What comes next with Triple-A season pushed back?

What comes next with Triple-A season pushed back?
The Orioles knew that the Triple-A season could be pushed back at least a month, along with the other affiliates in baseball. The ESPN.com report Wednesday night didn't really blindside anyone in the organization. Only the timing enabled it to sneak up on some people. They were told that it could be announced by mid-March, but the news came a little bit earlier than that. How the Orioles deal with the latest changes due to COVID-19 and the need for more vaccinations is a work in progress....

Tyler Nevin on joining Orioles and relationship with father

Tyler Nevin on joining Orioles and relationship with father
Tyler Nevin finished a round of batting practice last month in Orioles camp and caught the eye of executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, who offered a hint at how the organization viewed him in the field. "I got here and I was hitting and Elias was behind the cage watching," Nevin recounted this morning in his Zoom conference call. "I got out and rolled around the cage and he goes, 'Hey, did you bring all your gloves?' I said, 'Yep,' and he goes, 'OK, you're going to need...

A look at a player who may be the next O's top 100 prospect

A look at a player who may be the next O's top 100 prospect
When he arrived at the Orioles' alternate camp at Double-A Bowie on Aug. 7, he became the youngest player on the field there at 19. But also among those with one of the potentially brightest futures. He would face pitchers more advanced than he would have been facing in a normal 2020 season, but that would also eventually prove a great benefit. And the fact that shortstop Gunnar Henderson was holding his own by the end of that camp was further verification that the Orioles made a solid draft...

Searching for reasons to be thankful

Searching for reasons to be thankful
The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us and traditions are being shut down like a spring training camp. Large family gatherings and out-of-state travel are discouraged due to health concerns rather than the bickering and your weird uncle's inappropriate comments. The two football games today interest me about as much as month-old sweet potato casserole, but I'll still watch them. They were supposed to be pigskin appetizers before Ravens-Steelers, which is going to be as satisfying as month-old...

Comparing Ryan Mountcastle's major league start to Manny Machado's

Comparing Ryan Mountcastle's major league start to Manny Machado's
Not only did Ryan Mountcastle have a stunningly good rookie year for the Orioles, but if you compare his first 35 big league games to Manny Machado, Mountcastle comes out ahead. Well ahead. It was one strong performance and probably better then we had a right to expect. He walked more, he defended fine, he ran very well and he hit. Man, did he hit. Over 35 games and 140 plate appearances, Mountcastle batted .333/.386/.492 with five doubles, five homers, 23 RBIs and an OPS of .878. His OPS+ of...

O's game blog: Dean Kremer makes his major league debut

O's game blog: Dean Kremer makes his major league debut
Right-hander Dean Kremer will make his major league debut this afternoon as the Orioles wrap of a four-game series with the New York Yankees. A win today would give the Orioles (18-21) a series win and three straight victories over the Yankees (21-18). Kremer was part of the Manny Machado trade of July 18, 2018. The Orioles sent Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers and in return got Kremer, outfielder Yusniel Diaz, pitcher Zach Pop, and infielders Rylan Bannon and Breyvic Valera. A 14th-round...

Orioles promoting Mountcastle for tonight's game

Orioles promoting Mountcastle for tonight's game
The long-awaited arrival of prospect Ryan Mountcastle to the majors is happening tonight. The Orioles are recalling Mountcastle from the alternate camp site in Bowie, according to an industry source. He's going to be in uniform for tonight's game against the Red Sox at Camden Yards. The team hasn't announced the move or offered confirmation. Mountcastle is the organization's No. 5 prospect per Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com and the most recent Most Valuable Player of the International...

Players helping players and more about the Bowie camp

Players helping players and more about the Bowie camp
While the Orioles have gotten off to a solid start to their season, the players not currently on their roster but on the 60-man player pool get their work in at the alternate site at Double-A Bowie. And while they wait for a call that might never come, the players there go beyond just getting themselves ready. According to Gary Kendall, one of the managers from the O's farm at the Bowie site along with Buck Britton, veteran players are sharing information with young players. They are trying to...

Alternate camp allowing developmental process to proceed

Alternate camp allowing developmental process to proceed
The gradual dissolving of the 2020 minor league baseball season, a painfully slow execution akin to sporadic drops of water splashed onto a pile of sugar, had the Orioles scrambling to come up with ideas to prevent it from impeding the development of their prospects. Teams set up alternate training camp sites near their home ballparks. Plans were devised to incorporate workouts and games while abiding by rules that prohibited competition with outside clubs. The Orioles had to construct a staff...

A trip down memory lane with Gary Kendall (with video)

A trip down memory lane with Gary Kendall (with video)
He has been a minor league coach and manager for the Orioles organization and his tenure spans 20 years. It's a labor of love for Baltimore native Gary Kendall, whose first O's managing assignment was at Rookie-level Bluefield in 2004. Kendall, now manager of the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, had a big hand in sending many players on to Baltimore. The list includes Trey Mancini, Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, John Means, Mychal Givens, Hunter Harvey, Chance Sisco, Austin Hays, Anthony Santander...

Baseball's shutdown impacting minor league preparation

Baseball's shutdown impacting minor league preparation
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic in professional baseball reaches down to the minor league level. To players with salary concerns and the managers and coaches who are trying to develop them and prepare for an abbreviated season. Triple-A Norfolk's Gary Kendall is back home in the Salisbury area, doing yardwork and engaging in video conference calls to collect and share information that no longer could be dispensed in Sarasota. The six-foot rule turned into complete isolation. The calls...

How will Orioles make room for Triple-A starters?

How will Orioles make room for Triple-A starters?
While the Orioles work in spring training to round out a rotation that so far holds John Means, Alex Cobb, most likely Asher Wojciechowski and a bunch of questions, they also need to figure out what to do at Triple-A Norfolk. They can't finish that task until they know which starters are heading north with them. There could be some cuts due to overflow. And we know that executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias is trying to sign one more veteran. The Tides rotation has the potential...

How Herrera could fit with Orioles

How Herrera could fit with Orioles
SAN DIEGO - The Orioles can't share their concrete plans for the 26-man roster until they're done finding players for it. One move might impact how they handle a separate position. The work won't be done this month or in January, given the organization's track record for late signings, trades and waiver claims. Reaching an agreement last week with infielder Dilson Herrera on a minor league contract enables the Orioles to lay out three possible scenarios for him. They could reassign him to...

Gary Kendall talks about Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer

Gary Kendall talks about Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer
For this recent entry about Ryan Mountcastle and his addition to the Orioles' 40-man roster, I spent some time interviewing Triple-A Norfolk manager Gary Kendall. I talked with Kendall talking about two pitchers. We discussed left-hander Keegan Akin and right-hander Dean Kremer, who were both also recently added to the 40-man roster. Outfielder Ryan McKenna joined that trio and now none of the four can be taken in the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Throwing a fastball, slider and changeup, Akin went...

Mountcastle's next goal is to make opening day roster

Mountcastle's next goal is to make opening day roster
Making the 40-man roster was the easy part for Ryan Mountcastle, the Orioles' fourth-ranked prospect per MLB.com and the No. 2 position player behind catcher Adley Rutschman, who leads the pack after being the first-overall pick in this year's First-Year Player Draft. Mountcastle faces a much stiffer challenge trying to make the club out of spring training. This is where he loses slam-dunk status. The Orioles protected Mountcastle before the Rule 5 draft. They might continue to protect him by...

Gary Kendall on Ryan Mountcastle's "special year"

Gary Kendall on Ryan Mountcastle's "special year"
Orioles prospect Ryan Mountcastle's path toward the majors took another significant step forward yesterday. He joined pitchers Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer and outfielder Ryan McKenna as additions to the Orioles' 40-man roster Wednesday. The Orioles now have 39 players on that roster. Mountcastle was an easy addition after a season when he was named both International League Most Valuable Player and the Orioles' Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year. The 36th overall pick in the...

Harvey hoping for fewer restrictions and more games in 2020

Harvey hoping for fewer restrictions and more games in 2020
Hunter Harvey came to the Orioles in August with a set of instructions. He didn't write them. They were attached as if pinned to his sleeve. Handle with care. Proceed with caution. Do not use on back-to-back days or nights. "This end up" seemed unnecessary, but they were detailed instructions. The Orioles don't abuse their relievers. Managing a bullpen is a skill, one of Buck Showalter's finest qualities, and Brandon Hyde also has made it a professional priority. But Harvey's case is...

Can Kline contribute in 2020?

Can Kline contribute in 2020?
Whether Branden Kline becomes an integral part of the Orioles bullpen, or even an extra piece that can be tossed on the Triple-A shuttle, is going to be determined much later. No one can make a declaration in October. Don't even attempt it. There's no way to construct the unit on such an early date in the offseason. Not that it ever stops us from trying. We don't know whether Mychal Givens, Richard Bleier and Miguel Castro, all of them eligible for arbitration and due raises, are going to...

Updates on Trumbo, Núñez, Hanhold and rotation (tied 4-4)

Updates on Trumbo, Núñez, Hanhold and rotation (tied 4-4)
The tightness in Mark Trumbo's upper back and neck area that caused him to be scratched from yesterday's lineup has subsided and he's available to play tonight, according to the veteran outfielder and Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. The club announced yesterday that Trumbo had a strained left trapezius. "Upper back, something tightened up and it just wouldn't cooperate by the time that the game came around," Trumbo said. "So with this many extra guys, I felt like somebody else was probably...

Notes on Santander, Means, Villar and more

Notes on Santander, Means, Villar and more
DETROIT - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde thought about sitting Anthony Santander today while the young outfielder was mired in a lengthy slump. Santander altered those plans yesterday with a two-run single that snapped an 0-for-27 streak. "He wanted to be in there today," Hyde said this afternoon. "I know how much that hit meant to him in his last at-bat. I told him, 'Listen, I wasn't planning on playing you tomorrow if things didn't go real well today.' And he said, 'No, no, no, papi, I...