Obscure Oriole Transaction Spotlight: Chris Tremblay

Who says the Orioles haven't made any moves?

Name: Chris Tremblay
Position: 2B
Throws: R
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 185
Age: 25

Tremblay was born in Montreal and was drafted out of Kent State by he Padres in the 19th round of the 2009 draft.

Up to this point he has been a light-hitting utility type (catcher, centerfielder and pitcher were the only spots he did not play in the Padre system) and with his .591 minor league career OPS and with only 78 games played at high-A by age 24, his glove had better be really good.

What else do we know about Mr. Temblay? He has a really gnarly tattoo on his shoulder and he writes a blog, not about baseball, but about literature and writing. He does have an entry about getting released by the Padres but generally, this is not a baseball blog.

Look for him in Frederick this season.

Baby Birds Roundup - 5/24/11

Delmarva Shorebirds

OF Kipp Schutz is hitting .425/.455/.600 over his last 10 games. His OPS for the season is 1.016. He's 23 and he's not being challenged....get him up to Frederick.

IF Ty Kelly has found his power stroke with .381/.435/.500 with a couple doubles and a homer over his last 10 games.

I won't bore you with yet another Jonathan Schoop recap but he's still hitting well.

Righty reliever Clayton Schrader hasn't given up an earned run over his last 7 appearances spanning 18 innings. For the season, 22 IP, 38 Ks, 13 BBs and a lone homer.

Over his last 10 games, 1B Mike Flacco has hit .474/.523/.763 and was named Sally League player of the week.


Frederick Keys

Speaking of honors, SP Bobby Bundy was named Carolina League pitcher of the week. Over his past two starts, he has thrown 14 innings while striking out 11 while walking just 2 and allowing just one earned run.

3B Buck Britton (and brother of Zach) was OPSing .938 in Frederick and finally got a promotion to Bowie this week. He walked more than he struck out (8 BBs to 7 Ks) and he just turned 25. It was time.


Bowie Baysox

After a slow start, CF Xavier Avery is hitting .308/.400/.410 over his last 10 games with 4 doubles. Still just 21, it would be great if Avery build on this nice run.

Lefty reliever Cole McCurry has given up just one earned run this season. One. In 25.1 IP in AA this season, he has 32 strikeouts and just 7 walks.


Norfolk Tides

Most of the talent worth talking about is in Baltimore right now.

LHP Troy Patton probably should be. With all the poor pitching going on in the Baltimore pen, Patton has a 2.60 ERA over 17.1 innings in AAA (15 Ks, 5 BBs, 0 HR).

And after a rough start to the season, LHP Mark Hendrickson has a 1.91 ERA over his last 28.1 innings. (15 Ks, 4 BBs, 2 HR) Surely Hendrickson and Patton offer something better than Mike Gonzalez right now.

Righty reliever Pat Egan has found his control over the last 6 appearances and as a result, he has allowed no runs over his last 12.2 innings.

Guest Post on MASNSports.com: Orioles Have More Than One Great Shortstop Prospect

Guest post on MASN where I give some observations on Delmarva SS/3B Jonathan Schoop from the past weekend.

Baby Birds Roundup - 5/8/11

Delmarva Shorebirds

Manny Machado has been sidelined with an injury but 3B Jonathan Schoop has slid back to his natural postions at short and is still hitting well with a .340/.347/.553 line over his last 10 games. If not for Machado, I'd be really excited about his prospects as the elusive Oriole shortstop of the future.

More on Delmarva tomorrow...

Frederick Keys

1B Tyler Townsend continues to crush Caroilina League pitching with a .405/.405/.833 line over his last 10 games. He has 24 strikeouts against only 1 walk all year but I don't think he is being challenged in A ball at all. With the recent injury to Baysox 1B Joe Mahoney, perhaps the Orioles can promote him so he can be challenged and start working on his plate discipline.

2B LJ Hoes is finding his footing after a season lost to injury and illness in 2010. Hoes has a line of .341/.386/.512 over his last 10 games, raising his season OPS to .704 and giving hope that he can progress in 2011.

RHP Bobby Bundy continues his hot start to the season as he has struck out 15 and only walked 4 over his last two starts.

Bowie Baysox

C Caleb Joseph continues to be one of the few bright spots on offense for the AA club with a .235/.316/.471 line over the last 10 games. His newly found plate discipline (12 walks against 14 strikeouts) is very encouraging.

On the pitcing side, RHP Dan Klein has continued his good work since his promotion throwing 3 innings of shutout baseball.

Right handed relief pitcher Jose DIaz is listed at 6'4" and 300 pounds. He also has thrown 13.2 innings with a 1.45 ERA, 11 Ks and 3 BBs.

RHP Steve Johnson had a rough stint in Norfolk but has been very good since returning giving up just a lone run over two starts while racking up 13 strikeout against 2 walks.

Norfolk Tides

Offensively, the story in Norfolk in 1B Brandon Snyder with his .889 OPS for the season and his .324/.395/.486 line over the last 10 games.

However, 2B Ryan Adams is making a bod to join him. Adams has had a tough learning curve to start the season but the last 10 games he has hit .381/.435/.476 with 4 doubles. He will always have questions defensively but the guy can hit.

In case you're curious, Nolan Reimold is OPSing .843 over his last 10 games.

On the pitching staff, there is Troy Patton and only Troy Patton (11.0 IP, 10 K, 2 BB, 0 HR, 3.27 ERA)

Baby Birds Roundup - 5/2/2011

Delmarva Shorebirds

Last week, I highlighted Manny Machado's fast start and mentioned that the only thing missing from him at the plate was some power. Consider the power provided.

Machado hit 5 homers last week on his way to an amazing .337/.451/.639 line for the year. He has walked more than he has struck out. He may not be in Delmarva much longer. And he made the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.

3B/SS Jonathan Schoop has continued to impress with a .319/.379/.511 line for the year, number which would be eye-popping if not for Machado's demolition of Sally League pitching. Schoop and Machado are 19 and 18 respectively. We could be looking at the right side of the Oriole infield for the next 15 years.

One of my personal favorites, C Justin Dalles had a .896 OPS through 11 games and hit 2 homers and a double last week. With the catching in Frederick pretty slim, Dalles could soon be promoted to allow the younger C Michael Ohlman more at bats in Delmarva.

RHP Jacob Pettit has a 2.59 ERA over 5 starts with decent peripherals. Out of the bullpen, lefty Jason Gurka has struck out 20 over 13.1 innings while issuing just one walk.

Frederick Keys

Ryan O'Shea has a 3.53 ERA in the minors. His 1.99 ERA this season is the result of some great control (1.6 BB/9). If he keeps that up, he's an interesting pitcher to keep an eye on.

1B Tyler Townsend has been healthy and productive. His .316/.349/.570 line includes 13 extra base hits. He has drawn only one walk but those should come. Townsend is the best bet to seize the mantle of first baseman of the future for the O's.

CF Trent Mummey earned a promotion to Frederick a week ago and has continued his good work with 2 doubles, a triple, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts and an .812 OPS. He also has 15 stolen bases on the season and has only been caught twice.

RHP Dan Klein was promoted to Bowie after 15.2 innings of 1.15 ERA ball. This was a wee bit surprising since the plan was to stretch him out to start some games and I had assumed he would do that in Frederick.

Bowie Baysox

C Caleb Joseph continues to reassert himself as a legitimate prospect. He has more walks than strikeouts, 3 homers, 5 extra base hits overall and a .917 OPS.

1B Joe Mahoney has only played in 8 games but is picking up where he left off in 2010. You're not a prospect until...you are. If Mahoney can continue to OPS somewhere in the neighborhood of .938, he certainly will be one.

There is not much to highlight on the Baysox pitching staff but I will point out Ryohei Tanaka has 11 strikeouts in 11.2 innings of relief and a 3.09 ERA. Closer Brandon Cooney has a 1.13 ERA thorugh 6 games with 9 strikeouts in 8 innings with a 1.13 WHIP.

Norfolk Tides

There is not much to like in the Norfolk lineup right now except for 1B Brandon Snyder's hot start. Snyder has a .300/.364/.544 line, 5 homers, 7 doubles and a .908 OPS.

LHP Troy Patton has 10 strikeouts against just 2 walks in 11 innings pitched. He could help the Baltimore bullpen soon...if he can stay healthy.

What Has the Oriole Farm System Produced?

I have beat this point like a drum, almost since the inception of this blog more than 4 years ago...but why stop now? The Oriole farm system, once the best in baseball, has been abysmal for the last 25 years or so. And this is the #1 reason that the Orioles have lost for 13 straight seasons, why they have had 19 losing seasons since they last won the World Series and why they have trouble competing in the AL East. Andy MacPhail has done his part to restore it but he had a big hole, nay, a chasm to fill.

How deep was that pit that is the Oriole farm system? Really, really deep. To demonstrate that point, I decided to look at how many homegrown players it has produced for the club since 1988, the season the Orioles posted the worst record in franchise history.

I'm not looking for stars. My criteria for position players and starting pitchers was a 5.0 WAR during their Oriole career and 3.0 WAR for a reliever's Oriole career.

The player also has to have spent significant time in the Oriole system. Players traded for who had already reached AAA in their former organizations (or players who had dominated AA so thoroughly that starting them in AAA the next season was a no-brainer) were excluded. Chris Hoiles and Brady Anderson, for example, don't count.

These are not lofty standards. The Tampa Bay Rays had 7 players on their 2010 roster alone who met this criteria.

Here's the list, in order their Oriole debut along with their Oriole career WAR.


Bob Milacki - 6.1 WAR

If there's ever a player who demonstrates how low these standards are, it's Bob Milacki. Debuting at the end of miserable 1988 season, Milacki was a big part of 1989's "Why Not?" team. I was surprised he was on this list because I had forgotten his rebound 1991 season. Most of Milacki's value is wrapped in those two seasons.

Gregg Olson - 9.3 WAR

Like Milacki, Olson debuted in 1988 and was also a big part of the "Why Not?" team. Unlike Milacki, Olson spent 1989-1993 as a very productive player out of the Oriole bullpen.

Ben McDonald - 13.8 WAR

Debuting in 1989, McDonald would never live up to the hype but had a decent career. He was developing in to a very good pitcher when injuries began to take their toll in 1995.

Leo Gomez - 10.0 WAR

Gomez hung around for 6 seasons with a couple of decent seasons in 1992 and 1994.

Mike Mussina - 47.4 WAR

The only true star produced during this period, Mussina was one of the greatest pitchers in Oriole history.

Arthur Rhodes - 6.8 WAR

I had always thought of Rhodes as a Jose Mesa type, a guy the Orioles didn't give a chance to relieve before they cut him loose. But he was primarily a reliever the last four seasons of his Oriole career. I had forgotten that.

Sidney Ponson - 11.6 WAR

Ponson's up and down career was really not so bad. He was hyped as a #1 starter but was probably more of a back of the rotation guy. But he was decent.

Jerry Hairston - 6.4 WAR

Hairston had his moments. He must have if the Orioles were wondering if he or Brian Roberts would be the better player.

Brian Roberts - 28.7 WAR

He's Brian Roberts. Enough said.

Daniel Cabrera - 8.7 WAR

A couple of tantalizing seasons...

Nick Markakis - 17.3 WAR

It's amazing that Markakis made it at all. He only had 33 games above high-A ball when the Orioles made him one of their starting outfielders going into the 2006 season. It's safe to say that Markakis succeeded in spite of the Oriole farm system. He was rushed to the majors at a ridiculous pace.


That's it. These 11 players are the best that the Oriole farm system has produced for the major league club. In 23 years...this is it!

What's the point? The point is that the Oriole farm system was so wretched over the past 25 years or so, that I can't be upset with what the Orioles farm system is now. Andy MacPhail has improved the system by leaps and bounds. The starting rotation this season could feature four homegrown starters. There are two homegrown arms in the bullpen and the position player with the most upside is also homegrown.

That's why I can't be pessimistic about the future of the Orioles as some of my fellow bloggers are. Viewed in a vacuum, the state of the Oriole farm system is a bit bleak. In context, it is healthy and improving. Would I like them to produce more major league talent? Yes, but it is producing more than it has in years...decades. Should they spend more on the draft? Yes, but they are spending more than they ever have. Would I like them to be more active internationally? Yes, but they have signed foreign born players in the last couple years where their presence was nearly non-existent.

Slowly, the minor league system is coming along. It's not a powerhouse but at least it's functioning now. It's a start.

Eulogy for Bluefield

Andy MacPhail has announced that next year the Bluefield Orioles will be no more. From a development standpoint, this will not have a huge impact of the Baltimore Orioles. If they maintain the rest of their minor league teams, they will still have 8, which is plenty.


But from a historical perspective, it's a sad decision. The Orioles have had a 53-year partnership with Bluefield and a ton of Baltimore Orioles started their career in southern West Virginia including Cal Ripken, Jr., Eddie Murray, Boog Powell and Don Baylor. That's the oldest minor league affiliation in baseball and now it will be gone. They won nine Appalachian League championships as an Oriole affiliate. Joe Altobelli managed there as well.


This too shall pass and the Orioles will move on. But the end of this historic relationship deserves a bit more than flippant comments like this:


Yes, Bluefield and the Orioles had plenty of history. But it is tough to get too worked up about this one.


Wow, Dan Connolly, really? There was obviously more to his post but this comment pretty much sums up the tone. Bluefield deserves more than casual dismissal. I get that a lot of fans (or writers) don't care about the minor leagues or team history and Connolly is an MLB writer who, he admits, has never been to Bluefield. But I would expect more historical awareness from a Baltimore native.


I finally got out to Bluefield this summer but the game got rained out. I managed to snap a few pictures of the stadium and stand on the historic field. I am very bummed that I never got to see a game there but was happy I got to visit this little piece of Orioles history. Here's the pics of Bowen Field from this past July:

Snapshots: Bowen Field, Bluefield, WV

On our way back from a family vacation, I talked my wife into a stopover in Bluefield, WV so I could catch a game at this historic stadium. Unfortunately, rain earlier in the day had caused a rain out. (They have a tarp...but it appeared to not have been placed on the field before the rain. Water was pooled all around the first base area. Not sure why that was or if the tarp would have helped anyway...)

The rain out was a real letdown but as I am want, I managed to get into the stadium anyway to snap off a few pictures of this field that is rich in Oriole history. The Bluefield Orioles have been Baltimore's team in the Appalchian League since 1958. Memorial Stadium is gone; Bowen Field is the oldest link to the team's early history. Boog Powell, Cal Ripken, Jr., Eddie Murray and many other Orioles have begun their professional careers on Bowen Field.

Here's the pictures. Next time, I'm hoping for an actual game...

Checking In With the Farm Clubs - High Minors

Not as much to look at in the upper levels as there was in the lower levels...but here they are.

Bowie Baysox

Joel Guzman - 1B/3B/OF

Guzman is a former top prospect in the Dodger organization who flamed out and has bounced around for the last three years. However, the 25-year-old Guzman is hitting .272/.336/.535 with 17 homers for Bowie this season.

Late bloomer? Who knows? But he's an interesting hitter who plays a position that the Orioles need. (I don't know if I should be enthused that the O's found Guzman or depressed that he is, by far, the most promising hitter on the Baysox this season...)

Zach Britton - SP

The top Oriole prospect in the high minors, the 22-year-old Britton continues to impress. His ground ball rate stands at 65.2% this season and that's no fluke; his GB% has been 63% or above for the last four seasons.

K/BB ratio is still more than 2 to 1 and a 2.62 ERA at AA should lead Britton to a promotion to Norfolk before season's end.

Eddie Gamboa - RP

I like Eddie. He rose fast last season and has continued to turn in good work in Bowie. He's striking out a batter an inning and while the walk rate is not great, the K/BB ratio is still 2.5 to 1. He's just another reason I think the bullpen can be rebuilt from within.



Jim Hoey - RP

Hoey seems to have worked himself back from injury problems to and is striking out batters like crazy (11.5 K/9). I guess I'll believe it if he starts doing it at AAA again.



Norfolk Tides

Josh Bell - 3B

Bell has been maligned for a couple reasons this season. First, he can't hit lefties and people are demanding that he abandon switch hitting. (I've never really understood that argument. How do we know he can hit lefties better batting lefthanded than righthanded?) Second, he has not hit overall like he was expected to after his promotion to AAA.

The L/R splits are troubling. However, his bat is probably not as bad as it looks right now. First, his offensive numbers have improved each month of the season:

Slash Line    BB   K   HR
Apr  .238/.256/.405    2  21    3
May  .282/.325/.455    7  29    3
June .275/.367/.451    7  12    2

After a horrific April, he has focused on being more selective at the plate and it has paid off. Taking away April, his K/BB ratio is 3 to 1, not terrific but it's respectable and trending the right way.

Furthermore, according to Minor League Splits, if you normalize his numbers for park factor and luck, his .265/.312/.437 line becomes .294/.338/.494.

He's trending well and hitting better than his numbers show. He won't be pushing Miguel Tejada out of town this season liked many had hoped but he's having a productive season for a 23-year-old in AAA.



Brandon Snyder - 1B

Some better trends for Snyder as well, although in a different manner than Bell.

After putting up an OPS's of .615 and .659 in April and May respectively, Snyder is posting a line of .327/.389/.531 in June. He still isn't walking enough but this follows Snyder's development through the minors thus far. He tends to have a long learning curve when he moves up a level but when he gets it, he catches fire. It has taken him 5 months at AAA to come around but this may be the turning point that lands Snyder in the majors in 2011.

I don't think Snyder will ever be a great first baseman but he will be serviceable enough that we won't have to sign the like of Garrett Atkins again. (Not that we needed to in the first place...)




Tim Bascom - SP

Bascom is the starting pitcher who is closest to Baltimore now that Jake Arrieta was promoted. His stuff is marginal and he's a flyball pitcher but he has improved through each level, especially with his control as his walk rate is a minuscule 1.4 BB/9 in Bowie and Norfolk combined. He paints the corners and will have to hope his control and stuff are good enough to work the edges in the majors...but it could work.



Dennis Sarfate - RP

Just a quick note about Sarfate...

Yeah, he's got his velocity back and he's striking out 11.79 per 9 innings. But his walk rate is 5.32 K/9 and that's not going to play at the next level. Get it under control Dennis.

The Tao of Backman

Need a cure to your Oriole blues? Looking for some inner peace? Need to be reminded why you love baseball to begin with?

Wally Backman has your cure.

Tip of the hat to The Loss Column for posting a video showing Wally Backman getting thrown out of a game while managing the independent league South Georgia Peanuts. It led me to all these videos, excerpts from a TV show called "Playing for Peanuts". If you just want to see the ejection, it's toward the bottom of the post. But all of these put a smile on my face.

Assume that all of this is NSFW.

A 3-DVD set of "Playing for Peanuts" can be purchased at PlayingForPeanuts.com.

Checking In With the Farm Clubs - Low Minors

Delmarva Shorebirds

Garabez Rosa - SS

When I saw Rosa back in April, he looked legit in the field with good range and a big arm. Just 20, he looked good with the glove but kind of limited with the bat and slow of foot on the basepaths. Scouts liked his bat and thought he would come around.

And that's why scouts get paid to watch baseball. Rosa has been on a tear since I saw him in mid-April and has posted a season line of .294/.329/.429 line thus far. He doesn't walk (only 5 all year) but has gap power with 17 doubles in just 46 games. Of course, while his range looks good, he does have 19 errors too. I asked Shorebirds announcer Bret Lasky about him and he said he'll look great for a week or two and then have a stretch where he makes 4 errors in 5 games.

Justin Dalles - C

Justin Dalles is my latest minor league catcher crush. Dalles was a 6th round draft pick in 2009 and looked great to me during the two games I saw him play back in April. He posted a .278/.366/.472 line in 10 games (including hitting the longest homer I've ever seen live) but got laid out during a collision at the plate, not once but twice (was only back three games before getting hit again) and hasn't played since May 6th.

Here's an interview that Delmarva Shorebirds announcer Bret Lasky conducted with Dalles during his first stint on the DL.

Stephen Bumbry - CF

Bumbry is hitting well (.272/.360/.395) but not with a lot of power. Bumbry plays a good center field and shows good on base skills. He's fast, easily able to bunt for hits but is not so good on the bases as he is only 6 for 12 on stolen base attempts.

Tyler Kolodny - 3B

Imagine Kevin Millar with more power. His overall line is impressive (.260/.358/.552) even if his batting average is not. He has a decent walk rate (10%) and has slugged 10 homers in just 41 games. He has some things to work on but has a good approach and just turned 22 in March. They probably need to find space for him in Frederick by mid-season.

edit: Evidently, Kolodny has been sent to extended Spring Training due to disciplinary reasons.

Matt Hobgood - SP

Hobgood has been wild. Great stuff but wild. 25 walks in 52.1 innings, 13 wild pitches and 5 hit batsmen against his 32 strikeouts. He has induced groundballs at a 52% rate, he's only given up three home runs and does boast a FIP of 4.60 (vs his ERA of 4.64). When he gets the ball over the plate, good things happen. But he's really going to have to work on that control if he wants to have success at any level.

Ryan Berry - SP

On the other hand, Ryan Berry has been mowing the SAL down all season. With 43 K's vs just 11 walks in 49 innings. The 2009 9th round pick out of Rice has been a bit inconsistent but the overall ERA of 3.50 (3.67 FIP) is promising.

He's now in Frederick.

Frederick Keys

LJ Hoes

While at the Orioles Minor League Spring Training Camp in Sarasota back in March, I made this observation about Xavier Avery vs. LJ Hoes during batting practice:

Avery took BP and looked how you thought he would; light-hitting, shooting flares and sharp grounders to all fields. Hoes was a different story. The ball jumped off his bat and he was showing good gap power. It was only BP but Hoes is only 20. You might want to look for increased power from him this season.

So far, that has been correct. After posting ISO's of .082 and .058 for each of the last two seasons, Hoes has an ISO of .105 for Frederick with 8 doubles, a triple and a homer in 35 games. He's not Albert Pujols or anything but is a nice development. Adding the fact that he has walked more than he has struck out (24 to 17), his .290/.413/.395 line looks like a good step forward. He's got to be the best middle infield prospect in the system.

Xavier Avery - CF

Of course, I didn't see Avery's power surge coming. Since 2007, he's gone from an ISO of .057 to .078 to .095 this season. Again, he's not exactly a slugger but it's a good development to go with his speed and defense in center. He has a slash line of .280/.338/.375 through 49 games.

Billy Rowell - 3B

I was glad that the organization decided to leave Rowell in Frederick to start 2010. Promoting someone to AA after the year Rowell had in 2009 felt like they were just giving up on him. So far, Rowell has responded well by hitting .248/.364/.372 so far. Yes, it's his third season at Frederick and he's been a little lucky with his BABIP but he's still only 21. You've already got money invested in him and he could be a late bloomer like Jayson Werth was. It's better to promote a guy when he's ready and Rowell just wasn't ready to make the leap to AA yet. Maybe they can salvage some value out of him yet, even if he won't ever be the star they envisioned when they drafted him.

Ronnie Welty - OF

Frederick's version of Tyler Kolodny, Welty has good power (ISO over .200 so far) and good strike zone control (.369 OBP for his minor league career). He's OPSing .834 for the season and he already has 9 home runs vs the 10 he hit all last season.

Nathan Nery - SP

Could this be a lefty version of Brad Bergesen? 25-year-old Nery is getting groundballs at a 57% rate and walking less than 2 per 9 innings. A 3.86 ERA makes him arguably the best starter in Frederick.

Brandon Cooney - RP

Cooney's physique makes Hobgood look slim. But he throws hard and the Keys closer is dominating the Carolina League with a 0.55 ERA and 19 Ks in 16 innings pitched. Look for a mid-season promotion to Bowie.



Jose Duran - RP

Duran was a a Rule 5 selection in the AAA phase this year. Duran is an imposing figure and has been nearly as dominant as Cooney. With a 0.94 ERA and 26 Ks in 29 innings pitched, Duran could find himself in Bowie's bullpen before season's end as well.

Delmarva Shorebirds @ Greenville Drive – 4/10/2010

LF T.J. Baxter went 3-3 and 1B Tyler Kolodny went 3-3 with a HR as the Shorebirds beat the Drive (Red Sox affiliate) 6-4 in Greenville last night. Baxter got on base for all four plate appearances and Kolodny fell just a double short of the cycle during starting pitcher Matt Hobgood's A-ball debut.

The Orioles' top draft pick in 2009, Hobgood looked dominant at times but struggled with his control at others, at one point walking three straight batters. Hobgood walked five but struck out four and only gave up three hits, two solid hits to the outfield (a single and a double) and a weakly hit infield single.

Baxter and Kolodny were the offensive stars of the evening. Kolodny scored three runs and stole a base while Baxter scored two and stole two bases of his own. C Justin Dalles added a solo home run in the 7th, a moonshot that cleared the 30 ft centerfield wall, 410 feet away from home plate with plenty of room to spare.

The Shorebirds' hitters had little problem with Drive starter Manuel Rivera as the lefty gave up 4 earned runs to take the loss.

Nick Haughian, Randy Henry and Josh Dowdy combined for 5 innings of relief. Haughian earned the win with 2 shutout innings and Dowdy picked up his second save of the season.


More observations to follow...

John Stockstill, David Stockstill to Switch Jobs

Saw this from Ken Rosenthal this morning:

The Orioles, shaking up their front office as Opening Day nears, are replacing farm director David Stockstill, according to major-league sources.


Stockstill will move into another position, sources said. His brother, John, the team’s director of international scouting, will take over some of David's duties...

The Orioles will portray the change in a positive light, one source said, but club officials had grown increasingly frustrated with David Stockstill’s approach to player development.

Andy MacPhail, the Orioles’ president of baseball operations, inherited David Stockstill when he took over on June 20, 2007. John Stockstill had worked for MacPhail with the Chicago Cubs.


Roch Kubatko then had this:


David is expected to switch roles with his brother, John, the director of international scouting... 

John has been hanging around the minor league side of the Sarasota complex, so I guess that was the first clue that something was in the works.

Why was this done? Poor player development if you believe Rosenthal but MacPhail has expressly denied this. We may not know for awhile, if ever.

Former Oriole beat writer Jorge Arangure tweeted this which might be the most important development of all::

#Orioles reassignment of J Stockstill is another clear sign of MacPhail's autonomy. Stockstill is very close with Angelos  

Stockstill move is something that won't make major headlines but is an important indication of who is calling the shots for them.





And maybe that's all that matters right now.

Orioles Minor League Camp in Sarasota, 3/6-3/8

One of the great benefits of the Orioles moving their Spring Training home to Sarasota is that now their minor league camp is just a few miles away from the Ed Smith complex. It is held at the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes park just on the east side of I-75.

This encompasses my impressions over two days...

The first day, I arrived waaaay too early. I got there just after 9 AM but on this particular day, the team meeting wasn't even happening until 9:45. At 9:15, this is all you were going to see. Orioles roving catching instructor Minor League Catching Coordinator Don Werner testing out the JUGS machine with C Wally Crancer as they tested out a new training method.




Granted, this is some real "inside baseball" and I really only recorded a bit because Werner said he had never tried it before and I thought something funny might happen but I got a kick out of seeing little drills like this and how things are run on a professional level.

At 9:45, all the players gathered on one field and were given the schedule for the day. After that, calisthenics began.



Then long toss...




Then they broke up into groups for the drills. The pitchers were working on fielding drills and throwing a short bullpen sessions. The catchers were working on glovework and footwork. Here's catching prospect Michael Ohlman facing the JUGS machine:



A side note about the pitching drills: P Ryohei Tanaka came over from Japan last season but unlike Koji Uehara, Tanaka was not a star in Japan and does not travel with his own interpreter. He seems to know some English but does not appear to be fluent. So when the air horn would sound and everyone would move from field to field, Tanaka would sometimes start toward the wrong station as if he didn't fully understand the instruction given at the morning meeting. RP Brandon Cooney would always make sure he got to where he needed to be. "Tanaka! Over here! This way!" was heard more than a couple times. Cooney instantly became one of my favorite Baby Birds. (Cooney is also on Baseball America's list of Top 30 Oriole prospects.)

After about an hour and a half, the pitchers were done and the batting practice started. It was not time for hitters to report yet but there were a few notable prospects there. Xavier Avery...



LJ Hoes, Brandon Waring and Mike Flacco...


We came back on Monday to watch some more batting practice and more hitters had reported by then. A couple of interesting notes from BP...

CF Xavier Avery and 2B L.J. Hoes were 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2008 and are very similar looking players, same size, same build. Avery took BP and looked how you thought he would; light-hitting, shooting flares and sharp grounders to all fields. Hoes was a different story. The ball jumped off his bat and he was showing good gap power. It was only BP but Hoes is only 20. You might want to look for increased power from him this season.

3B Brandon Waring showed the most consistent power during the sessions I watched. But who showed the most raw power? OF/1B Jacob Julius. 23-year-old Julius only posted a .228/.304/.345 line for Delmarva last year but he was launching ball all over the field and over the fence during BP. Lots of fun to watch.

On Monday, I brought the kids since they wanted to get some autographs. As the guys headed for the clubhouse, many obliged. P Vito Frabizio threw them each a ball from the practice field.

Overall, it was a good atmosphere. I was usually one of maybe 5 or 6 people at most and the complex is wide open. You have to watch out for batted balls because drills are happening everywhere. My only regret is that I'm not here later in camp for live BP, scrimmages or games. That's something I'll have to remedy next year.

Baby Birds: The Notable Minor League Performances of 2009: Part 2

Part 1 was last week and covered the low minors. Now, we look at Frederick, Bowie and Norfolk.

Frederick Keys - High A

1B/3B Brandon Waring

         G    AVG    OBP    SLG    BB   K    2B    HR   SB
Waring   128  .273   .354   .520    45  120   35    26    5

At 23, Waring tore up the Carolina League. Waring came over from Cincinnati in the Ramon Hernandez trade in the offseason and had the best year of his professional career. Waring took home the Caroline League MVP award and continued to hit well in a brief stint in Bowie to finish the season.


OF Robbie Widlansky

            G    AVG   OBP   SLG   BB   K   2B   HR   SB
Widlansky   86   .340  .395  .506   29  48   31    7    5

An 11th round draft selection out of Florida Atlantic in 2007, Widlansky won the Carolina League batting title with a .340 average and showed some good gap power. At 24, Widlansky was a bit old for the league too but he and Waring should make the Baysox lineup a bit more formidable in 2010.


SP Zach Britton

          IP    ERA   BB   K    HR   WHIP
Britton  140.0  2.70   55  131    6   1.27

A 21-year-old lefty sinkerballer who was named Carolina League pitcher of the year, struck out nearly a batter per inning and induced groundballs 65% of the time. Yeah, it's time to start getting excited about Zach Britton. The 3rd round pick in the 2006 draft is paying dividends.


RP Pat Egan

           IP    ERA    BB    K   HR   WHIP
Egan       92.2  1.94    16   75    2   0.96

The stats above are cumulative from stints in Delmarva, Frederick and Bowie but the bulk of it was as a Key. A 36th round pick in 2006, Egan keeps the ball in the park, walks damn near nobody and can strike you out to boot.


Bowie Baysox - AA

3B Josh Bell

          G     AVG   OBP   SLG   BB    K    2B   HR   SB
Bell      127   .295  .376  .516   61   98    35   20    3

The stats above are the combined numbers from his time in Chattanooga and his time in Bowie but he was equally good on both teams. Only 22, Bell came to the Oriole organization in the George Sherrill trade and looks to be on the fast track to Baltimore. He's the best hope for a "home grown" solution to Baltimore third base vacancy.


SP Steve Johnson

          IP    ERA   BB   K    HR   WHIP
Johnson  145.1  3.41   62  154   18   1.28

While we're on the Sherrill trade, Johnson was the second half of the haul. Johnson's a flyball pitcher but the righty mowed down hitters while pitching for three teams at two levels in '09. May stay at Bowie to begin 2010 but should be in Norfolk shortly.


RP Eddie Gamboa

         IP    ERA   BB    K    HR   WHIP
Gamboa   83.2  1.08   17   75     5   1.17

Another late round pick (21st round in 2008), Gamboa started the year in Delmarva and ended up in Bowie. He's moved fast and seems to be getting better. He's part of the good relief pitching depth in the Oriole system.


RP Luis Lebron

          IP     ERA   BB    K    HR   WHIP
Lebron    60.1   2.54   33   91     5   0.99

The 24-year-old righty from the Dominican Republic was absolutely filthy striking out 13.06 per 9 and saving 20 games between Frederick and Bowie. He throws in the upper 90's and can throw a slider for strikes.


Norfolk Tides - AAA

OF Jeff Fiorentino

             G    AVG    OBP    SLG   BB    K   2B   HR   SB
Fiorentino   102  .312   .387   .510   48   62   26   12   13

At the age of 26, Fiorentino finally put together a season the Orioles were hoping for when they drafted him in the third round in 2004. He led the Tides in average, on base percentage, homers and RBI. Let bloomer? Fluke season? Who cares? It was a hell of a performance.


SP Jake Arrieta

           IP    ERA    BB    K    HR    WHIP
Arrieta   150.2  3.40    56   148   13    1.37

The stats above are combined and he dominated at Bowie but by season's end he had his legs under him in Norfolk and posted a 3.60 ERA over his last 10 starts. He'll start the season in Norfolk but could be in Baltimore by the All-Star break.


RP Josh Perrault

           IP    ERA    BB    K    HR    WHIP
Perrault   72.0  2.13    18   74     7    1.01

He's 27 but he was lights out in his first year in the Oriole organization. Stats include his Bowie stint and he's heading to the AFL and if he performs well, he may be in position to make the Oriole bullpen out of Spring Training.

Baby Birds: The Notable Minor League Performances of 2009: Part 1

With the minor league season wrapping up this week, I wanted to shine a spotlight on some fine performances from players in the Oriole minor leagues. Not all of these guys are considered prospects but they all had good seasons in 2009. Part 1 will cover the lower leagues up to low A Delmarva and Part 2 will cover high-A Frederick through AAA Norfolk. I will not be talking about guys like Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz who made the jump to the majors...everyone knows about them already.


Bluefield Orioles - Short Season Rookie

RHP Vito Fabrizio

           G   IP    ERA   BB   SO  HR  WHIP
Fabrizio  12  70.0  2.96   16   64   5  1.04

Hats off to you if you can find any background on this guy. (Feel free to leave it in the comments if you do.) Great name though.

He doesn't appear to have been drafted but the 20-year-old righthander tore up the Appalchian League and was the only Oriole named to the 2009 Appy League All-Star team. Batters hit just .223 against Fabrizio in '09. I expect he'll be with Delmarva next season.


SS Gary Helmick

          G    AVG   OBP   SLG   BB   SO   2B   HR   SB
Helmick  43   .282  .346  .479   15   22   10    4    5

Severn native Gary Helmick had a solid season with the glove and the bat for Bluefield. He's 21 and displayed a well-rounded game. Sadly, this was the best offense performance for any batter in Bluefield this year.


RHP Sam Taveras

            G    IP    ERA   BB   SO   HR   WHIP
Taveras    19   23.0  2.74    7   19    0   1.23

Here's an interesting relief arm. 21-year-old Taveras saved 4 games for Bluefield, posted a nice strikout rate and is an extreme groundball pitcher who has only given up 1 homer in 75 professional innings. I'm curious to see if he can keep the ball in the park at the higher levels.


Aberdeen Ironbirds - Short Season Low A

3B/DH Levi Carolus

           G   AVG   OBP   SLG   BB   SO   2B   HR   SB
Carolus   44  .320  .346  .426    8   38   13    1    9

Another great name! 21-year-old Curacao native is a free swinger but hit .320 with some gap power and stole 9 bases while being caught only 3 times. He has continued the good work in Delmarva for the 9 games since his call up. Sadly, (again) he is the only bat of note at Aberdeen this year.


LHP Nick Haughian

            G    IP    ERA   BB   SO   HR   WHIP
Haughian   13   74.2  2.05   20   54    2   1.08

22-year-old lefty who was drafted out of Washington in the 8th round of the 2008 draft. Not a ton of strikeouts but he got the job done ranking 4th in ERA among New York-Penn League starters.


RHP James Brandhorst

             G   IP    ERA   BB   SO   HR    WHIP
Brandhorst  19  24.0  1.50    6   26    0    1.04

21-year-old righty drafted in the 20th round this year saved four games for the Ironbirds and struck out more than 10 per 9 IP in relief. Another guy to keep an eye on out of the Delmarva bullpen in 2010.


Delmarva Shorebirds - Low A

OF Ronnie Welty

          G    AVG   OBP   SLG   BB   SO   2B   HR   SB
Welty   114   .294  .373  .422   41  113   24    9   12

21-year-old outfielder showed a well-rounded game with very good onbase skills. Drafted in the 20th round in 2008, Welty has progressed well for a later round draft pick. He was the sole Shorebird to be named to the 2009 South Atlantic League All-Star Team.


LHP Cole McCurry

           G    IP    ERA   BB   SO  HR   WHIP
McCurry   24  125.2  2.86   42  128   1   1.23

Another late round pick, (43rd round in 2008), McCurry's strikeout rates continue to grow. The Tennessee Wesleyan product struck out more than 1 per inning in 2009 and is still just 23. He ranks in the top five in ERA among SAL starters.


RHP Brandon Cooney

        G   IP    ERA  BB  SO  HR  WHIP
Cooney 47  54.2  2.47  19  45   2  1.24

The stats above are his combined numbers between Delmarva and Frederick but he spent most of the season as a Shorebird. Cooney is enormous at 6'6" and 240 pounds and was drafted in the 30th round in 2007. His strikeout rate is decent but he was killing worms this season as he groundball to flyball ratio was more than 2 to 1.


Next time, Frederick, Bowie and Norfolk...

At The Game: Birmingham Barons

I was in Birmingham over the weekend for a wedding but managed to get away Saturday night to see a ball game. The Birmingham Barons were hsoting the Jacksonville Suns in a Southern League showdown at Regions Field.

The Barons are probably most famous for being the minor league team that Michael Jordan played for during his attempt to play professional baseball. The Barons used to have pretty cool uniforms but Saturday night they sported some cheesy powder-blue jerseys:

Not too suave if you ask me.

It was Star Wars night which entertained my son to no end.

A very nice stadium and a good game experience except for one minor complaint. They had all these inflatable, jumpy things over in a plaza near leftfield. There is no sign stating that your kid cannot play on them until you buy him a $5 ticket! You only find out once you get right outside the moonwalk (or whatever they call them these days). It would be nice to know beforehand.

The weather threatened but we never got more than a passing sprinkle.

The Barons won the game 2-0. Barons SP Carlos Torres (leads the Southern League in wins, second in strikeouts) shut down the Suns for 8 innings and then turned the game over to closer Jon Link (leads the league in saves) who picked up his 19th save. Then the fireworks began!

More pictures of the game below.

Barons

At The Game: Chattanooga Lookouts - 4/28/2008

The Chattanooga Lookouts are the longtime AA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and play in the relatively new AT&T Field built in 2000.

We got there early since my son likes to get autographs. The usher showed us the door that connects the clubhouse to the field and said that would be the best place for autographs. The players were very accommodating and had practically covered the ball with signatures by the time we were done. Easily, 12 players signed for all the kids that were waiting. Very fan friendly. Orioles management...are you listening?

Two distinctive features of the park:

A

When a Lookouts player hits a home run, the Chattanooga Choo Choo emerges from the centerfield wall accompanied by lots of steam from the smokestack, lights and whistles too. My two-year old daughter enjoyed that very much.

Also, the bullpens are built into the outfield wall so you can't see the pitchers warming up. There is only a small window in each bullpen so the pitchers can watch the game. It was an odd configuration.

The Carolina Mudcats were in town and featured several top prospects for the Florida Marlins including CF Cameron Maybin and LHP Aaron Thompson.

The next day we happened upon this sculpture outside of the Hunter Museum of American Art:

Who says baseball can't be a work of art? The sculpture is by John Dreyfuss, a sculptor from Washington, D.C. It's called Full Count.

Pictures of the game and more below...

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Chattanooga Lookouts

No Tase Yo, Bro

A great post by Matt Taylor at Roar From 34 about Orioles first base coach John Shelby and his ties to the glory days in Baltimore.

I have found it ironic that since John Shelby was hired that our first base coach and our third base coach, Juan Samuel, were both on the field the last time the Orioles won the World Series...but that Samuel was on the losing end of things with the Phillies.

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Tampa Bay Rays reliever Al Reyes (perhaps their best reliever) was arrested early Friday morning after an altercation at a Tampa nightclub. Reyes was punched in the face and after bouncers grabbed the man, Reyes started swinging his arms at anybody near him and spat blood at bystanders as well. ("Spanky" Huff was right. The nightlife is much better in Tampa. I never used to get blood spit on me in Fells Point...)

But there's more...

...Reyes got into a fight with another man, Eduardo Mora...

Mora...hmmmm. Could Melvin Mora have sent one of his relatives to provoke a known drunken hothead so Melvin would not have to face him this weekend? Coincidence?

Further investigation shows that Melvin is 2-4 with a homer against Al Reyes in his career ruining potential conspiracy theory...

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SC of Camden Chat has his nominations for the 2008 Oriole Magic Mix Tape. Brilliant. And SC has been doing regular posts about the O's minor league teams that provide a quick one-stop shop update for the Baby Birds.

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No Scott Kazmir, no Matt Garza, no Cliff Floyd, no Rocco Baldelli, probably no Al Reyes, perhaps no Willie Aybar...a good opportunity to put a hurtin' on the Ray. Let's go O's!

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So for this week's version of Song of the Week, I felt like going for a little jazz. This is the John Coltrane Quartet performing "Afro Blue". You have to get past the credits and the cheesy jazz critic leaning on the piano and smoking his pipe but besides that it is outstanding. Known mostly for his work on the tenor sax, Coltrane take a swing with the soprano sax on this one but this ain't no Kenny G! The rest of the quartet (McCoy Tyner (p), Jimmy Garrison (b) and Elvin Jones (d)) were outstanding musicians in their own right but quite underrated with Coltrane looming so large. Have a great weekend!

More Prospects...

After reading Alex Eisenberg's article in The Hardball Times that featured Chorye Spoone, I decided to check out his blog to see if any other Oriole prospects were mentioned.

Among guys he sees as potential breakout players (meaning Top 10 prospects) this season are Frederick Keys pitcher David Hernandez and soon to be Key Bobby Henson.

Hernandez was certainly not on my radar but indeed had a solid but inconsistent year. Henson is only 20 and tore it up as an Ironbird last season. Heaven knows we could use all the middle infield prospects we can get.

Recent acquisition Chris Tillman is also featured as one of the most underrated prospects in baseball.

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The new baseball season is getting me thirsty for some beer from Maryland. No, not Natty Boh. I can get Clipper City brews down here, maybe I'll go pick up a 12 pack this weekend. Anybody out there drink Clipper City? Recommendations?

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A quick thought on Tampa Bay: I watched the Wednesday game again last night, at least the parts I missed. I will reiterate that I don't see how the Rays are going to take a giant leap forward this season until they can improve their defense. Especially up the middle. Errors, knocking the ball around, dropping balls before the throw...stuff that gives a mediocre lineup like Baltimore too many chances to beat you. What's going to happen against really good teams?

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I've got some ideas on deeper analysis for the team so I'm going to go work on those now. With no game last night, pretty slow for Orioles news.

Here's the Song of the Week feature I'm going to start up. Nothing to do with the Orioles at all, just some of my favorite bands/songs as a diversion.

This week, everybody's favorite Indie rock kings from Manitoba, The Weakerthans. This is "A Civil Twighlight" from their latest album "Reunion Tour". Enjoy.




The Weakerthans