Four weeks until pitchers and catchers report; what on-field spring story lines interest you?

[eddie83]

Looking at the Orioles schedule they don't really need a 5th starter until April 14, their 8th game. They could start the year with both Gausman and Gonzalez in AAA and that would buy them another week before they have to make a move. I think they traded Ayala about a week into the 2013 season. One more point if Gausman stays in AAA awhile some people will flip out but they are going to want to limit his innings a little bit anyway. I think whether relating to the pen or rotation we will see a trade of some sort.

[DoubleStufOriole]

Not really a "story line," but I find it interesting that if the season started tomorrow, Wesley Wright is the only player who wasn't part of the Orioles organization last year who is pretty much guaranteed to be on the opening day roster.

Others such as Hassan, Navarro, Garcia and Verrett have a shot, but I think the Orioles may have a good chance at being the MLB team with the smallest 25-man roster turnover between October and April.

[wildcard]

Looking at the Orioles schedule they don't really need a 5th starter until April 14, their 8th game. They could start the year with both Gausman and Gonzalez in AAA and that would buy them another week before they have to make a move. I think they traded Ayala about a week into the 2013 season. One more point if Gausman stays in AAA awhile some people will flip out but they are going to want to limit his innings a little bit anyway. I think whether relating to the pen or rotation we will see a trade of some sort.

Gausman's innings will not be limited much. He can go to 197 this year. Just giving him a extra day between starts here and there can do that.

[eddie83]

Gausman's innings will not be limited much. He can go to 197 this year. Just giving him a extra day between starts here and there can do that.

No concern about him wearing down in August and September when you need him the most? The Orioles of they take advantage off off days only need a 5th starter 3 times in April.

Plus it is easier said then done to skip days here and there.

[wildcard]

Not really a "story line," but I find it interesting that if the season started tomorrow, Wesley Wright is the only player who wasn't part of the Orioles organization last year who is pretty much guaranteed to be on the opening day roster.

Others such as Hassan, Navarro, Garcia and Verrett have a shot, but I think the Orioles may have a good chance at being the MLB team with the smallest 25-man roster turnover between October and April.

Arencibia if Wieters can't catch.

[DoubleStufOriole]

Arencibia if Wieters can't catch.

Haha, I thought of him as soon as I hit the "post" button...just wasn't sure if it was worth the edit.

[wildcard]

No concern about him wearing down in August and September when you need him the most? The Orioles of they take advantage off off days only need a 5th starter 3 times in April.

Plus it is easier said then done to skip days here and there.

Here is an amazing stat that I just looked up. Bumgarner pitched 52.2 innings in the 2014 post season. Wow.

[Nevermore]

I'm always interested in the guys who are trying to come back from bad seasons, or who are not very highly regarded. Guys such as Gonzo, Ubaldo, Zach (he's regarded as a nice closer, but many still don't quite believe in him), Steve Pearce (same comment as with Zach), Chris Davis, others. Heck, now that the Ravens' season is over (Ravens fans are "hot stoving" now), I just want to see some BASEBALL.

[Three Run Homer]

There are always lots of interesting story lines. To me the most interesting going into ST are how Machado and Wieters look returning from injury, and whether Jason Garcia can get major league hitters out.

[Oriole1940]

Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey. That is all I care about.

I was going to post the same thing. Position players of the future are important, but these two pitchers are THE future IMO. And for Bundy, I hope the future is sometime in 2015.

[oriole]

Is Hunter Harvey really a story this spring? I guess if we are talking about his health, it could be. Harvey maybe pitches an inning or two before he gets sent down to minor league camp. It will be interesting to see how much of a look Bundy gets.

I agree. Harvey is too far off for me to care about how he affects the 2015 Orioles. Bundy on the other hand... if he bounces back we're in good shape.

[Bahama O's Fan]

What I find most interesting is we had no idea who our starting five would be last year and this year we have too many.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Don't remember whe Jimenez was signed, but I remember at one point thinking we have:

Tillman (who was still somewhat of a ?), Chen, Gonzalez, and we weren't too sure about Bud. There was talks of S. Johnson, Britton and even Matusz starting.

[TonySoprano]

The makeup of the outfield is a story line. Are we talking about Lough in RF because both DeAza and Young spent more of their careers in LF than in RF? I could be way off, but Nick wasn't exactly the quickest RFer out there and made up for it with a strong arm. Assuming Lough is a starter, would he be better in LF where we could put his speed to use?

[DoubleStufOriole]

The makeup of the outfield is a story line. Are we talking about Lough in RF because both DeAza and Young spent more of their careers in LF than in RF? I could be way off, but Nick wasn't exactly the quickest RFer out there and made up for it with a strong arm. Assuming Lough is a starter, would he be better in LF where we could put his speed to use?

Yeah, in my early roster projections, I have De Aza being our primary LF, Pearce in RF and Young at DH, with Lough being the 4th OF and defensive replacement for Pearce.

But, it very well could be that De Aza is in LF, Lough is in RF and Pearce is the usual DH, with Young only really taking at bats away from Lough against left-handed pitching (though management says they want to use him more this year).