Steve Melewski

New year dawns with some familiar questions

Orioles
New year dawns with some familiar questions
Today we begin a new year, but we are still a ways away from beginning a new baseball season. The calendar flips today, but some of the old questions didn't go away at midnight. We still wait to find out if spring training will start on time and whether each team will play 162 games in 2021. My hope for the new year in baseball is that it at least ends with some and maybe complete normalcy. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Even if it starts with limitations, maybe they will be gone by the end of...
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Steve Melewski

The O's player that produced a nice combo of contact and power

Orioles
The O's player that produced a nice combo of contact and power
Power hitters generally strike out at a pretty good rate. That is the trend in baseball over many years. But at a time when strikeout rates all around the sport are up, putting the ball in play more often is valued. Doing that with power is potentially something special. The Orioles have a player who in the shortened 2020 season showed the ability to strike out less while still hitting the ball with plenty of authority. On his way to winning the Most Valuable Oriole award, Anthony Santander...
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Steve Melewski

A future rotation candidate who may be flying under the radar

Orioles
A future rotation candidate who may be flying under the radar
He might be someone a bit overlooked among Orioles pitching prospects. But he probably should not be, despite the fact he has yet to advance beyond high Single-A ball and is not yet on the O's 40-man roster. He doesn't need to be there yet, but right-hander Kyle Bradish will get there when the time comes. He joined Isaac Mattson, Kyle Brnovich and Zach Peek when the four right-handers were acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for pitcher Dylan Bundy on Dec. 4, 2019. Bradish will not need to...
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Steve Melewski

Tampa Bay Rays fans have been through this before

Orioles
Tampa Bay Rays fans have been through this before
Well, we know there will not be any controversies surrounding Blake Snell's time on the mound in a playoff game for Tampa Bay during the 2021 season. In the 2020 postseason, Snell and Charlie Morton started 10 of the Rays' 20 playoff games including three of six in the World Series. Now both are gone from the Rays. But this team has been here before. This organization, which does more with less than any big league club, is at it again. They had both pitchers under contract for the 2021 season...
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Steve Melewski

On the O's farm, versatility will be a real key

Orioles
On the O's farm, versatility will be a real key
As the Orioles approached their recent instructional league camp, they knew a few things that would be important to consider. One is that building defensive versatility is never a bad thing for a player. If he can play multiple positions, his value to the team and the sport go up. The Orioles also knew they had drafted and acquired seven shortstops via the draft or trade since Mike Elias took over as executive vice president and general manager. So the want-to - to expand defensive resumes for...
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Steve Melewski

Remembering a long O's career

Orioles
Remembering a long O's career
It was a sad anniversary to note recently. But when you think about the man himself, and what he meant to the Orioles for 37 of his 45 seasons in pro baseball, you can't help but smile. Elrod Hendricks was born on Dec. 22, 1940 in the Virgin Islands. He died on Dec. 21, 2005 - just one day shy of his 65th birthday. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame as a coach in 2001 and he spent 28 seasons as the club's bullpen coach. His baseball record notes that the Orioles acquired him from...
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Steve Melewski

A few more questions for O's fans

Orioles
A few more questions for O's fans
Today we revisit a few topics recently discussed on the blog. Time to address them further and discuss them further. Skipping levels on the farm: We recently looked at the possibility of players skipping levels in the farm system for the 2021 season. Without any games to track player performance or for players to use to make progress during 2020, how will the organization place minor league players next year? Do they just send them to the level they would have begun at in 2020? No, not...
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Steve Melewski

OK, there's room for a little baseball talk on Christmas

Orioles
OK, there's room for a little baseball talk on Christmas
Well, if Santa can work on Christmas, I guess I can, too. Even though I'm writing this on Christmas Eve. But it's the thought, not the timing, that really counts. Or something like that. Can you tell I'm not sure what makes for a good Christmas Day baseball blog? So just a short note today to wish everyone a merry Christmas and happy holidays, and I hope you have a great few days with family and friends. As best as this year and a pandemic will allow. This time last year, in looking ahead to...
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Steve Melewski

A look at a few things that went right for the Orioles

Orioles
A look at a few things that went right for the Orioles
As the calendar year winds down, let's take another look back at the summer of 2020. Let's note a few things that went right during the shortened 60-game season for the Orioles. From Rule 5 to MVO: One of the biggest things that went right was the play of right-fielder Anthony Santander. He was a Rule 5 pick from Cleveland by the club in 2016, and by 2020 was the Most Valuable Oriole, as voted by local media. That is indeed a success story. Santander's season was a big thing that went right....
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Steve Melewski

With enough to worry about, don't include baseball

Orioles
With enough to worry about, don't include baseball
Between a pandemic, limited holiday travel and the chance that some of us may not have a so-called normal Christmas in two days, there is enough disappointment and anxiety out there to fill any ballpark. Maybe a few times. Hopefully, we all realize that we should not let baseball contribute to the long list of worries that 2020 created for many people. But there are concerns about if the season will start on time, how many games will they play, can fans attend? Plenty of questions without...
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Steve Melewski

Director of player development Matt Blood on players skipping levels

Orioles
Director of player development Matt Blood on players skipping levels
There is a lot we don't yet know about the 2021 baseball season. We have a schedule for 162 games for each big league team; we just don't know if the sport will start on time and play all 162. After the restructuring on the farm, we still don't have schedules for minor league teams or any idea when those players will be in Florida for spring training. But whenever it all starts and however many minor league games are played during 2021, the Orioles will at some point have to set rosters for...
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Steve Melewski

He's looking for a season where health and potential meet

Orioles
He's looking for a season where health and potential meet
Former Orioles skipper Buck Showalter would sometimes refer to something or someone in baseball as being "delayed but not denied." Be patient and you'll be rewarded. For O's bullpen righty Hunter Harvey, will major league stardom be delayed but not denied? The guy's career has seen more delays seemingly than the Baltimore Beltway at rush hour. From 2015-2017 on the farm, he threw a total of 31 1/3 innings. Through 2018, that four-year total was 63 2/3 innings. So many injury issues, well...
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Steve Melewski

Taking another look at Shaw, Kim and a few tidbits

Orioles
Taking another look at Shaw, Kim and a few tidbits
Today, I'm revisiting some recent articles that appeared in this space. We're taking another look at two players. I enjoyed my recent interview with 27-year-old Chris Shaw for this article. He's probably facing an uphill battle to make the Orioles' opening day roster. Several players, now including him, will compete this spring for outfield corner spots, along with first base and DH. But Shaw had quite a season on the farm in 2019. Between Double-A and Triple-A for the San Francisco Giants,...
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Steve Melewski

A few O's questions that are still unanswered

Orioles
A few O's questions that are still unanswered
With spring training set to start in about two months - if it does start on time - the Orioles have a host of questions without answers and issues to address. Nothing new here. Baseball rosters are always changing and few teams have most of their key questions resolved before Christmas in any given year. So here are a few O's questions out there where we wait on answers. Who plays shortstop?: After the trade of José Iglesias, the Orioles have a bit of a hole in an infield in transition....
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Steve Melewski

Dealing with pitchers' innings and yearly totals

Orioles
Dealing with pitchers' innings and yearly totals
Over the years, we've seen organizations like the Orioles handle young pitchers on the farm in a similar fashion when it came to bumping up their innings totals each season as they approach the majors. But without minor league games in 2020, now the math has been altered. A pitcher slated to throw 100 innings this summer didn't get those innings in. At least not in a minor league game. But maybe he got in half that many - perhaps even more - at an alternate site or on his own throwing to...
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Steve Melewski

Sceroler will try to make jump from Florida State League to AL

Orioles
Sceroler will try to make jump from Florida State League to AL
Right-hander Mac Sceroler has got a decent four-pitch mix and an uncle who has helped shape his career and is well known to Orioles fans. He had a strong 2019 season, but when spring training begins, the 25-year-old will be trying to make the jump from the high Single-A Florida State League to the American League. One of the O's two Rule 5 picks, along with right-hander Tyler Wells, Sceroler was the No. 5 pick of the 18 major league-phase players taken. The Orioles selected him from the...
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Steve Melewski

After strong debut, what's next for Ryan Mountcastle?

Orioles
After strong debut, what's next for Ryan Mountcastle?
Ryan Mountcastle was one of the club's better hitters during the shortened 2020 season. He arrived in the majors with an Aug. 21 call-up and sure did not disappoint with his play and production after that. Mountcastle has been moving onward and upward at a steady pace since the Orioles selected him in the First-Year Player Draft. 2015: O's select him No. 36 overall out of Hagerty (Fla.) High School.2016: He spends his entire first full year at Single-A Delmarva, batting .281/.319/.426.2017:...
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Steve Melewski

Do Akin and Kremer have firm hold on rotation spots?

Orioles
Do Akin and Kremer have firm hold on rotation spots?
If we are to presume that two slots in the 2021 Orioles rotation are pretty much set and two others are somewhat set, that still leaves at least one spot open in the starting five for next season. The Orioles have some decisions to make before opening day next season, whenever that turns out to be. Do Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer return to the rotation where they ended last summer and join mainstays John Means and Alex Cobb? Where does this leave Jorge López? Can one or both of the Rule 5...
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Steve Melewski

New Oriole Chris Shaw already familiar with several teammates

Orioles
New Oriole Chris Shaw already familiar with several teammates
One of the newest Orioles is an accomplished minor league hitter with power who has gotten just 72 at-bats over two seasons in the majors. He's a former hockey player who grew up a diehard Red Sox fan living just outside of Boston. And even though he comes from the San Francisco Giants, a club across the country, he has ties to the Orioles. He can't wait to reunite with some of the club's players. Chris Shaw, a 27-year-old, lefty-hitting outfielder and first baseman, was designated for...
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Steve Melewski

Previously thought as a trade chip, Alex Cobb could be sticking around

Orioles
Previously thought as a trade chip, Alex Cobb could be sticking around
When asked about possibly dealing right-handed starting pitcher Alex Cobb before or during the 2021 season, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias made it sound like he does not expect that to happen. "First of all, he's serving a very important role on our team stabilizing our rotation with the young guys, mentoring the young guys, and we're planning on keeping him all year and would be thrilled if he contributed and is healthy again like he was last year and...
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