The Joe Maddon connection still paying off for Brandon Hyde

The upcoming announcements of the winners for the major awards in Major League Baseball for the 2022 season could provide both some excitement and some frustrations for Orioles fans.

There could be excitement next Monday Nov. 7 when the finalists for the Baseball Writers' Association of America awards are announced. The O's, it seems likely, will have finalists for the AL Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year awards in Adley Rutschman and Brandon Hyde.

The frustration could come if both come close to, but do not win, those awards. 

Seattle's Julio Rodriguez seems to be the favorite for the ROY award and there is some sentiment that Cleveland's Terry Francona will be named top manager.

The BBWAA awards announcements begin on Nov. 14 with the rookies in each league and the AL and NL manager winners will be announced Nov. 15. 

More good pitching and more with the Nevins

It was another night, another win and another evening of solid Orioles pitching from beginning to end of the game. They have now won five straight after Thursday’s 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels to get to 40-44. They are 10-5 over the last 15 games and 16-9 over the past 25 games.

Right-hander Jordan Lyles was the latest O’s starter to provide a quality start, something Baltimore's pitchers have now done in six of the last nine games. Lyles allowed just one run in six innings plus one batter as he improved to 5-7 and lowered his ERA to 4.50. He has produced three quality starts over his last four outings, pitching to an ERA of 2.81 in that span.

And O’s starting pitchers are on quite a roll right now. They have allowed one earned run or less in 15 of the last 20 games, pitching to an ERA of 2.46 in that span.

Orioles pitchers have allowed two runs or less 12 times in the last 20 games and the club is 11-1 in those dozen games. So yeah, pretty good.

Overall, Baltimore pitchers have allowed 45 runs the last 15 games and 58 over the past 20. 

Managers resigned to - but slow to warm to - new rule for relief pitchers

Managers resigned to - but slow to warm to - new rule for relief pitchers
SAN DIEGO - Angels manager Joe Maddon likes the idea of quickening the pace of the game. He doesn't like the idea of making relievers pitch to three batters or finish an inning before coming out of the game, a rule that Commissioner Rob Manfred might implement for 2020. "I don't like it. I haven't liked it from the beginning," Maddon said during his Winter Meetings press conference. "I don't quite get it. I'm all for messing with the pace of the game. I think that's important. "The...

Doolittle ditches toe tap, returns to peak form

Doolittle ditches toe tap, returns to peak form
ATLANTA - The toe tap was gone. The results were back to normal. Sean Doolittle looked like his old self again Tuesday night during a scoreless bottom of the ninth that preserved the Nationals' 5-4 win over the Braves. He faced four batters, struck out three of them and emerged with his 10th save in a game his team desperately needed. And for the first time in 2019, he did it without his front foot touching dirt before taking his full stride toward the plate. That seemingly innocuous move...

Despite late controversy, Nats pull off 5-2 win over Cubs

Despite late controversy, Nats pull off 5-2 win over Cubs
The Nationals secured a much-needed 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night, thanks to Stephen Strasburg, big hits from the middle of their lineup and the undeterred Sean Doolittle. Strasburg pitched eight innings for the win. Brian Dozier hit his sixth homer. Juan Soto had two hits and three RBIs. Howie Kendrick also added a run-scoring double as Washington improved to 19-26 to even the series at one game apiece. Controversy slowed up the ending. With Doolittle on in the ninth, Cubs...

Coolbaugh hired as Dodgers' Triple-A hitting coach

Coolbaugh hired as Dodgers' Triple-A hitting coach
LAS VEGAS - Former Orioles hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh has been hired as hitting coach with the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City. Coolbaugh accepted the offer this week and signed his contract earlier today. Coolbaugh replaced Jim Presley as hitting coach prior to the 2015 season. His contract ran out on Oct. 31 and he wasn't expected to return under a new manager, who's expected to be hired later this month from a field of six candidates. I've heard that Coolbaugh also...

Light on actual movement, Winter Meetings are heavy on speculation

Light on actual movement, Winter Meetings are heavy on speculation
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The second day of baseball's Winter Meetings were light on moves, but, as usual, heavy on speculation. The biggest move on Tuesday involved the Yankees, who traded third baseman Chase Headley to the Padres, leaving them without a proven third baseman, as well as an established second baseman. The Yankees traded second baseman Starlin Castro to the Marlins in the deal that brought Giancarlo Stanton to the Bronx. So what will the Yankees do? For now, the Yankees have...

Maddon on protégé Martinez: "Davey is going to do a great job"

Maddon on protégé Martinez: "Davey is going to do a great job"
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - No matter how prepared he thinks he is, new Nationals manager Dave Martinez cannot escape one indisputable fact that will dog him until March 29: He's never managed in the major leagues. Baseball history is rife with learned men who have been unsuccessful in their first go-around at the helm of a big league club. Joe Torre finished in last place his first three seasons as Mets skipper and was fired from three jobs before he latched on with the Yankees, where he won...

Minor meeting turned into major moment for Martinez

Minor meeting turned into major moment for Martinez
New Nationals manager Dave Martinez played in the major leagues for 16 seasons. But the man that he worked with for 12 seasons saw him in the minor leagues for the first time some 34 years ago when Martinez was just 18. Current Cubs manager Joe Maddon had spotted Martinez when the outfielder began his minor league career playing for the short-season Single-A Geneva Cubs. Maddon managed in the Angels farm system from 1981 to 1986. "The first time I ever met Joe was in 1983 in instructional...

Cubs will themselves to win, prevail in "crazy" Game 5 over Nationals

Cubs will themselves to win, prevail in "crazy" Game 5 over Nationals
Bryce Harper swung and missed for strike three and Cubs catcher Willson Contreras tossed his glove and mask and joined a hug-fest of gray uniforms around closer Wade Davis on the pitcher's mound at a shocked Nationals Park. The Cubs beat the Nationals 9-8 to win their National League Division Series in five games. After the game, the Cubs headed to Los Angeles to get ready for a rematch with the Dodgers for the National League pennant. The Cubs are going to their third consecutive National...

Game 4 postponed until Wednesday (Roark will start)

Game 4 postponed until Wednesday (Roark will start)
CHICAGO - With rain approaching the area and expected to arrive sometime late this afternoon or early this evening, the start of Game 4 of the National League Division Series has been delayed. There's been no decision made yet on a full postponement of the game, but the general managers and managers from both the Nationals and Cubs met with Major League Baseball officials including chief baseball officer Joe Torre a short while ago to discuss the possibilities. They are scheduled to meet again...

A five-run rally that might change the course of the NLDS

A five-run rally that might change the course of the NLDS
He had watched this lineup score runs in bunches all season long, overcoming injuries and ever-changing configurations to produce as well as just about any lineup in the majors. But 16 innings into the National League Division Series, Dusty Baker's Nationals had done nothing at the plate against the Cubs. Nothing. Nada. Squat. Bupkis. Yes, Anthony Rendon had homered in the bottom of the first in Game 2, but that opposite-field shot looked like a lazy fly ball off the bat and somehow got caught...

Maddon rolls the dice, pays the price for going against convention

Maddon rolls the dice, pays the price for going against convention
With one out and pinch-runner Victor Robles on first base in the eighth inning, the Nationals' Bryce Harper was at the plate against Cubs right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. Never mind that lefty Mike Montgomery was ready in the Cubs bullpen. Cubs manager Joe Maddon played the percentages. He left the lefty in the bullpen. Maddon wanted Edwards to face Harper, a left-handed batter, even though a lefty reliever would be a more traditional approach, but this is why Maddon liked the matchup: Edwards...

Cubs wait out Strasburg, emerge with 1-0 lead in NLDS

Cubs wait out Strasburg, emerge with 1-0 lead in NLDS
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg looked unhittable for five innings Friday night. Then the Chicago Cubs came to bat in the sixth inning. That's when everything changed. The Cubs scored twice against the Nationals starter, who had a 0.86 ERA after the All-Star break as well as a streak of 35 consecutive scoreless innings, on their way to a 3-0 win against the Nationals in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park. The Cubs' Javier Báez reached on a high chopper that...

Scherzer chosen to start for NL in All-Star Game (with NL lineup)

Scherzer chosen to start for NL in All-Star Game (with NL lineup)
To no one's surprise, Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer was this afternoon named as the starting pitcher for the National League in Tuesday night's All-Star Game in Miami. NL manager Joe Maddon of the Cubs made the announcement Monday afternoon in a press conference televised live on MLB Network. Maddon said he'd have chosen Scherzer over Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw even if Kershaw hadn't taken himself out of the running for the assignment by pitching a complete game in a 5-2 win...

It's hard to argue with Roberts, Francona as Manager of the Year winners

It's hard to argue with Roberts, Francona as Manager of the Year winners
The managers who win Manager of the Year awards are usually the guys that won - or at least contended - despite a list of problems. That's why the Dodgers' Dave Roberts won the Baseball Writers' Association of America award over the Cubs' Joe Maddon and the Nationals' Dusty Baker. Roberts had 16 first-place votes and 108 points. Maddon had eight first-place votes and 70 points, Baker four first-place votes and 66 points. Roberts led the Dodgers to the National League West title and 91...

Will Cubs refuse to pitch to Bryce Harper again this week?

Will Cubs refuse to pitch to Bryce Harper again this week?
The Cubs are coming to town Monday, and so the question on everybody's mind this week is a simple one: Will they pitch to Bryce Harper? They most certainly did not last month when the Nationals visited Wrigley Field. Though he stepped up to the plate 19 times in that four-game series, Harper wound up with only four official at-bats. He was walked 13 times, four of them intentional. He tied the major league record with six walks in the series finale, part of a stretch of 12 consecutive plate...

Nats know they must start making teams pay for walking Harper

Nats know they must start making teams pay for walking Harper
CHICAGO - They walked him. Then they walked him again. Then they intentionally walked him. Then they hit him with a pitch before walking him the next time up. Which set up another intentional walk, this time with runners on first and second base and two out in a tie game in extra innings. Which set up yet another intentional walk, also with runners on first and second base and two out in a tie game deeper into extra innings. Throughout it all, the Cubs made their intention quite clear. They...

Does Dave Martinez have a better shot at Nats' skipper spot this time around?

Does Dave Martinez have a better shot at Nats' skipper spot this time around?
I have been told the Nationals are interviewing a lot more candidates this time around for their vacant managerial position. Many have thought the announcement would be made after the World Series, but the Mariners did not waste any time or follow that protocol with the hiring of Angels assistant general manager Scott Servais to replace Lloyd McClendon. Will the vacancy in Los Angeles make Dusty Baker a hotter commodity? His name has been mentioned around Chavez Ravine. Would that make the...

Scherzer and Janssen use similar styles to close down series in Chicago

Scherzer and Janssen use similar styles to close down series in Chicago
The two biggest offseason pitching acquisitions came through huge for the Nationals in the same game Wednesday night in Chicago. Starter Max Scherzer and reliever Casey Janssen, alongside Matt Grace and Drew Storen, held the Cubs without a run in a series-clinching 3-0 victory at historic Wrigley Field. Scherzer struck out a season-high 13 batters over seven innings, allowing only five hits. He walked only one in twirling 108 pitches, 72 for strikes. Then, with two men on and no outs in the...