The O’s got back to their winning ways over the weekend, thanks in large part to Welington Castillo’s heroics. It’s great that Beef has been such a pleasant offensive surprise, but we really need some of the other guys to start chipping in a bit more. The surprise first-place Twins are in town now, so things certainly don’t get any easier.
To the links.
Baltimorons Annual Nickname Show
Woo hoo! Sam and Alan finally released their always highly anticipated nickname show. Now that these guys don’t do a weekly show any more, the ol adage about absence making the heart grow fonder comes to mind. Listen in for all of this year’s unofficial official O’s nicknames.
O’s May Need to Ride Out Hardy’s Struggles
There’s no sugar-coating it: J.J. Hardy has been B-A-D. However, as our Andrew Stetka notes over in his weekly MASN guest column, there really aren’t any good options to replace him.
(Note: Andrew – I love ya, but you’re messing up your horse racing metaphors here. The “quarter pole” is actually the 3/4 mark of a race. I know, I know…everyone does this. Still drives me a bit nuts.)
Orioles Pitchers Have Mastered the Clutch Pop-Up
Camden Depot’s Ryan Romano found another instance of the Orioles being crazy outliers in a data set. This time, it’s in the difference between the pop-ups their pitchers induce with the bases empty as opposed to those they induce with men on. Interesting stuff, though I’m not really sure what it all means.
Reviewing the 2012 Orioles Draft Class, Five Years Later
Camden Chat’s Mark Brown takes on the very unenviable task of reviewing the top of the O’s 2012 amateur draft. It’s Kevin Gausman and a whole lotta nuthin’, and right now Gausman doesn’t even look like much.
Brach Leans on Support System to Straighten Out Problems
After quite a rough patch a week-plus ago, Brad Brach seems to be back on track. He talks about how support from his coaches helped him right the ship, via Roch Kubatko.
