Steve Melewski

Two O's go from down the board on draft day to award finalists

Orioles
Two O's go from down the board on draft day to award finalists
All big league teams strive to hit on players later in the First-Year Player Draft. There is always pressure on first-round picks, and they get the most bonus money and the most attention from media and fans. But you need more than the highest drafted players to come through for long-term big league success. In that regard, 2017 wasn't bad for the Orioles as a 2016 third-round pick, outfielder Austin Hays, was a finalist for Baseball America's minor league Player of the Year. And a 2013...
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Steve Melewski

Some trade banter and other notes

Orioles
Some trade banter and other notes
If the Orioles discuss trading closer Zach Britton - or any prominent player - and then pull off a deal, can it help the team address its biggest need? Will the Orioles get starting pitching in return? That would be desirable for the Orioles. With just two pitchers set for the 2018 rotation in Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman, they are going to need to add starters any way they can, and the trade front is one avenue that could work. The potential issue is that any contending team that wants to add...
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Steve Melewski

Is bullpenning taking hold? (hot stove season heats up)

Orioles
Is bullpenning taking hold? (hot stove season heats up)
As the discussion about bullpenning in baseball continues and more teams talk about pulling their starters earlier in games, it will be interesting to see if the Orioles have interest in a similar plan. Teams like the Mets and Rays have indicated a desire to be more proactive in pulling starting pitchers next season before they face batting orders the third time through. This story recently appeared in New York's Newsday and said the Mets plan to use an eight-man bullpen next season. The story...
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Steve Melewski

Will Mychal Givens' role become more prominent in the future?

Orioles
Will Mychal Givens' role become more prominent in the future?
Can a pitcher with zero career saves be a future closer for the Orioles? If that pitcher is right-hander Mychal Givens, I believe the answer is yes. He has the velocity, has the stuff, is durable and has the mentality, in my opinion, which might be the hardest of all to find in a late-inning pitcher. One key trait of any closer is the ability to bounce back after he blows a save. Take a bump in the road and fly past it. Givens seems to be able to shake off tough outings quickly. Givens had a...
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Steve Melewski

Week in review: A look at how far the O's have to go and other topics

Orioles
Week in review: A look at how far the O's have to go and other topics
Time for another look at some stories and topics we've touched on here in the past week. Feel free to comment on any or all three once more. On Monday, we got a lot of responses to the question, "How far away are the Orioles?" The 2017 club stayed in the race into September. In fact, on the night of Aug. 30, the Orioles won their seventh straight game. They were 1 1/2 games behind the Twins for the second American League wild card and 2 1/2 behind the Yankees for the first wild card. But in...
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Steve Melewski

Another look at strikeouts and their impact on the O's offense

Orioles
Another look at strikeouts and their impact on the O's offense
Barring a batter reaching on a third strike and a wild pitch, not much good comes from a strikeout. Certainly, some good can come from a walk. Orioles fans know their team well and the Baltimore offense in recent seasons has featured too many strikeouts and too few walks. This was a problem again in the 2017 season. The Orioles' strikeout rate of 23 percent of all plate appearances by the team ranked as fifth-most in the American League this year. The team walk rate of 6.4 percent ranked last...
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Steve Melewski

Looking at more free agent starting pitchers

Orioles
Looking at more free agent starting pitchers
While we wait to find out how the Orioles intend to improve on a starting rotation that produced a 5.70 ERA last season, today we take a look at three more free agent starters. CC Sabathia: It would sure look strange to see the big guy land in an O's uniform and he will be 38 on opening day. Is it even worth such a risk for a player that should be showing his age? The thing is, his ERA is on a three-season decrease, from 5.28 in 2014 to 4.73 in 2015 to 3.91 in 2016. Over 27 starts and 148 2/3...
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Steve Melewski

O's Brian Graham on DL Hall, Cody Sedlock, Keegan Akin and more

Orioles
O's Brian Graham on DL Hall, Cody Sedlock, Keegan Akin and more
Don't be fooled by a 6.97 ERA for the kid. That came in just 10 1/3 innings in five August outings in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League for left-hander DL Hall. The Orioles selected Hall with their first pick in June in the draft. He was taken with the 21st pick in the First-Year Player Draft and signed to a $3 million bonus. Hall, who turned 19 on Sept. 19, was selected from Valdosta (Ga.) High School. He pitched to a 1.36 ERA this season with 105 strikeouts over 51 1/3 innings for...
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Steve Melewski

Multiple-inning relievers could be big for future O's bullpens

Orioles
Multiple-inning relievers could be big for future O's bullpens
The average outing by a starting pitcher in the postseason this year was 4 2/3 innings. That is a pretty surprising stat for me. Sure, some early knockouts brought that number down but 4 2/3 innings on average for some of better starters in the game? No doubt the bullpens get more use in the postseason and the off-days in each series made it possible for some relievers to pitch almost every game. The Orioles bullpen is rather important to the team, especially one that gets fewer innings from...
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Steve Melewski

Overlooked as a prospect, Trey Mancini got some rookie recognition

Orioles
Overlooked as a prospect, Trey Mancini got some rookie recognition
Did a player that has been underrated most of his career finally get some level of recognition Monday evening? He did. The Orioles' Trey Mancini was named as a finalist for the American League Rookie of the Year Award. It's an all AL East final trio with Aaron Judge of New York and Boston's Andrew Benintendi joining Mancini. Judge is expected to become the easy winner of the award. But will Mancini get second place over the more heralded Benintendi? Even that might be tough for a player that...
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Steve Melewski

How far away are the Orioles?

Orioles
How far away are the Orioles?
It seems hard to believe when you look at the Orioles and a last-place finish in 2017, but as the calendar turned from August to September, the team was a couple of games over .500 and very close to a playoff berth. On the night of Aug. 30, the Orioles won their seventh straight game. They were 1 1/2 games behind the Twins for the second wild card and 2 1/2 behind the Yankees for the first wild card. But in going 75-87, the Orioles finished 10 games behind the Twins. Only the White Sox and...
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Steve Melewski

Week in review: Talking free agent pitchers, realignment and Chris Tillman

Orioles
Week in review: Talking free agent pitchers, realignment and Chris Tillman
As we look back at the last week of blog entries in this space, today we welcome more comments on some of those said entries. Monday we reviewed another three free agent pitchers in this space, taking a looking at Tyler Chatwood, Andrew Casher and Miguel González. Chatwood is a right-hander that will be 28 on opening day. While he went 8-15 with a 4.69 ERA for Colorado, he posted much better numbers on the road. That provides hope that a team signing him and getting him out of Coors Field...
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Steve Melewski

Houston takes down the big spenders, plus a look at shortstop

Orioles
Houston takes down the big spenders, plus a look at shortstop
In winning the World Series, the Houston Astros did so with the No. 17 payroll in the majors and they took down the teams with the three top payrolls in the sport. It was an impressive run of winning. Houston beat Boston 3-1 in the American League Division Series and then won the last two games of the American League Championship Series to beat New York 4-3. They won a seven-game World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers payroll, per Spotrac, was $229 million and tops in the...
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Steve Melewski

Now a free agent, will O's bring back Chris Tillman?

Orioles
Now a free agent, will O's bring back Chris Tillman?
It was a terrible year for right-hander Chris Tillman last season. But from 2012 through 2016, he was a very solid starter for the Orioles and they won a great percentage of his starts. It seems that five-year track record could be a big boost as Tillman hits free agency now. Even though he was one of the worst starters in the majors in 2017, yesterday MLBTradeRumors.com predicted that Tillman would sign a one-year deal for $10 million with the Tigers. He was ranked No. 47 on their projection...
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Steve Melewski

A look at Manny Machado's 2017 season

Orioles
A look at Manny Machado's 2017 season
Orioles third baseman Manny Machado hit 33 homers and drove in 95 runs in the 2017 season. That was just less than the 37 homers and 96 RBIs he produced in 2016. He was also the American League Player of the Month this past August, when he hit .341 with 12 homers and 35 RBIs. In August, Machado hit three grand slams in an 11-game span. The last one came on Aug. 18 and was a walk-off slam, turning a potential 7-5 loss to the Angels into a 9-7 win. If you don't think hitting three slams in 11...
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Steve Melewski

A radical realignment plan for MLB (plus Game 7 tonight)

Orioles
A radical realignment plan for MLB (plus Game 7 tonight)
Major League Baseball could be headed for an expansion to 32 teams while at the same time a reduction in games from 162 to 156. That is the potential plan being considered as written about recently in this column in Baseball America. Author Tracy Ringolsby suggests we could see Montreal and Portland, Ore., recieve expansion teams. That would lead to one league with four divisions of eight teams each. It would be a radical change for the Orioles, who would no longer be in a division with the...
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Steve Melewski

Are O's ready for a Joseph-Sisco catching tandem?

Orioles
Are O's ready for a Joseph-Sisco catching tandem?
The Orioles must be prepared to lose catcher Welington Castillo via free agency. He has a player option for $7 million for next year and seems likely to decline that and see what is out there via free agency. Then the question is: Will the Orioles pursue another catcher or are they satisfied with a Caleb Joseph-Chance Sisco catching combo? Castillo did a solid job for the Orioles, batting .282/.323/.490 and set a career high with 20 homers. As expected, he raked versus lefty pitchers, batting...
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Steve Melewski

A look at more free agent starting pitchers

Orioles
A look at more free agent starting pitchers
While we wait for free agency to start, we take another look at three free agent starting pitchers. You may have heard the Orioles could use some help in that regard. This past season, Orioles starters ranked last in the American League with an ERA of 5.70, which is the worst mark in team history. It was the highest rotation ERA in the majors since Colorado's 5.81 mark in 2012. O's starting pitchers also ranked last in the AL in innings (846), WHIP (1.52), opponent OPS (.837) and allowed 159...
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Steve Melewski

Week in review: Talking free agent pitchers, team payrolls and more

Orioles
Week in review: Talking free agent pitchers, team payrolls and more
In looking back at the last week of blog entries in this space, today we would love to get a few more comments/opinions on any or all of them. On Monday, we discussed flamethrowing lefty Tanner Scott in this entry. The southpaw is one of the top Orioles pitching prospects. He was a sixth-round pick out of Howard (Texas) Junior College in 2014. For Double-A Bowie this season, Scott was 0-2 with a 2.22 ERA. Over 69 innings, he allowed 45 hits with 46 walks and 87 strikeouts. He had ended 2016 at...
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Steve Melewski

Presenting a top 10 Orioles prospects list

Orioles
Presenting a top 10 Orioles prospects list
Baseball America started to roll out its latest top 10 prospects lists for major league teams this week. Before too long, we'll see a new Orioles list. But today, I'm taking my own shot at a top 10 list for the club. These are my own thoughts and rankings, and for this one, I didn't solicit a single opinion from a scout or team official to get their take on my list. It is just one man's list and when it comes to ranking prospects, there is no right or wrong, just a lot of opinions. Keep in...
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