Gary Kendall on David Hess and DJ Stewart, plus O's notes

Gary Kendall on David Hess and DJ Stewart, plus O's notes
BOWIE, Md. - While other outfielders on the Orioles farm like Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins and Randolph Gassaway have gotten some deserved attention this year, the Orioles' 2015 top draft pick has been quietly having a solid year at Double-A Bowie. Florida State product DJ Stewart is batting .265/.357/.429 with 11 homers, 54 runs, 15 steals and 48 RBIs in 87 games for Bowie. As the Baysox (51-46) have made a run toward the top of their division over the last month, Stewart has elevated his...

Projecting the minor league rotations and a look at today's game

Projecting the minor league rotations and a look at today's game
NORFOLK, Va. - The minor league seasons for the Orioles' four full-seaon affiliates at Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, Single-A Frederick and Single-A Delmarva begin next Thursday, April 6. It should not be too long before the break-camp rosters are announced. For now, we can speculate on what the rotations could look like starting next Thursday, so let's take some (hopefully) educated guesses: Norfolk: With right-hander Tyler Wilson expected to start the year in the Orioles bullpen, news...

Notes on Ryan Mountcastle, David Hess and more from minor league camp

Notes on Ryan Mountcastle, David Hess and more from minor league camp
SARASOTA, Fla. - A few notes from the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park. This is the home of the Orioles' minor league camp, where today at 1 p.m. teams representing Single-A Frederick and Single-A Delmarva will play the Boston Red Sox. At the same, teams representing Triple-A Norfolk and Double-A Bowie are on the road playing Boston in Fort Myers. O's minor league games continue through March 30. The opening day rosters are not set yet for the four full-season affiliates and...

Miley says he's fine after being hit by liner (O's lose 5-2)

Miley says he's fine after being hit by liner (O's lose 5-2)
ORIOLES QUICK WRAP Score: Pirates 5, Orioles 2 Recap: Wade Miley was charged with four runs in one-plus innings, leaving the game after being hit by an Elias Díaz line drive leading off the bottom of the second. ... David Hess let an inherited runner score. ... Rule 5 pick Aneury Tavárez, a late replacement at DH for Rule 5 pick Anthony Santander, had an RBI single and a double. ... Trey Mancini singled and had an RBI double ... Logan Ondrusek made his Grapefruit League debut and tossed a...

After the starting five, how does the depth look for the Orioles?

After the starting five, how does the depth look for the Orioles?
As the new season approaches for the Orioles, the starting rotation looks set for 2017. It is expected to be - in some order - Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jiménez. But we do know the Orioles are very unlikely to get through 162 games with just five starting pitchers. They used eight to make starts in both 2014 and 2015 and used 10 in 2016. So the depth, as always, will be necessary. Who is next up on the list after the starting five for the Orioles? The...

O's game blog: A look at today's game and a few minor league notes

O's game blog: A look at today's game and a few minor league notes
Now that the Orioles have ended that little four-game losing streak, they hope to start to build another winning streak starting this afternoon at Cleveland. Last night's 6-4 victory came with only six strikeouts, but also with 13 hits. Adam Jones and Manny Machado combined to go 7-for-10 with two doubles, three runs and an RBI. Mark Trumbo hit his 15th homer and the Orioles went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Today, they look to go 2-0 in this series, but they'll need Ubaldo...

Where will the Orioles find their next arm?

Where will the Orioles find their next arm?
The Orioles are in dual mode when it comes to their pitching needs. They remain in the market for another arm, but they're also trying to ready their own minor leaguers for possible duty later in the summer. They had a minor league offer on the table for veteran Kyle Lohse before he signed yesterday with the Rangers, a deal that reportedly included a June 1 opt-out. They recently had special assignment scout Ron Schueler, who's based in Arizona, watch Tim Lincecum's showcase. The Orioles are...

A look at the Orioles' top 30 prospects per Baseball America

A look at the Orioles' top 30 prospects per Baseball America
SARASOTA, Fla. - Earlier here we discussed the Orioles' top 10 ranked prospects, according to Baseball America. Here is the previous story and another look at the top 10: 1) Dylan Bundy 2) Hunter Harvey 3) Chance Sisco 4) Jomar Reyes 5) Mychal Givens 6) Chris Lee 7) Ryan Mountcastle 8) Trey Mancini 9) D.J. Stewart 10) Mike Wright According to the Baseball American Prospect Handbook (which went to press in early December), here are the players rated 11 through 30 with a comment on each and...

David Hess made gains with his secondary pitches last year (plus other notes)

David Hess made gains with his secondary pitches last year (plus other notes)
Orioles pitching prospect David Hess, a 22-year-old right-hander, will be interesting to watch this year. Can he carry over his great finish to 2015 to the 2016 season? Hess was struggling early last year at Single-A Frederick, but then he got on a tremendous roll. That led to a late-season promotion to Double-A Bowie where he pitched two big games in the playoffs for the Baysox as they won their first Eastern League championship. Over his last 16 starts of 2015 - including 12 for Frederick and...

A look at some inaccurate PECOTA projections for the Orioles, plus other notes

A look at some inaccurate PECOTA projections for the Orioles, plus other notes
When Baseball Prospectus released its latest PECOTA projections for the 2016 season, it basically predicted a strong race in the American League East this year - but not one that will include the Orioles. PECOTA, which stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm, is Baseball Prospectus' proprietary system that projects player performance based on comparison with historical player seasons. There are three elements to PECOTA: * Major league equivalencies, to allow the...

Slow start, big finish: O's pitching prospect ended 2015 season with a flourish

Slow start, big finish: O's pitching prospect ended 2015 season with a flourish
Can a pitcher who had an ERA of 5.83 last June 20 for Single-A Frederick be considered one of the Orioles' top pitching prospects? He can if he was able to turn his season around to the point where he got a late-season promotion to Double-A Bowie. And then he pitched two huge games in the playoffs to help the Baysox claim the Eastern League championship. Right-hander David Hess, 22, didn't just turn around his season. He pitched so well that he was the O's minor league Pitcher of the Month...

Wrapping up the last day of Orioles minicamp

Wrapping up the last day of Orioles minicamp
SARASOTA, Fla. - Dylan Bundy threw 15 fastballs off the half mound today at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. A few feet away, Hunter Harvey threw a full bullpen session off the regular mound. The Orioles' top two prospects simultaneously in action, raising hopes as the minicamp drew to a close. "It's great to know that they're on schedule, they're part of the group. They're, for lack of another term, normalized. It is nice," said pitching coach Dave Wallace. "You're happy for them....

A look to see if Orioles farm system depth is better than advertised

A look to see if Orioles farm system depth is better than advertised
Is it possible that the Orioles farm system is in better shape than some believe it to be? If you look at the recent Baseball America top 10 O's prospects list, you find some pretty good prospects that did not even make that top 10. To review, here is the O's top 10 per BA that was released Dec. 14: 1) RHP Dylan Bundy 2) RHP Hunter Harvey 3) C Chance Sisco 4) 3B Jomar Reyes 5) RHP Mychal Givens 6) LHP Chris Lee 7) SS Ryan Mountcastle 8) 1B Trey Mancini 9) OF DJ Stewart 10) RHP Mike...

One win for the championship: Bowie hosts Reading in Game 5

One win for the championship: Bowie hosts Reading in Game 5
In the 2015 Eastern League playoffs, it seems you can get the Double-A Bowie Baysox down, but not out. In the first game of Bowie's EL semifinal series with Altoona, the Baysox blew a 7-0 lead and lost 8-7. They then won the next three games by a combined score of 21-3 to reach the EL Championship Series. They then again lost the series opener 3-1 before winning Game 2, 10-3. But Reading won Game 3 big by a 9-3 score and Bowie faced a must-win situation last night. The Baysox won a 9-1 blowout...

The Hess express rolls on in Frederick (plus O's homer notes)

The Hess express rolls on in Frederick (plus O's homer notes)
Talk about turning around your season. Single-A Frederick right-hander David Hess is on a major roll right now. It all seemed to turn for him around June 20 when he had an ERA of 5.83 for the Keys. But in 12 starts since then, Hess is 7-0 with a 1.34 ERA, allowing two earned runs or less in all 12 starts. In his latest outing on Tuesday, he pitched a seven-inning, one-hit shutout in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Potomac. It was the first career complete-game shutout for the pitcher who Orioles...

Orioles and Mariners lineups

Orioles and Mariners lineups
Matt Wieters is serving as the designated hitter and Junior Lake is starting in left field tonight, as the Orioles begin a three-game series in Seattle. Wieters is 4-for-28 as the designated hitter this season. In 26 career starts against the American League West, left-hander Wei-Yin Chen is 14-5 with a 2.81 ERA and 17 quality starts over 166 1/3 innings. The Orioles are 20-6 in those games. Former Oriole Nelson Cruz has recorded an extra-base hit in nine straight games for the Mariners and is...

Bridwell to seek opinion from Dr. Andrews, minor league rotation notes and more

Bridwell to seek opinion from Dr. Andrews, minor league rotation notes and more
Double-A Bowie right-hander Parker Bridwell was placed on the disabled list Sunday with elbow tendinitis. Bridwell, who turned 24 yesterday, will seek a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, and the Orioles are working to schedule that appointment. Ranked as the organization's No. 22 prospect by Baseball America after the 2014 season, Bridwell is 4-5 with a 3.99 ERA in 18 Baysox starts. He has pitched to an ERA of 3.36 over his last eight starts. Meanwhile Bowie pitcher Branden Kline, out...

O's game blog: O's look for fifth win in a row in series opener against Texas

O's game blog: O's look for fifth win in a row in series opener against Texas
The American League East race now features four teams separated by one game in the standings. The Orioles have the best winning percentage in the division at .547 as they open a four-game series tonight against the Texas Rangers. The Orioles and Tampa Bay sit atop the division, but by just 1/2 game over the Yankees and one game over the Blue Jays. The Orioles are winners of four in a row, seven of eight, 10 of 13 and 18 of their last 23 games. They are 25-13 at home, which is the best home...

Prospect Profile: Hess makes solid debut, draws Bud Norris comparison

Prospect Profile: Hess makes solid debut, draws Bud Norris comparison
When the Orioles drafted right-hander David Hess in the fifth round out of Tennessee Tech last June, Hess pointed out that he had played for the O's in Little League and now he was an Oriole again. Signed by scout Adrian Dorsey, the 21-year-old Hess had pitched out of the bullpen his first two years in college and was a starter as a junior. He got a slightly under-slot bonus of $280,000 to sign. Last season for Tennessee Tech, Hess went 9-3 with a 3.24 ERA in 16 starts. Over 97 1/3 innings,...