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Jon Shepherd: Nick Markakis is everything

June 03, 2014, 4:49am

Orioles

Jon Shepherd: Nick Markakis is everything

Over the first third of this season, there has been considerable discussion about how well Nick Markakis has performed. Depending on your perspective, he has been doing poorly, has been a breath of fresh air or something in between. Amazingly, all of those stances are somewhat equal in being accurate. Markakis has been doing poorly, he has been excelling and he has been merely adequate. How is this so? It depends on what you choose as your baseline. Back in the day, we nailed what Markakis...

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Andrew Stetka: O's window doesn't have to close

June 01, 2014, 4:52pm

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: O's window doesn't have to close

There's been much made of a so-called window the Orioles are playing with over the next two seasons. Many believe the club's best chance to compete is when Chris Davis and Matt Wieters are under contract. Additions like Nelson Cruz for this season enhance that thought, and having a lack of superior competition in the American League East makes eyes widen even larger. The problem I have with this mindset of a window is that it was built by those running the ballclub. For years, Orioles fans...

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Marty Niland: Sub-.500 team can blame some notorious Nats killers

June 02, 2014, 4:54am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Sub-.500 team can blame some notorious Nats killers

Yu Darvish's performance on Sunday (five hits in eight innings with 12 strikeouts) certainly qualifies as one of the better games ever pitched against the Nationals, but this was also his first time facing them. Luckily for Washington fans, Darvish plays in the American League, so as Bob Carpenter might say, they'll "see Yu later" (most likely in three years). But over the past few weeks, some players who seem to make a regular living off the Nats have been up to their old tricks, turning a...

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Matthew Taylor: O's single-season homer list undergoes modern renovations

May 30, 2014, 4:38am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: O's single-season homer list undergoes modern renovations

Cal Ripken Jr. stepped to the plate in the sixth inning on Sept. 29, 1991, and stroked his second home run of the game against the Detroit Tigers. It would be his 34th and final homer of the season. Ripken, Baltimore's career home run leader, tied Boog Powell for seventh on the O's single-season home run list with that effort; both players now rank 17th. Powell, who has the third-most career home runs in Orioles history, held four of the top 10 spots on the single-season list when Ripken...

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David Huzzard: An early look at the Nats as sellers

May 29, 2014, 4:37am

Nationals

David Huzzard: An early look at the Nats as sellers

The trade deadline is a little over two months away, and as with anything in baseball when there is a deadline, nothing will happen until it is upon us. With the Nationals two games under .500 and falling further out of the playoff race every day, the question of if the Nats are going to be sellers at the trade deadline should be asked, and if they are a seller, who could go? The most obvious candidates to be traded are the veterans in the last year of guaranteed club control: Adam LaRoche,...

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Zach Wilt: Building on the core with Samardzija is the right move

May 29, 2014, 4:20am

Orioles

Zach Wilt: Building on the core with Samardzija is the right move

For years, I wanted to see the Orioles stockpile their farm system and build a winner through their homegrown talent. I understood that they would never outbid the teams in major media markets for big-name free agents and truthfully, there was something more satisfying about the thought of beating those teams with guys that have come through the system. In 2012, the O's snapped their 14-year losing streak and made the postseason for the first time since 1997. You remember, it was a magical...

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Rachel Levitin: Should Nats experiment with Zimmerman at second?

May 27, 2014, 6:41pm

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Should Nats experiment with Zimmerman at second?

Tuesday night's rainout that left a game postponed between the Nationals and Miami Marlins gave a lackluster D.C. offense a night off from its recent mediocrity. No matter the combination manager Matt Williams attempts to string together this season, a list of injuries to key pieces of the Nats' offensive puzzle is plaguing this team. June is days away, the starting rotation is down a solid lefty with Gio Gonzalez on the disabled list and there's no set timeline regarding third baseman...

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Daniel Clark: Time to make most of offensive resurgence

May 27, 2014, 8:19pm

Orioles

Daniel Clark: Time to make most of offensive resurgence

After an inconsistent start to the season, the Orioles offense really started to step it up a notch over the past 10 days and their American League rivals have been forced to take notice. In their past nine games, dating to May 18, the Orioles produced 137 base runners (101 hits, 30 walks, six hit batsmen) which resulted in 55 runs being scored. This was a significant increase in offensive production from their previous seven games, where a combined total of just 15 runs were scored. The...

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Stuart Wallace: Retooling repertoire has returned Clippard to shutdown form

May 27, 2014, 5:37am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: Retooling repertoire has returned Clippard to shutdown form

Tyler Clippard's start to the season was about as unceremonious and odious as they come: Through 6 2/3 innings over seven appearances through April 11, the typically steadfast Nationals reliever scuffled through two home runs, a blown save, a 5.40 ERA and a minus-1.18 RE24. This had many shaking their heads in disbelief, calling for his demotion or at least questioning whether four consecutive seasons of at least 70 innings of relief had finally caught up with the hurler. Victims to small...

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Jon Shepherd: An adequate catcher is hard to find

May 26, 2014, 12:37pm

Orioles

Jon Shepherd: An adequate catcher is hard to find

A week ago, it was announced that Matt Wieters had received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection to help his recovery for his strained right elbow. Without knowing anything about his particular case, as well as reminding you that he has not yet been scheduled for surgery, I suspected that the team would soon be welcoming another catcher because PRPs tend to be a Hail Mary sort of treatment. The concept behind the PRP treatment is that your blood has a variety of components that assist with...

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Andrew Stetka: Viewing Markakis' place in O's history

May 26, 2014, 4:55am

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: Viewing Markakis' place in O's history

One of the big questions the Orioles will have this offseason is what to do with right fielder Nick Markakis. As many are aware, the 30-year-old has a mutual option in his contract which expires at year's end. The six-year deal worth more than $66 million was signed before the 2009 season when Andy MacPhail was the team's president of baseball operations. The team can decline its end of the option and pay a $2 million buyout at the end of the season or pick up the option of $17.5 million. The...

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Matthew Taylor: 1950s bonus baby Nelson never hit it big

May 23, 2014, 5:46am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: 1950s bonus baby Nelson never hit it big

He was buried in his Orioles jersey and his obituary read, "He especially loved having a beer or two while watching baseball on TV." Robert "Tex" Nelson is a guy who's worth getting to know more about. I ï¬rst learned about Nelson, who played for the Orioles from 1955 through 1957, thanks to my wife. She sent me a proï¬le of former O's public relations director and current director of Orioles alumni Bill Stetka that ran in The Baltimore Sun last month. I give her ï¬‚owers, she...

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David Huzzard: Nationals reaching a critical juncture

May 22, 2014, 5:05am

Nationals

There is some solace in the fact that a team that has had its opening day lineup on the field for all of three innings and has relied largely on backups is only 1 1/2 games back of the division lead, but how much longer can backups be expected to tread water? The injury to Wilson Ramos was one the Nationals were built to withstand. They acquired Jose Lobaton expressly for that purpose. The loss of Ryan Zimmerman was a blow that was not going to be easily recovered from. Zimmerman was off to a...

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Zach Wilt: Slow start? What slow start?

May 22, 2014, 4:43am

Orioles

Through his first 30 games of the season, Chris Davis had hit just three home runs. After hitting a major league-leading 53 home runs in 2013, Davis was on pace to hit less than half of that total this season. Steve Pearce was matching Davis's power production in half the amount of games played, while Matt Wieters had two more homers in four less games. The questions were beginning to roll in from Baltimore fans. What's wrong with Davis? Did he rush back from his oblique injury? Is he being...

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Daniel Clark: Taking stock of a division leader, inconsistencies and all

May 21, 2014, 5:33am

Orioles

Daniel Clark: Taking stock of a division leader, inconsistencies and all

More than a quarter of the 2014 season has now passed and the Orioles are sitting on top of the American League East with a record of 23-20. Despite holding the divisional lead, there has at times been an overwhelming sense of frustration among Orioles fans as in between the moments of brilliance, there have also been periods of lackluster performances. It's been these periods which have halted the Orioles just as they were threatening to open up a significant lead on their divisional rivals....

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Stuart Wallace: Examining the changes leading to Storen's resurgence

May 20, 2014, 6:32am

Nationals

Stuart Wallace: Examining the changes leading to Storen's resurgence

It has been a superlative-laden start to 2014 for reliever Drew Storen - and a start that has also seen the righthander's performance at an all-time high. While the sample size is still small--15 1/3 innings pitched--the hot start has Storen amassing a 30.9 percent strikeout rate, 3.6 percent walk rate, 93 percent left on base percentage and a 2.10 fielding independent pitching, all of which surpass his current career bests in each statistic. It's this sort of lights-out pitching from Storen...

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Jon Shepherd: The value of a Buck

May 20, 2014, 5:31am

Orioles

Last Saturday, Buck Showalter left the Orioles to see his daughter graduate from law school. While Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy was hammered in the sports world for missing games for the birth of his daughter, there has been little negative about Showalter taking time off for arguably a lesser family affair. One reason may be that after the reaction Murphy received, members of the sports media realized that perhaps they went to a little off the deep end. Another reason could be that the...

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Marty Niland: With rotation dinged again, Nats need quality starts - and good luck

May 19, 2014, 5:03am

Nationals

Marty Niland: With rotation dinged again, Nats need quality starts - and good luck

Another week, another key injury for the Nationals. This time it's Gio Gonzalez, who landed on the disabled list of for the first time in his seven-year career after being knocked around for a second straight start. If you're keeping score at home, that makes eight members of the opening day roster who have been sidelined at some point this season, including two from the starting rotation. The prognosis for Gonzalez seems good, but there is still some cause for concern because once again, the...

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Andrew Stetka: Checking in on some former Orioles

May 19, 2014, 4:50am

Orioles

We have reached that point in the season where you can start to analyze statistics and make an evaluation of how a player's year is going. I thought it would be fun to take a look at some former Orioles who have moved on. Let's start with fan favorite Mark Reynolds, who is taking his hacks with the Milwaukee Brewers in a platoon at first base. Reynolds has played in 34 of the Brewers' 44 games this season and even made a few appearances at third. He's offensive numbers are about what you...

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Matthew Taylor: For Horn, plenty of memories in Kansas City

May 16, 2014, 4:54am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: For Horn, plenty of memories in Kansas City

The Orioles are in Kansas City, and while there are plenty of current storylines to consider, I can't help but think of Sam Horn. It happens to me whenever the O's play at Kaufman Stadium. Horn is one of my favorite former Orioles, and he simply had a way of producing against the Royals. Horn's O's debut came at Kansas City on April 9, 1990. He went 4-for-5 with a pair of three-run home runs, including one into the stadium fountain. His eighth-inning homer erased a 6-3 deficit in a game...