Steve Melewski

What is the ceiling for Trey Mancini?

October 06, 2017, 2:09pm

Orioles

After a stellar rookie season, how much better can Trey Mancini play for the Orioles? What is his ceiling? MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis recently drew the ire of Birdland when he ranked his current top 30 major league rookies based on their future potential. Again, he was ranking not on current stats or performance, but future potential. In an interview for this article on that topic, Callis said he had some concerns about Mancini moving forward. "I worry he doesn't walk much," Callis said....

Tags:

The longball in early playoff games and league prospect rankings

October 05, 2017, 8:47pm

Orioles

The longball in early playoff games and league prospect rankings

We have heard it many times before that "good pitching beats good hitting." We have also heard the narrative that home runs "don't play well in the postseason." So far that has not been true. We are talking about a small sample size. In the wild-card games the four starting pitchers were Ervin Santana, Luis Severino, Jon Gray and Zach Greinke. They combined to pitch 7 1/3 innings allowing 20 hits and 15 runs and gave up five home runs. There were nine homers hit in the wild card games. As...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski ademar rifaela alex wells austin hays cameron bishop cedric mullins chance sisco dj stewart eloy jimenez garabez rosa michael baumann rafael devers ryan mountcastle tanner scott victor robles frontstory_orioles3

J.J. Cooper says O's farm has "taken a big step forward"

October 04, 2017, 5:53pm

Orioles

J.J. Cooper says O's farm has "taken a big step forward"

The Orioles' minor leagues had a good year in 2017. That is the opinion of several national analysts I have spoken to in the last two weeks. Today, here is the second part of a series of interviews with national analysts on the O's farm. For the Orioles, 2017 was a year where outfielder Austin Hays moved from Single-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie and then to the majors. He was a finalist for Baseball America's Player of the Year Award. The Orioles had four players ranked among the top 20...

Tags:

austin hays chance sisco dj stewart dl hall hunter harvey jj cooper orioles farm report ryan mountcastle steve melewski frontstory_orioles3

Not a dynamic duo: Davis and Trumbo need to increase production in 2018

October 03, 2017, 8:30pm

Orioles

Not a dynamic duo: Davis and Trumbo need to increase production in 2018

Improving their starting rotation is the biggest issue facing the Orioles as the offseason begins. But that is not the only one. In 2016, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo combined for 85 homers and 192 RBIs. This season they combined for 49 homers and 126 RBIs. Add to that Manny Machado's slow first half and the middle of the Orioles order too often came up short. Bounceback seasons by Davis and Trumbo next year would go a long way toward helping an offense that fell off a bit overall in 2017....

Tags:

chris davis mark trumbo orioles steve melewski featured_sidebar frontstory_orioles3

Mancini on the minors, plus other topics and notes

October 02, 2017, 5:35pm

Orioles

Mancini on the minors, plus other topics and notes

You will find few players to provide a stronger endorsement for the job done by the Orioles minor league staff and coaches than Trey Mancini. After all Mancini is a one-time unheralded eighth-round draft pick that was one of the top rookies in the majors this year. He hit .293/.338/.488 with 26 doubles, four triples, 24 homers, 78 RBIs and an .826 OPS. This is a player that was never ranked in anyone's top 100 prospects list. But he just worked very hard during four seasons on the O's farm to...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski trey mancini carolina league dave ziedelis featured_sidebar frederick keys frontstory_orioles3

Key questions the Orioles face as the offseason begins

October 01, 2017, 8:19pm

Orioles

Finishing in last place is not what the Orioles organization or their fans had in mind. Not for the 2017 season. Not after leading the league in wins from 2012-2016. Not after the Orioles began the year 22-10. On May 9 they had the best record in the majors, playing .688 ball. That was better than three teams that would go on to win 101 or more games. Also not after where the Orioles stood heading into September. On the night of Aug. 30, the Orioles won their seventh straight game. They were 1...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski Ubaldo Jimenez adam jones austin hays brad brach frontstory_orioles2 kevin gausman manny machado ubaldo jimenez zach britton

O's game blog: Kevin Gausman pitches season finale

October 01, 2017, 7:21am

Orioles

O's game blog: Kevin Gausman pitches season finale

The Orioles (75-86) put a wrap on the 2017 season today at Tropicana Field as they conclude a three-game series versus the Tampa Bay Rays (79-82). The Orioles will finish with their first losing record and fewest wins since going 69-93 in 2011. From 2012 through 2016, the Orioles averaged 88.8 wins per year and made the playoffs three times. But they will miss out this year. They enter today with four straight losses, during which they have been outscored 26-7. The Orioles have lost six of...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski austin hays chris davis jonathan schoop kevin gausman manny machado mark trumbo trey mancini

In September, homers and runs were hard to find

September 30, 2017, 9:02pm

Orioles

In September, homers and runs were hard to find

It seems that more so than most teams the Orioles ability to score runs is pretty much directly related to their ability to hit home runs. When they hit them often they score a lot more than when they don't. August and September provide clear evidence in that regard. The Orioles have averaged just 1.00 homer for every game played in September, easily their worst month of the year for homers. And they averaged just 3.07 runs per game in the month. They hit homers at a prolific clip in August,...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski featured_sidebar frontstory_orioles2

O's game blog: Miguel Castro gets the start for the Orioles

September 30, 2017, 8:24am

Orioles

The Orioles are certainly staggering to the end of the 2017 season. It is an end that will come tomorrow and may be about 24 hours away. The Orioles (75-85) play the Tampa Bay Rays (78-82) tonight in the second game of a three-game series. Three O's pitchers walked 10 batters last night and the Orioles had just four hits in a 7-0 loss to the Rays. Wade Miley took the loss, allowing four runs over four innings, to end his year at 8-15 with a 5.61 ERA. Over the last four games, O's starters...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski frontstory_orioles2 miguel castro wade miley

The end is near: O's get shut out as current slide continues

September 29, 2017, 8:12pm

Orioles

The end is near: O's get shut out as current slide continues

Hey, at least Trey Mancini had a hit. He did indeed, extending the longest hitting streak ever by an Orioles rookie to 17 straight games. He's playing well to the end. He just hasn't had many teammates join him. The Orioles put up little resistance Friday night in a 7-0 loss to the Rays, as the end of their 2017 season drew closer. Just two games to go now with the team at 75-85. The Orioles began this year playing great baseball as they went 22-10. They are ending it playing terribly....

Tags:

orioles steve melewski featured_sidebar frontstory_orioles2 trey mancini wade miley

O's game blog: The final series of the year begins

September 29, 2017, 10:16am

Orioles

O's game blog: The final series of the year begins

The Orioles (75-84) begin their final series of the season at Tropicana Field tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays (77-82). The Rays begin the series in third place, two games ahead of the Orioles and Blue Jays. The Orioles would need a three-game sweep to finish ahead of Tampa Bay in the final standings. Before Thursday's off-day, the Orioles lost by scores of 10-1 and 5-3 at Pittsburgh. They have lost four of their last five and 16 of 20 games. The Orioles are 29-49 in road games and are...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski kevin gausman wade miley

O's road woes a big factor in 2017 losing record

September 28, 2017, 8:16pm

Orioles

O's road woes a big factor in 2017 losing record

It is one of the failings of the 2017 Orioles. They are one of the worst road teams in the American League this year and it cost the team. Had an Orioles club that went 46-35 at home this season won the same percentage of road games, they'd be a 92-win team. That would be enough wins to host the wild card game and also keep the team in the hunt in an AL East led by Boston, which currently has 92 wins. But the Orioles, while going 11 games over .500 at home, are 20 games under on the road. The...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski featured_sidebar manny machado mark trumbo trey mancini welington castillo frontstory_orioles1

The O's farm report: A take from Baseball America's John Manuel

September 27, 2017, 3:05pm

Orioles

The O's farm report: A take from Baseball America's John Manuel

The Orioles minor leagues had a good year in 2017. That is the opinion of several national analysts I have spoken to in the last week. Starting today we'll roll out some of their opinions and comments on the O's farm from those interviews. It was a year where outfielder Austin Hays moved from Single-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie and then to the majors. He was a finalist for Baseball America's Player of the Year award. The Orioles had four players ranked among the top 20 prospects in the...

Tags:

austin hays orioles steve melewski adam jones alex wells bowie baysox cedric mullins dj stewart dl hall frederick keys ryan mountcastle tanner scott trey mancini ademar rifaela garabez rosa frontstory_orioles3

O's game blog: Gabriel Ynoa makes his fourth start for the O's

September 27, 2017, 2:43pm

Orioles

O's game blog: Gabriel Ynoa makes his fourth start for the O's

The Orioles have four games to play to wrap up the 2017 season. After a 10-1 loss at Pittsburgh last night, the Orioles play at PNC Park tonight to conclude a brief two-game series. Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen hit his first career grand slam Tuesday night and collected a career-high eight RBIs while going 4-for-4 with four runs scored. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, McCutchen became the third Pirates player since 1920 (when RBIs were first officially recorded) to record at least...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski frontstory_orioles1 gabriel ynoa

Gausman's interleague struggles, slow month of offense and more

September 26, 2017, 8:07pm

Orioles

Gausman's interleague struggles, slow month of offense and more

If it turns out as expected that last night was, in fact, Kevin Gausman's last start of 2017, he went out with a rough one. Gausman allowed Andrew McCutchen's grand slam in the second inning as Pittsburgh routed the Orioles 10-1 to start a two-game series Gausman allowed six runs over four innings and is 11-11 with a 4.81 ERA. Gausman needed to go 4 1/3 innings to set a new career high for innings pitched. He came up an out short. He has thrown 179 2/3 innings, the exact same number he had in...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski anthony santander austin hays featured_sidebar kevin gausman trey mancini frontstory_orioles2

O's game blog: Kevin Gausman has 3.09 ERA in second-half

September 26, 2017, 10:14am

Orioles

O's game blog: Kevin Gausman has 3.09 ERA in second-half

Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman is having another strong second half. He'll try to finish off his strong pitching this half when he faces the Pirates in Pittsburgh tonight to start a two-game series. Gausman (11-10, 4.61 ERA) will make his 33rd start, which is a career-high. On Tuesday versus Boston he threw eight scoreless innings allowing just three singles on 106 pitches. He has given up one run over 15 innings his past two starts. After pitching to a 5.85 ERA before the All-Star game,...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski jonathan schoop kevin gausman mark trumbo trey mancini

Trumbo's take: Veteran opines on his season and more

September 25, 2017, 6:33pm

Orioles

Trumbo's take: Veteran opines on his season and more

Mark Trumbo will get deserved criticism for having a sub-par season. His power numbers fell off big time from his 2016 season. In a recent interview, Trumbo took the time to analyze his own season and look at some other aspects from his second season with the Orioles. Trumbo hit .256/.316/.533 last year with 27 doubles, a triple, 47 homers, 108 RBIs and an OPS of .850. He led the majors in homers. At the outset of free agency after the 2016 season, he declined a qualifying offer and hit free...

Tags:

mark trumbo orioles steve melewski Buck Showalter austin hays chance sisco frontstory_orioles3

Honoring Hardy, Sisco's first start, Scott's second game and more

September 24, 2017, 8:20pm

Orioles

Honoring Hardy, Sisco's first start, Scott's second game and more

It is not often when a player gets a standing ovation that players in the dugouts join in. But that happened for Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy yesterday when he came to bat in the bottom of the first inning. It was a pretty special moment at Camden Yards. "I did notice that," Hardy said. "It was special. Those are guys that I played against for the last seven years. I have all the respect for all of them, and it was pretty cool to see them also clapping." The Orioles fans were very aware...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski chance sisco featured_sidebar frontstory_orioles2 jj hardy trey mancini

J.J. Hardy hits go-ahead homer as O's win home finale (with quotes)

September 24, 2017, 12:50pm

Orioles

J.J. Hardy hits go-ahead homer as O's win home finale (with quotes)

On a day that seems likely to be his final one playing as an Oriole at Camden Yards, shortstop J.J. Hardy hit a go-ahead homer as the Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-4 to complete their home season. Hardy got a standing ovation, including applause from players on both teams, and waved to the crowd before he batted in the bottom of the first. Then he got a curtain call after his two-run homer in the fourth broke a 4-4 tie. Hardy hit a 3-2 slider from Chris Archer 400 feet for his first homer...

Tags:

orioles steve melewski chris tillman frontstory_orioles2 jj hardy

O's game blog: Chris Tillman pitches home finale today

September 24, 2017, 6:11am

Orioles

O's game blog: Chris Tillman pitches home finale today

We have reached the time for the final home game of the 2017 Orioles season. The Orioles host Tampa Bay this afternoon to end a four-game series and wrap up the home schedule. The Orioles are 1-2 in this series and 45-35 at home for the year. They fell to 74-82 with a loss last night, were officially eliminated from playoff contention and assured to have a losing season with loss No. 82. The Orioles are 36-36 versus the American League East and 7-8 against Tampa Bay. Right-hander Dylan Bundy...