What to do with Koji

Last night, Koji Uehara earned his second save, and he may have overtaken Alfredo Simon as the team's main closing option. He's pitching extremely well, but his contract expires after this season. What should the Orioles do with him?

In the 2009 offseason, the O's signed Uehara to a two-year, $10 million deal. The move was noteworthy because 1) he became Baltimore's first Japanese-born player and 2) the O's needed pitching help. He was initially signed to pitch in the starting rotation, and he did a decent enough job in the role. In 66.2 innings last season as a starter, Uehara had a 4.05 ERA while striking out 48 batters and walking just 12. Unfortunately, he injured his right elbow in June and didn't throw another inning after giving up one run in six innings against the Marlins on June 23.

Besides the injury, another concern surfaced: Uehara's stamina. Most of Uehara's starts in his first season ended between five and six innings, and he only threw a full seven innings one time: April 19 against the Red Sox. His pitch count wasn't always necessarily high, but he just got worn down by the heat and/or humidity.

After the season, the O's decided to move Uehara to the bullpen. He didn't get off to the best start; in fact, he didn't make his first appearance until May 6 because of a lingering hamstring injury. Then, after making just six relief appearances in May, Uehara ended up on the 15-day disabled list again with an injured elbow. Finally healthy, Uehara was activated from the disabled list on June 27 and pitched on June 29. He's been lights out ever since, allowing only five earned runs in almost two months.

For the season, Uehara has a 2.00 ERA with 31 strikeouts and only five walks. The biggest jump in his performance has been with strikeouts: his K/9 rate has gone from 6.48 last season to 10.33. He's also been a little unlucky and has a .365 BABIP, which is high and will likely go down. Because of the two DL stints, Uehara has thrown only 27 innings, but he's still been worth 1.0 win above replacement -- third-best out of O's pitchers after Brian Matusz and Jeremy Guthrie.

Uehara also appears to be in better shape and hasn't seemed as fatigued on the mound lately. The O's don't use him much on consecutive days -- the last time he pitched two days in a row was on July 19 and 20 -- so maybe that's a contributing factor. Or maybe he's just healthy and finally in a comfortable routine. Either way, there's no debating that he's been very good this season.

So what should the O's do: re-sign Uehara or let him walk? He turned 35 in April and has battled injuries in both seasons with the O's. But when healthy, he's been valuable: according to FanGraphs, Uehara has been worth $4.1 million already this season and was worth $7.3 million last season even though he made just 12 starts. That's a total of $11.4 million, and there's still time left this season for that amount to grow.

Still, at the time of Uehara's first deal, he was signed to be a starter. He's been great in the bullpen, but it doesn't make much sense for the O's to throw a bunch of cash at a reliever (Michael Gonzalez, anyone?), especially if Uehara asks for a similar contract to his first one. I'd have no problem if the O's decided to bring Uehara back, since he appears to be a legitimate closing option. But they shouldn't overpay for a 35-year-old reliever with occasional injury and endurance issues just because he's been outstanding for a few months.

McNabb, others out for Friday's preseason game

An ankle sprain will keep Donovan McNabb out of the Redskins' third preseason game (against the Jets). McNabb hurt his left ankle in last week's loss to the Ravens.

Here's what head coach Mike Shanahan had to say about McNabb's injury:

"I don't think it's a bad ankle sprain. I don't think it's too bad. But it's still real sore right now, sore enough where he couldn't play this week if it was regular season, so that kind of gives you an idea."

Teams typically play their starters the most in the third preseason game, so the injury hurts the offense in that regard. But McNabb should be ready for the first regular season game against the Cowboys on September 12. The rest of the offense may lose the chance to become more familiar with McNabb and open things up a bit more for the rest of the preseason, but it's important to keep McNabb as healthy as possible. With McNabb out, Rex Grossman will get the start.

According to Shanahan, fullback Mike Sellers and wide receiver Malcolm Kelly will also miss Friday's game. Safety Kareem Moore will miss the game as well and is out 4-6 weeks with a sprained knee. Reed Doughty will get the start in his place.

Happy birthday, Cal

Cal Ripken turns 50 today. And regardless of what you think of the possibility of him returning to the organization in either a part- or full-time role in some capacity in the near future, you have to at least respect all that he's done for the Orioles franchise both on and off the field.

And now, here's a Coke commercial at the time of Ripken's retirement.

Sally Jenkins blasts Haynesworth

So much for Albert Haynesworth not becoming any more of a distraction. After Haynesworth passed head coach Mike Shanahan's offseason conditioning test, many Redskins fans hoped that Haynesworth would jump on-board with what the team was trying to do and become a force on the newly installed 3-4 defense. Unfortunately, not only has Haynesworth missed several practices -- he may have been diagnosed with a "muscle condition" -- but he also recently sounded off after the Redskins latest preseason game against the Ravens.

The linked ESPN article above provides a pretty good summary of the current issue:

Haynesworth stopped practicing early Tuesday at training camp and did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. Shanahan gave varying explanations for Haynesworth's idleness each day. The coach initially said Haynesworth "just was sick," then said the cause was dehydration, then finally said it was "more of a headache than anything else."

Haynesworth said Saturday night he had something more, but he didn't specify what.

"You'll have to ask them, but I guess they'll tell you 'headaches' again," said Haynesworth, emphasizing the word by holding his fingers in the air to simulate quotation marks. "It was part of it, but it wasn't all of it. They left out a whole lot of stuff."

Haynesworth was also mad for having to play in the second half with a bunch of reserves: "I'm a ninth-year pro. I don't think I should have been out there in the third quarter."

Predictably, Shanahan stuck to his guns when it came to Haynesworth and practice:

"Albert has gotten away in the past with playing without practicing," Shanahan said. "That will not happen under this regime. If he's going to play, he's going to practice, and that is the same with every player here. The days of him playing without practicing are over.

If Shanahan's comments weren't straightforward enough -- and if the feeling among fans hasn't turned sour enough on anything to do with Haynesworth just yet -- Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins raked Haynesworth over the coals this morning for failing to grow up and take a leadership role on the Redskins. You should really check out the entire column, but here were a few of her comments:

Shanahan's insistence that Haynesworth get himself into "football shape" isn't some head game he's playing. It's not some ruse to recoup Haynesworth's $21 million offseason bonus check, or some petty little punitive measure by a martinet. It's a matter of non-negotiable, foundational values to Shanahan. To know that, all you have to do is read just a few pages of Shanahan's book, "Think Like a Champion." In fact, just read the dedication. It's to his wife, Peggy. You might expect a love note. Instead, it thanks her for her "commitment, dedication, and sacrifice." Apparently the head coach's wife has more of those qualities than the highest paid member of the Redskins defense. Shanahan can't stand for that - and he won't.

In the past, Haynesworth may have been able to outmaneuver Redskins coaches to get what he wants. But for the first time in years, the coaching staff and front office are on the same page and seemingly stand unified on this issue. Haynesworth can't win this battle, and he's certainly not gaining any allies either.

Matusz cruises in O's victory over Rangers

Brian Matusz befuddled Rangers hitters and threw eight innings of shutout ball, and the Orioles lineup finally broke through against Colby Lewis in the seventh inning to score four runs to give the O's a 4-0 win on Thursday night. The O's managed to score those four runs on 11 hits, but the real story was Matusz.

Throwing 115 pitches by the time his night was done, he allowed just five hits while striking out six and walking one. Matusz induced about the same amount of ground balls (8) and fly balls (9), and he also gave up just one extra-base hit: a double to Andres Blanco, who was thrown out on the play trying to advance to third.

Koji Uehara maintained the shutout by throwing a scoreless ninth inning.

But back to Matusz: The performance last night lowered his ERA to 4.97 -- the first time his ERA has been under 5 since July 9. And although he struggled against Tampa Bay in his last start (4.0 IP, 9 H, 5 ER), he's been solid in August, allowing just one earned run each in the other two starts in the month. Another strong sign is that his walks are down this month (five walks in 24 innings).

It's been fun to watch Matusz's growth as a starting pitcher, and he should continue to improve as he gets more major league innings under his belt. The growing pains likely aren't done yet, but remember, he's just 23 years old and has still been the O's best pitcher this season.

(For a more in-depth look at Matusz's strengths, weaknesses, and improvements he needs to make, check out this article on FanGraphs by David Golebiewski.)

Roberts picks up Simon with walk-off HR in the 10th

Brian Roberts led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a home run to give the Orioles a 3-2 win -- their sixth win in seven games under manager Buck Showalter. Going into the ninth and clinging to a 2-1 lead, closer Alfredo Simon allowed a solo shot to Paul Konerko to tie the game.

Besides Simon, the rest of the O's pitchers were solid. Brian Matusz gave up one run on three hits in six innings, lowering his ERA to 5.08. He also struck out four and walked two. Because of Simon's blown save, Matusz didn't get the win, but his performance was good enough to win on most nights. Koji Uehara relieved Matusz and pitched two scoreless innings. He didn't allow a hit and only needed 16 pitches to retire six consecutive batters. Michael Gonzalez did an effective job of relieving Simon and escaping the ninth inning without giving up the go-ahead run. Matt Albers also retired two batters in the top of the 10th and eventually earned the win.

Back to Uehara for a minute: He's been on a bit of a roll lately. Since giving up two runs in an appearance against Detroit on July 5, Uehara has allowed just one run -- against Toronto on July 28 -- and has struck out 14 batters and walked just one in 12.2 innings. During that span, he's lowered his ERA from 4.50 to 2.18. My beef with Uehara has never been that he isn't effective -- just that, at least earlier in the season, he seemed to tire when having to throw more than a few pitches in humid weather. Whether or not it's because he's in improved shape or just feeling better now that he's healthy, he's been outstanding lately and is looking like the best reliever in the O's bullpen.

The offense was held in check by White Sox starter Edwin Jackson through the first five innings, though they did put up two runs (one earned) against him in six innings. The O's finally got to him in the sixth with a Ty Wigginton solo home run. Then, aided by a Dayan Viciedo error, the O's loaded the bases with one out and took a 2-1 lead on a Matt Wieters RBI fielder's choice to first base. Instead of immediately throwing home, first baseman Konerko fielded the ball, touched first base, and then threw home too late to nail a sliding Luke Scott at the plate.

Besides the home runs by Wigginton and Roberts, the O's had six other hits, all singles, by Wigginton (2-4), Scott (2-4), Adam Jones (1-3, walk), and Felix Pie (2-4). Roberts also walked.

One other note: There's no question that Josh Bell is struggling mightily at the plate. In 52 at-bats, Bell has just eight hits (one double). He's also struck out 21 times while failing to draw a walk -- a dangerous sign. It's not a positive sign either that he batted ninth behind Cesar Izturis last night. He's simply been overmatched, and I'm just not sure this can be good for his development -- and I was one of the people clamoring for him to get more playing time when Miguel Tejada was still on the roster. And yet, that isn't the only problem. On a few plays in the field last night, Bell was too tentative. He was called off on a routine (though very high) pop up to third base by Izturis, and on another play, Bell failed to take charge on a pop up near the third base line, which forced Wieters to make a difficult, and awkward, catch. It was good to see Bell take charge on a tough fly ball in foul ground not more than an inning or two later after the Wieters play -- Bell made the catch -- but he has to be more sure of himself. There's no reason for Bell to get called off by the catcher on just about any pop up around third base; it's one thing for him to struggle at the plate, but he can't bring that with him out onto the field.

O's drop White Sox in 10 as win streak hits four

The Orioles haven't had much to get excited about this season, but their recent four-game win streak has been one of those times. Brad Bergesen (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 5 K, 1 BB) matched the outing by the more-accomplished John Danks (7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 5 K, 0 BB) and gave the O's their fourth strong starting pitching performance in a row (and, more importantly, the chance for an eventual 2-1 win). In those four games, O's starters (Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, and Bergesen) pitched a combined 27.2 innings and allowed just seven runs. Timely hitting has also been a factor, but getting starting pitching like that has been a relief.

Back to the game: Danks may have pitched seven innings, but the O's made him work (he threw 120 pitches). The O's only drew two walks -- none off of Danks -- but every Oriole who started the game saw more than 14 pitches at the plate. Only three White Sox hitters saw more than 13.

Still, that didn't lead to many runs. The O's had 10 hits, but they were all singles. Just about all of the damage in this game was done by the top of the lineup. Brian Roberts went 2-4 with a walk, Nick Markakis had four hits in 5 at-bats, and Luke Scott had two hits and a walk. Ty Wigginton accounted for the first O's run with an RBI single in the first inning, and Adam Jones knocked in Markakis in the 10th with a game-winning single. That gives the O's two wins in a row on walk-off singles (Cesar Izturis had the game-winning hit on Thursday).

After subpar outings the last two nights, the bullpen was much better. Koji Uehara pitched the eighth inning and looked fantastic, striking out two batters and needing just 13 pitches. When Uehara's healthy and not looking exhausted on the mound, there's no denying that he's a solid option in the bullpen. Alfredo Simon relieved Uehara and pitched two scoreless innings, also striking out two.

Other notes:

• This current win streak is the team's third four-game win streak of the season. The first came on June 24-27 when the O's beat the Marlins and then swept a three-game series against the Nationals. The second came in that shocking four-game sweep in Texas against the Rangers right before the All-Star break.
• On the other hand, the O's have four(-plus)-game losing streaks six times, including stretches of nine losses, five losses, 10 losses, and five losses. I like winning better too.
• In the last three games, the O's have faced three pretty good starting pitchers (Ervin Santana, Dan Haren, and John Danks) and still won. And today, the O's face off against Gavin Floyd, who hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in an outing since June 2. His amazing run has lowered his ERA from 6.64 to 3.54. The O's will counter with Kevin Millwood. Yeah, something has to give tonight.

Buck moves to 2-0; O's have a win streak!

What seemed like a laugher in the fourth inning didn't end as one. After a five-run fourth that gave the Orioles a commanding 9-1 lead, the Angels battled back with a five-run seventh that brought them within striking distance. Still, those nine runs ended up being enough as the O's bullpen bended but didn't break, allowing the O's to escape with a 9-7 win.

First, the positives: Brian Matusz had a great rebound outing, allowing one run on seven hits in six innings. He struck out three and didn't walk a batter -- something that he's done too much this season. He got the win, his first since July 4.

The O's offense was also fantastic, accumulating 14 hits (12 against starter Ervin Santana) and nine runs. Santana wasn't fooling O's hitters last night, and they knocked him out after just 3.2 innings. Adam Jones and Felix Pie each had three hits, and Ty Wigginton and Luke Scott each had two. Pie tripled in a run in the second, and Scott belted a two-run homer in the fourth. Brian Roberts had a hit and a walk, and Nick Markakis doubled. Josh Bell also singled in a run.

Unfortunately, after a 24-minute rain delay in the bottom of the sixth inning, the O's momentum was gone and the Angels started to chip away at the lead. Matt Albers relieved Matusz, and here's what happened: single, fly out, single, double, double. David Hernandez then relieved Albers after three runs had scored, but the Angels weren't done: double, single, foul out, wild pitch (run scored). With two more runs tacked on, Hernandez left the game with an ankle injury, and Koji Uehara entered the game. He allowed a walk and an infield single before finally getting a ground ball to second to end the threat.

The O's failed to tack on any runs in the bottom of the seventh, so they led 9-6 going into the eighth. Uehara must have felt more better out there, because he struck out the side. Still, the Angels weren't done. Alfredo Simon entered the game in the ninth inning, and things got interesting. Simon allowed two straight doubles, which cut the lead to two. Then for some reason, Torii Hunter, who hit the second double, tried to steal third and was thrown out by Matt Wieters. Hunter is a great player and has made many phenomenal plays in his career, but to me, this is a benchable offense. The Angels weren't down by just one run in that situation (not that a steal is justified in that situation either); they were still down by two. And there still weren't any outs! What was Hunter thinking? He was already in scoring position, and his run didn't even mean that much. His decision just didn't make sense, but I'm glad he tried to steal and gave the O's an easy out. With the pressure slightly off, Simon got two fly outs -- while giving up a single in between -- to earn the save. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

Two other notes: First, Roberts left the game after the rain delay with a left shin contusion. He was hit with the ball when diving back to second base early in the game, but he remained in the game. My guess is that he's fine, even if he gets the day off today just as a precaution. Second, the loss moved the Angels to one game under .500 (54-55), which is rather significant because, according to Joe Angel on O's radio last night, this is the latest in the season the Angels have been under .500 in about a decade. Must be nice, Angels fans.