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Matthew Taylor: Measuring historical dominance by Orioles pitchers

May 29, 2015, 5:36am

Orioles

Which Orioles pitchers have had the most dominant individual outings by modern statistical measures? That's one of the questions that came to mind for me as I read Joe Sheehan's article "The Case for ... The Pedro" in the May 25 edition of Sports Illustrated. Sheehan discusses Corey Kluber's May 13 outing for the Cleveland Indians, during which he struck out 18 batters and walked none, and makes the case that, "To strike out a lot of hitter, while walking few or none ... is the pinnacle...

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Zach Wilt: The Orioles' balance of power

May 27, 2015, 7:37pm

Orioles

If the Orioles could go back and time and play the 2012 version of themselves, I'm certain that the series would like identical to what we just watched against the Astros. A.J. Hinch's club reminds me exactly of what I watched here in Baltimore two seasons ago. The 'Stros are a scrappy group of power hitters who deliver clutch hits, are never out of games and win by a close margin. It was fun to watch on this end, but now I can totally understand why the 2012 O's frustrated their...

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chris davis guest blogger guestblogger orioles orioles buzz zach wilt

David Huzzard: Appreciating the Wright stuff

May 27, 2015, 5:45pm

Nationals

David Huzzard: Appreciating the Wright stuff

There was a time when Nationals fans were far fewer and had to forget about being Nationals fans. Hoping for a win from some of the lowly clubs this franchise put on the field from 2007-2011 was like hoping for the Marlins to do something competent. With all apologizes to Ryan Zimmerman and his numerous walk-offs between the summer of Soriano and Stephen Strasburg's debut. The Nationals weren't much of a drawing card. Those of us that did venture out to RFK Stadium or Nationals Park in the...

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Rachel Levitin: Retracing Wrigleyville roots amid Nationals conversation

May 27, 2015, 5:52am

Nationals

When I was in Chicago earlier this month, I found myself wandering around the neighborhood I grew up in - Wrigleyville. Back then, I wasn't old enough to appreciate an Old Style at Murphy's Bleachers on the corner of Waveland and Sheffield. But a few weeks ago, I was. One of my favorite parts of growing up in a baseball town like Chicago is that people there, at least in my mind, seemed to really enjoy sports. They enjoyed watching sports, talking about sports and knew intricacies about each...

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Domenic Vadala: Is it time for O's to get creative at first base?

May 26, 2015, 7:06pm

Orioles

Domenic Vadala: Is it time for O's to get creative at first base?

I was a bit shocked when I saw the lineup hours prior to Monday's game against Houston. Aside from the time when he was suspended, when's the last time the Orioles' starting lineup didn't include Chris Davis? Sitting Davis on the bench is something that was lauded by many fans, and understandably so. Hovering around the Mendoza line isn't exactly what one would have expected going into this year. But my question is whether or not it's time to get creative with first base. And by creative,...

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Matt of Matt's Bats: Has Desmond put rocky start in rear-view mirror?

May 26, 2015, 6:12am

Nationals

Matt of Matt's Bats: Has Desmond put rocky start in rear-view mirror?

Ian Desmond started the season off rocky. By rocky, I mean nine errors and 23 strikeouts in April. But Desmond, who some could argue is the best shortstop in baseball, has started to turn it on and is playing more like the Desmond we knew in past years. As showcased in the Nationals' series against the Yankees and Phillies last week, Desmond still has some pop in his bat. He hit two home runs, just missed a third and is on a 10-game hit streak. While he wasn't as productive to start the...

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Matt Kremnitzer: Joseph has been a pleasant surprise in 2015

May 26, 2015, 5:57am

Orioles

Matt Kremnitzer: Joseph has been a pleasant surprise in 2015

Heading into the 2014 season, Caleb Joseph was a few months from turning 28, yet he'd never played in a single major league game. But early in the season, Matt Wieters was placed on the disabled list with an elbow injury, and soon was lost for the season. Steve Clevenger made the club out of spring training as the team's backup catcher, but it quickly became evident that the Orioles didn't think he was suitable for even part-time catching duty. Joseph was promoted to the majors on May 7, and...

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Marty Niland: Fans need to show patience with Strasburg

May 25, 2015, 7:05am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Fans need to show patience with Strasburg

The Nationals are flying high, winners of eight straight series, all alone in first place, 2 1/2 games up on the New York Mets in the National League East. But it seems all the fans want to talk about is Stephen Strasburg's pitching troubles. On talk shows, Internet message boards and Facebook groups, there's no shortage of opinions about why Strasburg (3-5, 6.50 ERA) is struggling and what the team should do about it. The main complaint about the first overall pick in the 2009 draft is that...

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Andrew Stetka: A look at the O's secondary pitching prospects

May 25, 2015, 6:50am

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: A look at the O's secondary pitching prospects

As the Orioles offense continues to plod along through May, the organization's pitching depth is also being tested. The young arms are passing the exam so far. Over the last week or so, we've seen Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson and Oliver Drake make their major league debuts with the Birds. These are three O's draft picks that aren't nearly as highly touted as the three No. 1 choices that have been ranked at the top of the team's farm system. We're talking, of course, about 2011 pick Dylan...

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Matthew Taylor: When wooden foul lines factored into a wager between pitchers

May 21, 2015, 7:21pm

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: When wooden foul lines factored into a wager between pitchers

Orioles pitchers Hoyt Wilhelm and Billy O'Dell each entered the 1959 season with one career home run. Wilhelm's homer came during his rookie campaign with the New York Giants in 1952; O'Dell's blast was in 1958 for the Orioles. The players made a bet about who would hit the most home runs in 1959. The anniversary of O'Dell winning that bet, thanks to a quirky assist from Memorial Stadium's wooden foul lines, passed earlier this week. O'Dell became one of the approximately 10 major league...

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Zach Wilt: Putting faith in the arms while O's lumber slumbers

May 21, 2015, 4:57am

Orioles

Zach Wilt: Putting faith in the arms while O's lumber slumbers

When your favorite team has lost four of their last seven games, it's easy to be nitpicky. When they're in fourth place in the AL East on May 21, it's even more easy to just be flat out negative. Watching Nelson Cruz blast a three-run homer in his return to Charm City was painful, not only because of the dozens of replies I received on Twitter from angry O's fans, but also because the Birds have lacked a bit of the power they've had over the past few seasons. As a team, the Orioles have...

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David Huzzard: Should Nationals be targeting Rockies' Tulowitzki?

May 20, 2015, 7:35pm

Nationals

When the Nationals signed Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million contract, they signaled that they were not only going for it in 2015 but where going to be competitive for a long time. Unfortunately, many ignored the fact that it was a multi-year contract and labeled it a win-now move. The Nationals are very interested in winning in 2015 and general manager Mike Rizzo has shown a willingness to do what it takes to construct a roster capable of doing just that, but he also wants to be able...

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Rachel Levitin: Another memory for Nats fans, Zimmerman to cherish

May 20, 2015, 6:02am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Another memory for Nats fans, Zimmerman to cherish

Since their inception in 2005, the Nationals have gone from a cellar-dwelling team to a two-time National League East championship ballclub eager to take home baseball's top prize of a world championship. There have been several major milestone moments along the way, including the team's first no-hitter pitched by Jordan Zimmermann in 2014 and the back-to-back No. 1 draft picks of Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Bryce Harper in 2010 that added talent - and mainstream buzz within the American...

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Domenic Vadala: With Wright, Orioles are doing things the right way

May 20, 2015, 5:37am

Orioles

For starters, the debut of Mike Wright on Sunday was about as awe-inspiring as a debut can be. Seriously, I can't imagine what must have been going through his mind walking off the mound in the 8th inning to a standing ovation like he did. And he indicated as much after the game, saying that you really couldn't draw it up any better than that. However, Buck Showalter said something that piqued my interest in his postgame press conference on Sunday afternoon. He said that in Wright's case,...

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Matt of Matt's Bats: The Nationals' secret slugger

May 19, 2015, 6:29am

Nationals

Last week, I wrote about Bryce Harper and how he is surging at the plate. Harper has become the best baseball player in all of Major League Baseball right now. His six home runs, 13 RBIs and .455 batting average this past week helped the Nats go 5-2 and outscore their opponents 53-35. Now that Harper has won two consecutive National League Player of the Week awards, I wanted to let you in on the other secret to the Nats' recent success: Wilson Ramos. Harper is getting all the attention he...

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Matt Kremnitzer: Looking at the O's corner outfielders

May 19, 2015, 6:14am

Orioles

Matt Kremnitzer: Looking at the O's corner outfielders

The Orioles have a corner outfield problem: The team's assortment of corner outfielders has been underwhelming When it comes to the Orioles outfield, there's Adam Jones in center field, and then there's a lot of spare parts. That doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, except when those parts all aren't playing well. And right now, they aren't. Jones is second in the majors among all qualified center fielders with a 153 wRC+. Meanwhile, O's left fielders currently have a combined...

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Marty Niland: Solid anchor Scherzer has been worth every penny

May 18, 2015, 5:30am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Solid anchor Scherzer has been worth every penny

Lots of people thought the Nationals already had the best starting pitching in the major leagues before Jan. 21, when Max Scherzer joined the team with a seven-year, $120 million free agent deal. Some might even have thought it was a superfluous move by the Nats, an investment that might have been better made in another big bat or re-signing one of the key players whose contacts are set to expire after the 2015 season. But six weeks into the 2015 season, there's little doubt that the 2013...

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Matthew Taylor: Taking aim at Eutaw Street

May 15, 2015, 6:01am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Taking aim at Eutaw Street

I have long home runs on the mind. First, there was the anniversary last Friday of Frank Robinson becoming the only batter to hit a ball out of Memorial Stadium. Then the Miami Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton put a ball out of Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. Let's talk longball in this week's guest blog. The longest Orioles home run so far this season belongs to ... Jonathan Schoop. Schoop's 432-foot home run on April 10 against the Blue Jays tops Chris Davis' 423-foot shot to center field on April...

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chris davis eutaw street guest blogger guestblogger jay gibbons jonathan schoop matthew taylor mickey tettleton orioles orioles buzz

Zach Wilt: What a difference 24 hours makes in defensive perception

May 13, 2015, 8:32pm

Orioles

Zach Wilt: What a difference 24 hours makes in defensive perception

Baseball has a funny way of balancing things out over the course of 162 games. The thing I've learned in my years of watching is that a team is never as good as it looks during a lengthy winning streak and never as bad as it looks during a losing skid. It's easy to think that your team is going to win 100 games when they're going good or lose 100 when they've dropped a few in a row. Both extremes are incredibly rare. The Orioles have been one of the best defensive teams over the past few...

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David Huzzard: Overlooked and underappreciated

May 13, 2015, 8:23pm

Nationals

David Huzzard: Overlooked and underappreciated

By many metrics, the Nationals' starting staff is the best in the majors, the offense is scoring 4.77 runs a game and if one wants to find a weakness with this team, one might point to the bullpen. The Nationals bullpen isn't statistically bad by ERA, FIP or fWAR, but it has blown the third-most saves in the majors and has blinked first in several tie games. The Nats have struggled to find a replacement for Tyler Clippard with Casey Janssen on the disabled list, and don't even ask what...