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Daniel Clark: Early returns on Cruz have been more than promising

April 30, 2014, 4:41am

Orioles

Daniel Clark: Early returns on Cruz have been more than promising

After a slow and frustrating start to last offseason, the Orioles made a number of key signings in a flurry just prior to the start of spring training games in late February. The signings, which included the likes of Ubaldo Jimenez, Suk Min-Yoon and Nelson Cruz, had Birdland excited and looking forward to a third straight winning season - and possibly more. Of these three signings, it was the addition of Cruz that was most popular among fans, as the powerful right-handed hitter would complement...

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Rachel Levitin: Questions in the infield

April 30, 2014, 4:53am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Questions in the infield

When Danny Espinosa was sent down to the minor leagues during the 2013 season, it was clear he had to demonstrate true worth and production value or run the risk of not playing in the big show down the line. His replacement at second base, Anthony Rendon, settled into the new role nicely with few growing pains and looked quite comfortable on the right side of the diamond as opposed to third base. It's 2014 now, and Espinosa is back at second. The only way to get Esipnosa back at second was if...

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Jon Shepherd: Schoop's progress through the eyes of Nick Faleris of Baseball Prospectus

April 28, 2014, 2:37pm

Orioles

Jon Shepherd: Schoop's progress through the eyes of Nick Faleris of Baseball Prospectus

There is a good chance that if you ask an Orioles fan about Jonathan Schoop, that fan would say that the player has a lot of potential, but needs more seasoning. If numerically inclined, that person may bring up Schoop's four errors at third base, his one walk in 82 plate appearances, his poor .297 wOBA, or even that 31.7 percent of his plate appearances end in a strike out. That all paints a rather poor picture of Schoop and brings up the idea that perhaps he will be forever harmed by that...

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Stuart Wallace: For LaRoche early returns are familiarly unfamiliar

April 28, 2014, 11:30am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: For LaRoche early returns are familiarly unfamiliar

The offensive start to the 2014 season by the Nationals has been mildly surprising. Second in the National League in runs scored per game at 4.42 (behind the Rockies' 5.38 runs per game), this early-season surge in scoring has been paced by some surprising sources of production. With five players in the top 50 in National League weighted on base average (wOBA) with a minimum of 80 plate appearances, the Nationals have displayed a potent lineup, even with the musical chairs approach to lineup...

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Marty Niland: Guys like Roark, who come out of nowhere, are what's great about baseball

April 28, 2014, 5:45am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Guys like Roark, who come out of nowhere, are what's great about baseball

The #Nats sector of the Twitterverse was abuzz Saturday as Tanner Roark stroked the canvas that was the mound at Nationals Park. When he had finished his masterpiece, a complete-game, three-hit shutout of the San Diego Padres, the accolades came quickly and lasted longer than the 2 hours, 19 minutes it took the 27-year-old to dispatch the Padres. The most prescient among those followed here came from @TheNatidude, who tweeted, "You can see Harper, Stras & Rendon coming a mile away, but...

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Andrew Stetka: Readying All-Star ballot, with an eye toward 2016

April 28, 2014, 5:28am

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: Readying All-Star ballot, with an eye toward 2016

I realize it's only April, but Major League Baseball seems to think it's time to start voting for the All-Star Game. Ballots were released this weekend for the July 15 affair at Target Field in Minneapolis. It's clear that by the end of April, we have no idea who will earn spots on the team. There's plenty of baseball left to be played before then. I think the only thing that is clear is that the Twins' Joe Mauer will probably be starting on the American League squad in his home park. All...

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Matthew Taylor: An historical look at multi-homer games by Orioles

April 24, 2014, 8:48pm

Orioles

Nelson Cruz had the Orioles' first multi-homer game of the 2014 season on Wednesday. It continues a career-long streak for Cruz, who has had at least one multi-homer game in each of his big league seasons. The lone exception, if you can call it that, came in 2005 when he had seven at-bats as part of a late-season call-up with the Brewers. With Wednesday's performance, Cruz's streak of seasons with a multi-homer game has reached nine. Since I had multi-homer games on the brain, I went back...

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David Huzzard: Tracking the Nationals and their trends

April 24, 2014, 4:56am

Nationals

There are times that I forget that baseball is about the journey and not the destination, but I become so focused on the destination, the unknown future, that I get frustrated when it isn't reached. These Nationals are predicted to win a World Series at some point. The ultimate potential of players like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg is too great for them not to be a winning team for the foreseeable future, or at least that is what the experts say. So far with those two players together,...

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Zach Wilt: O's guaranteed winning record during grueling stretch against AL East foes

April 24, 2014, 4:34am

Orioles

Zach Wilt: O's guaranteed winning record during grueling stretch against AL East foes

Wednesday night's dramatic 10-8 victory against Toronto may have taken a few years off the lives of Orioles fans, or at least caused some gray hairs, but it was a crucial comeback victory that guaranteed a winning record in one of the most grueling stretches of the O's schedule. This evening, the Birds conclude an extremely difficult 15-game span against American League East opponents. It began with a three-game series in New York against the Yankees way back on April 7, the Bronx Bombers'...

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Rachel Levitin: Going through growing pains

April 23, 2014, 5:05am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Going through growing pains

There's been a lot of going on at Nationals Park this week with the Los Angeles Angels in town. Fans in attendance at Tuesday night's game witnessed history as Angels first baseman Albert Pujols slugged his 499th and 500th career home runs. The three-game series, which concludes this evening, also marked the first time young guns Mike Trout and Bryce Harper's ballclubs have faced each other. But all of that aside, what's been most notable from a Nationals perspective is that this team is...

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Daniel Clark: For O's and Britton, that sinking feeling is pretty good

April 22, 2014, 7:40pm

Orioles

Daniel Clark: For O's and Britton, that sinking feeling is pretty good

Human nature can be defined as the general psychological characteristics, feelings and behavioural traits of humankind, regarded as being shared by all humans. One such characteristic is that most of us enjoy hearing about a genuine feel-good story. In life, feel-good stories often focus on achievements by individuals who have had to fight to overcome adversity, and in the world of sports, that exact sentiment rings true. A feel-good story is never far away in professional baseball and each new...

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Stuart Wallace: Could Werth be at start of defensive decline?

April 22, 2014, 6:19am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: Could Werth be at start of defensive decline?

It's been a decidedly dismal start to the season for the Nationals defensively. They find themselves in sole possession of last place in the National League in terms of team fielding percentage, while also leading the NL in errors with 22 after last night's series opener against the Angels. This total would have been higher were it not for a scoring change of Yadier Molina's liner at Jayson Werth in Thursday's 8-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals -- a ball Werth either lost in the lights...

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Jon Shepherd: The Orioles have an average defense

April 22, 2014, 5:55am

Orioles

There has been a storyline that has been trumpeted a bit on air and in the media that has not actually been true. You often hear about the club being proficient at fielding and this centering on their ability to avoid errors. At the time of this writing (after a particularly gruesome Sunday), the Orioles had the second-fewest errors in baseball. Only the Houston Astros had less. On the surface, this looks great. On the surface, our old friend Henry Chadwick (the guy who invented the box...

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Andrew Stetka: With Machado and Hardy down, can O's defense hold steady?

April 21, 2014, 4:19am

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: With Machado and Hardy down, can O's defense hold steady?

A lot of emphasis is being put on the defensive struggles the Orioles have seen over the past few games. Two losses to the Red Sox have people up in arms and wondering what happened to the O's defense of 2013. As many know, the team set a major league record by playing 119 errorless games last year and also committed just 54 errors during the campaign, a record for a 162-game season. It's a small sample size, but the Birds are showing some dents in their defensive armor on the young...

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Marty Niland: Espinosa's play should win fans' hearts as well as games

April 21, 2014, 4:11am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Espinosa's play should win fans' hearts as well as games

For those who are afraid the Nationals' 2014 season will be a sad repeat of 2013, take a good look at last weekend's four-game split with the St. Lois Cardinals. The knock on the Nats has been that they can rack up cheap wins at the expense of the Marlins and Mets, but come up up empty against teams they may ultimately have to contend with in the postseason, like the Braves and Cardinals. A week ago, they seemed to prove their critics right, dropping three games in Atlanta, showing the same...

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Matthew Taylor: In 1954 for Orioles, Larsen was far from perfect

April 18, 2014, 5:58am

Orioles

Orioles fans woke up on this day in 1954, which was Easter Sunday, with a .500 baseball team in town. The 20,000-plus fans who headed to Memorial Stadium to see their 2-2 Orioles play were the last group to see a non-losing baseball team take the field in Baltimore. The O's crept back to 4-4 with an extra-inning win in Chicago the following Friday and never reached the break-even point again. It might seem like some consolation that those fans at the ballpark on Easter had the opportunity to...

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David Huzzard: Exploding the myth of the window of opportunity

April 17, 2014, 5:02am

Nationals

David Huzzard: Exploding the myth of the window of opportunity

Nationals fans have heard a lot about the window of opportunity lately, how it is only open for a limited amount of time and how they need to take advantage of the opportunity while they have it. The main focus of this window is on the core of the team, and who that core is or how many players it consists of could be up for some debate, but there is evidence that the window of opportunity is a lie. That evidence exists in the form of tonight's opponent, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals'...

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Zach Wilt: Could Britton provide relief to O's rotation?

April 17, 2014, 4:46am

Orioles

Zach Wilt: Could Britton provide relief to O's rotation?

Last season, the Orioles' opening day starting rotation made 112 of the team's 162 starts. That means 30 percent of the Orioles starts came from pitchers not originally in the O's rotation. In fact, 14 pitchers made starts for the Orioles in 2013. Five pitchers made 10 starts or less, four made just one start. Scott Feldman, who was acquired at the trade deadline, made 10 more starts with the Orioles than Jake Arrieta, the team's No. 4 starter at the beginning of the season. All these...

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Daniel Clark: Checking in on the Triple-A Norfolk Tides

April 15, 2014, 8:29pm

Orioles

Daniel Clark: Checking in on the Triple-A Norfolk Tides

Whilst the Orioles continue to gather consistency and momentum, their Triple-A affiliate, the Norfolk Tides, have also been experiencing some struggles. Now 12 games into the new season, the Tides have an extremely disappointing 3-9 record, which is somewhat surprising given the improved level of depth and resulting high expectations for the 2014 season. Offensively, just one every-ay player is hitting over .300. This is Caleb Joseph (.316 average, .333 OBP, one home run, six RBIs), whilst the...

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Rachel Levitin: A few thoughts about expectations

April 15, 2014, 8:32pm

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: A few thoughts about expectations

After being swept by their most formidable division rival in Atlanta over the weekend and an 11-2 loss to Miami, the Nationals are struggling to establish a steady, winning momentum. It's only April, so the standings aren't an accurate representation of where all teams will end up at the end of the season. But that doesn't mean this isn't the perfect time for a little wake-up call. When I posted up shop at a local D.C. bar for happy hour waiting for a friend, the fellow sitting next to me...