In October in this space, we took a look at fastball usage around Major League Baseball and how the Orioles stacked up in a comparison. We found that while the Orioles' average velocity ranked pretty low compared to other teams, their usage of the fastball ranked pretty high. Orioles pitchers threw the sixth-highest percentage of fastballs among 30 MLB teams in 2019 at 54.9 percent. But the average velocity for the Orioles of 92.4 mph rated 27th. By the way, this shows how velocity has...

His offseason isn't over by a longshot. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo still has much left to do. There's a hole at third base after Anthony Rendon bolted for big bucks in Disneyland as a free agent. There's work to finish in the bullpen, probably with a reliable arm that can get outs in crunch time. There may be the need for a second baseman to spell Howie Kendrick. Ryan Zimmerman needs to be re-signed or else Rizzo can add a first baseman to his offseason shopping list. But there's...

The Orioles have signed a major league free agent as part of their winter activity. The club announced today that it agreed to terms with right-hander Kohl Stewart. Pitcher Marcos Diplán was designated for assignment to create room on the 40-man roster. The Twins outrighted Stewart on Nov. 4 and he elected free agency. Taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Pius X High School in Houston, Stewart was 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA and 1.418 WHIP in eight games...

After an amazing breakout campaign in front of a national audience all the way to the 2019 World Series title, Nationals left fielder Juan Soto is primed to have another big season. He is going to walk a lot. He's going to hit a lot. And a lot of those hits will be homers. Could he be in the running for MVP in the National League? Of course. But it will not be easy. Thanks to an October to remember, good pitches to hit will be at an even higher premium for Soto in 2020. Angels slugger Mike...

When right-hander Alex Cobb signed a four-year deal for $57 million in March 2018, he was joining an Orioles team with a roster that included Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Jonathan Schoop, Mark Trumbo, Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman, Zack Britton and Brad Brach and hoped to contend in the American League East. When he reported to spring training last February, he was with a very different-looking team - one that was rebuilding and was expected to finish in last place. Cobb made just three starts...

Is anyone else tired of all the leftovers in the fridge? Of checking to make certain that nothing is growing on them before popping them in the microwave? Of wondering who brought the spinach dip before realizing that, brother, that ain't spinach? Well, it's only food that comes with an expiration date. Not the Orioles-related notes and quotes that didn't make it into previous holiday articles. I've written about pitcher David Hess' new offseason workout program, based on a visit to the P3...

A byproduct of having a new regime running the show and dictating the steps and pace of a rebuild is the creation of new jobs and titles in the organization. I reported back on Oct. 11 that the Orioles were promoting Chris Holt from the position of minor league pitching coordinator to director of pitching. The exact details of the job hadn't been laid out for public consumption. Holt came to the Orioles from the Astros organization as the replacement for John Wasdin, who was named bullpen...

He may not see the Orioles roster at all in the 2020 season. But at a time when expectations will be very low for the team in the standings, they will remain very high for at least one player in the organization come next season. That player is catcher Adley Rutschman. In June, the Orioles made him just the second overall No. 1 draft pick in team history. He was then signed to a record $8.1 million bonus and there is almost no way to temper expectations at this point. While fans greatly...

Few players will have a microscope trained on them in spring training like Carter Kieboom, who will get a laser focus usually not afforded rookies. It will take another move and several weeks to determine exactly what role Kieboom will have with the Nationals in 2020, and in that way alone, the upcoming camp will be a lot like Kieboom's first on the major league side last spring. Back then, he would have made Crash Davis proud by spouting the appropriate cliches about being happy to have...

With Stephen Strasburg signing a new deal to remain with the Nationals for the remainder of his career, it is interesting to look back and see how far the hard-throwing right-hander has come since the day he was drafted in 2010. General manager Mike Rizzo has had a front row seat to see how Strasburg has evolved over the years in his quiet, unassuming way into a leader in the clubhouse. Strasburg was selected first in June 2009 to be a part of a hopeful turnaround for the Nats, who had lost 205...