Another look at Adams' big hit and GCL pitchers move to Aberdeen

You have to feel good for a player that has played in 512 minor league games for six different teams and piled up 1,966 at-bats when he gets to the major leagues, and then has success. That is happening now, finally, for Ryan Adams, the Orioles' second-round pick in 2006 out of a New Orleans area high school. He's been everywhere from Bluefield, W.Va., to Baltimore, and last night he was in the right spot at the right time. His 10th-inning single gave the Orioles a 6-5 win over Toronto. He picked up his first-ever big league walk-off hit, followed moments later by his first big league pie in the face. In nine games since his latest recall from Triple-A, Adams is making a nice impression. He is 11-for-33 with four doubles and four RBIs in that time and has played solid defense at second base. This time last year, he was putting the finishing touches on a breakout season at Double-A Bowie where he hit .298 with 43 doubles, 15 homers, 68 RBIs and a .829 OPS. You are not nearly an overnight sensation when your minor league career began in 2006. But Adams worked his way up from the bottom all the way to the show and last night was a real nice moment for him and what is probably his growing legion of fans. The Orioles' team in the Gulf Coast League made the playoffs this year for the first time in 20 years but the GCL O's season ended when they lost a one-game "series" in the league semi-finals. Now that the team's year has ended, the Orioles have moved four GCL pitchers to Aberdeen, which has six games left, so they can get some more work in and take the mound at least one more time in 2011. They moved right-handers Miguel Chalas and Jose Nivar to the IronBirds along with lefties Eduardo Rodriguez and Jorge Rivera. The 19-year-old Chalas went 5-3 with a 2.93 ERA and had a 42-to-8 strikeout-to-walks ratio in 46 GCL innings. The 22-year-old Nivar is a player the Orioles converted last year from outfield to pitcher. He went 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA in the Gulf League in 16 relief appearances. Over 19 2/3 innings, he walked 15 and fanned 19. Back in March, I wrote this blog about Nivar and his sometimes blazing fastball. Rodriguez, an 18-year-old southpaw from Venezuela, went 1-1 with an ERA of 1.81 for the GCL O's. Over 44 2/3 innings he gave up 28 hits with 17 walks, 46 strikeouts and a .177 batting average against. The 20-year-old Rivera was 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA, and over 30 innings, walked 16 with 34 strikeouts and had a 3.82 ground-to-air out ratio. The Orioles are expected to also move 19-year-old right-hander Jaime Esquivel to Aberdeen over the next day or two. Esquivel went 5-1 with an ERA of 0.95 in 11 games and eight starts. Over 47 1/3 innings he allowed 25 hits with 15 walks, 39 strikeouts and a .159 average against. He was a 28th-round draft pick in 2010.