masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgLuke Scott received a nice ovation before the game while accepting his award as Most Valuable Oriole. And it was obvious from the way he smiled and thanked reporters at his locker that the honor meant a great deal to him.

“Good choice,” manager Buck Showalter said. “And there are some other people you could make a case for, too, but Luke, I think he’s starting to grasp that he doesn’t have to defend a foul ball and he’s OK with passing the baton a little bit. He gives us a lot of…Luke Scott received a nice ovation before the game while accepting his award as Most Valuable Oriole. And it was obvious from the way he smiled and thanked reporters at his locker that the honor meant a great deal to him.

“Good choice,” manager Buck Showalter said. “And there are some other people you could make a case for, too, but Luke, I think he’s starting to grasp that he doesn’t have to defend a foul ball and he’s OK with passing the baton a little bit. He gives us a lot of presence in the lineup. As long as he stays in that mentality of passing the baton to the next guy, he’s going to…I look for his walk total to jump a lot next year.

“I talked to Luke about this as quick as last night. He works very hard at first base, he works very hard in left field. This is not a guy who’s going to constantly fit into the DH spot. There’s potential for him to grow into a guy who’s a fulltime guy, left and right, if he stays away from letting them take him away from the strike zone.

“He’s had a big year for us and he’s been pretty consistent for the most part, I know since I’ve been here. I know he went through a couple periods where that wasn’t the case, but I’m hoping that what we’re seeing the last two months is a product that we can count on.”