The more you know about Orioles hitters

The more you know about Orioles hitters
The proverb that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" states that even a tiny amount of it might fool people into believing they're an expert on a particular subject, which can lead to mistakes. So true. But we still won't let that deter us this morning. The more you know about Orioles hitters in 2021 ... * Third baseman Kelvin Gutiérrez's five outs above average led Orioles infielders and ranked second on the team behind Cedric Mullins (11). Gutiérrez registered a .327 on-base...

Amid the losses, there were indeed high notes

Amid the losses, there were indeed high notes
During a season that ended with 110 losses, there were still some things that were positives and/or just plain fun about the 2021 season. And it's not that starting next year that we won't still look back. We will. But today, on the final day of the 2021 calendar, we take another look back at the Orioles season. Here are some of the best things we saw, wrote about and talked about this year. No. 1 - Trey Mancini played in 147 games: After dealing with cancer and chemotherapy treatments, Trey...

And still a few more highlights from 2021

And still a few more highlights from 2021
While wondering if the ball dropping on New Year's Eve impacts a team's dWAR ... Does a high-profile, highly paid player missing an entire season due to injury, surgery and an August retirement qualify as a memorable moment in 2021? Chris Davis belongs on the list, wherever he's slotted. Davis made an impact without dressing for a single game in the regular season, quitting with one year remaining on his franchise-record $161 million contract. Two at-bats in the Orioles' first spring...

A few more highlights from 2021

A few more highlights from 2021
Baseball's lockout is fogging up the future. However, it can't blur the past. What's done is done. A new collective bargaining agreement won't adjust the Orioles' 2021 loss total or remove the gains made by their prospects. It can't tarnish the memories. Yesterday, we talked about Trey Mancini's comeback and Cedric Mullins' historic 30/30 season. Probably the top two moments of the season. Unless you think the following belong closer to the top: John Means' no-hitter It began to feel...

A few highlights from 2021

A few highlights from 2021
What made the Orioles' 2021 season memorable, whether good or grating? And how would you rank these moments? Hold that thought. I'm tossing out two today that might be the highest for most fans. Others will follow later. Trey Mancini's comeback I won't speak for everyone, but how could Mancini rate anywhere except first? I've witnessed a lot of special moments while working the Orioles beat, including Eric Davis' return from colon cancer in June 1997. How the diagnosis explained the...

Another sampling of spring storylines

Another sampling of spring storylines
The Orioles haven't made any announcements during the holiday break. Nothing about minor league deals or staff hires. Not a creature is stirring, not even a rumor to douse. The ice pellets in yesterday's wintry mix had me yearning for the Florida sunshine that illuminates spring training workouts and afternoon exhibition games. Warms the heart - and areas where you should apply sunscreen. I've already written about eight camp storylines that should keep me busy, whether or not I'm able to...

Rewinding an Orioles roster review

Rewinding an Orioles roster review
Among the inconveniences of baseball's lockout is the delay in attacking roster deficiencies with major league free agent signings. Get ready for the frenzy of activity after a new collective bargaining agreement is in place, with teams racing through the green light at speeds that could leave many competitors in the dust. The Orioles tossed a starting pitcher and second baseman in their cart before the market closed. Jordan Lyles isn't listed on the 40-man roster, which holds at 38, because...

A son's conversation to keep close on Christmas

A son's conversation to keep close on Christmas
I wake up to my third Christmas morning without my father, who fought esophageal cancer until he decided, on his own terms, that he was done. The entire family gathered in Ocean Pines to be with him in late December 2018, the only time we've done that. He didn't say much as we exchanged gifts. He just sat in his recliner, watching our faces, taking it all in. We knew why. Three weeks later, he was gone. We still talk, and sometimes the exchanges feel like they're coming from one of my...

Rough road trying to guess Orioles roster in December

Rough road trying to guess Orioles roster in December
Among my yearly winter endeavors, and I'm not referencing the non-baseball stuff like ingesting too much pre-workout powder and listening to my heart perform the drum solo in "Moby Dick," is offering Orioles roster suggestions to a national publication. In December. Accuracy is optional. An extremely difficult task is much more challenging in 2021 with baseball's lockout, which denies teams permission to tamper with their 40-man rosters. Holes in lineups, rotations, bullpens and benches...

More trends to track in Orioles spring training

More trends to track in Orioles spring training
I took an early look over the weekend at some possible spring training storylines. The rotation setup behind John Means and Jordan Lyles, catcher Adley Rutschman's chances of breaking camp with the team, second baseman Rougned Odor's chances of avoiding the Yolmer Sánchez treatment,and the composition of the infield's left side. Just scratching the surface, of course, and I've been itching to share more ideas. Let's get to it, with four more to consider. How does Yusniel Diaz look in...

Orioles pull off a few surprising moves since final game

Orioles pull off a few surprising moves since final game
The Orioles can be predictable in many aspects of the operation, especially after years of covering the team, but they also possess the skills to go left when I'm shaded toward the right. Stay bent at the knees and be prepared to pivot. I've been burned in offseason coverage a few times. Here are a half-dozen 2021 examples off the top of my head: Pitcher Chris Ellis outrighted Pretty much every early bullpen projection for 2022 had Ellis in a bulk relief role if he wasn't starting. Which, of...

Wondering whether Orioles acquire another outfielder

Wondering whether Orioles acquire another outfielder
Areas that the Orioles must address during the offseason, when they're able to function normally again post-lockout, may or may not include the outfield. How's that for a definitive statement? The Orioles signed catcher Jacob Nottingham to a minor league contract last week, but they still don't have a backstop on the 40-man roster. They aren't done and could offer a major league deal after a new collective bargaining agreement allows it, along with at least one more minor league pact. The...

Memory Lane trip: The 2015 Eastern League champion Bowie Baysox

Memory Lane trip: The 2015 Eastern League champion Bowie Baysox
They were the last Orioles affiliate to win a league championship. They had to rally from being down two games to one in a best-of-five finals to win, but did, and an epic postgame celebration followed when the 2015 Double-A Bowie Baysox claimed their one and only Eastern League championship. That Bowie team included Trey Mancini, Chance Sisco, Mike Yastrzemski and Corban Joseph, plus some minor league vets that came up big, like Quincy Latimore, Brandon Snyder, Terry Doyle and Garabez...

Mancini endorses Trumbo as coach, news on Trimble injury

Mancini endorses Trumbo as coach, news on Trimble injury
The hitting voices in Trey Mancini's head are changing again. The Orioles didn't retain coach Don Long after three seasons. Long had replaced Scott Coolbaugh, who was hired in December 2014 and lasted four seasons. Assistant hitting coach José Hernández is moving into a new role on manager Brandon Hyde's staff. The shuffling has led to the Orioles hiring co-hitting coaches, bringing Ryan Fuller from Double-A Bowie and going outside the organization for Matt Borgschulte. Mancini has...

Mancini's friendship with Trumbo leads them back to baseball

Mancini's friendship with Trumbo leads them back to baseball
The friendship began to evolve on the back fields at the spring training complex. Two first basemen taking ground balls during workouts, their careers in vastly different phases. One of them a mentor, acquired for his power at the plate and influence inside the clubhouse, the other an eager young prospect. Mark Trumbo had joined his fourth organization since his major league debut six years earlier, with the Orioles sending catcher Steve Clevenger to the Mariners in a Dec. 2, 2015 trade. Trumbo...

Minors matter more to Orioles during lockout

Minors matter more to Orioles during lockout
Even when Major League Baseball was fully operational and a lockout only meant that a guard needed to open the gate to the players' lot after hours, the Orioles welcomed and encouraged the increased attention on their minor league system. The talent pumped into it via the draft and international signings, the developmental tools and personnel spliced into the organization, a modernized approach that the rest of the industry was embracing. Can't stand the sight of the mounting losses that...

Mancini moved forward as stoppage neared (updated)

Mancini moved forward as stoppage neared (updated)
The sides met multiple times again yesterday, Major League Baseball's negotiating committee and representatives for the MLB Players Association engaging in face-to-face discussions that, according to various reports, lasted about as long as it takes to get through self-checkout at the grocery store. Negotiations were shut down by the middle of the afternoon, with the sport expected to follow after midnight. MLB Network's Jon Heyman tweeted that owners voted unanimously to institute the...

A few thoughts as O's tender six players contracts

A few thoughts as O's tender six players contracts
Perhaps only a lockout could keep the Orioles from making what seems now almost daily changes to their 40-man roster. Yesterday began with the club holding 40 players on the 40-man. It ended with them at 38 after tendering contracts and/or reaching agreements with all six of their remaining arbitration-eligible players. No one was non-tendered. No one was traded. The Orioles have also signed infielder Rougned Odor, 27, to a one-year contract and outrighted infielder Richie Martin to Triple-A....

Orioles remove Kriske, Fox from 40-man roster (with multiple updates)

Orioles remove Kriske, Fox from 40-man roster (with multiple updates)
While the Orioles are busy making contract decisions on their arbitration eligible players, with the deadline set at 8 p.m. tonight, they also cleared two spots on a 40-man roster that's no longer filled. Reliever Brooks Kriske was released to pursue an international opportunity, according to the club, confirming news that appeared this morning on baseball's transactions page. And the Nationals claimed infielder Lucius Fox off waivers, ending his stay with the Orioles only two weeks after...

It was not just another offseason Monday in MLB

It was not just another offseason Monday in MLB
The dizzying pace of free agent signings in the last day or two has made the last 48 hours look like a frenzied edition of the Winter Meetings. Yet those meetings, if held, happen next week, not this one. The teams and players have been rushing to beat an expected deadline - the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement. This happens at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night. The deadline to non-tender players has also been moved up ahead of the original Dec. 2 deadline. I digress here,...