More from "State of the Orioles" plus O's notes and farm notes

Here are a few more quotes from Saturday's "State of the Orioles" address when season plan holders posed questions to executive vice president Dan Duquette and Orioles manager Buck Showalter.

Some of the key topics were covered in this entry yesterday.

Showalter talked about Triple-A outfielder Cedric Mullins: "The one thing that is a constant is his ability to impact the game defensively. He's actually an old school bunter, too. You don't see it much anymore. They let the ball travel and get in the delivery before they show the bunt. I think that is going to play big up here because it's not much (a part of) of anybody's game. The reason we were able to bring Manny (Machado) and Jonathan (Schoop) and some of these guys up here is we knew they would be able to defend and impact our club defensively, while they go through that learning curve that young players do on offense. It's the biggest jump in sports. The level of pitching you face in the minors to the majors. Their defense allows you to keep them in the lineup."

Duquette was asked about trying to keep young talent on the roster in a question about the trades involving Zach Britton and Manny Machado: "We try to bring up the players through the farm system and get an opportunity and have them stay as long as we can. The economics of the system don't always work out to the benefit of the Orioles. We always are very proud of the players that we scout and draft and sign and come up through the organization. It feels like a family and we love to see them do well. I was really touched by Zach Britton. He said he would want to come back on his way out the door. That was touching. We have the same pull and attraction to the players but the economics make it tough to keep it together for a long time."

Showalter, who is on Major League Baseball's competition committee, talked about shifts and how MLB may seek some changes next season: "They may be getting rid of them next year. Who knows? There is a lot of talk about having just two infielders on each side of the bag. I know Chris Davis would like that, I can tell you."

Duquette on shifts: "There is a lot more data to point to where to put the fielders to prevent the hits. I think you are probably going to see some legislation on that from the league. That is probably going to curtail that some. But I don't think it changes the kind of players you are looking for. You are looking for players that can cover the ground on defense and run and players that can hit the ball over the fence."

On the farm last night: Lefty Josh Rogers made his O's organizational debut and pitched seven scoreless innings for Triple-A Norfolk in a 5-1 win over Toledo, the Tides' 10th win in the last 12 games. Rogers gave up just three hits in his 84-pitch outing.

The 24-year-old southpaw only allowed two Mud Hens to reach second base as he turned in his 11th quality start of the season. It was also the fifth outing in which Rogers registered seven shutout innings in a start.

Double-A Bowie beat Harrisburg 9-2 as lefty Keegan Akin improved to 10-6 with a 2.84 ERA. He allowed seven hits and two runs over six innings. Over his past three starts he is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA. In eight road game starts, Akin is 7-1 with a 2.06 ERA.

New Bowie outfielder Yusniel Díaz went 0-for-5 and is 2-for-25 (.080) over his first seven Baysox games. Ryan McKenna and Aderlin Rodriguez homered for Bowie, which got two scoreless innings from new right-handed reliever Zach Pop.

The Orioles' 2018 top draft pick, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, pitched two more scoreless innings for the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Orioles. He's now pitched nine scoreless over five games on six hits with five walks and seven strikeouts to start his pro career.

Orioles notes: The Orioles have recorded 15-5 and 11-2 wins on back-to-back nights against Tampa Bay. They've scored double digits in consecutive games for the first time since July 18-19, 2017 versus Texas. Their 26 runs over two games is their most in back-to-back games since scoring 26 in April 2015. In the last two games, the Orioles have 30 hits and have gone 13-for-26 with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is 0-for-14 with RISP in those two games.

The Orioles have scored 51 runs and hit .298 as a team since the All-Star game, averaging 6.4 runs per game over that eight-game stretch.

Joey Rickard's five RBIs tied his career high and Trey Mancini's four hits set a new career high. Mancini is batting .367 (11-for-30) since the break. Jonathan Schoop is batting .360 (18-for-50) during an 11-game hitting streak. Tim Beckham drew a career-high three walks.