Epic Vale = Transformer

I don't even know what to say.

(HT: Truth About It)

Orioles boast impressive outfield

At 36-47 (and 3-7 in their last 10 games), the Orioles haven't been playing very good baseball lately. That certainly includes games away from Camden Yards this season: the O's are 12-27 on the road.

Nevertheless, even with the O's in a funk right now, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick focuses on three reasons that O's fans should be thankful: Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Nolan Reimold (four if you include Luke Scott). Crasnick also mentions Matt Wieters and a trio of young pitchers in the O's farm system, but he's particularly impressed with the talent in the outfield, which he calls "baseball's most dynamic young outfield":

It's enough to make the old-timers in town reflect wistfully on the Frank Robinson-Don Buford-Paul Blair days at Memorial Stadium.

Jones, 23, and Markakis and Nolan Reimold, both 25, give Baltimore a threesome worth envying. They're athletic, affordable and loaded with promise and tools. Factor in the contribution of DH and occasional left fielder Luke Scott, who has 16 homers and a .569 slugging percentage, and no one cares that erstwhile phenom Felix Pie is as big a washout in Baltimore as he was in Chicago.

"We're still under .500, but this is a different scenario than '04, '05 and '06," said hitting coach Terry Crowley. "Now we have legitimate young guys who are going to get better because they can play the game. It might not come to the surface every day because of their youth and inexperience. But when the smoke clears, these guys can play the game."

Regardless of the O's record, that's a pretty nice -- and young -- collection of talent in the outfield. With 83 games in the books, here are the splits for the three:

Nick Markakis: .293/.349/.447, 8 HR, 55 RBI, 29 BB
Adam Jones: .305/.361/.497, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 22 BB
Nolan Reimold: .265/.341/.471, 9 HR, 20 RBI, 18 BB

Markakis's numbers are down a bit right now, possibly because he's not walking as much as last season (99 walks). Then again, he usually heats up in the second half of the season, so his numbers could shoot up if he goes on a tear in the next few weeks. For his career, Markakis has a July OPS of .904 and an August OPS of 1.027.

Jones has been outstanding, which is obviously why he's the O's all-star representative. He's been reaching base more, walking more, and when he hits the ball, it's going farther -- he's already hit three more homers than last year.

And Reimold has been a pleasant surprise; now that he's healthy, the rookie is showing the Orioles exactly what he can contribute. He may not be a .300 hitter, but he has an outstanding eye at the plate and possesses lots of power.

With the success of this trio, Luke Scott (.296/.380/.569, 16 HR, 43 RBI, 28 BB) appears to be expendable if the O's decide to pursue a trade or two. Scott, 31, definitely gives the O's a solid DH and fourth outfielder, but it's not likely that he'll be able to hit this well for a full season. But, hey, if he does, that'll be an excellent season.

Weekly Rundown: Tony Gwynn, Haywood, Rick Maese

Weekly Rundown is a combination of links and brief comments on stories and topics that I couldn't get to during the week. If there's something important that I missed, don't hesitate to send an email or leave a comment.

• Brian Mitchell comments on his firing, and WJFK may soon be switching to an all-sports format. [D.C. Sports Bog]


• Tom Friend writes an interesting piece on Tony Gwynn and his son, who now plays for the Padres and is hitting .299/.374/.401 in 39 games. [ESPN]


• Jeff Suppan was for sale on eBay? [Big League Stew]


• Brendan Haywood on Etan Thomas and his depature from the Wizards:
  

  
  "Uh, it's one of those situations that it doesn't really matter. It's not a happy he's gone. I mean, I didn't mention him because there was no need to mention him. And that's no disrespect to him, but when I look at our team, he hasn't played the last two years due to injury, unfortunately."
  
  "And then you look at the same thing, he wasn't really tight in our locker room structure. You know, he kind of distanced himself, and we even talked to him about it, like, 'We feel like you don't feel like you're part of the team.' So he distanced himself from the team. So you look out there, we're gonna miss Songaila because he's played and played well the last couple years, and we're gonna miss him because he went out with guys to eat, he went out to the comedy shows and to the mall, he hung out, he was an integral part of our team. While Etan didn't play, and he didn't have that many close friends, so, we're not gonna miss him.
  
  "And that's nothing about our [personal] business, our business is our business and the past is the past, we settled that. So there's not any problem with him as a person. I think the trade actually works out well for him, because I think he has a trade kicker where he gets more money, so that's great in this economy, any time you can make more money. And then he has a chance to play, where he wasn't gonna play here."
  

  
  So, you mean, Andray Blatche and Thomas weren't best friends? Stunning. [D.C. Sports Bog]


• Ever get the feeling that batters are striking out more than ever? Well, according to Tim Kurkjian, they are. [ESPN]


• Dave Cameron believes the Nationals won their trade with the Pirates that had them sending Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan to Pittsburgh in exchange for Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett. He highlights Morgan's solid outfield defense as a large factor. [FanGraphs]


• Basketbawful has put together an impressive and entertaining multi-part series ("Livin' Large") on what it was like to live in a dorm room with a college basketball player. As of right now, there are four installments up. Here's part one. [Basketbawful]


• Patrick Hruby offers 10 more examples of players who you've probably encountered while playing pickup basketball. His first article, published about two years ago, included eight types of players. That article and my own experiences on the court allowed me to come up with my own list a while back. [ESPN]


• Finally, Jamie Mottram interviewed Rick Maese, the new Redskins beat reporter for The Washington Post. [Mr. Irrelevant]

Grunfeld interview on the Junkies

Ernie Grunfeld, general manager and president of basketball operations for the Wizards, was interviewed by The Junkies this morning on WJFK (106.7 FM). Grunfeld offered some thoughtful and honest answers on the NBA Draft, the trade for Mike Miller and Randy Foye, and the Wizards' (possible) approach in free agency. Randy Foye was interviewed earlier on the show, but it wasn't as interesting.

Here's the interview:

JP: "We just had Randy [Foye] on the show, really nice guy, amazing story actually, to come out of Newark, and we were kinda debating amongst ourselves on the show. Eric, you can talk about your opinion."

EB: "Well here's the thing, Ernie, Cakes and I are the two biggest Wizards fans here, we're the ones that are diehard, we're the ones that bleed, I guess, blue and gold, whatever the team's colors are. When you made the trade, I personally didn't love it, because I felt like...at five, if I looked back at the draft in the last 10 years, the fifth pick specifically hasn't been that great, but there's always been one or two guys picked after five that has become a multiple all-star. And I think it's up to your scouting department to find that diamond in the rough. And I feel like, as a fan, we punted on the opportunity to grab a superstar. So that was my criticism of the move."

Grunfeld: "Well, you're just assuming that all of a sudden we're gonna pick out, out of the 100 players, that superstar."

EB: "Yeah, you gotta find him. It's on your scouting department to find that nugget, right?"

Grunfeld: "Look, that's what's great about the NBA Draft. It creates a lot of excitement; there's a lot of conversations in it, and a lot of things go on. You know, it was my opinion that we were much better suited this time, because we have a very solid core. We're getting a lot of players back who were injured last year, and we have an opportunity to add two players to our roster that are going to be immediate-help players. I mean, Randy Foye is only 25 years old; he's been in the league three years. He was the seventh pick a few years ago, but he's already averaged 16.5 points and five assists a game. Now that number five pick may do that sometime down the road. I guarantee you no number five pick would have done that in the next couple of years for sure -- and maybe he might do that [at some point], but we have a proven commodity in Randy. And of course in Mike Miller, we get a six-foot-eight player who plays multiple positions, as one of the best three-point shooters of all time. He has a 40-percent career three-point percentage -- who is also a proven player. They both play multiple positions. So, with the addition of those two players, it's going to help us tremendously, and it's going to help us more than any player at the number five spot. Now, your point is well taken; in three-four years, a player at the fifth spot could turn out to be a solid player, but there's no guarantee. And this way, we get guaranteed, two very good basketball players."

Lurch: "Now be honest Ernie, did you think that Rubio would have slipped to five?"

Grunfeld: "You know, no I don't know where he would have been. I thought he would have gone six, seven, four, five -- you know, you never really know. But as I've said before, if it was Rubio, Tyreke Evans, Harden -- we liked all those players. But the only one I would have been upset if he slipped was Blake Griffin. And otherwise we would have made this trade for any of those players that were available there."

Lurch: "OK, what if Minnesota said, you know what, we don't want the fifth pick, we're going to keep Randy and Mike. Can you tell us who you targeted there at five?"

Grunfeld: "Well, like I said, we had a list of our players; we didn't know who was gonna be there. We liked all those players -- we liked Harden, we liked Tyreke Evans, we liked Rubio, and Curry is also a good player. So we felt like if we kept the pick we were going to get a good player, but it was going to be a player that we really had to wait on several years to come in and make an impact because all those players are 18, 19 years old."

EB: "Right, and to be fair to Ernie, it's been almost unanimous around the league; all the experts and everybody like the move. I'm the only idiot that wanted to take a flier and try to pick a superstar. But I will say this, Ernie, I was with you when the notion of picking up Gilbert's contract came up and I've always actually been the one guy that said...let's keep the core guys intact because I remember when we were at the all-star break a couple years ago, and guess who was coaching the all-star team for the best record in the Eastern Conference when all our guys were healthy...The players are the ones that got us there, and those players, when healthy, are still here, and I like the fact that you didn't break up the core that you recognized that injuries have really been the one thing that's kept this team from reaching their potential. How is Gilbert doing, and do you still feel that way?"

Grunfeld: "I still feel that way. Obviously at the time we signed Gilbert, we had to make a decision. People think that we could have used that money in some other way, and we really couldn't have, cause once we kept Antawn Jamison, we were right at the salary cap. And with our rules, you can exceed the salary cap to sign your own player, but we wouldn't have been able to go out and get another player of that magnitude and put him on our roster. So, obviously, the injuries were a tough situation, but I think once we get everybody together with Gilbert, Caron, Antawn -- having three all-stars -- our younger players are developing, they're getting better. Last year was very, very difficult, but the silver lining is that some of those young players got a lot of experience, a lot of playing time, and hopefully that'll pay benefits this year. Also, Brendan Haywood is back for us, and I don't think people give Brendan enough credit for how his game has improved. So we feel like we have one of the deepest rosters now in the Eastern Conference, and we feel we can compete with anybody if we can put everybody out there at the same time."

Cakes: "And Brendan's also in a contract year, I believe, which is big!"

Grunfeld: "Brendan is in a contract year; he's going into the last year of his deal, so that's gonna be motivation itself. But Brendan's a real professional, he's a very hard worker, and he's in great shape. You asked about how Gilbert is doing, and Gilbert has been scrimmaging everyday. He looks terrific; his weight is great. And he's real motivated, cause nobody's more frustrated than Gilbert about his injury situation because he's such a competitive guy and he loves to play. He's an absolute gym rat. So he can't wait to get back out there."

EB: "So, Ernie, are you telling me then that, in all likelihood, the roster is basically set?...You don't have enough depth with your big men."

Grunfeld: "...If you look at our roster, we're very diverse. We have a lot of players that can play multiple positions. At the five spot we have Brendan, we have Andray Blatche, and we have JaVale McGee. So we have three players, and what I like to do is have at least three players for every position, and we have that. We have three point guards with Gilbert, Randy, and Javaris Crittenton. We have three guys who can play the two with Nick Young, Mike Miller, Randy Foye can play there, as can Caron. At the three spot, we have Caron and Dominic McGuire -- Mike Miller could also play there. At the power forward position, we have Antawn, Andray, and Dominic could play there, and then the three centers. Now we'll also be looking for another maybe backup, another big body, someone that could come in occasionally and give us six to eight minutes. But you can only play five guys at a time, and most coaches only play eight or nine players anyway, so we feel we're a pretty deep team, and we have a lot of players that play multiple positions. So we'll have all positions covered. Obviously, I'm like you, I'd like to have five all-stars at every position. But that's very hard to do."

Lurch: "What do you envision...Randy's role as on opening night? Do you envision him as the starting point guard and moving Gilbert to the two, or vice versa, or bringing Randy off the bench?"

Grunfeld: "Well, Gilbert is our point guard -- we're not gonna move him to the two. He's gonna be running our team, and with the way Flip runs [the offense], the point guard has the ball a lot and runs a lot of pick-and-rolls, so I think you'll see Gilbert do an outstanding job at that spot. And as far as Randy's position is concerned, it's going to be determined in training camp. It's going to be a very competitive situation. The good thing about Randy is he can play both spots, you know, he's six-foot-four, and he can play the two, he can play the backup one. And that's gonna be up to Flip and really the players themselves to see which combinations fit best together and how we can be most effective. But whether he starts or comes off the bench, he's gonna get a lot of minutes for us. And he's gonna be a big contributor."

Say what you will about Grunfeld, but at least he's been consistent in wanting to build around the big three -- hopefully it works out.

Also, it's worth noting that Grunfeld didn't mention DeShawn Stevenson and Mike James during the interview, so those two could be out the door in the near future.

Little League coach text messages signs

That title sounds like a joke, doesn't it? Well, it's not.

Mike Dies, a coach in the West Akron Baseball League in Ohio, has decided to stop using hand and arm motions to signal signs to players and coaches. Instead, he sends text messages throughout the game:

This is what he does: When one of his players reaches first base, Dies, who coaches from the bench, texts his first-base coach.

''Send him on the third pitch,'' the text reads.

Then, Dies puts the cell phone back in his pocket and watches his runner execute the steal.

''When we were coaching the kids in G-League (11-12), the kids were having trouble getting the signs,'' Dies said. ''So this year in H-League (8-10), we figured we'd still do the signs at the beginning of the season. But the kids were still having trouble getting the signs.''

Then, Dies figured out the problem.

''It was the coaches,'' he said, jokingly. ''It wasn't the kids at all. The coaches were missing the signs.''

I didn't know that figuring out baseball signs in Little League was all that difficult. If the kids, or in this case the coaches, can't decipher a coach's signs, then they're probably not easy enough -- it's not rocket science.

Honestly, the whole thing seems a little embarrassing. But whatever works, right?

Red Sox battle back this time, beat O's in 11

Yesterday, the O's came back from nine runs down to beat the Red Sox; today, the Red Sox returned the favor to slip past the Orioles 6-5 and ruin another great outing by rookie starter Brad Bergesen.

Bergesen outpitched Josh Beckett by giving up one run in eight innings, striking out six, and walking none. Bergesen lowered his ERA to 3.53 in the process.

Unfortunately, Bergesen didn't return to the mound in the ninth inning, and the O's bullpen immediately ran into trouble. Jim Johnson relieved Bergesen, walked Dustin Pedroia, then gave up a two-run homer to Kevin Youkilis. With the score 5-3, Dave Trembley brought in George Sherrill to close the door on the Red Sox. Sherrill recorded consecutive strikeouts against Jason Bay and David Ortiz -- then things went horribly wrong. Jacoby Ellsbury singled and Jeff Bailey and Jason Varitek both walked to load the bases. Rocco Baldelli then singled up the middle to score two runs and tie the game.

Danys Baez relieved Sherrill and pitched well enough at first but then allowed a run in the 11th on a Julio Lugo single.

After Ty Wigginton's solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth, the Orioles didn't have a single batter reach base. So the bullpen blew the lead, but the offense certainly didn't help to widen the gap any more. So much for winning a series against Boston.

Still, even though the O's lost again, they battled Boston -- a vastly superior team -- to the end. Jon Lester threw a gem on Monday in a 4-0 Red Sox victory, but the Orioles mounted an enormous comeback last night and had Boston on the ropes again today. There are no moral victories, but no one can say the Orioles don't have any heart or aren't showing signs of improvement.

O's stun Red Sox with insane comeback

Down 10-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Orioles looked like they'd drop yet another game to the Red Sox.

And then they started to hit: Huff singled, Reimold singled, Scott doubled, Salazar homered, Wieters singled, Andino grounded out, Roberts grounded out, Pie singled, Markakis singled, and Huff lined out.

Still down 10-6 in the bottom of the eighth, the Orioles decided to duplicate the seventh: Reimold singled, Scott doubled, Salazar singled, Wieters singled, Wigginton hit a sacrifice fly, Roberts singled, Pie struck out, Markakis doubled, Huff walked, and Reimold flied out.

Up 11-10 in the ninth, George Sherrill struck Jason Bay out with runners on first and second to record his 17th save on the season.

In those two innings, the Orioles amassed 10 runs, 13 hits, and a walk -- pretty unbelievable.

FanGraphs on Bergesen, Michael Aubrey trade

Last Friday, FanGraphs had two interesting Orioles-related stories: one on Brad Bergesen and another on the O's acquisition of Michael Aubrey from Cleveland.

The post on Bergesen discusses how Bergesen has been effective despite the fact that he doesn't post high strikeout numbers. Dave Camerson explains:

Usually, a pitching prospect isn’t going to get much respect if he’s punching out less than a batter per inning, especially in the lower levels. Pitching to contact in low-A is usually a sign that your stuff isn’t major league quality, and when your fastball tops out at 92, the suspicion is confirmed.

However, the strikeout obsession has led to a lot of missed evaluations on groundball specialists, and Bergesen is proving to be exactly that. Pitch F/x shows that his fastball has similar amounts of vertical movement to some guy named Roy Halladay, so we shouldn’t be terribly surprised that Bergesen has a 54% groundball rate through his first twelve major league starts.

When you can command a sinking fastball and have an off-speed pitch to keep opposite handed hitters at bay, you can be an effective major league starter. Bergesen doesn’t have the same potential as some of the more hyped arms in the Orioles system, but don’t discount his strengths and write him off as a no-stuff guy who belongs in the bullpen. Command, sinker, and change-up - it’s the recipe for a solid back-end starting pitcher.

Anytime a pitcher is mentioned in the same sentence with Roy Halladay, it's high praise. Bergesen has been the best pitcher for the Orioles this season, and he certainly has a chance to win rookie of the year honors in the AL. And if he does develop into a "solid back-end starting pitcher," the Orioles will be very pleased.

Another post, this one by Marc Hulet, briefly discusses the Orioles' recent pickup of Michael Aubrey for a player to be named later. Aubrey, basically a career minor league first baseman, was drafted 11th overall in 2003 but has been plagued by injuries throughout his career. Hulet likes the move, saying that "[i]t’s a very nice low-risk, medium-reward move by an organization that is getting better by the season."

He also believes it's a smart move in case the Orioles decide to trade Aubrey Huff or Ty Wigginton. I've never seen Michael Aubrey play, but it seems like a good move for an organization that doesn't have a whole lot of solid-hitting position players. If the Orioles do make a trade or two or suffer a couple of injuries, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Aubrey got an extended look with the O's.