Steve Melewski

O's Chris Holt on pitchers using performance centers in winter

December 08, 2021, 10:04am

Orioles

O's Chris Holt on pitchers using performance centers in winter

Recently, in this entry, I interviewed Orioles pitching coach/director of pitching Chris Holt and we discussed offseason velocity gains for pitchers. Can they make them, should they try to do so and how do they go about it? Holt and the organization are in favor of pitchers looking to improve their game, but they also have a strong interest in how a player intends to do this and what help and resources are available. During our discussion about velocity, I also asked Holt about the bigger...

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Jim Callis' take on O's 2021 draft picks and a look ahead to 2022

December 08, 2021, 9:52am

Orioles

Jim Callis' take on O's 2021 draft picks and a look ahead to 2022

They are still a long way from the major leaguers, but seeing a host of players from the 2021 Orioles draft class end the year playing so well at low Single-A Delmarva was a real plus for the organization. After drafting players they are high on in the first two drafts under Mike Elias - like Adley Rutschman, Kyle Stowers, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Coby Mayo and Heston Kjerstad - the class of '21 was raking late in the year with the Shorebirds after starting their pro careers this...

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Even after injury-marred season Vavra ascends to 40-man

December 07, 2021, 4:48pm

Orioles

Even after injury-marred season Vavra ascends to 40-man

Even though injuries limited to him to just 48 games last season and he has only 40 games under his belt at the Double-A level, infielder Terrin Vavra made it to the Orioles' 40-man roster late last month . Drafted in round three (No. 96 overall) in 2018 by the Colorado Rockies out of the University of Minnesota, Vavra came to the O's organization in a trade for reliever Mychal Givens on Aug. 30, 2020. Givens went to the Rockies and the Orioles acquired Vavra and Tyler Nevin, along with a...

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Memory Lane trip: The 2011 Carolina League champion Frederick Keys

December 07, 2021, 3:05pm

Orioles

Memory Lane trip: The 2011 Carolina League champion Frederick Keys

The year was 2011. Two teenaged Orioles prospects were about to play their first full seasons of professional baseball. One was an international signee, the other a No. 3 overall draft pick. They would soon become close friends and would play together in Baltimore. But that year, Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado began the season as teammates at low Single-A Delmarva and ended the year leading high Single-A Frederick to the Carolina League championship. The last two O's farm teams to win...

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Delmarva Shorebirds will feature an international roster in '22

December 07, 2021, 2:57pm

Orioles

Delmarva Shorebirds will feature an international roster in '22

As the Orioles continue to work to improve their international program, some players signed and/or acquired by the club since Mike Elias took over as executive vice president and general manager, will make their way to full-season ball on the farm in 2022. The Orioles' two teams in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League had a strong international flavor last season and some of the top players are expected to compete for spots on the low Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds roster for the '22...

How much of Tanner Scott's 2021 season was derailed by injury?

December 07, 2021, 1:31pm

Orioles

How much of Tanner Scott's 2021 season was derailed by injury?

He is the lefty reliever with the power arm, but inconsistent control and command. We've seen him look like the best reliever in the league and also one that had no idea where the ball is going. But while he put together some really strong numbers during the shortened 2020 season, southpaw Tanner Scott struggled late in the 2021 season. There may have been an easy explanation for that, but until we see more of him in 2022, we just don't know for sure. In 2020 - and, yes, it was over just 20...

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Orioles' goal: Turn highly rated farm into major league wins

December 06, 2021, 8:27am

Orioles

Within a span of about eight days in August, the Orioles farm system got some major recognition from the two top outlets that cover prospects and player development. Their farm system was rated No. 2 by Baseball America in mid-August. Then, in late August, the Orioles were ranked No. 1 in organizational rankings by MLBPipeline.com. In was part of a steady rise for the O's farm system. In the 2020 MLBPipeline.com preseason rankings, the O's were rated No. 13 and then they moved to No. 8 by...

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Adley Rutschman's arrival will be a 2022 highlight

December 05, 2021, 12:01pm

Orioles

Adley Rutschman's arrival will be a 2022 highlight

Looking forward to a day when we talk about baseball more than lockouts, the most anticipated date on the calendar for the 2022 Orioles figures to be the arrival day for catcher Adley Rutschman. The day that baseball's No. 1 prospect arrives in the majors. Unlike some players that go back and forth and take a while to establish themselves at the big league level, Rutschman's arrival will likely be permanent, and greatness is expected from the start. That is a lot of pressure, but it goes with...

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Veteran pitchers could provide more development time for younger ones

December 04, 2021, 4:11pm

Orioles

Veteran pitchers could provide more development time for younger ones

When it was reported this week that the Orioles reached an agreement with right-handed starting pitcher Jordan Lyles for the 2022 season, the news was met with mixed reviews from the O's fan base. Some were pleased at least that the team invested a one-year deal for $7 million on a player, signing someone to a big league deal and for more than a player could earn on a minor league deal. Others noted that Lyles' ERA was only 5.15 last year and he led the majors by allowing 38 homers. But it...

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Will DJ Stewart face a challenge to hold his roster spot?

December 03, 2021, 11:40am

Orioles

Will DJ Stewart face a challenge to hold his roster spot?

There were high hopes for the two hitters the Orioles selected at the top of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. There was Florida State outfielder DJ Stewart, taken No. 25 overall by the club in round one. There was Florida high school infielder Ryan Mountcastle, taken No. 36 by the team. Both, of course, have made the big club, but save for a few stretches here and there, Mountcastle has been much more productive than Stewart. And while Mountcastle seems to have a future on the team batting in...

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A look at more free agent pitchers

December 02, 2021, 12:09pm

Orioles

Now that the Orioles have an agreement with right-hander Jordan Lyles for 2022, pending a post-lockout physical, are they done looking for pitchers? Not very likely. Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at some back end rotation options as noted by MLBTradeRumors.com and going in alphabetical order. So we have addressed pitchers like Brett Anderson all the way through Lyles. Yep, he was in our last grouping of pitchers that were potential future Orioles. He was mentioned in this post....

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A few notes on O's agreement with Jordan Lyles

December 01, 2021, 7:43pm

Orioles

A few notes on O's agreement with Jordan Lyles

For the Orioles, a new pitcher arrived just before a baseball lockout did. It was just after midnight this morning when Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted that the Orioles were in agreement to add free agent right-handed pitcher Jordan Lyles on a one-year contract worth $7 million that includes a club option for the 2023 season. Lyles pitched for the Texas Rangers the last two years. He signed a two-year deal with Texas for $16 million on Dec. 13, 2019. In 12 games during the shortened 2020...

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Hopefully the players and owners won't test fan patience

December 01, 2021, 3:16pm

Orioles

Hopefully the players and owners won't test fan patience

Maybe I am completely wrong here, but at least as is relates to the game's fans, a lockout in Major League Baseball, for now, means very little. Yes the flow of news will slow but there will still be topics to discuss and the game will return at some point. The at some point part here is the really important part. MLB tested the emotions of its fans during a pandemic in 2020 and some of its fans are still hurting in some ways, financially or otherwise. MLB should consider that during these...

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A few thoughts as O's tender six players contracts

November 30, 2021, 3:54pm

Orioles

A few thoughts as O's tender six players contracts

Perhaps only a lockout could keep the Orioles from making what seems now almost daily changes to their 40-man roster. Yesterday began with the club holding 40 players on the 40-man. It ended with them at 38 after tendering contracts and/or reaching agreements with all six of their remaining arbitration-eligible players. No one was non-tendered. No one was traded. The Orioles have also signed infielder Rougned Odor, 27, to a one-year contract and outrighted infielder Richie Martin to Triple-A....

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It was not just another offseason Monday in MLB

November 29, 2021, 2:41pm

Orioles

It was not just another offseason Monday in MLB

The dizzying pace of free agent signings in the last day or two has made the last 48 hours look like a frenzied edition of the Winter Meetings. Yet those meetings, if held, happen next week, not this one. The teams and players have been rushing to beat an expected deadline - the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement. This happens at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night. The deadline to non-tender players has also been moved up ahead of the original Dec. 2 deadline. I digress here,...

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Can pitchers improve velocity and do O's support such efforts?

November 28, 2021, 11:20am

Orioles

Can pitchers improve velocity and do O's support such efforts?

In the winter after the 2018 season, one where left-hander John Means pitched to a combined 3.72 ERA between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, Means felt he needed to make improvements to both make the major leagues and stay there. Means went to P3 Premier Pitching Performance facility in St. Louis that offseason. For this interview in 2020 spring training, before the pandemic shut down baseball for months, Means did not mince words in terms of how that facility helped him starting in...

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What would a big win-loss improvement in 2022 mean for Birdland?

November 27, 2021, 1:43pm

Orioles

What would a big win-loss improvement in 2022 mean for Birdland?

In their last three full seasons, the Orioles have lost 115, 108 and 110 games. That is a lot of losses and no one has to tell a single O's fan that. But the hope is now that executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and his staff have been here since before the 2019 season, and now that the organization has been ranked with one of the best farm systems in the game, that better days are not only ahead, but ahead sooner rather than later. The Detroit Tigers lost 114 games in the...

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Are O's just doing due diligence on Means?

November 26, 2021, 9:34am

Orioles

Are O's just doing due diligence on Means?

It was a tweet that no doubt was well seen and read throughout Birdland. That the Orioles were "dangling" John Means in trade talks. Not completely sure what that means, no pun intended, but dangling is defined as "hanging or swinging loosely." That last part could apply. No one can know for sure what the team is thinking on this, but a guess here is that Means is certainly not being shopped. I would see him as much more likely to be on the team than dealt between now and opening day 2022....

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I wonder where Wander will spend all that money?

November 25, 2021, 8:53am

Orioles

I wonder where Wander will spend all that money?

He was the player ranked as the best prospect in baseball for quite a while. When he finally graduated and moved off the prospects lists, O's prospect Adley Rutschman moved up from No. 2 to No. 1. But Wander Franco was there first. And Franco got to the majors first, and this week comes another first. The longest and richest contract ever awarded a player with less than one year of big league service time. The Tampa Bay Rays, per several reports, have come to terms with their 20-year-old...

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Looking to make progress at instructional league

November 24, 2021, 10:31am

Orioles

Looking to make progress at instructional league

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers here. I appreciate you today and every day. And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone throughout Birdland. Just a short entry today, and if you have time to push yourself away from the table and talk some baseball, here is an article worth checking out. It's from the team's Birdland Insider Twitter account and is a nice wrap-up of the Orioles instructional league. This year, the Orioles did not play games against other teams, instead focusing on more individually...