Over the weekend, I drove up to Asheville to watch the Delmarva Shorebirds, (ow Single-A affiliate of the Orioles, take on the Asheville Tourists in a matchup of two of the better teams in the South Atlantic League. My original intent was to see the Orioles' 2010 first-round pick and wunderkind shortstop Manny Machado play. But a knee injury last week meant that the only Machado action I saw was him crutching his way from the Shorebirds' dugout to the clubhouse. As consolation, I was...

Luke Scott will continue to play through the pain in his right shoulder, as he's done since the beginning of the season, and as he's done since it intensified over the last three weeks. An MRI taken earlier today revealed a tear in Scott's right labrum, but he won't go on the disabled list. He'll just deal with it. The tear doesn't affect Scott's swing, but he notices it when he makes throws from the outfield. "It's disappointing and a tough pill to swallow," he said. "The...

Good news from the offensive side of the ball in the minor leagues as outfielders Archie Gilbert and Bryce Harper have been named Player of the Week in their respective leagues for the week of May 2-8. This is the first such honor in Single-A Hagerstown for Harper, who was the 2010 Golden Spikes Award winner for best amateur player in the country. Gilbert is a two-time minor league All-star and was Texas League player if the week for almost the same seven days last season (May 3, 2010). From...

An MRI taken on Luke Scott's right shoulder revealed that the outfielder has been playing with a tear in his labrum. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail doesn't believe that Scott will need to go on the disabled list, but surgery might be an option after the season. "It doesn't really impact his swing at all," MacPhail said. "I think it occasionally bothers him when he throws, which he feels like he can play through and he'll just have to manage it. It doesn't necessarily...

Even without Manny Machado, the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds are still winning. They are 3-0 since a knee injury last Thursday sent him to the disabled list. Catcher Michael Ohlman led the Shorebirds to their latest win on Sunday at Asheville going 4-for-4 with Delmarva's first grand slam since August 2008 when Tyler Henson hit one. Ohlman connected in the sixth inning as part of a career-best, five-RBI day. Over his last six games, the 20-year-old Ohlman, an 11th-round pick in 2009 out of...

A couple weeks ago when the Giants were in town, I got to talking with Orioles Buzz guest blogger Anthony Amobi of Oriole Post. Pitchers Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson of the world champion San Francisco squad were the topics of conversation. We threw around ideas of what it would be like to hang out with those guys, even if just for a few minutes. I wondered, "Gee, I bet that Lincecum fella is a hoot to be around." As for Brian Wilson, well, I still haven't figured that one out, but I'm...

When you think of the Orioles and Mother's Day, which game comes to mind? There are two most likely answers that reflect very different eras of baseball in Baltimore. First, there's the miserable Mother's Day of four years ago when the Orioles, leading by five runs with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning at Fenway Park, surrendered six runs to squander the victory and a series win against the rival Red Sox. It was the first of many bullpen meltdowns during the 2007 season, none...

Here is a good rundown of some of the pitchers in the Nationals system to get your week off to good start. I had a chance to catch up with Nationals pitching coordinator Spin Williams, who is (always!) on the road checking in with and checking out Nationals prospects and just got back from Florida, Single-A Potomac and the Dominican Republic. Williams had an update on several pitchers, including right-hander Wirkin Estevez, the Pitcher of the Year in the Dominican Republic last season. A...

Well, when the Orioles began the year with a record of 6-1 and quickly got to five games over .500, none of us probably figured that just 26 games later they would be five games under .500. It is just not a pretty picture right now for the Orioles. They were thoroughly outplayed in every facet of the game in losing the weekend series to Tampa Bay. I'll detail some numbers here and most of them are not good. The O's need to turn around this run which has seen them go 8-18 since starting the...

The Orioles are off tonight. Then again, they were off all weekend. See what I did there? They took a two-fisted beating from a team they swept on the road in the first series of 2011. They didn't pitch, they didn't hit. Losses usually ensue when that happens. There were plenty of opportunities. The Rays kept walking hitters and littering the bases. One night, Derrek Lee took a third strike in the ninth inning. The next day, he grounded into a double play. Brian Roberts broke too soon...