I have heard some fans and media guys over the years say the quality start stat is not a good one because you can have an ERA of 4.50 and get a quality start.
For those that don't know, a quality start is defined as an outing where a starting pitcher goes six innings or more and gives up three earned runs or less.
So, yes, if you give up exactly 3ER over 6IP, you fulfill the minimum requirement and your ERA for that game is 4.50.
But if you give up 2ER over 6IP, the ERA is 3.00. If you...
Checking in and commenting on some recent news around the baseball world:
Cashman courts Lee: No one should be surprised the Yankees' GM headed to Arkansas to talk with Cliff Lee and his agent.
Why aren't the O's headed there too? Because they have no shot at Lee and it's crazy to pay 100 million or more for a pitcher. Pitchers get hurt and most megabucks free agent contracts for pitchers have backfired, dating back to Kevin Brown and the Dodgers.
You can add Mike Hampton and...
If the Orioles are going to add that so called "big bat" during free agency, the supply of quality hitters is certainly larger at first base than at third.
Adrian Beltre heads up a not great list of free agent third sackers, while Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko top the list of first baseman.
Dunn and Konerko are both type A free agents. Because the O's draft among the top 15 in the first-round of next June's draft, they cannot lose that pick. If they signed any type A free agent that is...
When catcher Caleb Joseph went home after this season, he had time to think about his play at Double-A Bowie this year.
The O's seventh-round pick out of Lipscomb University in 2008, he hit .235-11-51 in 106 Baysox games. He called it a "terrible year." It came a season after he hit .284 with Frederick and was among the O's top ten prospects on some lists.
"I wasn't getting the job done offensively and felt I was very average defensively. I've never struggled like that in my life...
In the wildest dreams of an Orioles' fan, there will be a day soon when, at a press conference, the O's announce the signing of Cliff Lee to a five-year, $125 million dollar contract.
Lee steps to the mic and says he noticed some of that good young pitching on the O's roster and how the team responded to Buck Showalter and wants to be a part of it. He adds, "Hey, the O's kicked my butt a couple of times, I didn't forget that either."
Of course, in our dreams is probably the only place...
Earlier this week, I wrote about Ronnie Welty. The 22-year-old played right field for the Frederick Keys in 2010 and had a very good season, finishing among the Carolina League leaders in several categories.
Yet, Welty is almost never mentioned as one of the O's better prospects.
But he has made three post-season All-Star teams in three different leagues over three years. That is pretty impressive. I guess we could say he has flown "under the radar."
Today, here are two questions for...
The hot stove season in baseball can be a lot of fun. It's a time where there is a lot of speculation about which players will end up where, who will sign for what dollar amounts and so forth.
It can also be a bit of a frustrating time.
There are just so many reports and speculation out there anymore and, to me, pretty much every year now, most of it winds up being not completely true or, at the other end of the spectrum, totally wrong.
I know that every time any player signs with just...
If the Orioles want to challenge the big boys in the American League East, their best chance may be to win the arms race.
While I keep hearing the O's need a big bat or two to add to their lineup, didn't we just get yet another strong lesson that it's more about the pitching.
The San Francisco Giants finished ninth this year in the regular season in runs scored in the National League. They finished first in team ERA.
The Giants won the World Series during a postseason where they...
When O's fans talk about some of the best prospects on the Orioles farm, they often leave Ronnie Welty off the list.
Maybe they shouldn't.
Sometimes overlooked, but productive now for three seasons in a row, the 22-year-old Welty is coming off a real solid season in the Carolina League.
In 130 games with Frederick, the right fielder hit .282-18-82 with 32 doubles, 86 runs and an OPS of .814.
"I started out really good and was really pleased with my start. Then got into kind of a funk...
It's believed to be the first time it's ever happened, but on Sunday, an NFL regular season game beat a World Series game in the television ratings.
The Steelers and Saints drew an 11.8 rating on NBC, while the Rangers vs. the Giants posted a 10.4 on Fox.
No, it's not because the Simpsons or Cops are a lousy lead-in.
You want to know why I think it happened? Three main reasons.
Gambling, fantasy football and new October teams.
I know the NFL is a ratings powerhouse and is now...
Baseball America has released its list of the Orioles current top ten prospects, with Manny Machado number one after playing only a handful of games. That's no surprise really, given the hype about his talents.
O's minor league player of the year Joe Mahoney did not make the top ten - Maybe no surprise after the comments we got recently from Jim Callis when he said he felt Mahoney was not a top prospect.
Here is the list. Feel free to add your comments.
Please note that some of the...
Did you ever wonder......
*Why in baseball, when a fly ball hits that big yellow pole down the line, it's a home run even though it just hit the "foul" pole.
*Why baseball doesn't have a stat for team error? When a pop that clearly should be caught, drops between two defenders, the batter should not get credit for that hit. That should be an example of a team error.
*If baseball will play a weekday World Series game in the daytime ever again.
*Why some fans are so quick to rush to...
Koji Uehara went 1-2, 2.86 this season with 13 saves in 15 chances and didn't walk a batter over his last 32 appearances.
But to this point, it appears the Orioles haven't made much of an attempt to resign him and Uehara can soon become a Major League free agent.
Makes you wonder if the O's are skeptical of Koji's late-season success and ability to handle the closer's role. Maybe they are scared off by all the time he spent on the DL in his two seasons with the club or the fact that...
With the news yesterday that Jim Presley is going to be named the new Orioles' hitting coach, I wonder what that means for Terry Crowley.
The Crow will become an "offensive evaluator" for the organization, according to reports. Until we hear from Buck Showalter or Andy MacPhail when the new coaching staff is officially announced, I am not sure what his role will be exactly.
Is this the club's way of phasing Crowley out or realizing that they need a new voice as hitting coach?
Crowley...
The date was July 29, 2006.
No, that was not the first day I dreamed of one day becoming a blogger. It was the date of Jim Johnson's one and still only Major League appearance as a starting pitcher.
He lasted just three innings and gave up nine hits and eight runs in his big league debut.
So in parts of five Major League seasons, just one of Johnson's 146 appearances came as a starter after he made 121 minor league starts.
Late last season there was some speculation that Johnson wanted a...
The deadline has been moved up this year, and five days after the World Series teams can begin to sign free agents.
Up until that time, teams can negotiate with and re-sign their own free agents. The Orioles have seven such players, but barring something unforeseen, they are not expected to sign any of them before that date.
"I wouldn't rule it out, but I don't think we have anything in the offing," O's president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "One of things the...
The Orioles are scheduled to hold organizational meetings next week in Arizona. They will hold meetings that begin on Wednesday and run through next Saturday.
The assembled will also have some time to check out some Arizona Fall League games.
"We'll review our season and our needs," O's president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "Talk about how we can fill them internally and externally. Go through some housekeeping matters that pertain to the organization. Nothing too out...
I can still remember it now.
I wrote a column last winter that got some readers very stirred up. It brought me what felt like an avalanche of criticism. Some questioned my sanity, not to mention my intelligence about baseball.
The comment I made was pretty simple. I wrote that, at his best, Jeremy Guthrie is in John Lackey's class as a pitcher.
I'd like to remind you that I wrote that about a pitcher coming off a season where he led the league in losses and had an ERA of 5.04.
But I...
When I interviewed Joe Mahoney Sunday about his wrist injury that forced him to head home from Venezuela, the topic came up.
I asked Mahoney, the O's minor league player of the year, his take on being left off Baseball America's top 20 prospects lists for the Carolina League and the Eastern League.
"One of my buddies called and brought it up. We have a running joke that I never get on any of those things.
"I'll treat it like other things I see that can be a disappointment, I'll use it...
It's not a long list, and it's subject to change, but here is the current list of Orioles' players already playing or soon to be playing in winter ball leagues around the world.
Puerto Rico:
Pitcher Brandon Cooney with Carolina
Venezuela:
Pitcher Chad Thall with Zulia
Mexico:
Pitcher Eddie Gamboa with Mexicali
Dominican Republic:
IF-OF-C Jake Fox with Licey
Australia:
Pitcher Cole McCurry
Pitcher Brett Jacobsen
IF-OF Robbie Widlansky
OF Ronnie Welty
This group of four will soon arrive...