Opening day is approaching the one-week mark and the Orioles don't know whether they're breaking camp with five or six starters and whether they're carrying 13 or 14 pitchers. Health, performance and other factors are tipping the scales. "Our pitching situation is still very much in flux and there's still a lot of questions still to be answered," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said today in his Zoom Call. "I think adding somebody as a sixth man in the rotation is doable without having to...

After allowing seven home runs and 15 runs Sunday, there is nothing, really, to do for the Orioles pitching staff and team as a whole but get back on the horse tonight versus Oakland. Try to ride their way to victory and put that mess from Sunday in their rear-view mirror. The O's were competitive and led the Yankees in the first two games of the series. They just didn't win. Sunday they were blown out and it felt like about 10 losses, but really only counted as one. Time to get back to...

Last week, I highlighted three Orioles prospects that saw their stock rise the most in 2018. This week, I will flip the script and highlight three prospects that saw their stock drop the most. As I did last week, I want to remind you that this is not a list of three prospects that had the worst seasons or the three worst prospects in the system. It's three guys who performed well below expectations and saw their stock drop. I will begin with a guy that was on the Orioles' top-five prospects...

Here is a whole batch of minor league news and notes for today. And we add some news about draft picks as well. * Double-A Bowie left-hander Keegan Akin will return to the Baysox rotation tonight. Akin left his start on June 26 with groin tightness after he had pitched four innings. He never went on the disabled list, and the injury turned out to be a minor issue. He returns tonight with an 8-5 record and 2.63 ERA over 15 starts. He ranks second in the Eastern League in ERA. During my recent...

The Orioles filled out their 40-man roster this afternoon while again addressing pitching depth in the minors by claiming left-hander D.J. Snelten off waivers from the Giants and optioning him to Triple-A Norfolk. Snelten, 26, was designated for assignment on May 28. He made his major league debut in Game 2 of an April 28 doubleheader against the Dodgers. In four appearances with the Giants, Snelten allowed five earned runs and six total with nine hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. He...

He may have allowed five runs and three homers in 4 2/3 innings Sunday at Fenway Park, but here is one vote for right-hander David Hess to stay in the Orioles' rotation. He has gotten two big challenges to start his career. The first was making his MLB debut on three days' rest and overcoming allowing a three-run homer in the first. The second was facing Boston on the road on seven days' rest. Now maybe the Orioles will let the kid settle into an every five-day schedule, give him at least...

Pedro Araujo received the news that he made the Orioles' opening day roster as a Rule 5 pick and promptly served up a home run in his next appearance. Because that's baseball. It's unwise to read too much into one appearance in spring training, and that includes how Araujo was burned by Williams Astrudillo's two-run shot in the ninth inning in a 12-4 loss to the Twins, but it probably brought a certain measure of comfort to the Orioles when the right-hander retired the side in order...

The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds will very likely have more starting pitchers than rotation spots when the season begins next month. The Orioles have to be excited about a group of seven young and talented pitchers that project to pitch in either a five- or six-man Shorebirds rotation. The Orioles could use one or more pitchers in piggyback situations, when they pitch as part of the rotation yet follow another starter into the game somewhere in the middle innings. The group of seven currently...

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson tonight joins an Orioles rotation that has pitched to an ERA of 0.94 the last four games and 3.18 the past eight. He will make his Orioles debut as the O's look to complete a three-game sweep of the Royals. At 52-54 and with four wins in a row and 10 wins the past 15 games, the Orioles could move to within 2 ½ games of the Royals with a win. The Royals (55-50) currently hold the second American League wild card spot, leading that by 1 ½ games over the...

For the Orioles, the players can change from year to year, but the predictions that the team won't do well seem to be the same. Different year, same predictions. That topic didn't come up with too many players when I was at spring training in Florida the last nine days, but it did with pitcher Zach Britton. It seems this topic is very individual to the player. Some take motivation from it, some brush it off and don't give it a single consideration. "I think I kind of use it both ways I...

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...

In late October, Baseball America released a new list of the Orioles' top 10 prospects, coming off the 2016 season. Today, we'll look at a few players that might make the second 10. But first, another look at Baseball America's Orioles top 10:1. Chance Sisco2. Cody Sedlock3. Ryan Mountcastle4. Hunter Harvey5. Trey Mancini6. Keegan Akin7. Austin Hays8. Jomar Reyes9. Chris Lee10. Tanner Scott Here are three players that seem likely to make the second 10, which has not been released or...

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...