Welcome to WBC week, Birdland. While the Spring Training games might get a little less interesting (or more interesting, I suppose, depending on your perspective) as teams lose several stars to the international competition, we’ll at least have some competitive baseball to watch. Already this morning, I’ve watched the tail end of Israel’s extra-innings upset over Team Korea, and I’m looking forward to plenty more WBC action.
As for the O’s, let’s get to them links…
WBC 2017: Where to Watch the O’s
Speaking of the WBC, Camden Chat’s Mark Brown was kind enough to put together this handy little post summarizing game times for all the teams with O’s on them in the early rounds.
Does the WBC Impact MLB Performance?
Buck Showalter is worried about the “clocks” of players who participate in the WBC. Beyond the Box Score’s Devan Fink tried to see if there was any data to support the assertion that the WBC impacts MLB player performance. In short: maybe?
Has the WBC Negatively Impacted O’s Pitchers?
Fink’s analysis above showed that pitchers may be more likely to be impacted negatively by WBC participation. Let’s take this a step further, and look at how O’s pitchers have done following WBC play. Dan Connolly of Baltimore Baseball did just that, concluding the Birds fans and Orioles staff might have reason to be a tad worried about Mychal Givens this season.
Bird’s Eye View Episode 191: Old Man Radio
Jake and Scott were kind enough to have me on the show this week. We chatted about Chris Davis, the outfield logjam, what has to happen for the O’s to make the playoffs and plenty more. There’s also about 40 minutes of show where you don’t have to hear my voice, so give a listen even if you don’t give a crap what I think.
When Zach Britton was Hittable
Matt Kremnitzer of Camden Depot takes a look back at Zach Britton’s time as a starter, back before he became the dominant closer we know him as today. It’s interesting to try to figure out what was different when Zach was coming out to start the games instead of to finish them.
