Notes on Schoop's strong bat, Gausman's outing and Akin's gem

Notes on Schoop's strong bat, Gausman's outing and Akin's gem
TORONTO - Second baseman Jonathan Schoop continued his breakout season last night at Rogers Centre. The Orioles scored three runs in the first two innings in beating Toronto 3-1, with Schoop right in the middle of it. He contributed a single to start a first-inning two-run rally and crushed a double with an exit velocity of 113 mph and scored a run in the second. Schoop is batting .298 with 15 homers, 48 RBIs and an OPS of .902 for the season. In June he is batting .344/.410/.688 with eight...

O's game blog: O's and Pirates begin two-game series

O's game blog: O's and Pirates begin two-game series
The Orioles are 4-2 against National League teams this year, going 2-1 against both Washington and Cincinnati. Their next three games are versus NL teams, starting with a two-game series that begins tonight with Pittsburgh. This series will end a nine-game homestand. The Orioles are 4-3 on the stand, going 2-1 against the Yankees and 2-2 against the Red Sox. The Orioles went 14-6 in interleague games last season. The 14 wins were the most in club history. Since interleague play began in 1997,...

Did O's steady the ship with 4-3 run?

Did O's steady the ship with 4-3 run?
After going through a 3-13 stretch through the end of a series at Houston a week ago yesterday, the Orioles went 4-3 over their past seven games against the Yankees and Red Sox. A 4-3 record against those teams would be pretty solid most of the time, except maybe when they started the stretch 4-1, then lost the next two games as the Orioles just did. They took the first two games against Boston before losing the last two. They have played four series against Boston and have not lost a single...

Tonight's game, prospect updates and former Orioles

Tonight's game, prospect updates and former Orioles
The Orioles' road trip continues tonight with a stop in Detroit, where they won two of three games last season while taking the season series 5-2. Adam Jones was 13-for-26 with two doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs in the seven games. The Orioles haven't swept the Tigers in a three-game series in Detroit since 2004. The Tigers' last home three-game sweep of the Orioles came in 2010. A sweep isn't the first priority for the Orioles. They need to end their season-long four game losing...

Adam Jones on donation to Boys & Girls Clubs (plus other notes)

Adam Jones on donation to Boys & Girls Clubs (plus other notes)
Earlier this week we saw yet another example of how Orioles outfielder Adam Jones is a leader for the team not only on the field, but off the field as well. The Orioles Charitable Foundation and Jones, along with his wife Audie, made a $75,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore for the fourth consecutive year. The donation will include $10,000 to fund Youth of the Year Scholarship Awards and $65,000 to help to renovate the O'Donnell Heights Club gymnasium. "I...

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...

Álvarez at the plate and in field highlights B game win (updated)

Álvarez at the plate and in field highlights B game win (updated)
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles won their B game over the Pirates this morning on the Camden Yards replica field if anyone was keeping actual score. It lasted seven innings, players were pulled off the field or told to stay depending on the situation. Much like an intrasquad game, except the opponent didn't dress in the same clubhouse. Pedro Álvarez hit a home run to center field off Trevor Williams in his first plate appearance, doubled twice and struck out, the ball exploding off his bat....

Prospect profile: Keegan Akin made a strong pro debut

Prospect profile: Keegan Akin made a strong pro debut
As a highly drafted pitcher, there were some high expectations on left-hander Keegan Akin before he even threw one pitch as a professional. But he produced such good numbers last summer at short-season Single-A Aberdeen that Akin met those expectations in his debut season and has quickly become one of the Orioles' top pitching propsects. Drafted in the second round (54th overall) last June out of Western Michigan University, Akin got a signing bonus of $1.177 million. Last year in college,...

Early notes on Tillman, Harvey, Bundy and more

Early notes on Tillman, Harvey, Bundy and more
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles brought last year's second-round pick, left-hander Keegan Akin, from minor league camp as an extra pitcher for today's game against the Red Sox. First-rounder Cody Sedlock worked an inning yesterday in Clearwater and gave up four runs on two home runs. Manager Buck Showalter had a brief conversation with him later and sensed that the kid was fine. "I think so. What do I know?" Showalter said. "I didn't see anything different. Maybe it was good for him. But...

Duquette on predictions, projections, defending farm system

Duquette on predictions, projections, defending farm system
Speculation is building that the Orioles will reach agreement with free agent catcher Welington Castillo on a multi-year deal. It may not be imminent, but it seems inevitable. The club's interest in indisputable and well-documented. He's been the primary target since the Diamondbacks non-tendered him. In that regard, nothing has changed since the start of the Winter Meetings. With the holidays approaching, players tend to want closure for themselves and their families. It doesn't always work...

A look at the Orioles' 2016 draft with Baseball America's John Manuel (video)

A look at the Orioles' 2016 draft with Baseball America's John Manuel (video)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Baseball America has given the Orioles solid reviews for their 2016 draft, which featured three pitchers from the Midwest as their top three picks: Cody Sedlock, Keegan Akin and Matthias Dietz. This morning at the Winter Meetings, I interviewed Baseball America editor in chief John Manuel to get his thoughts on the Orioles' draft. "First, I like that Cody Sedlock has a fairly fresh arm," Manuel said. " I like that profile - big, physical, Midwest arm, fairly fresh. I...

O's scouting director Gary Rajsich on the 2016 draft

O's scouting director Gary Rajsich on the 2016 draft
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - It wasn't long after Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich wrapped up a 2016 draft that is playing to some good reviews among national analysts that he began work on the next one. As it stands right now, the Orioles have the 23rd pick in round one of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft. But here at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Rajsich took some time in a video interview to look back at his 2016 draft of 41 players, which included 27 pitchers and 14...

Baseball America's top 10 Orioles prospects: Chance Sisco is No. 1

Baseball America's top 10 Orioles prospects: Chance Sisco is No. 1
After he was drafted in the first round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, right-hander Dylan Bundy became the Orioles' No. 1 ranked prospect at the end of that season. And Bundy stayed as the club's top-ranked prospect every year after, even as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2013. But with Bundy no longer eligible for prospects lists, there is a new Orioles No. 1. Catcher Chance Sisco's steady move up the rankings has led him to the top spot. When Baseball America released its latest...

Notes on pitching prospects Garcia, Scott, Sedlock and Akin

Notes on pitching prospects Garcia, Scott, Sedlock and Akin
I filed a blog entry last week with Orioles director of player development Brian Graham offering his opinion of Jason Garcia's season at Double-A Bowie. Now let's hear from Baysox pitching coach Alan Mills. "He's a talented individual," Mills said of Garcia, the former Rule 5 pick who went 6-10 with a 4.73 ERA and 1.544 WHIP in 24 starts. "Kind of started slow, but he got better as the year went on. At the beginning of the year, he had some command issues, and he worked some things out...

Minor league notes on league top 20s, Chance Sisco and Tanner Scott

Minor league notes on league top 20s, Chance Sisco and Tanner Scott
Baseball America has been rolling out its top 20 prospects list for each minor league over the last several days. They have not published the Triple-A league lists yet, but so far through the Double-A level, the Orioles have had just five players make the top 20s. Four of those were off the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds team when they ranked players from the New York-Penn League. The O's top draft pick from June, Illinois right-hander Cody Sedlock, was ranked No. 5 in that league...

O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre

O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre
TORONTO - Still with a shot to catch the Blue Jays for the first American League wild card while also trying to hold off the teams trailing them for the second wild card, the Orioles play in Toronto tonight in the second game of a three-game series. The Birds were held to eight hits - just one for extra bases, a double - and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday night. They were held to one run over six innings by Aaron Sanchez in a 5-1 loss. The Orioles (85-72) lead the...

A few things to track over the remaining 29 games (plus farm notes)

A few things to track over the remaining 29 games (plus farm notes)
Despite the avalanche of negativity on the blog and social media yesterday, I notice the Orioles have a game scheduled with the Yankees tonight. I assume they will show up. I plan to go cover it, so I hope both teams are there. Yes, of course, the Orioles' poor play has given fans plenty of reasons to doubt them. Some of you have pointed each one of them out about 1,000 times now. So yeah, we kind of get it. But they also have 29 games left, are tied for the second wild card and are four games...

Second-round pick Keegan Akin pitching well for Aberdeen (plus O's notes)

Second-round pick Keegan Akin pitching well for Aberdeen (plus O's notes)
As the Orioles' top draft pick in June this year, right-hander Cody Sedlock has gotten a lot of attention, as top picks do. But the Orioles' second draft pick, left-hander Keegan Akin, has quietly put together a nice run at short-season Single-A Aberdeen. The Orioles selected Akin out of Western Michigan University with the 54th overall selection. He went 7-4 with a 1.82 ERA in college with 133 strikeouts over 109 innings. The Orioles signed him to a bonus of $1.177 million. Akin was thrilled...

Hearing from Rajsich and Sedlock after Day 1 of draft

Hearing from Rajsich and Sedlock after Day 1 of draft
Orioles director of scouting Gary Rajsich set out to get three college pitchers last night in the 2016 amateur draft and achieved his goal with Illinois right-hander Cody Sedlock at No. 27, Western Michigan left-hander Keegan Akin at No. 54 and John A. Logan Community College right-hander Matthias Dietz at No. 69. Rajsich speculated that all three pitchers will begin their professional careers at Single-A short-season Aberdeen. Of course, the Orioles must sign them. Rajsich, made available to...