The O’s bats disappeared over the weekend, as they managed just five runs in the three games against the Angels, but luckily avoided the sweep thanks to a stellar MLB debut from Mike Wright and some solid bullpen work from Brad Brach and Zach Britton. They get another day off Monday before Nelson Cruz returns to Baltimore with his Mariners. The popular preseason World Series favorites are off to a rough start of their own at 17-20, despite Cruz’s .340 average and 15 home runs.
Welcome back, Nellie. Here’s hoping your spring swoon starts this week.
Onto the links…
Brooks turns 78 years young today, and MLB’s Cut4 reminds everyone just how awesome The Human Vacuum Cleaner was, with footage of his iconic play in the 1970 World Series.
Mike Wright Gives College Coach Props After Big Debut
During his post-game interview on MASN Sunday, Mike Wright mentioned his “college coach.” Gary Thorne pressed him to name that coach, who turned out to be Dan Roszell. As Matt Taylor of Roar from 34 explains, Roszell knows a thing or two about mentoring major league pitchers.
Wei-Yin Chen: More than Good Luck Behind Strong Start?
Another year of O’s pitchers being good, another year of SABR guys saying they “shouldn’t be” that good. Ho hum. This time around, Wei-Yin Chen is the focus of the “how is his ERA so much better than his FIP??” discussion. Joshua Sadlock of Baseball Essential throws some theories out there. Here in Birdland, we’ll just keep watching the quality starts pile up. Now, if only we could hit….
The Orioles are Uniquely Positioned to be Sellers in 2015
While it’s not what fans want to hear, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about how much the O’s could get for some of their pending free agents were they to continue to struggle and become sellers as the trade deadline nears. Alex Conway of Camden Chat read my mind, and lays out some scenarios. Unless the team puts together a hot streak or two over the coming month, these kinds of discussions will just get more frequent.
Adam Jones & the Best Sunday Ever
One guy that’s likely not on the trading block (though, with that very reasonable contract, think what they could get for him…kidding! Kinda! Huh? No, really, just kidding!) is Adam Jones. Jones had himself a pretty good Sunday, between catching the first pitch from the WWE Champ, knocking in two key runs with an 8th-inning double, and attending the WWE event later on. Brett Thompson of O’s uncensored has the highlights.
