The obvious has become official. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told the media today that left-hander John Means will start the July 24 opener against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Means made his major league debut in Boston in 2018. Means, the club's lone All-Star representative last summer as a rookie, will start the July 19 exhibition game in Philadelphia to prep for the assignment. "I told him yesterday and he's really excited," Hyde said on his daily Zoom conference call. Asked what made...

Part of my spring training routine that disappeared after March 11 was receiving and passing along the list of Orioles extras brought over from the minor league complex. Some high draft picks and some minor league free agents. Pitcher Isaac Mattson fell into a different category. The Orioles didn't draft or sign him. They acquired him from the Angels as part of the four-pitcher package for Dylan Bundy. Mattson appeared in two exhibition games and totaled one inning, but he warranted our...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles are going to be making some tough roster cuts relating to their bullpen. They didn't get any easier yesterday despite the runs allowed in Dunedin. Mychal Givens tried to work through a second inning against the Blue Jays and surrendered a two-run homer to Randal Grichuk after hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch. He's on the team. Hunter Harvey was scored upon for the first time when he hit a batter and Santiago Espina launched a 96 mph fastball onto the new...

The Orioles had some solid success with their young pitchers on the farm during the 2019 season. And they keep adding young pitchers to that group that competed last season. Of the Orioles' top six farm teams, four clubs led their leagues in ERA last summer. That was at Double-A Bowie, Single-A Delmarva, short-season Single-A Aberdeen and in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. And while it is true that Triple-A Norfolk and Single-A Frederick ranked last in their leagues in ERA in 2019,...

Through it all - from his stunning pro start with the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds in 2012 to more than 100 starts for the Orioles - Dylan Bundy was a class act. I'm pretty sure he will continue to be that for his new team, the Los Angeles Angels. After nine pro seasons with the organization, Bundy is no longer a part of Birdland. The right-hander was traded to the Angels yesterday for four right-handed minor league pitchers. The O's got Isaac Mattson, Kyle Bradish, Kyle Brnovich and Zach...

If we're ranking the Orioles' roster needs heading into the Winter Meetings, middle infield and starting pitching reside at the top of the list. They can be 1 and 1A. You can stack one on top of the other and not necessarily be wrong. Too close to call. The bullpen could use some tweaking and there are depth moves on the horizon, including a fourth catcher to join Pedro Severino, Chance Sisco and Austin Wynns. But executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias placed special emphasis...