged - and this is assuming that health risks are reduced and the travel and...
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Roch Kubatko

Closing in on Orioles bullpen bests and blunders

Closing in on Orioles bullpen bests and blunders
With so much uncertainty engulfing the 2020 season and the world-wide impact of the coronavirus pandemic reducing the importance of playing baseball to microscopic proportions, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde isn't whittling away the hours at home wondering about his closer situation. Mychal Givens counts as the incumbent, though he worked the seventh or eighth innings in his last five appearances. Hunter Harvey seems to be on deck for the role, though no one on the team has made him an offer....
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Roch Kubatko

The last K.C. trip, Roenicke's roll, Mathews' quote

The last K.C. trip, Roenicke's roll, Mathews' quote
The work put toward booking travel and hotels for the 2020 baseball season slipped into reverse. The coronavirus pandemic kept the media at home. I would have taken a train to New York for the four-game series earlier this month. I'm supposed to be in Kansas City this weekend for my first visit since the 2014 American League Championship Series. I'm not a huge barbeque guy. I like it, but don't treat it like a religion. Otherwise, yeah, I'd be wrestling Steve Melewski for the...
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Mark Zuckerman

Which pre-2019 Nats team should have won the World Series?

Which pre-2019 Nats team should have won the World Series?
What's the best team in Nationals history? The one that actually won the World Series. Duh. But it's worth remembering the 2019 Nats only went 93-69 during the regular season. Four previous clubs won more games than that: the 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017 clubs. Those four teams, of course, lost in the National League Division Series, often in agonizing fashion. And so they're forever viewed as underachievers. Here's the question, though: Were any of those teams good enough to win the World...
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