Tony-OH

Certainly too early to call him a waste or a bust, but it is a little disappointing that he had to start in Delmarva when we know Holliday will be playing SS most of the time. I guess they are going to give Bencosme a long look at SS in Aberdeen. Hopefully he'll calm down defensively there.

He's become very jittery on the mound over the last two seasons. Last year he seem to walk off every pitch and grab the resin bag or kick dirt or whatever. Very weird because I don't recall that much during his first couple of years. Saying that, it's another reason to move him to the pen. Those high energy guys tend to gas out quicker.

Haha. You know, I have to say Hall looks taller with short hair.

This kind of falls under the category of "Duhhh!"

True, the hatred for Stowers as a player by the Orioles should help Urias find PAs.

I still think the ball is juiced a bit, but he's really gotten into both of his homers. The two walks to two Ks is a good indicator he's seeing the ball well. If he keeps playing well, Urias will see his playing time dwindle.

As most know, or maybe they don't, my oldest son Michael is autistic so I certainly understand where he's coming from. There's a long journey ahead for them as parents, but as long as they stay active and ensure the school system gets him the services he needs, it can be very rewarding to watch him grow and share his unique gifts.

I hope they postpone this early enough. My wife decided to buy me tickets close to the field for my birthday so I'll be going to opening day for the first time as a fan, and not in the pressbox. Finally get to have some beers! lol

Interesting. He's not on the Tides roster but not listed under transactions.

I agree. I imagine Grayson gets at least two starts out this.

Let's face it, a lot of this is timing. If this game had come up and it was Zimmermann or Watkins turn, I think they are getting this start or Voth would get it with them taking over reliever duties. Sometimes timing is everything. Hopefully he pitches well or at the very least, looks like the guy we know he can be.

Gotcha, haven't been to that one in awhile.

That's a scary thought. Matt did lose some velocity, but he also struggled to come back from his injuries and that was partially because the organization wasn't very good at rehabbing guys. Hall has a great work ethic and good head on his shoulder in an organization that if anything, babies it's pitchers coming back from injury. Hopefully he will put it back together, but he certainly didn't help his cause for sticking on the rotation with that first start.

Where you going to?

I don't want to get into politics obviously, but we all know why. John Angelos is well ingrained in the politics of this state and has been trying to ingrain the Orioles in them more and more. All the more reason to root for this family to sell this team (Not because of what side of the aisle they are in, but because he is trying to make the Orioles political at all). 1st pitch (Now that the Presidents don't any longer throw out the 1st pitch here) should be local heroes or ex-Orioles legends, not a political newbie because he's buds with the owner. I'm only surprised Angelos didn't pick himself to throw out the first ball.

I didn't know who she was or her backstory, but if this is true, not sure why anyone would want her to throw out the first pitch. Locals who transfer away from the home major University in a sport where Maryland is actually really good made their bed. It worked out for her obviously, but she is no hometown hero. She's a hometown hero like Teixiera was a hometown hero! lol

It makes sense for a timing standpoint, but Rodriguez did not look good in his first minor league start. Obviously today is his day to start and Bradish will be down for a bit. Allowing him to start his career so close to home is a nice touch. Hopefully we'll see the Grayson we know is in there, not the guy we've seen this spring or he will have a short day.

No idea. Last year he was touching 97, 98 early in starts. Saying that, I'm more concerned over the secondaries not being very good and I'm not sure he threw a breaking ball in the strike zone.

Really, really nice start by Gibson today. Exactly what the Orioles and the bullpen needed. Hopefully Gillaspie can cover the last two.

Oy, really bad at bat by Rutschman there. Good thing Mountcastle picked him up!

The stuff is down across the board from last year. His avg fastball is down 1.3 MPH, the Changeup is up 1.2 MPH with two less inches of vertical break up 1 inch of horizontal. The slider and curve both have less movement with the slider really flattening out (5 less vertical). As was stated earlier, he looks a lot like the guy we saw a good bit last year needing a lot of pitches to get through 3 innings of work, but unfortunately, everything looks down. The guy I saw tonight did not look like an impact guy. Let's hope he's still just getting going after starting late, but seems like we are always making excuses for him.

Hall pitched and did not have great command but didn't give up much hard contact either. Was hurt by two poor defensive plays by O'Hearn in Rf and Norby at 2B. He got 15 WHIFFs in 70 pitches.

Ortiz back in the lineup after missing the initial three games due to recovering from a concussion this spring. On his 1st PA he smoked a 114.9 MPH groundball that was turned into a DP.

He's off to quite the good start for sure. I'll update the real 1st update for the year after this week's of games. Might be hard for him to jump to #3 in the initial rankings but he could see #3 at some point if he keeps it up.

Bone bruises can last awhile. Hopefully it's not too bad but it would not surprised me if he missed a start or two.