Tony-OH

He's still quite the darkhorse. Pitching in the 9th inning of spring training games is not an indication he's being considered for the club since most of those players are minor leaguers at that point. If you see him get a full inning in the 4th or 5th inning then I believe he has a chance. Saying that, he's helping his chances of getting a shot this year if he goes down to Norfolk and pitches well.

Sounds like his "DubClub" business will be his main focus. Good luck to him. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-daschbach-1185931a6

Interesting to see the trends so far. All point to a better game IMHO.

You mean you would be ok with the Summer's Eve Douche Stadium or do you just draw the line at butthole cream?

Vavra is the better fit for me, but injuries have been a part of Vavra's career since turning pro. He's very fragile and another reason why being a part-time player may help him last longer.

They can put whatever they want on the side of the stadium or over the scoreboard, it's always going to be Camden Yards to most of us. And NO ONE calls it Orioles Park! lol

I had a dog named Morty awhile back and was wondering what he did to Wildcard. lol I honestly don't know who either guy is but as a general rule, I tend to avoid any show that refers to itself as "All Access". lol Regardless, everyone is allowed their opinions and of course, if you don't like them, just don't listen to them.

I've only been tracking formal invitees, but I could probably throw him in since he's been getting full innings now.

This is a post that would be great in the minor league spring training thread. De Los Santos does have some talent and if he can show more game power that would be good for his status.

Actually the fact that he had some success out of the pen despite the stuff not being where I've seen it before is a good thing if you ask me. Imagine what he's like out there when he can focus on the fastball and slider and occasional change and it's at his best?

Football seems to be back and thriving of late, but yes, I do think the younger generation is to in need of instant gratification that a sport like baseball must be tweaked a bit to keep it relevant past us diehards. I'm not a gambler really, but clearly, gambling has become a huge part of the younger fans experience, especially in football where same game parlays are very popular. Overall, I was against the 2nd base runner in extra innings and any pitch clocks before I saw them in the minors and became a fan of both. sometimes change is actually good for the game. Now if someone can do something about college football game times! lol

It would be a good thing if Cowser is pushing for Hays' job this year at some point. Not that I'm rooting against Hays at all, just that it means Cowser has started to make those adjustments and is showing he's ready for big league pitching.

I could see Denoyer getting 5-7 starts back in AA where they try to consistently stretch him out. He only threw more than 65 pitches last year twice. Denoyer has a starter's repertoire, but has to show he can be stretched out and keep his stuff 80-90+ pitches every five days before he becomes a legitimate starting pitching prospect.

Young may not have had a great debut, but because of his age and his defensive tools, I'm guessing he gets the nod as the priority play SS at Aberdeen until Holliday arrives. Bencosme has a long way to go defensively at SS and while he has the athleticism and tools, his throwing motion and inconsistencies suggest he might be a better fit at 2nd base long term. I do think Bencosme gets some SS and maybe still some 3B time, but they also may want to give him some looks in the outfield if his wild inconsistencies continue on the dirt. Obviously Holliday will always be the main priority play SS at whatever level he plays at in the system.

The ghost was more for protecting bullpens than it was for shortening game time wise.

Not wrong.

I'll be honest, I don't know what the Orioles will do. There seems to be three COAs the Orioles could use with Rodriguez. COA#1: He breaks camp in the rotation. Pros: They get one of their best starters in the rotation from the start. They could possibly get an additional draft pick if he finishes in the top 2 in the ROY balloting. Allows Wells to get two-three starts before ultimately going to the pen. Cons: He becomes a free agent after the 2028 season (28 year old season). They have to manage his innings so he's able to still pitch into late September or into October if the Orioles make the playoffs. COA#2: They send him down to start the year in AAA where they use him as a 3-inning starter until he gets promoted on April 14th or later. Pros: Gain an extra year of control (after 2029/29 yr old season). May have more innings left for October. Cons: No potential draft pick. Fans unable to see their top pitching prospect since Mike Mussina until mid to late April. Potentially annoys GRod, especially if he pitches well this spring. COA#3: Put him on IL with "tired arm" and don't activate him until home April 21st start against Tigers. Pros: Gain an extra year of control. Potentially allows him to pitch in October if Orioles make playoffs. Well gets 2-3 starts. Cons: No potential draft pick. Fans unable to see their top pitching prospect since Mike Mussina until mid to late April. Potentially annoys GRod, especially if he pitches well this spring. COA#3 is the best decision for the long term view of the organization in my opinion.

I agree with this. Seems to be a whole lot of money given out this year outside of Baltimore.

"Wynns, Anthony Bemboom and Chance Sisco were various flavors of adequate. Chirinos was good. But Severino, who was outrighted following 2021 and caught just four times for Milwaukee in 2022, actually rates 122nd of 122 qualified catchers over the last three years. It's quite literally going from worst to best." Let's peel this onion a bit. While we know how good Rutschman is, and this new metric (which I'm happy to see) show that, it does draw into question the Orioles decision to go with Severino for so long. Now I guess you could say that Elias was "trying to lose while not 100% looking like he was trying to lose" which made Severino and his decent bat and arm give the appearance he was a major league catcher. Now, I will say that Severino seemed to make a lot of his miscues when he wasn't focused (blow outs one way or the other), but man, it makes you wonder if this was a case of the Orioles not realizing how bad Severino was, or not caring. Either way, it's nice to see Rutschman quantifiably good at one more aspect of defense. The bad news, McCann was -6 last year. By the way, this is a great article.

Not a great day obviously for GRod. He definitely owes Blaine Knight for getting him out of the inning without giving up a bunch of runs. Hard to say without seeing the game what his issue was today but with the two walk, and the hard contact, I'd say it was command issues.

Always interesting to listen to the away broadcast and see how little research these guys do on the Orioles. The one announcer said that McKenna "Was a good hitter who hit a couple of home runs last year." The other then talked about how, "Orioles fans were upset when they traded Lopez and Mancini at the trade deadline, but the team played better." At least the second part of the statement was correct. Nothing annoys me worse than guys who job it is to announce who don't do simple research on the opponent.

Personally, overall, I like it and feel it just needs a little tweaking. The 15 seconds feels a little rushed and watching that clock get to 1 is a bit nerve wracking from a fan stand point in my opinion. Of course I'm a Ravens fan so I feel that on just about every snap as well. Maybe having 20 seconds as the pitch clock no matter what is a little better. And as I said before n a previous post, "I do think they should have two manager called "clock resets" per game. That way if the clock is about to expire and the pitcher loses his concentration for a second, a manager has a chance to call it before it runs out and the pitcher gets charged with ball or balk."

As terrible as that sounds, if a batter was not used to the clock by that point, then he's probably not smart enough to be in that moment anyways. Saying that, I do think they should have two manager called "clock resets" per game. That way if the clock is about to expire and the pitcher loses his concentration for a second, a manager has a chance to call it before it runs out and the pitcher gets charged with ball or balk.

Yeah, I don't have much of an issue with hitters at the WBC. They're getting the same work though if someone gets hurt playing extra hard because the games matter, I won't be happy.

Because he's not a prospect. Unless he utterly shows up an entirely different hitter, he just can't hit.