Andrew Stetka: Moving Bundy to rotation a bit premature

Andrew Stetka: Moving Bundy to rotation a bit premature
You can call me a skeptic, a pessimist or someone who just generally doesn't enjoy fun, but I don't like the idea of Dylan Bundy as a starter for the Orioles right now. I thought this even before the 23-year-old former fourth-overall pick made his first major league start yesterday. This isn't a "hot take" or an overreaction to yesterday's outing, which was obviously less than stellar. I was mildly surprised by the move to start Bundy. At the start of the season, I never thought it was...

Marty Niland: Nationals bench continues to come up in clutch situations

Marty Niland: Nationals bench continues to come up in clutch situations
With all the sabrmetrics and advanced stats that we baseball geeks toss around these days, there is still one aspect of the game we can't accurately quantify: Clutch. The official statisticians tried to do it for a few years back in the 1980s with the game-winning RBI, but that stat was abandoned after too many batters got credit for early-inning singles in eventual routs. So we're left with anecdotal evidence such as pinch-hitting numbers to say who has what it takes with the game on...

Matthew Taylor: Players have statistics, so why not fans?

Matthew Taylor: Players have statistics, so why not fans?
There are literally billions of data points about baseball available each season, thanks to the rise of pitch tracking and player tracking technologies. We have more objective measures than ever before regarding player performance. Fan performance, however, is difficult to examine objectively. We need to put baseball fan bases, including our own, to the test. In the best of times and in the worst of times, what is the tale of each baseball city? The wonderful term "fanalytics" is already...

Zach Wilt: O's need pitching, but not at cost of losing top assets

Zach Wilt: O's need pitching, but not at cost of losing top assets
It took 14 innings, but yesterday the Orioles turned what could have been called "a bad road trip" into "let's just ignore what happened for those four games in Seattle." Jonathan Schoop's heroics in the 14th secured a series win for the Birds in Los Angeles and a 4-5 record out west against the Padres, Mariners and Dodgers. I'm sure it made the long flight back to Charm City a little more pleasant. Though it's not the 5-1/2-game lead they had when they won their seventh straight game...

David Huzzard: Current All-Star Game format needs fixing

David Huzzard: Current All-Star Game format needs fixing
When does something become tradition? My wife and I recently had a big discussion about this. She is heading up to Maryland this weekend for our 1-year-old nephew's birthday party and she is tasked with baking a "smash cake." I had no idea what a "smash cake" was and asked her about it and she called it a tradition. I argued that it isn't old enough to be a tradition if it is a more recent thing. A Google search failed to answer how long the practice goes back and the debate was never...

Steve Mears: What moves does Rizzo have in mind for Nats?

Steve Mears: What moves does Rizzo have in mind for Nats?
The trade deadline is on Aug. 1 this year and that is 26 days away. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo seems poised to make some moves, and all teams in first place will make some moves. What we do not know is what Mike Rizzo has in mind for his top two prospects, Lucas Giolito and Trea Turner. "(Giolito) threw 137 innings last year total," Rizzo said. "We will build off that. We have a protocol in place that we'll stick to and adhere to. We have had it mapped out since spring training,...

Ryan Romano: Just how good is Brad Brach?

Ryan Romano: Just how good is Brad Brach?
Heading into the season, everyone knew that the Orioles would rely heavily upon their relief corps. Thus far, the group has had some ups and downs. Darren O'Day has an ERA above 3.00 for the first time since 2011, and his trip to the disabled list has prevented him from improving on that. Mychal Givens has a high ERA as well, albeit an unlucky one. And the supporting cast....to put it lightly, they haven't really supported. Thanks to Zach Britton and Brad Brach, though, the bullpen has fared...

Marty Niland: Espinosa providing fireworks for Nationals

Marty Niland: Espinosa providing fireworks for Nationals
Friday's postgame fireworks were canceled due to extra innings, and rain might well wash out many of the Washington area's July 4 pyrotechnics this year, but Danny Espinosa has been making the Nationals offense explode for the past few weeks. It's hard to say whether the Nats shortstop is the most productive No. 8 hitter in team history, but it's safe to say not many players have put together a series, a week or even a month like the man who wears No. 8 for the Nats. Espinosa burned the...

Andrew Stetka: No excuse for Machado's baserunning blunders

Andrew Stetka: No excuse for Machado's baserunning blunders
There's no question that I am an unabashed member of the Manny Machado fan club. Since the day he was called up to the major leagues in 2012, I've watched along with all of the other amazed Orioles fans at Machado's brilliance. There's a reason he's one of the top candidates to win the American League MVP award this season - it's because of his supreme talent and sudden ability to put it together. But there is one part of Machado's game that has come under scrutiny this season, and...

Matthew Taylor: Jonathan Schoop on historic homer pace for O's second basemen

Matthew Taylor: Jonathan Schoop on historic homer pace for O's second basemen
Only one Orioles batter has hit a home run 446 feet or longer in each of the last three baseball seasons, according to ESPN's Home Run Tracker. That batter is Jonathan Schoop, the O's hard-hitting 24-year-old second baseman who is well on his way to a career high in homers. As Schoop continues to learn to hit at the major league level, he will establish new Orioles precedents for power hitting by a second baseman, likely starting as soon as this season. Schoop had the team's second-longest...

David Huzzard: The Marlins are now the Nats' biggest threat

David Huzzard: The Marlins are now the Nats' biggest threat
All this time, we, Nats fans, have been focused on the Mets, and after a horrific road trip by the Nationals and a sweep of New York, there is a new contender. It would have been nice if the sweep of the Mets reset the terrible occurrence of the road trip, but it instead gave rise to a new threat: the Miami Marlins. There is only a half-game difference between the Marlins and Mets in the standings, but the Fish are in second when they weren't expected to even be contending for the division....

Zach Wilt: Soaking up the Orioles' historic run through June

Zach Wilt: Soaking up the Orioles' historic run through June
I've got some good news and some bad news, Orioles fans. The good news is the Orioles have won 19 games in June, their highest total of any month this season. With an 19-8 record, they've recorded a .703 winning percentage this month, their highest winning percentage in any month since the 2012 season. The bad news is today is the last day of this amazing month. Tomorrow begins July. I don't know about you, but I've had an absolute blast watching this team take the field over their last 27...

Dillon Atkinson: Birds on the verge of some longball history

Dillon Atkinson: Birds on the verge of some longball history
We've known over the past couple of seasons that the Orioles are a homer-happy ballclub. The offense lives and dies by the longball. But this season, they're in the hunt to make history three times with home runs. Two of the possible record-breaking moments are very imminent. First, the record closest to beating is the most homers in June by a team. The mark to beat is 55, set by the 1996 Athletics. After three home runs in the Orioles' offensive explosion Tuesday night, the Birds sit at 54...

Charlie Fliegel: Where would Ben Revere be most productive?

Charlie Fliegel: Where would Ben Revere be most productive?
Ben Revere had a really good day on Monday, going 4-for-5. Maybe it's a sign that he's returning to form. Then again, he didn't get a hit last night. But even if he is getting back to his old self, he still can be a divisive player. That's because he's the kind of hitter that is ideal for a sabermetric vs. traditionalist head-butting. As a speedster who (usually) hits for a high batting average, he is an old school dream at leadoff. On the other hand, he has an unimpressive OBP and sees...

Steve Mears: Was Monday night's win the defining game of 2016 for the Nats?

Steve Mears: Was Monday night's win the defining game of 2016 for the Nats?
We never know which game to circle on the calendar as a key game or 'the' key game during themarathon 162-game schedule, but clearly last night's game was 'a' key game for both the WashingtonNationals and the New York Mets. Time will tell whether or not last night was 'the' key game. The key game in the 2012 season was the doubleheader game where the Nats came back to beat theirdivision rival after losing a heartbreaking game the night before and the first game of the doubleheader.The...

Ryan Romano: O's run bases well, despite lack of steals

Ryan Romano: O's run bases well, despite lack of steals
Every so often, I hear legends -- faint whispers upon the breeze -- of Orioles squads that would steal bases. Brian Roberts, Brady Anderson, Al Bumbry: These speedsters could constantly threaten to break for the open bag, and many times they made good on that threat. But they have come and gone, and the team has sorely missed their presence, especially as of late. For the third straight season, the Orioles rank last in the majors in stolen bases. On a more advanced basis, they don't fare much...

Marty Niland: With skid over, Nats can focus on winning habits

Marty Niland: With skid over, Nats can focus on winning habits
It's too early to say whether Tanner Roark's guile and Jayson Werth's guts actually saved the Nationals' 2016 season. But when they look back it all, their June 26 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers may be seen as an epiphany. For now, at least, the bleeding has stopped. In just a week's time, the Nationals had gone from the hottest team in the National League to the coldest, and this week's series with the New York Mets went from an opportunity to build a huge National League East lead...

Andrew Stetka: Wieters producing, creating more questions for O's future

Andrew Stetka: Wieters producing, creating more questions for O's future
If you would've told me early last November that Matt Wieters would be playing at an All-Star level in 2016, I would have been mildly surprised. If you had told me he'd be doing it for the Orioles, I'd have been very surprised. I was in the camp that firmly believed Wieters would not be back in Baltimore this season, having taken his talents elsewhere in free agency. It's not that I didn't want Wieters back, but I just didn't think it was something the Orioles would be able to accomplish...

Matthew Taylor: This year's O's squad reminiscent of 1996 team

Matthew Taylor: This year's O's squad reminiscent of 1996 team
The Orioles are marking the 20th anniversary of the team's first wild card entry into the playoffs by looking very much the part of that 1996 team in terms of their power at the plate as well as the struggles of their starting rotation. Two decades after winning in, spite of their pitching and slugging their way into the postseason, the Orioles are looking to repeat that effort this year. The good news is they're better positioned to do so now than they were back then. The Orioles' current...

Zach Wilt: The numbers show Schoop continuing to progress

Zach Wilt: The numbers show Schoop continuing to progress
On April 30, Jonathan Schoop was hitting a lowly .218 after a week-long stretch in which he went 4-for-23. The first month of the season wasn't kind to the Orioles second baseman, as he had just eight extra-base hits in 82 plate appearances, a .679 OPS, and a .256 on-base percentage, the lowest of any qualified Orioles starter in April. Schoop has been a career .234/.269/.446 hitter in the first month of the season and his .220 batting average on balls in play this April was enough to know...