When a pitcher has an ERA of 11.20 over an 11-start stretch, just getting three or four decent innings from him might seem like a mountain to climb. Right now, Matt Harvey is an exceptional mountain climber. After getting bashed by opponent hitters from May 12 through July 7 - a stretch where he went 0-8 with that unsightly ERA and a 1.035 OPS against, now he is putting up zero after zero. He may have skipped a step in improving and went right from terrible to great. Just what did this guy do...

He recently moved into a couple of top 100 prospects lists and now Orioles infield prospect Gunnar Henderson is on the move again, this time further up in the Baltimore farm system. The Orioles announced a series of minor league roster moves and promotions Sunday, which included Henderson's move from low Single-A Delmarva to high Single-A Aberdeen. Henderson did not play in Sunday's Delmarva game, but had a quite a run with the Shorebirds. Over 35 games, he hit .312/.369/.574 with 11 doubles,...

Players for the Double-A Bowie Baysox this year can go hitless, yet still get praise from the coaching staff for their hitting. And not just because they may have made a productive out. It's all about the swing decisions they make. They are graded both on the pitches they do swing at and those they do not. The goal is to get a very hittable pitch and drive it. Let almost everything else go. Even borderline strikes are sometimes spit on while a hitter waits for a better pitch. Sometimes, even...

Birdland has likely noticed and no doubt enjoyed some great starts by both individual players and teams on the Orioles farm. Through Sunday's games, three of the O's four full-season affiliates are playing .667 ball or better. The four teams have a combined record of 29-18 (.617) and the Orioles rank seventh among major league organizations in minor league win percentage. Among several players off to great starts are two of the club's best young prospects. Pitcher Grayson Rodriguez is 1-0...

It is one of the biggest challenges facing all 30 big league teams during the 2021 season: how to manage the innings for their pitchers. In the full 162-game season in 2019, Orioles pitchers threw a combined 1,443 innings. During the 60-game season last year, that number was just 518 2/3 innings. Getting back to that large number, while also keeping pitchers healthy, is going to be something that will be difficult to navigate. There is no handbook for how to go from 162 games to 60 and then...

For the Orioles, it has been a recurring problem with their offense: a lack of clutch hits. This issue showed up again big time in the second game of the Seattle series Tuesday night. The Orioles had the bases loaded and one out in the second inning. They had bases loaded and two outs in the sixth and the same situation in the eighth. The last two times, catcher Chance Sisco grounded out in each instance to end the threat. He went hitless and is now batting .162 with a .414 OPS. He had company...

The latest Orioles game just produced more frustration for players and fans alike. Now at 40-45 after falling 6-4 at Minnesota, the Orioles are tied for fourth and fifth in the American League East with Toronto. So that means they are tied for last place. They have lost four in a row and six of seven. They are 18-35 since May 9, when they were 22-10 and had the best record in Major League Baseball. The team since then has seldom looked like a good team, much less a winning team. They are...