Interesting things early

1) Gausman starts off with a good first inning while Jimenez begins with control problems. Some things don't change.

2) Gausman talks about how he has been held back. No bullpens before camp. One inning in his first start while others are to go two. Maybe the O's are managing Gausman so he has innings left for the playoffs.

3) Davis three at bats. Three outs hitting into the shift. Is he working on making adjustments?

4) de Aza helps a ball over the fence with his glove. Will we continue to see why the White Sos fans were glad to say good bye to him?

5) Russell working hard with Arencibia on defense in case he is needed to start the season with the O's because Matt is not ready.

6) O's looks at Alvarez in center. Its meaningless but interesting that he might have the range to back up Adam some day in the future.

7) Seems like a lot of buzz that Wesley Wright is a good addition.

8) Is Jayson Nix the new Jake Fox? Too early to tell.

9) Drake probably has to solve time to the plate issues to ever play for Buck.

10) Very loud correction from Buck. Gamboa, throw your knuckleball if he want to make the majors. Message received.

#7. I said when they signed him that I had read an article about him a few years ago when he was with the astros. They had just traded everyone for their rebuilding efforts and at some super young age the guy to step forward and take on the role of leader was Wright. He is a very positive addition for this team.

Thanks for the recap

Have we seen any indications from Gamboa that the message was received?

1) Gausman starts off with a good first inning while Jimenez begins with control problems. Some things don't change.

And if they had taken Ubaldo out after one, his line looks a little better than Gausman's.

Have we seen any indications from Gamboa that the message was received?

From Brit:

"I need to start doing it more," said Gamboa, who gave up a three-run homer and an RBI triple on fastballs in the Orioles' 15-2 loss to the Tigers. "I've been throwing it for two years now, so I should be able to have a good groove for it. That's my primary pitch and that's why I'm here. The more I can throw it, the better, and I know it's going to get better with more experience. I got beat yesterday with fastballs, which is a terrible situation. But in a weird way, I'm happy to kind of get through that experience so I can prepare myself for what's to come in the future. And that's going to be throwing as many knuckleballs as I can."

Gamboa, who has spent his entire career in the Orioles' organization, admitted it can be tough to break the habit of wanting to go with a fastball in certain situations.

"As a pitcher you always go to your comfort, and for me I've been throwing fastballs and changeups for 20 years now, so it's hard to go to something [that] you're unsure whether you can throw it for a strike or not," he said. "And for this spring that's what I'm going to have to do, get used to it and get comfortable with it. I've got to find a medium where I could throw the knuckleball as consistently as possible around the strike zone and that's going to be the ultimate goal for me this year and the future."

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/111191534/orioles-pitcher-eddie-gamboa-making-the-knuckleball-a-priority

Thanks.

Now to see if he actually does it in games.

From Brit:

"I need to start doing it more," said Gamboa, who gave up a three-run homer and an RBI triple on fastballs in the Orioles' 15-2 loss to the Tigers. "I've been throwing it for two years now, so I should be able to have a good groove for it. That's my primary pitch and that's why I'm here. The more I can throw it, the better, and I know it's going to get better with more experience. I got beat yesterday with fastballs, which is a terrible situation. But in a weird way, I'm happy to kind of get through that experience so I can prepare myself for what's to come in the future. And that's going to be throwing as many knuckleballs as I can."

Gamboa, who has spent his entire career in the Orioles' organization, admitted it can be tough to break the habit of wanting to go with a fastball in certain situations.

"As a pitcher you always go to your comfort, and for me I've been throwing fastballs and changeups for 20 years now, so it's hard to go to something [that] you're unsure whether you can throw it for a strike or not," he said. "And for this spring that's what I'm going to have to do, get used to it and get comfortable with it. I've got to find a medium where I could throw the knuckleball as consistently as possible around the strike zone and that's going to be the ultimate goal for me this year and the future."

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/111191534/orioles-pitcher-eddie-gamboa-making-the-knuckleball-a-priority

Disappointing. The Orioles brought in some famous knuckleballers to work with and the message has always been that you can't be an effective knuckleballer until you give in to the knuckleball and understand it is the only thing that is going to keep you in the league. If he hasn't gotten that message and ingrained it into his being by now I don't know that he ever will.

And if they had taken Ubaldo out after one, his line looks a little better than Gausman's.

Still too many pitches in that first inning. 21 pitches, 14 strikes.

Because he hasn't had great success when going exclusively with the knuckleball. It's understandable that he has gone to a 50% mix when that has worked best for him. He had a great winter league season using that mix. For sure, the Orioles want him to go 90% knuckleballs but one outing doesn't make them right and him wrong. Now they are his bosses so whether they are right or wrong, they are right.

They are right. After being a free agent, he now does what his bosses wish. Exclusively. This is not about his career. This is about his job.

The O's took him off the roster after the season. He had a great winter league season using the 50% mix. Then they resigned him. Kind of ironic.

At age 30, in baseball. As a career minor leaguer, you can do what is asked. I am sure Eddie will. I am not sure he will be successful.

The O's took him off the roster after the season. He had a great winter league season using the 50% mix. Then they resigned him. Kind of ironic.

Doesn't mean much but Melewski has the same thought.

Steve Melewski @masnSteve ?

Good thing Steve isn't in charge.

Just because something works in the Mexican league does not mean it will work in the American league. My guess is a decent MLB hitter has plenty of time to identify that 89 MPH fastball.

Still too many pitches in that first inning. 21 pitches, 14 strikes.

A 9 pitch strikeout will do that. An optimist would say he won that battle.

An optimist would also see through the fact that he tired in his first outing, and that 3 runs were let in by a AAAA player.

And I'm not say Ubaldo will be fine - but am saying you can't deduce anything out of one appearance.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Rusney Castillo has played 40 games in 2 years. Now he is hurt. My column on concern for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RedSox?src=hash">#RedSox</a>: <a href="http://t.co/yKbnPGXqNQ">http://t.co/yKbnPGXqNQ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSports">@FOXSports</a></p>— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) <a href="

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Rusney Castillo has played 40 games in 2 years. Now he is hurt. My column on concern for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RedSox?src=hash">#RedSox</a>: <a href="http://t.co/yKbnPGXqNQ">http://t.co/yKbnPGXqNQ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSports">@FOXSports</a></p>— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) <a href="

">March 5, 2015</a></blockquote>

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Mike Minor's shoulder is bothering him already.

Going to be a long hot summer in Atlanta.