Reimold on fire

He is off to some kinda start. Getting his first taste of triple A ball, the 25 year old LF prospect has put together some stellar numbers in a short time. Leading the league in OBP and Slugging, Nolan has shown the Baltimore brass that he should be next in line for a call up.

The problem is, we have ourselves a log jam at LF right now. Felix Pie and Lou Montanez are both currently on the O's roster and not to mention Luke Scott who can also patrol the area. The knock on Montanez, who is the reining triple crown winner at Bowie last year, is that he is a poor defensive LF and he is a little too old (27) to be considered a prospect. Pie on the other hand, is only 23 and has all the "tools" that teams look for in prospects. The problem with him is that he has seem to misplace the tool box because he even looks lost out in the OF, which is supposed to be his biggest asset.

It shall be interesting to see what the Orioles do over the next month with the LF position. I think giving Pie and Montanez a look isn't the worst thing in the world, but if Nolan keeps hitting the ball the way he has, it will be hard to leave him down in AAA for too much longer.

Baseball America has him ranked 2nd this week on their Prospect Hot Sheet, putting up a blistering line of 381/.480/1.095 while hitting 4 home runs in that span.

Also on the list at the bottom are two of Baltimore's top pitching prospects, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz. Tillman has a 1.29 ERA in AAA in 14 innings and Matusz, while exclusively working on his fastball and change(his two worst offerings of the 4 plus offerings he has), K'd 8 in 6 innings for Single A Frederick.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2009/268037.html

Have some, won't you?

O's lose third in a row

Well the O's wasted a fairly strong outing by Koji Uehara as they fell to the Angels 3-2. The Orioles had a couple great opportunities in the first few innings, but could not get the big hit when they needed it.

The Good....

• Koji Uehara got into the seventh inning before beginning to struggle and then being hit with a line drive and needing to leave the game, but still ended up with a quality start.
• Adam Jones had a couple more hits and is batting almost .360 on the year
• Danny Baez and George Sherril combined to throw two and 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The Bad....

• Felix Pie cannot hit, he just can't. He is now batting .157 on the season. Not sure how long the O's can keep trotting him out there. Between him and the catchers spot its two automatic outs.
• Luke Scott and Ty Wigginton combined to go 0/8 with 4 K's and 6 left on base. Not the kind of game you expect from you five and six hitters.
• As mentioned earlier the O's left a bunch on base in the first couple innings and ended up with 14 left on base for the game.

The O's have the day off today before looking to end their skid against the AL East leading Blue Jays in Toronto.

Rich Hill Update

Rich Hill pitched again last night in his second minor league appearance of the season, this time for the Norfolk Tides.

3.1 IP (60 pitches)
2 ER (HR allowed)
1 H
1 BB
5 K

Not too bad considering the key for Rich Hill is control. It is good to see him with a decent amount of Ks and a small amount of walks.

To date, this is his showing so far on the rehab appearances this year:

6.1 IP
3 ER
2 H
1 BB
8K

He may be up in Baltimore sooner than later. More than likely for Mark Hendrickson, giving the Orioles BP a much needed extra long man.

More Freel updates

In another weird twist to the Ryan Freel story according to the Baltimore Sun he was forced to return from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Baltimore after doctors failed to clear him to play. Freel was supposed to play in a rehab game for single A Delmarva last night, but upon his arrival was asked to take a battery of tests by the Shorebirds physician. After batting practice he was informed by the physician that he would not be cleared to play. Freel was not happy about the decision saying:

"I wasn't very happy about it, not at all, and there is a lot more stuff going on here than anyone else understands. But it is what it is"

The next step for Freel is to report to double A Bowie on Friday for a new rehab assignment.

.....Well this is getting interested. Especially the quote by Freel, it would be interesting to know what "other stuff" he is talking about. Well at least right now as Lucas pointed out the O's are really not losing that much by not having Freel.

O's Lose second in a row

Well that was more like the Adam Eaton I had been used to. Eaton pitched poorly yet again as the O's fell 7-5 to the Angels last night. The O's did have a couple early leads like on Monday night, but again could not hold them.

The Good....

• Melvin Mora was 3/5 with a couple RBI's in his first game back from injury.
• Adam Jones was 2/4 with his fouth HR of the year.

The Bad....

• Adam Eaton allowed 5 runs on six hits and four walks and only struck on two as he failed to build on his strong start against the White Sox.
• Chris Ray and Jamie Walker combined to give up two runs on three hits and a walk in only one inning of work.
• Gregg Zaun was 0/4 and is now batting .111 on the year.

The O's will look to save the series this afternoon at 12:35 as Koji Uehara will face Shane Loux. Loux will be making his first start of the season as he has pitched out of the bullpen up to this point.

Freel wants out

Apparently we are hurting his career...

http://masnsports.com/2009/04/ryan-freel-is-not-happy-with-t.html

I must say, I think O's fans want him off the team more than he wants off the team.

Which brings up an interesting scenario if we do sent him down. Who to bring up?

I think Pie is going to have a few more months to see what he can do and to try and acclimate him to LF, so I think with that being said, Reimold is out of the picture. It would make no sense to bring him up just to sit the bench like Freel. I like Montanez up here for the fact that he can do some platooning with Pie.

With the way the bullpen is getting worked, I wouldn't be surprised if another pitcher would be called up. Time will tell.

He is owed around 4 million, so I think cutting him is out of he picture. I do think we could expose him to waivers and hope a team needs a jack of all trades, master of none type of player.

Injury Update

Melvin Mora is returning from the DL today and will replace Matt Albers on the roster.

....Cant say I am too upset to see Albers go down.

In other injury news it looks like Ryan Freel will be back on May 6th as he is preparing to start a rehab assignment.

O's hot early but fall late

Well the O's got out to an early 4-0 lead, but gave it all back and ended up losing 6-4 to the Texas Rangers last night at Camden Yards. With the loss the O's have fallen two games under .500.

The Good....

• Jeremy Guthrie was better than his last start, but still not great as he threw just over a 100 pitches in only 5 innings.
• Chris Ray has now not allowed a run in his last six appearances (5 and 2/3 innings)
• The O's got on the board early which is always a good thing.

The Bad....

• Matt Albers struggled badly letting up 3 runs in only 2/3's of an inning.
• The O's offense went to sleep after the second inning and at one point Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison, owner of a 7.89 ERA and a WHIP over 2, retired 16 straight O's.

....rough game last night that's for sure. Lets see if Adam Eaton can build off his strong start against the White Sox as he gets the start tonight. For any of you who have been disappointed with the lack of posts the lasts few days I apologize. Between the NFL draft and being under the weather I wasn't able to.

Brace Yourself

We have an Armando Benitez sighting. According to atlanticleaguebaseball.com Armando has signed on with the Newark Bears. Armando is now 36 years old and is only 11 saves shy of 300. How he even got that many saves is beyond me.

Short Minors Update

The star returns. Matt Weiters returned to the lineup for the Norfolk Tides last night going 1/4 with a run. Really it doesn't matter what he did in the game as long as he was in it. He did just DH so you can see that the O's are continuing to be safe with him.

In other minor league news prospect Troy Patton had another strong start for the Bowie Baysox. He pitched 5 and a third innings allowing only one earned run on two hits.

.....Good to see Weiters back in the game and hopefully it wont be too long before he is back behind the plate. Also a nice start by Patton for the Baysox.

Eaton Alive

Not sure who that was on the mound for the O's last night, but the name on the back of the jersey said Eaton. Eaton who has been the O's worst pitcher so far pitched a gem of a game and got the Win as the O's beat the White Sox by a score of 6-2 to improve to 8-8 on the year.

The Good....

• Adam Eaton: 7 and 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, and a whopping 9 K's.
• The O's were 4/12 with RISP.
• Ty Wigginton had a much needed good day at the plate going 2/4 with a double.
• Nick Markakis picked up his AL leading 19th RBI.
• Felix Pie had a couple hits to raise his avg. to .171

The bad....

• There may have been a couple small things, but im going with nothing.

.....I have been pretty hard on Eaton so far this year, but I am willing to give credit where credit is due. Nice start Adam, keep them coming.

Injury Update

Starting pitcher Alfredo Simon will have tommy john surgery on his arm and will be out at least a year. This is a tough loss to an already thin O's rotation.

....This seems to open up a permanent spot in the rotation for Brad Bergesen if he can build off his impressive first start. Let the time of the O's young guns begin.

Fielding Follies

If the O's want to have any sort of success this year they are going to have to clean up their play in the field. They have committed eleven errors this year which is tops in the AL, but I see a couple bigger issues here. For one, the players committing the errors are guys who are playing their natural positions like Roberts (2), Huff (2), and Zaun (2). I could understand if it was a guy like wiggy who is moving all over the diamond, but your regulars should be making these plays. The second is the amount of unearned runs the O's have allowed, that number is a whopping 19. To show how big that is the second most allowed in all of baseball is eight. That means that the O's are making errors with men on base and that the O's pitchers are getting flustered by these errors. Its early so no need to go crazy, but this just seems like an area that the O's have got to improve on.

O's Fall

The O's failed to build on their win Tuesday night as they fell last night to White Sox by a score of 8-3.

The Good....

• Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts each picked up two hits and are batting close to .400 on the year.
• Jamie Walker made his sixth appearance of the year and has still yet to allow a run.
• Adam Jones returned to the lineup, although he did go 0/4.

The Bad....

• Jeremy Guthrie did not have one of his better starts. He did get through the sixth but allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks.
• The O's made two more errors which ties them for the most in AL.

The series continues tonight at 7:05 as Bartolo Colon takes on Adam Eaton.

......Was really hoping for a couple game win streak with Guthrie on the mound, but the White Sox took an early lead and never looked back. If this O's team has a chance to finish near .500 they need Guthrie to win close to 15 games and to do that he needs to pitch better then last night.

Cal + Under Armour

Oriole great Cal Ripken Jr. signed a five year deal today with sports clothing giant Under Armour. Under Armour will outfit the Aberdeen Ironbirds along with the teams that take place in the Cal Ripken World Series. This looks like a great deal for both sides.

.....Sounds like we could be seeing some sweet Under Armour commercials with Cal in them.

Nolan Reimold

Over at the Toy Department blog in the Baltimore Sun, Childs Walker, discusses O's prospect Nolan Reimold. He breaks down the LF options including Pie, Montanez, and Reimold. Its a good read if you do not know much about Nolan.

....I agree with the article where it says that the O's first choice would obviously be Pie taking over the LF and performing like he was projected to a few years ago. That said if he can't hit a lick that just wont work. Reimold seems like the only position prospect that is major league ready for the O's and he is 25 so his prospect window is closing quickly.

Bergs The Word

Well we got a small glimpse of the arms the O's have in the minors and it looked good. Brad Bergesen had a very strong start going 5 and 2/3 innings and letting up only one earned run on four hits and two walks and had 4 K's. He began to get hit a little the second time through the lineup, but that is normal for a young pitcher as veterens are ready to adapt and a young pitcher like Brad needs to learn to adapt as well. Overall a good win for the O's as they get back to .500 at 7-7.

The Good....

• Brad Brad Brad Brad


• The bullpen. Baez, Ray, Johnson, and Bass combined for 3 and a third innings of one hit no run relief


• If their are still people who dont think Nick Markakis is a star they are idiots. Nick went 4/4 with and picked up 3 runs and 2 RBI's. He is now batting .389 on the season.


• Huff had 2 HR's and Luke Scott picked up 3 hits.

The Bad....

• Ty Wigginton was 0/5 to lower his average to .217. He also made an error that led to two unearned runs. I know Wiggy is being asked to do a lot with all of the injuries, but he needs to start improving some at the plate.


• Felix Pie was 0/3 to lower his average to .135, with Lou Montanez here (and picking up a double yesterday) Pie could lose some AB's if Lou plays well.

The O's will contiue their series with White Sox tonight at 7:05.

Moving Forward

Time to move past this Boston series and moving past it will bring up a big question. Did this series show us the real Orioles of 2009? Personally I do not think so. I don't think the O's are as good as they started, but they are not as bad as that Boston series was. I think they just caught Boston at a bad time. The O's definitely have some issues that's for sure, the bullpen is inconsistent and the rotation could be an issue. This offense will win some games and they will get some good starts here and there out of the rotation, but that said this year is not really about competing for the AL east title its about a stepping stone to the future. Its about seeing a guy like Markakis continue to grow into one of the best in the game and seeing a guy like Jones take steps towards being the star many project him to be. We also should get glimpses of even younger players like Weiters, Tillman, and tonight's starter Bergesen. Wins and losses will always be important, but the growth of the young players on this O's team is much more important.

Freel to the DL

Ryan Freel was placed on the DL today with a head injury. He suffered the injury in the Red Sox series on an errant pickoff throw. He will be replaced on the roster by Lou Montanez.

...If you had seen my minor league updates then you know that Montanez has been tearing it up in AAA and looked likely to be the first position player called up.

Bergesen Tonight

Brad Bergesen the Orioles minor league pitcher of the year will make his MLB debut tonight against the Chicago White Sox. The 23 year old right hander was 15-6 with a 3.22 ERA at AA Bowie last season. So far this year he has made two starts and is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA. Although not as highly touted as many of the O's other minor league arms he is definitely the most polished.

.....As I said in an earlier post it is always exciting when a young pitcher makes his debut. No matter what I know that I would rather see a guy like Bergesen get a start than some other retread veteren, or Adam Eaton at this point. Also to make room for Bergesen the O's optioned Liz back to AAA so they killed two birds with one stone.

2010 Options

Tim Dierkes over at MLBtraderumors.com discusses the O's 2010 club options. The options in front of the O's consist of Greg Zaun for 2 million with a 500K buyout and Melvin Mora for 8 million with a 1 million buyout. Remember these are just options as Huff, Baez, Hendrickson, and Freel will be FA's after the year.

......As Dierkes states I would expect the O's to pick up both options because for the money they will be worth it. As for the FA's I know its way way way in the future, but I would expect the O's to keep Huff, but let the rest walk. I figured today would be a good day to talk some future stuff.

Low Five

The O's lost their fifth in a row the Red Sox today 12-1.

The Good...

• ???? I am open to suggestions.

The Bad...

• Mark Hendrickson pitched so so but needed over a 100 pitches just to get through five innings.
• The Bullpen was a disaster, but Liz showed that he still needs to be in the minors.
• The O's left another 14 batters on base today, more specifically Ty Wigginton left five on base as he hit into two double plays.

.....Lets just move past this series and look forward to the O's returning home to face the 7-5 White Sox.

Freel exits early

Ryan Freel left todays game with an apparent conussion after he was hit on the head on an attempted pickoff play. Freel was responisve in the dugout, but was still being sent to a nearby hospital.

.....Some real bad luck going around right now. Luckily this doesn't seem to bad and hopefully Ryan can return soon. Also in some more uplifting news it looks like Adam Jones will return to the lineup tomorrow.

Around The O's

Orioles minor league pitcher of the year Brad Bergesen will make his first start tomorrow against the Chicago White Sox. The 23 year old Bergesen will be filling in for injured starter Alfredo Simon. So far at AAA Bergesen is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA.

....I like this move as their is no need to rush any of the top pitchers yet, and Bergesen deserves a shot to show what he can do at this level. I always have a high level of excitement when a young pitcher makes his first start.

The Adam Jones injury is being a called just a tight right hamstring and although he is expected to sit today the injury is not considered serious. Felix Pie will start in center and Luke Scott in right.

Lastly over at MLB.com Alden Gonzalez says that Mark Mulder has said he would be ready to pitch two weeks after signing with a team.

................Not much has been mentioned about Mulder so far this year and I have no idea if he or the O's would be interested in each other, but I think a veteren signing like Mulder could make some sense. He would be a veteren presence and he cannot be any worse then Adam Eaton is. Best case scenario is he is healthy enough to give you some great outings and worst case he stinks less then Eaton.

Minors Update

Matt Weiters missed his second straight game yesterday with what the team is still calling a hamstring cramp. This is most likely just a couple days of precautionary rest.

Other than the Weiters update the only real prospect news was Brian Matusz getting the start yesterday and going six innings only allowing one earned run on seven hits and striking out eight.

Over at MILB.com in their week in review they discuss the hot start of many of the O's minor league pitchers. If you have not been keeping track it is worth checking out.

O's Lose Fourth In a Row

The O's lost to the Red Sox 2-1 yesterday causing the O's record to fall to 6-6.

The Good...

• Koji Uehara had his second strong start of the season going seven innings and allowing two runs on five hits and two walks. It was a great start considering the Red Sox had pounded out 16 runs in the last two games.
• The bullpen has now not allowed a run in two straight games, but last night they only pitched one inning.

The Bad

• The O's could only muster one run on six hits as they left 14 men on base.
• O's top hitters Roberts, Huff, Markakis, and Scott went a combined two for fourteen

The O's will finish their series today against the Red Sox at 11:05 ET as Mark Hendrickson will face youngster Justin Masterson.

....It was great to see Koji pitch another strong game since with this lineup usually if you go seven innings and give up two runs you will get the W. Adam Jones had to leave this game with a hamstring strain. I am sure there will be more updates on that today.

Orioles go down 6-4

The good.....

• O's bullpen pitched four innings of scoreless relief including a strong inning by Chris Ray.
• Nick Markakis drove in his league leading 16 RBI
• Brian Roberts had two hits to increase his average to an impressive .435

The Bad...

• Adam Eaton
• The Orioles left 17 men on base

.....Adam Eaton should not be in the starting rotation. I would understand if it was a guy who has a great career and the O's are hoping he can pull it together, but he is not. He has not had an ERI under 5 since 2005 when he was pitching for SD. I know the O's don't want to rush the young arms, but they might as well give someone else a shot.

Back to their winning ways?

The O's need to do their best to shake off yesterdays rough loss. The Red Sox offensively have really struggled this year and I dont think one game will change that. If the Orioles can get some runs against Beckett tonight I think they will be able to pull off this W. Eaton has been pretty poor this year, but I do not think he will be the key to this game. He will let up some runs tonight thats for sure, but it will be up to the bullpen to limit the scoring. This O's bullpen has been pretty poor so far and they will need to step it up if the O's want to continue their winning ways. As always remember, Lets go O's!

Weiters Update

Matt Weiters left yesterdays game after one AB with what was said to be cramping in his hamstring. The Orioles say that this is nothing serious, but it is not know if Weiters will miss anytime.

Tough One To Swallow

Last night the O's had a 7-0 lead in the second inning and ending up losing 10-8 to the Boston Red Sox. Jeremy Guthrie had by far his worst start of the season and was not helped at all by his defense. In the fifth inning Aubrey Huff made a costly error that cost the O's three unearned runs and allowed the Sox to tie the game at eight. Danny Baez continued his poor start to the season as he let up two runs in the sixth that would end the scoring. The O's did get a couple good swings against Papelbon in the ninth but couldnt get them out of Fenway. Nick Markakis led the way offensively going 2/4 with a HR and five RBI's. The O's will continue their series today at 7:10 as Adam Eaton will take on Josh Beckett.

In other local news

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that the Nationals and 3B Ryan Zimmerman are closing in on a contract extension. It has been reported that Zimmerman was looking for a contract similar to the one recently signed by Nick Markakis.

..Not really sure Zimmerman has proven enough to warrant a contract the same as Markakis. He is coming off an injury filled year and has yet to hit 25 or more HRs or bat over .287. Although, in his defense he does play in a tough park with very little lineup protection. Basically I see this as a signing the Nats just have to make because he is the face of the franchise and they cant afford to let him get near free agency.

Weekend Series Preview

Baltimore Versus Boston in a four game set.

Friday - 7:10
Guthrie Vs. Penny

Saturday - 7:05
Eaton Vs. Beckett

Sunday - 1:35
Uehara Vs. Lester

Monday - 11:05
Hendrickson Vs. Masterson


..Tonight's match up favors the O's and Mondays is at worst a push, but Saturday and Sunday are in the Red Sox favor. This series could be a rough one if the O's lose tonight. That said the Red Sox have not been playing well, but are talented enough to ignite at anytime. Lets hope they ignite on Tuesday.

AL east update

The Yankees will look to get their first win today in their new stadium when they face the Cleveland Indians at 1:05. Joba Chamberlain will face off against Anthony Reyes.

..Sure would be nice to see the Yanks open their big fancy ballpark at 0-2.

Prospect Update

Not a huge day in the Minors so I am just going to do a short prospect update. At Norfolk Matt Weiters hits his first HR of the year as he went 2/5 with two runs and an RBI. Lou Montanez continued his strong start by going 2/4 with three runs and two RBI's. He is now batting .483 on the year with an OBP of .559 and is looking like he would be the first OF call up at this point. In AA top pitching prospect Troy Patton moved 2-0 and he went six innings allowing only three hits and striking out six. Not much prospect info from A ball today.

..good to see Weiters hit something other than a single. I think once he gets going he is going to go on an impressive tear.

Good Morning O's Fans

Today feels like its going to be a good day. The O's will look to continue their strong start against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Boston has struggled a little out of the gate and the O's will have the pitching advantage tonight as Jeremy Guthrie aims for 3-0. This is a four game series in Boston so I think a split should be considered a good series and to get that split the O's will need to get the W when Jeremy pitches. On Saturday and Sunday they will have to face Beckett and Lester which puts even more pressure on Guthrie. Tonights game is scheduled for 7:10, Lets go O's.

ROY discussion

Over at MLBTRADERUMORS Tim Dierkes is starting a ROY of the year discussion. Of course in his list of candidates for the AL he has Matt Weiters, but he also has starting pitcher Koji Uehara. Personally I think by the time Weiters gets up here he will not get the AB's to beat out someone who is playing all year such as Travis Snider, but you never know. To go add your two cents to the discussion go here.

Around the Minors

The Norfolk Tides defeated the Charlotte Knights by a score of 3-2. Super prospect Matt Weiters had the day off and top prospect Nolan Reimold was held in check going 1/4 with two K's. Last years O's minor league pitcher of the year Brad Bergesen picked up the win going six innings only allowing two runs on two hits and two walks.

In Erie the Bowie Baysox easily defeated the Seawolves 9-3. Brandon Snyder cooled off a little only going 1/5, but is still batting over .400 for the year. Top pitching prospect Jake Arrieta made the start and got the win going five innings and allowing only one earned run.

The Frederick keys picked up the win over Myrtle Beach 3-2. Top ten prospect Billy Rowell hit his first home run of the season.


..In his O's on deck blog today Dean Jones Jr. has a good story on Keys pitcher Zach Britton.

In case you missed it

The O's recalled Radhames Liz to take the spot of Alfredo Simon who was placed on the DL. Liz was part of last nights horrific bullpen as he let up four runs on five hits in one inning.

Liz may be forced to return to the minors if the O's decide to use a different starter to take Simons place when his turn comes up again.

Last Night

The O's took a pounding last night losing 19-6. All that you need to know from this debacle is that Adam Jones continued his great start going 2/4 with a HR and three RBI's and that the O's bullpen let up 10 runs in just over four innings. Starter Mark Hendrickson let up nine runs but only two were earned as the Rangers were aided by a couple of O's errors in the fourth inning.

Here is the full recap if you dare.

.....This is all I am going to say about this game, lets remember that the O's are 6-3 and have an off day today before their first series of the year at Fenway.

Around the AL East

It looks like Xavier Nady of the Yankees could be headed for surgery that will keep him out for the rest of the season. Nady re-injured his elbow on a throw last night.
The injury is said to be a tear in his elbow.

As for Dice-K's short outing last night. It was originally said to just be arm fatigue, but now it looks like he will also be heading to the DL.

....These injuries are not coming at a good time for these teams as both are struggling out of the gate.

Jackie Robinson

Just a quick reminder to everyone that today is Jakie Robinson day. His story will always be remembered as one of the greatest and most important stories in baseball history. Thank you Jakie Robinson.

Present Vs. Future

There is a great article in the Baltimore Sun today by Peter Schmuck detailing the issues that face GM Andy MacPhail. Does he try to rush some young players in an effort to help the team continue their strong start. For instance should he bring up one of the top pitching prospects to replace the injured Alfredo Simon. This start is great by the O's and the excitement around the teams is high right now, but I do not think that means that they should start a "win at all cost" type thinking. Other than Matt Weiters most of the O's prospects could use at least a half a season at AAA and throwing them into the fire this early in the year would not be the best course of action. If say a couple months from now the team is still hovering around .500 and the prospects have looked goood, then it may be a good idea to give them a shot in the majors. Unfourtunatly for the O's, this division is going to be very hard for them to compete in for the full season with this current roster, with or without the prospects. Thad said, a year or two from now when hopefully these young pitchers have developed and are able to combine with the obvious hitting ability this team has then they can definitely compete. I dont think it is worth it to risk these young pitchers for short term success. Luckily it seems like the O's have a GM that understands that.

Short Minors Update

The Tides took the loss yesterday 3-1. Top prospect Matt Weiters continued his quiet start by only going 1/3 with a single. He has yet to have an extra base hit. Nolan Reimold added to his hot start going 2/4 with a double.

Bowie picked up its second win in a row beating Erie 7-2. Prospect Brandon Snyder continued his torrid start to the season going 2/5 and hitting his second HR. He is now batting .462 on the year.

Finally the Frederick Keys got the win 10-5 over Myrtle Beach. Brian Matusz got the win going 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and striking out 6. Not the best start for him, but he was staked to a 5 run lead in the second so he may have just been trying to throw strikes.

.....Sorry for the short minors update, but there is a lot going on this morning

O's Win In Extras

Adam Jones hit a go ahead two run homer in the top of tenth to send the O's to their second consecutive road win. Although Jones is deserving the real hero in this game was the bullpen. After O's starter Alfredo Simon was forced to leave the game after only one and a third innings the O's bullpen came in and allowed only two runs in eight and two thirds innings. Even more impressive was that those two runs were allowed by Sherrill in the bottom of the tenth in a non save situation. The offensive hero's included Jones with his HR and three RBI's, Luke Scott with his HR and 3 RBI's, and as usual Brian Roberts who collected three hits and two runs. With this win the O's improved to 2-0 on the road for the first time since 2006. Tonight they finish their series with the Rangers as they look to go 3-0 on the road for the first time since 1987.

Here is a full game recap.

Mora to the DL

Melvin Mora's hamstring will force him to go on the DL. He will be replaced on the roster by reliever Matt Albers. Ty Wigginton will get the majority of the starts at third in Mora's absence.

Update....

Alfredo Simon has left tonight's game in the second inning with an unidentified injury.

Tonights Matchup

Tonight the O's continue their series with the Texas Rangers. They will send out Alfredo Simon for his second start of the year. Simon lasted five innings in his last start (Yankees) giving up four runs and taking the loss. The Rangers have former White Sox prospect Brandon McCarthy on the mound looking for his second consecutive win. For the O's to take this one I feel like they are going to have to score runs like they did last night as Texas's lineup is going to put up a descent amount of runs against Simon, but the O's can do the same against McCarthy. Basically if you are a betting man I would take the over.

Game Time - 8:05 EST

Quick Injury Update

Melvin Mora said that his hamstring is not improving and that although he knows he did not pull it he is still not able to run.

As for starter Rich Hill he is scheduled to have a bullpen session today and it looks like Hill is nearing a rehab assignment.

Minors Update

The Norfolk Tides defeated the Charlotte Knights by a score of 7-0. Chris Tillman took the mound and was unhittable going four innings and allowing no hits and only three walks while striking out five. Matt Weiters collected a couple singles and a walk in five plate appearences and Nolan Reimold continued his strong start going three for four with a walk and a couple runs.

In AA the Bowie Baysox defeated the Erie Seawolves by a score of 2-1. O's top ten prospect Brandon Snyder led the way offensively going three for four and hitting his first homer of the season. Bobby livingston had a strong start and got the win allowing only one run on six hits through five innings. Wilfrido Perez picked up his second save of the season.

As for the Frederick Keys they took the loss at 8-6. Not too much prospect news in this one, but Pedro Florimon and Kraig Binick continued their strong starts collecting two hits apiece and O's top prospect Billy Rowell collected a couple hits as well including a double and an RBI.

O's Win

In a poorly pitched game on both sides the O's held on for a 10-9 win to improve to 5-2 on the season. My prediction of a strong outing by Koji Uehara was off the mark as he let up 7 ER's in only 5 innings. Lucky for him the O's bats came to play yet again. Led by Aubrey Huff's four hit day the O's pounded out ten runs on sixteen hits and chased Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla in the fourth inning after he had let up seven earned runs and eleven hits. George Sherrill picked up the save in an eventful ninth inning that included a great defensive play by Nick Markakis.

Here is a full game recap

Quick Former Player Update

Daniel Cabrera started today for the Nats against the Phillies and had a fairly strong outing. He went 5 innings allowing only one earned run on six hits and two walks. The nationals defense did not do him any favors as he was credited with three unearned runs. He also only struck out two. Cabrera is now 0-1 with an ERA just under 5.

Todays Matchup

The O's look to rebound after a poor showing against the Rays as they face the Texas Rangers in their first road game of the year. If they are going to get back in the win column they are going to have to look to get off on the right foot on the road. Last year the O's had the second worst road record in the AL finishing 19 games under .500 (31-50). They will send rookie Japanese starter Koji Uehara to the mound to face Rangers righthander Vincent Padilla. Padilla in his first start of the season pitched into the sixth allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. Uehara will look to build on his strong first start against the Yankees where he pitched five strong innings only allowing one run and picking up the W. I would expect another strong start for Uehara as his first few games he should have the advantage since no one has faced him and there will not be much video on him available. As always lets go O's.

Welcome

In an effort to keep you and me up to date on all things O's I am starting an Orioles blog that will cover the Orioles major league team, their top prospects, rumors, rumblings, and maybe even some fantasy baseball talk. Thanks for stopping by and come back often for updates.