"Orioles Classics" #TBT: Prodigious power displays and postseason memories
"Orioles Classics" #TBT: Prodigious power displays and postseason memories
Pete Kerzel
Orioles
Well, are you ready for Christmas? Most of my online shopping was done in early November, meaning fewer shipping delays than if I'd waited for another month. But there was the curious case of several packages that spent a week resting in Hagerstown or West Virginia before being delivered. Yes, I'm looking at you, United States Postal Service, and your silly tracking system that merely says that delivery has been delayed, without giving any update of significance. Everything is boxed, bagged...
Martinez liked DH in NL and shorter doubleheaders
Martinez liked DH in NL and shorter doubleheaders
Byron Kerr
Nationals
There were a few rules changes implemented in an attempt to speed up games during the abbreviated 60-game 2020 schedule: placing an automatic runner on second base in extra innings, the addition of the designated hitter in the National League and seven-inning doubleheaders. Two months after the season came to a disappointing end for the Nationals, manager Davey Martinez was asked what rules he would keep and which ones would he wants thrown in the Dumpster. There has been talk that the...
He's looking for a season where health and potential meet
He's looking for a season where health and potential meet
Steve Melewski
Orioles
Former Orioles skipper Buck Showalter would sometimes refer to something or someone in baseball as being "delayed but not denied." Be patient and you'll be rewarded. For O's bullpen righty Hunter Harvey, will major league stardom be delayed but not denied? The guy's career has seen more delays seemingly than the Baltimore Beltway at rush hour. From 2015-2017 on the farm, he threw a total of 31 1/3 innings. Through 2018, that four-year total was 63 2/3 innings. So many injury issues, well...
#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Ghosts of Natsmas past
#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Ghosts of Natsmas past
Doug Miller
Nationals
'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house ... the sets were tuned to MASN for lots of great baseball action on "Nationals Classics." OK, so it's not Clement Moore. It's not even Dinty Moore. But clunky poetry aside, if you're holed up for a low-key holiday season, there's nothing like a few ghosts of Natsmas past to brighten up your yuletide. You'll see a couple of Nationals stars when they were mere lads announcing their presence in a very un-Tiny-Tim-like fashion....
Nationals finished with seventh-highest payroll in 2020
Nationals finished with seventh-highest payroll in 2020
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
The Nationals finished the 2020 season with the seventh-largest payroll in Major League Baseball, down three slots from their position during their World Series run the previous year but still leaving them among the sport's biggest spenders. The Nats paid out a grand total of $76.2 million to all players on their 40-man roster this season, according to figures obtained and published by the Associated Press on Saturday evening. That ranked seventh in the majors, behind the World Series champion...
Taking another look at Shaw, Kim and a few tidbits
Taking another look at Shaw, Kim and a few tidbits
Steve Melewski
Orioles
Today, I'm revisiting some recent articles that appeared in this space. We're taking another look at two players. I enjoyed my recent interview with 27-year-old Chris Shaw for this article. He's probably facing an uphill battle to make the Orioles' opening day roster. Several players, now including him, will compete this spring for outfield corner spots, along with first base and DH. But Shaw had quite a season on the farm in 2019. Between Double-A and Triple-A for the San Francisco Giants,...
De La Rosa stepped into leadership role at instructional league
De La Rosa stepped into leadership role at instructional league
Byron Kerr
Nationals
The Nationals are building outfield talent at the lower levels of their organization. The club boasts a good amount of quality prospects that are a couple of years away from making an impact at the major league level. The highest-rated of these outfielders is Jeremy De La Rosa, who is No. 13 on the list of MLBPipeline.com Nats prospects. The 18-year-old played 26 games with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Nationals in 2019. Former major league outfielder Gary Thurman has been the...
Rizzo makes pitch for scouts to return to ballparks in 2021
Rizzo makes pitch for scouts to return to ballparks in 2021
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
As Aug. 31 arrived earlier this year, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo faced a dilemma he never wanted to face. Rizzo's team had just completed an abysmal month of baseball, albeit during the unprecedented circumstances of the 2020 season. Now, as trade deadline day arrived, the Nats were 12-19, three games out of the final wild card position in the National League and staring up at six teams ahead of them in the standings for that last-ditch ticket to October. If they felt they still had...
A few O's questions that are still unanswered
A few O's questions that are still unanswered
Steve Melewski
Orioles
With spring training set to start in about two months - if it does start on time - the Orioles have a host of questions without answers and issues to address. Nothing new here. Baseball rosters are always changing and few teams have most of their key questions resolved before Christmas in any given year. So here are a few O's questions out there where we wait on answers. Who plays shortstop?: After the trade of José Iglesias, the Orioles have a bit of a hole in an infield in transition....
This, that and the other
This, that and the other
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
I'm not sure how manager Brandon Hyde will readjust to a normal baseball season, if one becomes available to him, after devoting so much of his energy to detailing the protocols set up at Camden Yards and on the road and how his players adhered to them. How the Orioles kept everyone safe, taking no chances if someone reported to the ballpark with the sniffles or a headache. How the sport survived outside of a bubble and completed a 60-game regular season, the playoffs and World Series. What it...