Updating Orioles in the Arizona Fall League (and notes)

Updating Orioles in the Arizona Fall League (and notes)
The Mesa Solar Sox will represent the East Division in Saturday's Arizona Fall League championship game. The team that includes Orioles minor leaguers on its roster. Rings can be won in November, even for an organization that's rebuilding. They do receive rings, right? Anyway, the AFL season began with eight Orioles representatives on Mesa's roster, including catcher Ramon Rodriguez, who was listed as being on the taxi squad. There have been three subtractions, though outfielder Yusniel Diaz...

Who starts at third base while Orioles wait for Mayo?

Who starts at third base while Orioles wait for Mayo?
If the Orioles can implement their prospect plan at third base, Coby Mayo will be handling the hot corner and hitting long home runs for many years. They can figure out how to occupy the middle infield with the batch of shortstops who crash their top 30 prospects lists, including Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg among the first 10. Henderson could be the shortstop and Westburg the second baseman. They could reverse roles. One of them could move over to third, but good luck trying to budge...

Stowers and Diaz headline Orioles entries in Arizona Fall League

Stowers and Diaz headline Orioles entries in Arizona Fall League
The Orioles will have eight players representing the organization with the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. Pitchers Cameron Bishop, Logan Gillaspie, Conner Loeprich and Nick Vespi, catcher Ramon Rodriguez, infielder Greg Cullen, and outfielders Yusniel Diaz and Kyle Stowers will play for Mesa. Rodriguez is on the taxi squad. Triple-A Norfolk hitting coach Tim Gibbons will serve in the same capacity with the Solar Sox. The first game is Wednesday, Oct. 13. The annual Fall Stars Game...

Some of the top farm pitchers get closer to Baltimore

Some of the top farm pitchers get closer to Baltimore
As the Orioles work to improve their pitching in 2022, there remain a few ranked pitching prospects the club has yet to see pitch in Baltimore. And there are others, like Zac Lowther and Alexander Wells, that we saw get their feet wet this year. Enough to know how tough it is to pitch in the American League East. The Orioles still play more than half their games outside of the East, this is true, but the division remains the best in the baseball and maybe the toughest in all of sports. Topping...

The O's '21 draft class of pitchers looks a lot like 2019

The O's '21 draft class of pitchers looks a lot like 2019
We now have the facts as they relate to pitchers and the Orioles in the 2021 First-Year Player Draft. We do know they drafted just one pitcher in the first 10 rounds and then took eight from rounds 11 through 19. A run broken up only when they selected Florida Southern first baseman Jacob Teter in round 13. Over time we will find out if waiting to draft all those pitchers was a wise move by the Orioles. If Kumar Rocker wins a couple of Cy Young Awards - OK, if he is even a plus starting pitcher...

In Bowie, Baumann on his strong night, Bishop on his strong year

In Bowie, Baumann on his strong night, Bishop on his strong year
BOWIE - On a night where Orioles lefty John Means made his second rehab start, maybe the most encouraging pitching sign of the night for the Double-A Bowie Baysox came in Game 2 of a doubleheader. Right-hander Mike Baumann put together a second straight solid start. And he got a tiebreaking solo homer from Adley Rutschman in the last of the fifth as Bowie beat Richmond 3-2 to split the doubleheader. In his 10th start this year, Baumann collected his first win. Baumann is trying to show the...

Renewing old friendships: Dylan Bundy on his time with O's

Renewing old friendships: Dylan Bundy on his time with O's
After the Orioles traded him to the Los Angeles Angels for four minor league pitchers on Dec. 4, 2019, Dylan Bundy got a fresh start with a new club. The Orioles were the only team he had known. They drafted him No. 4 overall in 2011 and brought him to the big leagues. After pledging to throw his slider more, Bundy had a strong 2020 season, going 6-3 with a 3.29 ERA for the Angels. He finished ninth in the American League Cy Young voting. But the results have not been there this year, with the...

A look at Alexander Wells' debut, plus other notes

A look at Alexander Wells' debut, plus other notes
During a mostly otherwise bad day for the Orioles - they lost 12-4 to Toronto - seeing the big league debut of a player in his sixth year in the organization was a real highlight. Lefty Alexander Wells, 24, pitched two scoreless innings on 43 pitches in Buffalo, keeping Toronto off the board in the seventh and eighth innings. The debut came after Wells had pitched at five levels on the farm, starting in short-season ball in 2016 and going all the way through his rise this year to Triple-A...

O's game blog: Dean Kremer pitches series opener at Cleveland

O's game blog: Dean Kremer pitches series opener at Cleveland
After losing three games at St. Petersburg, Fla., against Tampa Bay, the Orioles' two-city road trip moves on to Cleveland tonight. The Orioles and Indians are starting a four-game series. The Orioles took two of three from Cleveland at home from June 4-6, winning the first and last games of that series. They won the Sunday game 18-5 over Cleveland. The O's have gone 2-8 in their last 10 games in Cleveland and haven't won a series at Progressive Field since 2016. The Orioles (22-42) have...

Lineup produces top to bottom, O's sweep on the farm

Lineup produces top to bottom, O's sweep on the farm
It's fun to win and so it was fun around Birdland last night, as the Orioles and their four minor league teams combined for another perfect 5-0 night. The Orioles beat the Mets 10-3 and again got contributions throughout the lineup, which was great to see. As the O's have gotten their core hitters in the middle of the order back healthy and hitting in Trey Mancini, Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander, with a big push at the top, of course, from center fielder Cedric Mullins, it takes some...

O's losing streak ends as farm teams sweep the night

O's losing streak ends as farm teams sweep the night
A win, finally a win for the Orioles to provide a sense of both excitement and relief around Birdland. The clutch hits finally came and lefty starter Bruce Zimmermann used them to pick up the win. Back on May 16, when the Orioles last won before last night, Zimmermann was also the winning pitcher. That victory came out of the bullpen. This one he got as a starter as he allowed two runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings with two walks and a career-high seven strikeouts. He is now 3-3 with a 4.96...

O's offense perks up in losses, Elias on core players and more

O's offense perks up in losses, Elias on core players and more
O's fans had been waiting for the Orioles to break out on offense. And now they have scored 10, six and seven runs the last three games. But as Trey Mancini said after the game Tuesday, they are not synching up right now. When they get pitching, the hitting comes up short and when they get hitting, the pitching is not there. The O's have scored 13 runs in this series against Tampa Bay. But they have given up eight homers and lost the two games by 13-6 and by 9-7 last night. Even with lefty...

Mountcastle, Baumann, Rodriguez among Orioles award winners

Mountcastle, Baumann, Rodriguez among Orioles award winners
Ryan Mountcastle didn't squeeze onto the Orioles' expanded roster this month. However, he's going to be at Camden Yards this weekend. His name won't be in the lineup, but it's etched with the past recipients of the Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year Award. Mountcastle has been chosen as the organization's top position player and will be honored in an on-field ceremony before Saturday's game against the Mariners. Joining Mountcastle are right-handers Michael Baumann and...

Surprising Orioles pitching stats plus farm scores and notes

Surprising Orioles pitching stats plus farm scores and notes
There is no doubt about the importance of pitching. The Orioles are 42-88 and a lack of quality pitching has been a big reason for that. But there are a few stats that show us that even a team with a record like the Orioles' won-loss mark can do well when it gets some solid pitching. First, the overall numbers. With a team ERA of 5.84 through Sunday's games, the Orioles ranked 15th and last in the American League and 30th in Major League Baseball. Their rotation ERA of 5.72 ranks 15th in the...

Alex Cobb finished what he started, plus farm notes

Alex Cobb finished what he started, plus farm notes
The Orioles have played two pretty solid games in Cleveland this weekend and they posted an impressive 4-2 win on Saturday afternoon to end the Indians' six-game win streak. Right-hander Alex Cobb had another strong start. In fact, he pitched a complete-game five-hitter to improve to 4-15 with a 5.09 ERA. Cobb posted his fourth career complete game and his first nine-inning complete-game since a shutout versus Oakland on Aug. 23, 2012. Cobb has posted five straight quality starts with a 2.06...

O's game blog: O's try to end losing streak versus K.C.

O's game blog: O's try to end losing streak versus K.C.
As the Orioles (8-27) look to break a seven-game losing streak tonight, they host the Kansas City Royals in the second game of a three-game series and nine-game homestand. Right-hander Andrew Cashner (1-4, 4.89) will make his eighth start and fifth at home. Cashner went 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA over his first three starts, but over his past four he is 0-3 with a 6.97 ERA. He's allowed 28 hits and five homers over 20 2/3 in those games. Many of Cashner's stats come up short from his 2017...

Josh Michael: Breaking down a pair of promising pitching prospects

Josh Michael: Breaking down a pair of promising pitching prospects
The 2018 minor league season will kick off Thursday, and I for one am extremely excited because the state of the Orioles' farm system has vastly improved over the past few years. Today, I want to highlight two pitchers that most O's fans are not very familiar with, but are prospects that I am very excited about. First up is a lefty who almost wasn't even an Oriole. Cameron Bishop, 22, was selected by the Orioles in the 26th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Cal-Irvine. His...

Projecting Delmarva's rotation: Young, talented, crowded

Projecting Delmarva's rotation: Young, talented, crowded
The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds will very likely have more starting pitchers than rotation spots when the season begins next month. The Orioles have to be excited about a group of seven young and talented pitchers that project to pitch in either a five- or six-man Shorebirds rotation. The Orioles could use one or more pitchers in piggyback situations, when they pitch as part of the rotation yet follow another starter into the game somewhere in the middle innings. The group of seven currently...

MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis says O's farm has made solid progress

MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis says O's farm has made solid progress
After a year when the Orioles farm system has taken a nice step forward, we checked in with a few national analysts to get their takes. Today, we hear from MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis. Ranked well down the list when it comes to organizational rankings the last couple of seasons, the club is moving up and making decent progress. The Orioles had several players ranked among the various league top 20 prospects lists from Baseball America, including four in the prospect-laden Eastern League....

The longball in early playoff games and league prospect rankings

The longball in early playoff games and league prospect rankings
We have heard it many times before that "good pitching beats good hitting." We have also heard the narrative that home runs "don't play well in the postseason." So far that has not been true. We are talking about a small sample size. In the wild-card games the four starting pitchers were Ervin Santana, Luis Severino, Jon Gray and Zach Greinke. They combined to pitch 7 1/3 innings allowing 20 hits and 15 runs and gave up five home runs. There were nine homers hit in the wild card games. As...