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The Payoff Pitch – Juice & Juiced Balls

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Miguel Castro pitches.
Today on the show, I go over some of the Birds’ recent roster moves, including designating Mike Wright for assignment and optioning Cedric Mullins to AAA. I also climb on my soapbox a bit about some silly Chris Davis speculation. Fellow ESR blogger Dillon Atkinson joins me to talk about his recent pieces on John Means and Miguel Castro. Listen here: Until next week…

How About the Prospects in Bowie?

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Yusniel Diaz rounds the bases.
Yesterday, in an attempt to try to divert our eyes from the trainwreck taking place at Oriole Park at Camden Yards every night, we looked at a few of the prospects in Norfolk. I introduced that piece by talking about how the Orioles can’t hit any home runs, and can’t keep the ball in the Yard, and thus get drubbed at home all the time. Well, last night, the Birds bashed four home runs and didn’t allow a single one in a 9-1 bashing of the Chicago White Sox. So…you’re […]

What’s Up with Miguel Castro? Certainly Not His Arm…

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Orioles reliever Miguel Castro has started the 2019 season the exact wrong way. Over 11 2/3 innings, the right-hander has given up 14 earned runs, 19 hits, three home runs, and seven walks, while striking out nine batters. He was never a dominant pitcher, but has shown the potential to become one out of the bullpen. Since being dealt to the Orioles, he has posted a 3.53 ERA in 2017 and 3.96 ERA in 2018. Per Brooks Baseball, His average fastball velocity over his years in Baltimore are 96.12, 95.96 […]

The Warehouse Episode 31: Mullins Demoted, Wright DFA’d

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Believe it or not, the 2019 MLB season is nearly a month old already. As is common with April baseball, there has been plenty of early-season ridiculousness. Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich are hitting home runs at a ridiculous rate. Christian Walker and Daniel Vogelbach are suddenly good. Noah Syndergaard is bad. The Rays can’t stop winning, while the Red Sox are toiling near the bottom of the standings. In times of uncertainty, we can all cling to one constant: The Orioles are bad. Like, really, really bad. Of course, […]

Are the Prospects Doing Any Better at Least?

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GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld
We knew this would happen eventually, though we probably hoped it wouldn’t be quite so early on in the season – the big league club is downright impossible to watch, at least without constantly grimacing. The Birds are now 1-10 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and they’ve had to use a position player on the mound (Hanser Alberto, Chris Davis, and Jesus Sucre) three times in eleven home contests. They can’t hit the ball out of the park (they’re 21st in MLB in dingers), and the pitchers can’t keep […]

Weather Looks Great for O’s-White Sox

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sunset view of oriole park at camden yards
The weather looks pretty good for the entire three-game set with the White Sox series, as there is only a very slight chance of a shower Tuesday evening but it’s unlikely to affect the game much. Enjoy and Go Os! Follow Christopher Bressi Weather Forecast Page for more information and daily forecasts: www.facebook.com/BressiWeather Weather images used from: Business vector created by macrovector – www.freepik.com

Comeback Falls Short as O’s Can’t Avoid Sweep

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Dwight Smith Jr. hits against the Twins.
On an Easter Sunday where the sun shone brightly on one of baseball’s greatest cathedrals, Dylan Bundy was hoping the baseball gods would smile upon him in his fifth start of the young campaign. His first four starts were far from a religious experience. Despite being put in an early hole thanks to two unearned runs in the first inning, Bundy turned in his first quality start of the season, pitching six innings and allowing just two earned runs. More importantly, he allowed no home runs and walked only one […]

Can Bundy Start to Turn Things Around?

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Dylan Bundy throwing a pitch.
As Dylan Bundy prepared to take the mound for his fifth start of the season, the 26-year-old righty was hoping that a quick start led to a far better finish this time around. In his first four starts, Bundy has flourished in his first three innings. On pitches one through 50, Bundy has allowed a .108 batting average and just one home run. Pitches 51 and beyond? Those numbers explode to .467 and six. We all know the 2018 numbers: a Major League-leading 41 home runs allowed and 16 losses […]

John’s Two-Pitch Mix Means Business

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John Means pitches.
Left-hander John Means has had an exceptional start to the season for the Orioles in 2019, certainly a surprise to most. If you asked fans back during spring training, “who will be on the opening day pitching staff?,’ I’d argue the majority — if not all — would’ve left Means off the list of 12 to 13 arms. Heck, even the pitcher himself thought he was going to be an early cut from camp. He started the season in the O’s bullpen in a long-relief role, and has made two […]

Rain Will Impact Weekend Series vs. Twins

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distant view from stadium seats of camden yards at night
Tonight’s game is likely to be a rainout, as showers and thunderstorms will become likely this afternoon and evening. The weather should improve significantly tomorrow with some sun and dry conditions but it could be a bit on the breezy side. Easter Sunday is likely to be more cloudy and I can’t rule out a shower, but the Orioles should be able to get the game in. Follow Christopher Bressi Weather Forecast Page for more information and daily forecasts. www.facebook.com/BressiWeather Weather images used from: Business vector created by macrovector – […]

The Payoff Pitch – Davis Gets a Hit w/Glenn Clark

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Chris Davis holds his bat.
In this week’s episode of The Payoff Pitch, Glenn Clark of PressBox and GlennClarkRadio.com was kind enough to join me for the show. We talk about Chris Davis making history (then maybe breaking out of it?), some baby Birds pitching well down on the farm, Trey Mancini’s future, the excitement of having the number one overall pick, trusting the process, and plenty more! This was a fun show, so we really hope you tune in and let us know what you think. Tweet your comments to me @PaulValleIII or to […]

Trey Has Been The Man-Cini

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Trey Mancini gets ready to field.
The mention of Trey Mancini sets off a bit of a firestorm among O’s fans. There are those who view him as a cornerstone piece of the team, a player “to build around,” who will be a star on the next good Orioles team, one that’s ostensibly four-five years in the future. These are the same folks who were furious that the team traded Jonathan Schoop last summer, for the most part. Then there are those who view Mancini as a nice piece, but certainly not a centerpiece…more of a […]

Chris Davis Got a Hit…Now Get a Shirt!

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Chris Davis, newly-crowned owner of The Worst Slump in Baseball History trophy, finally broke out of it on Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. Not only did Davis single to knock in two runs in his first AB in the Birds’ 9-5 win. He picked up THREE hits in the game, including a double, and four RBI. Way to break out of it, Chris! He’d run into some terrible luck during the hitless streak, and all of baseball was relieved, in their own way, to see him finally have a […]

The Orioles Defense is a Pleasure to Watch

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Hanser Alberto makes a diving stop.
In the process of blogging about Chris Davis‘ record-setting futility this morning, I found myself complaining that it was the only subject of discussion surrounding the O’s among national outlets. In writing that, I also realized it was the only headline on ESR this morning as well. I need to remedy that. So, let’s talk about this O’s defense! The Birds have turned 16 double plays, tied for most in the majors with the Atlanta Braves. We’ve witnessed some great infield wizardly over recent seasons, with the steady consistency of […]

Chris Davis Now Owns the Worst Slump Ever Record

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Chris Davis upset
The Orioles racked up 15 hits in Monday’s 12-4 win over the Oakland Athletics, which also broke a four-game losing skid. Sadly, a different streak continued, as none of those 15 hits came off the bat of Chris Davis. Davis, of course, entered the game on an 0-for-44 streak dating back to last season. The all-time leader in at-bats (by a non-pitcher) without a hit was Eugenio Velez, who went 0-for-46 over the 2010-11 seasons. Davis needed a hit in one of his first three at-bats to avoid making history. […]

Rain Could Delay Start of O’s-A’s

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view of outfield during orioles game with clusters of clouds overhead
Doesn’t look like we have to worry about any postponements this week, however. The best weather for the four-game set with Oakland will be Wednesday and Thursday with sunny skies both days. Thursday is an early “get away day” game at 12:35pm so hopefully that nice weather will bring out some fans! The game that will have the highest chance of a potential ran shower will be tonight, but it doesn’t look like it will be enough to postpone the game. At most, a delayed start if a shower/thunderstorm is […]

O’s Early 2019 Advanced Analytics Leaders

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Trey Mancini gets ready to field.
A Quantitative Analysis of the 2019 Baltimore Orioles…so far Alright baseball nerds, time to do a bit of a deep dive into the 2019 Birds as they begin to integrate data and information or ‘analytics’ into their play. 2019 marks a new era in Baltimore, accompanied by a new regime. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a book signing and Q&A with Astroball’s Ben Reiter along with Orioles Assistant GM and Head of Analytics Sig Mejdal on Friday, learning some valuable lessons. First, analytical data doesn’t tell the […]

Thursday Thoughts: Expectations, No-Hit Bids, & The Davis Problem

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Chris Davis in the batter's box.
1. There’s no question that the Orioles’ hot start is exciting. Even after coming into the season expecting the worst from this team, there’s always a desire to watch a winning baseball team. Who knows how long the O’s will keep up their winning ways, but when you anticipate a lot of losses coming in, you learn to appreciate victories even more. I’ve written a lot about expectations over the last handful of seasons. This season’s are obviously the lowest they’ve been in perhaps seven or eight years. It’s important […]