Free Kicks

I, Falco am taking over the Free Kicks edition this week, as Expatriate wanted to do the Ravens preview, so I'm filling in today. So, *cue tape player*, let's line up for the kick:

Nolan Reimold Should Be Rookie of the Year

Of course we in Baltimore want one of our own for rookie of the year, but frankly, looking at the opposition, I feel Reimold is the best choice. The competition falls to four people, Reimold, shortstop Elvis Andrus of the Rangers (arguably top-choice by many analysts), third baseman Gordon Beckham of the White Sox, and closer Andrew Bailey of the Athletics. To compare with the other two batters: Andrus is clearly the faster player and has more runs and stolen bases, but Reimold is a better power hitter, and has more than double his home runs. Beckham is very similar to Reimold, with a few more RBI, but only one home run. Reimold should not be penalized because the White Sox have more talent around him. For Bailey, he has been a solid closer, converting 23 of 27 chances with a 2.06 ERA and a 79-22 K-BB ratio. Those are good, but that is not a lot of saves for a closer in a year for a team, so I would edge Reimold again. If Reimold could push his average to around .280, he could led all rookies in average and home runs, and should be the rookie of the year this season.

Seymour! Report Already Seymour!

Nobody as talented as Richard Seymour wants to play for the Raiders. As historic as the franchise is, the last few years have been pathetic for the organization, and no one wants to willing play for them. As you all know, Richard Seymour is an all-Pro defensive end that got traded from the Patriots to the Raiders for a future #1 pick. Talk about a downgrade of teams, but nonetheless, Seymour needs to report. It is just one season, don't worry about it. Don't lower your stock for free agency so much by sitting out a whole season. Besides, maybe you can be a leader on the team as they get ready for their season. But don't do this now Seymour. You are too talented to act this way.

Roger Federer is the Greatest Men's Tennis Player Ever

The facts tell the story. He has won 15 Grand Slams, including at least one in all four major tournaments, reached 22 straight semifinals and 16 of the last 17 finals. And he is still in position to win a few more, even though Rafael Nadal currently is the better player. Understanding the arguments for Rod Laver and Pete Sampras, Federer is the best player to ever play. His backhand is one of the deadliest ever and he shows great cool on the court no matter his situation. He has had some great players go against him in his day, including Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt, Sampras and Agassi in their later years, and Andy Roddick, and through it all, Federer won 15 Slams, possibly more. He is the greatest tennis player to ever play.

College Football This Weekend:

It is not the most exciting of weekends for college football, but nonetheless we are in weekend two. Probably we here at ATH will watch the Weis-Rod matchup between #23 Notre Dame and Michigan at 3:30, then the Maryland-JMU game at 6:00, then ending with the rest of #4 USC vs. #6 Ohio State. USC-OSU is the only matchup of ranked teams this weekend, but college football is still on. My early predictions are for these three games: Michigan by 3 due to being at home, Maryland by 10, and USC by 17.

Hitting the Cycle? Easy as Pie

What a game by the Orioles. A 16-6 win over the LA Angels, beating down a formerly 12-3 Jared Weaver plus a lineup filled with batters hitting around .300.

The highlight of the night: Felix Pie hitting the 4th cycle in Orioles history, then getting a long-awaited but well-deserved shaving cream pie in the face. (Though it took two attempts; Adam Jones missed the first time. But Robert Andino got him the second time, and props to MASN's Amber Theoharis for keeping Pie focused on the camera the whole time.)

It has been a very rough road for Felix Pie in his career. Once a #1 prospect in the Cubs system, he struggled in Chicago, then had his issues here in Baltimore despite getting his chance as the primary left fielder. But even as Nolan Reimold was playing well, Pie did not complain or whine to the media about playing time, instead he kept working and trying to get better. And in time, Pie not only has improved his average from around the Mendoza line to .254 now, but he has also become a very useful bench player, often substituting in for defense and pinch running on occasion. And the obvious cap off came today, hitting the cycle, becoming the fourth player to do that in Orioles history (the others were Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken, and Aubrey Huff). It has not been the year we expected from Pie, but it certainly has been a productive one.

Chances are he will not be on the 25-man active roster to start next season, but I'm hoping that he can return and be in the minors so he can really get his talent maximized the correct way. He is only 24 and will get better. But for today, it is Felix Pie's day, congratulations to him for his performance tonight.

(Photo credit: AP)

Orioles Mid-Season Review

Well, we're at that time. The second half of the season is about to begin now that the All-Star game has come and gone (by the way, many congrats to Adam Jones for his go-ahead sac fly in the 8th inning), so before we move onward let's take a look back.

The first half of the season for the Orioles was marked by a confusing blend of stellar comebacks and inexplicable collapses, of youthful surprises and disappointments. Without a doubt the high point of the season thus far has to be the miraculous comeback against the Boston Red Sox, and the low point-- well, there are a few too many options for that one. Regardless, let's take a look at some of my team awards for the first half (and we'll throw in Expatriate and Falco's opinions for the heck of it).

MVP: Brad Bergesen (unanimous) - Without Brad Bergesen, this pitching rotation would have absolutely no stability. Bergesen didn't even start the season in the rotation, and despite the fact that his raw 'stuff' isn't dominant, he has the poise and guile of a veteran when he's on the mound. Unlike other rookies, Brad Bergesen knows how to make adjustments and because of that he's been able to rebound strongly from an early shaky stretch to become more and more dominant as the season's progressed. I thought last year that folks were underestimating Brad Bergesen when I wrote up my Prospect Report on him, but even I didn't see this coming.

LVP: Adam Eaton (Expatriate: Jeremy Guthrie, Falco: Rich Hill) - I don't see how this could be anyone but Adam Eaton. Adam Eaton only had one start that could be qualified as anything better than mediocre. Adam Eaton consistently put the Orioles in early deficits, destroyed the bullpen, and helped cement the Orioles position in last place very early on. Adam Eaton contributed nothing positive to this team, and so he was unequivocally the least valuable.

Rookie of the Year: Brad Bergesen (unanimous) - See above analysis on Brad Bergesen, nothing more needs to be said. Though I do give a quick shout to Nolan Reimold, who in almost any other year would be the deserving ROY for this team.

Gold Glover: Nick Markakis (Expatriate: Adam Jones, Falco: Nick Markakis) - While Nick Markakis doesn't always have the highlight reel catches, there is no greater model of consistency in right field that I can think of. Markakis very rarely takes bad routes to the ball as he reads them exceptionally well off the bat. Add onto that his ability to gun down runners (always at or near the top of MLB in assists), and he's the deserving gold glover. Not that he'll ever win one, because after all he's an Oriole. A quick mention though, that Robert Andino's play at short really has been fun to watch. I've been exceptionally impressed with his defense, though the award still easily goes to Markakis over Andino.

Most Surprising Player: Nolan Reimold (Expatriate: Oscar Salazar, Falco: Nolan Reimold) - Last year I did a Prospect Report on Nolan Reimold and I had the opportunity to watch him several times in person. His advancement from last year to this year has been one of the most astonishing transformations I've seen. His plate discipline has been exemplary, and while he's been slumping as of late, his ability to make adjustments is much improved. Nolan Reimold has come out and taken hold of the left field job, something that was doubtful at the start of the year. He's an emerging contender for ROY.

Most Disappointing Player: Jeremy Guthrie (unanimous) - Jeremy Guthrie was supposed to be, and needs to be, the ace on this team. He filled that role exceptionally well last year and his consistency indicated that he would do the same. Well, Guthrie is still scuffling along and it's still up in the air as to whether he'll get it back. He's been burned on some good pitches and he still has good stuff; we'll see how it plays out in the second half, but no doubt this is the one rotation struggle that O's fans didn't see coming.

Big Second Half: Nick Markakis (Falco and Expatriate: Aubrey Huff) - I'm bucking the trend of my colleagues here, but I have a strong feeling that Markakis will take off in the late summer, just as he has the past two years. Huff is a good bet, as he is a strong second half player. But just call it a hunch.

Drop Off in the Second Half: Luke Scott (Expatriate: Brad Bergesen, Falco: Luke Scott) - I love Luke Scott, but he is traditionally very streaky and I doubt that he can keep up this unreal pace. I understand the doubts about Brad Bergesen, but his ability to make adjustments and his positive momentum tells me he won't fall off all that much.

Grade for Dave Trembley: B (Expatriate: B-, Falco: B+) -He's kept this team together and he's managed the lineup as well as can be expected. His handling of young pitchers has also been superb, as shown by their successes this year. The only drawback is the continuing baserunning blunders which really comes back to the manager's responsibility.

O's Sweep World Champs, Have Won Five Straight

Jeremy Guthrie is struggling. Brian Roberts isn't showing enough energy. The starting pitchers are not lasting. They are playing with a backup shortstop. This team has no power. Get a lead against them into the ninth, and Baltimore has no chance.

Despite all of these criticisms the Orioles seem to be getting by outside sources, the Birds are responding with victories, winning five straight including sweeping the World Champion Phillies as two come-from-behind wins in the ninth inning after having zero such games before Thursday.

Of these five wins, only one was by more than two runs. The bullpen was stellar for the most part, with pitchers from Mark Hendrickson to George Sherrill doing very well. The bats are coming alive with more home runs and key hits from leaders Brian Roberts and Aubrey Huff. Interleague play has been good to the Orioles, who have a 9-3 record against National League teams this year, the best in the AL East. Some strange things have been happening. Robert Andino has been playing very well in place of the injured Cesar Izturis both offensively and defensively. Gregg Zaun hit a home run in the comeback win against the Angels. Guthrie finally had a big start. And finally, people other than Luke Scott and Nolan Reimold hit home runs.

Even though the Orioles are still in last place in the division, this five-game win streak is important in other ways. Not just for the morale of the team, but also for possible trade deadline deals. Names that have been thrown around include Aubrey Huff, Danys Baez, Melvin Mora, among others. Andy MacPhail has stated that there will not be any salary dumping, so if any trades go down, it will be because they get prospects in a good deal. But the cornerstones of the franchise and the potential young guns will still be here.

For now, the Orioles should enjoy the winning. The Orioles have two series left in interleague play, at Florida and the second round of the Battle of the Beltway with the Nationals.

(Photo credit: AP)

Expectations Are A Funny Thing

Remember when O’s fans and baseball writers were projecting this season? The only rookies that were mentioned of coming up and having an impact this season were Matt Wieters and in some cases Chris Tillman (usually from the more less-educated writers). Well, we are a good portion through the season and all that can be said is that expectations are a very funny thing. The ones who most pundits least expected to make an impact (if they even knew their names) -- Brad Bergesen, Jason Berken, Nolan Reimold, David Hernandez – have made significant cases for being full-time players in the major leagues. Meanwhile, Matt Wieters seems to be feeling the effects of the immense pressure put on him (also known as being a human being) and is off to a struggling start to his career.

So what do we make of all this? I know the first question that all fans want answered is about Matt Wieters, and whether he will turn it around as we all are starting to sweat about his struggles. Honestly I think that fans need to be patient with Matt and understand just how he’s going about his plate appearances. It’s very clear that the hitting fundamentals are there; he seems to know the strike zone well and his swing is gorgeous. However, it is apparent that Matt is still thinking a lot while he’s up to bat, and that’s natural for a young player. He’s still getting used to the pitchers, and is obviously still trying to get his timing. When all is said and done he’ll be fine, just breathe and remember the prolonged struggles of Nick Markakis and Adam Jones when they first started with the O’s. They turned out just fine.

Of the successes, I have to say that some of it should not be as big of a surprise as it is to most. Particularly I’d like to bring up Brad Bergesen, who is currently the most effective starter on the Orioles roster. Bergesen spent all of last season outperforming the top pitching prospects in this organization, and showed that his stuff could play in the major leagues during Spring Training. The only question was whether or not that would hold up when the games counted, and after going through a rough patch, his string of brilliant outings has shown that it can. As I stated in last year’s Prospect Report, Bergesen’s mental makeup and pitch control suits him perfectly for the major leagues, and we’re now watching him do in the majors just what he did in the minors. Nolan Reimold has probably been the most unexpected success, not in that I didn’t think he was capable of popping some home runs, but the level of discipline and maturity he has shown at the plate and on the field has been so far and away better than I expected from watching him previous years. There’s a good chance Nolan Reimold and Brad Bergesen will not just be competing for the O’s Rookie of the Year, but the AL Rookie of the Year.

West Coast Brings Birds Batting Down to Earth

It had been nice for the Orioles, defeating the Nationals two out of three, sweeping AL East rival Toronto, then taking two of four from AL Central leading Detroit. But on the west coast against Seattle and Oakland, the Orioles bats fell silent, losing five of six games and scoring a combined 10 runs in those games. Only once did the Orioles score more than two runs in those games.

Things came front and center when Aubrey Huff got in a tirade in the dugout after another close hit. The last five games certainly have been frustrating, but the problems with the Oriole bats were clear on the west coast.

A number of combined factors came into this. Brian Roberts has gone two for his last 30 at-bats. No one other than Luke Scott or Nolan Reimold has homered in the last 10 games. A number of Aubrey Huff's hits have been close to home runs, but not close enough. Cesar Izturis was put onto the DL, so a .260 bat is out of the lineup. Early struggles with Matt Wieters and current ones with the Orioles bench also do not help.

With the struggles of the rotation, the Orioles need the bats to succeed. Jeremy Guthrie has not looked good at all lately and the young arms of the rotation can only do so much. Although the bullpen has been good, the fact is this team will normally need to win by establishing strong leads and holding on to them in the late innings. Very rarely with this squad can the starting pitching win games on their own. So when the bats are silent, like this west coast trip, the Orioles will not win.

With Oscar Salazar coming up for Izturis, more Norfolk players are coming up. Although they have been doing well, in the long term for the season they will probably struggle. There really is not much the front office can do about this. The Orioles are not in competition mode and should not sign anyone, and the Orioles would not benefit much by bringing up more Tides players. So this will come down to the veteran bats doing well. Roberts and Huff will need to get out of their slumps plus some of the other players will need to step up in the wake of injuries.

The season continues to be a struggle, but the team has plenty of bright spots, and there is time to get back to winning ways. At the very least, they will not be going back to the west coast until the start of July.

(Photo credit: AP)

A Good Time to be an O's Fan

Oh boy, the air is electric in Baltimore today. I would like to echo the sentiments of Baltimore Sun writer Peter Schmuck in wishing all a Happy Wieters Day, as all of us can look forward to his arrival tonight against the Detroit Tigers. Not only this but the Orioles have won four in a row (six of their last seven), recent call-up Nolan Reimold has taken a hold of the left field job, and young pitchers like Jason Berken and David Hernandez have held their own in their first major league starts.

The recurring theme in all of these pieces of good news is youth. The exemplary play of the Orioles rookies this season -- all of whom came up through this system -- has been the biggest reason to hope and the biggest reason the Orioles have gone on their recent tear. Not too long ago, Nolan Reimold was a forgotten prospect; he had been hampered by injuries and seemed to be losing the window to make it to the bigs as a full-time player. Fast forward to this season, and Reimold was not only able to reaffirm prospect status but has solidified the every day left field position with the O's. Reimold's swing looks far better than it looked in Bowie last year, as he still has the raw power but has improved his plate coverage considerably. The last key for him was in making adjustments, and he seems to be doing just that.

The young pitchers have to give O's fans a ton of hope, as Bergesen, Berken, and Hernandez have all won their major league debuts and all have shown the flashes of ability that they could stick for awhile here. And the best news with these three is that they aren't close to the best that the organization has to offer when it comes to pitching talent. The big guns are still on the way in Tillman, Arrieta, Matusz, Patton, et al. David Hernandez is the most intriguing of the pitchers in the majors right now, because there is significant conversation over whether or not he'll be a starter in the long term. Based on his debut, I believe there is some more credence to the idea that he could be a starter, because his changeup was used very effectively and he flashed the curveball. If he can regularly throw all four pitches (fastball, slider, change, curve) for strikes and go 100+ pitches as he did yesterday, I don't see why he can't make it as a starter with the adjustments he's made. Brad Bergesen was the earliest of these to come up, but he's fallen on a rough patch and looks to reassert himself tonight.

Bergesen will be throwing to his Bowie battery-mate Matt Wieters tonight, which is easily the biggest point of excitement for O's fans today. It's hard to argue with all of this excitement, because there have been so few reasons for Orioles fans to be happy recently, and Matt has been touted universally by baseball people to be the real deal. I'll be fascinated to see just how he handles the pressure; it's alot to ask a kid to be the savior of a franchise, and one has to hope that it doesn't cause him to press too much at the plate or behind it.

Reimold Rocks Blue Jays World

Normally leading eight to three against the Orioles is a sure thing win. After all, the Birds had never won a game this season when trailing into the eighth inning........until today.

The O's rallied back to tie the game at eight, and despite a home run by Aaron Hill in the 11th to give the Jays a 10-8 lead, Nolan Reimold capped off a second rally with a three run blast to win it for the O's 12-10, giving them their first three-game sweep of the season, coming against Cito Gaston's Blue Jays. Dave Trembley said this is a win he will remember for a long time.

Before this season started, Reimold was not expected to be a big part of the Orioles this season. The left field options were between returning Luke Scott, new acquisition Felix Pie, and Lou Montanez, who was the big contact hitter in Norfolk. But with injuries and/or lack of production from the above three, up comes Reimold after tearing up the Tides. He has not been a dominant player, but in just 13 games played he has hitting .265 with four home runs, including one dinger off Mariano Rivera.

It just goes to show that no matter what the situation, there is a place for those people that play well. Reimold in no way was expected to be an important part of the Orioles this season, but has likely earned a roster spot for a good while.

Another Baby Bird, David Hernandez, will take to the mound on Thursday. He'll be the second player from Norfolk to have their premiere this week, and third will be Matt Wieters on Friday. Should be a fun couple of days for Orioles fans.

(Photo credit: Baltimore Sun)

Luke Scott Bound for DL: What's the next move?

It hasn't been announced officially yet, but there is little doubt that Luke Scott will be headed to the 15-day disabled list very shortly after badly injuring his shoulder in Sunday's loss to the Yankees. The injury occured in a dive back to first base in which, as heard after the game, most likely hurt his rotator cuff. If that is the case, Scott will most likely be out for a long period of time, which begs the question as to what the Orioles next move is. The way I see it there are three possibilities, and I'm ranking them in order of likelihood (least likely to most likely).

3. Nolan Reimold gets called up to replace Scott -- At first glance this seems like the most logical move. After all, both play left field, Reimold has been on a tear and is still a legitimate prospect, and he's shown he has little left to gain from staying in AAA. However, I seriously doubt that this will (or should) take place for a few reasons. The most important reason is that it has been stated very plainly that Trembley does not want to bring Reimold up to be a bench player, but rather he wants Reimold to play almost every day whenever he comes to the big league club. With Felix Pie and Lou Montanez playing left field, the insertion of Reimold would re-introduce a Freel-like conundrum in which there is a logjam where noone can be happy. When Reimold is brought up will be a direct result of how Pie plays over the next few weeks. Pie showed signs of life during Sunday's game when he started for an injured Montanez, going 2-3 with a walk. Right now the team needs to evaluate Pie in left field-- Reimold's opening won't be in replacing Scott, it's in the possible replacement of Pie down the line.

2. Rich Hill takes Scott's roster spot -- Again, doubtful, but not out of the question. This move would entail the Orioles moving to 13 pitchers which, given the consistently short outings of the starters, is not unreasonable. Still, the lack of a bench earlier in the season severely limited Trembley's options late in games, and makes it much harder to get good matchups at the plate. The most sense for Rich Hill's callup is to replace Bob McCrory; McCrory still needs more work at Norfolk, and his demotion can move Hendrickson to the bullpen and allow Hill to take a rotation spot.

1. Oscar Salazar gets called up -- This is by far the most sensible option. Oscar Salazar has been just as hot (if not moreso) at the plate than Nolan Reimold, and unlike Reimold there is no issue with him being a bench player in the majors. Salazar is not considered a prospect due to his age, but does provide a significant bat off the bench (.378 avg, 6 hr in Norfolk) for a pinch hitting role. He is also capable of playing multiple infield positions to give players a day off or provide late-game flexibility. I know I'm making Oscar Salazar sound like Chuck Norris (and he isn't), but he certainly would be an ideal candidate for this situation.

We'll see later today if I'm right; Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun and Roch Kubatko of MASN have previously expressed the same opinion, but I'm more than inclined to agree with them. The real excitement though will be seeing how the Pie experiment is handled over the next couple weeks and how Rich Hill looks against the Royals on Saturday. Losing record? Who cares, it's still great theater.

Despite Losing, Still a Lot of Reasons to Watch Orioles

Okay, so the Orioles have lost 11 of their last 14 games, and their starting pitching ERA is approaching Texas Rangers territory, and today the Baltimore Sun is featuring an article about the grand ineptitude of the 7-9 batters, who are combining to hit a whopping .189 (only Cesar Izturis is breaking the Mendoza Line at .242). And yes, the future doesn’t look bright for a team that usually doesn’t swoon like this until August, and in a division in which suddenly the Blue Jays are challenging the top of the AL East, joining the Sox, Yankees, and even Rays (they will come around) in the most loaded division in baseball. For many fans this seems like a time to curl up and hibernate until 2010, to perhaps tune in eagerly for Matt Wieters’ call-up or whenever another of the young guns is forced into a starting role but otherwise not pay much attention to the struggles of their hometown ballclub. However, there is a lot more to this team than preparing for the next season, and it does the players a disservice who don’t have the option of packing it in and waiting for next year- the 2009 season is far from over, and Baltimore fans should be happy for it.

The phenomenon that is Koji Uehara has been a roller coaster ride that deserves attention even as he settles into the majors. The first Japanese Oriole, after winning his first two starts (despite allowing 7 runs in 5 innings in his second outing), seems to have found the middle ground in his last three starts, allowing an average of about 2 runs per start in 6 or 7 innings- which I will take any day of the week. This guy’s composure on the mound has been incredible considering the competition he is facing and the new atmosphere he is in- and it isn’t as though the lineups he has been facing are cupcakes either. He has had to face the Rangers’ bats twice, and the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels each once. The fact that he has maintained a 4.50 ERA through this stretch is extremely impressive to me, and as Jeremy Guthrie scuffles to start the season Koji is quickly developing into one of the more reliable O’s starting pitchers. I am eager to see how he continues along the rest of the season, especially after bruising his sternum on a line drive against the Angels- many pitchers get nervous on the mound after a hit like that.

Windsor and I were talking yesterday about the Felix Pie experiment and how long it ought to continue. I loved the trade for Pie, but I also loved the way Lou Montanez played last year and his work ethic to improve his defense over the offseason. As Reimold also continues to dominate the minors (he hit another home run for the Tides yesterday to bring his season total to 7 and his average to .408). It is odd that these two players should get so hot, as Pie was thought to have struggled in Chicago because he was never given time to work out his issues day-to-day and had trouble handling sitting on the bench for a few games at a time. Pie may find himself in the same situation of Montanez and Reimold continue to impress. Now Montanez is only 3-18 since his call-up, but that is unlikely to continue for a player who has recently buried minor league pitching and performed admirably last season in his call-up. Who will take left field in the long run? Montanez may be reaching his peak soon but Reimold is only 25 years old…

There are so many question marks on this team, how they will be answered is a great reason to watch. However, in the end people watch for the wins, which may be few and far between this season. But luckily to an O’s fan that doesn’t make them any less sweet. When a team charges into Camden Yards and expects to pound Baltimore into submission, they will see something unexpected. This team has not packed it in, they have not wasted at-bats late in games when the outcome was all but decided. And when they do pull off that miraculous upset, when the opposing squad stands in dumb silence aghast at how they could lose, the feeling of victory is so much greater than when the team is expected to win. Sure, in a few years the Orioles could be a strong team, and I would prefer this squad to be the dominant power in the division. In the meantime though, I will take my wins where I can get them and my losses with a shrug.

Developing Stories in the 2009 Minor League Season

I've decided that, mostly due to my inability to get out to some minor league games this week, I'm going to have to skip this week's Prospect Report. There have been some players who have absolutely warranted reports being done, particularly Brandon Erbe, but I want to get a longer look before I tackle some of the bigger prospects in this system. But I thought I would take this time to take a step back and look at some of the bigger storylines playing out through the O's farm system.

Brandon Erbe's surprising dominance: Brandon Erbe has absolutely exploded onto the scene this season; I won't go into too much depth, because I'd like to save it for a later Prospect Report. Erbe blasted onto the map a few years ago out of high school, but the Pasadena native struggled badly in Frederick in 2007 and had a decent, but not overwhelming season in 2008. Making the jump to Bowie this year, Erbe was not expected to be as dominant as he has been, pitching to a 0.90 ERA in four starts this season, striking out 19 while walking 8. Brandon Erbe has long been known as a pitcher with phenomenal stuff but severe inconsistency. Maintaining anywhere near this level of excellence throughout this season will be a huge storyline to follow.

Billy Rowell moving to right field: Okay, now this was a weird one entering the season. Billy Rowell was once the premier prospect in this organization, but after a horrendous year in Frederick and continuing questions about his attitude, Rowell has fallen off to the point of being considered a huge bust. Now the former third baseman has been moved to the outfield in an attempt to allow him to focus on his hitting, and it seems to be starting to work. His average has slowly climbed up after a poor start, and by many accounts Rowell has been working harder in his hitting and is consciously trying to fix his game. This is a desperate move by the organization, but a wise one; if his bat can be salvaged and the raw power can materialize, the Orioles can find a place for him at first, third, or DH. The first step for a player of his natural abilities is to get his bat in order and find a place for him defensively. But he certainly won't stay at right field forever.

Young position players struggling to take hold in Delmarva: While it's difficult to find many position prospects in the upper levels of the O's system, a number of draftees from last year are trying to establish themselves in Delmarva. Among them are second baseman L.J. Hoes, shortstop Greg Miclat, and outfielders Ronnie Welty, Xavier Avery, and Kyle Hudson. All five of these players started off very slowly, and aside from Welty, all continue to bat under .300 with zero home runs combined (Welty is batting .309 with 1 hr). While it is expected that players like LJ Hoes (.260 avg) and Xavier Avery (.180) would struggle early on because they are right out of high school, polished players like Kyle Hudson and Greg Miclat were not expected to struggle so much. This is particularly true for Miclat, who was very polished coming out of UVA as a high average hitter, but is only hitting .200 through 16 games. Expect him to bounce back strong and end with a higher average. Watching these young hitters sink or swim in their first professional season is an important storyline for the future of the Orioles down the line.

Nolan Reimold - The Man, The Legend: Okay, well he's not playing that well, but the point still remains. Reimold feels that he should be in the majors right now, and rather than raising a fuss to the media he's just going about his business and proving it through his play. Now, rather than it being just him telling the Orioles that they are making a mistake by keeping him in Norfolk, he has much of the fan base clamoring for him instead. Reimold has been on an absolute tear this season, batting .403 with 6 home runs, 19 rbis, and 4 stolen bases. He has even increased his walks and cut down on his strikeouts, with a decent 14:9 K:BB ratio. MacPhail will keep the Pie experiment alive for awhile longer, but the pressure is mounting to bring in the home prospect to replace him already. It's just important to remember that Reimold is known for being streaky; the question has not been whether or not he could hit .400 over a period of a month, but it's whether he can avoid following it with a few weeks of batting .200.

Should the Pie Experiment Be Put On Hold?

This series against Boston is one the O's will want to forget quickly. Numerous problems were shown all around the field as Baltimore got their first losing record this year.

The Orioles are not just seeing woes in the pitching rotation, the outfield is not set in stone either. Ryan Freel had to leave on Monday after getting hit in the head with a ball on a pickoff move, Adam Jones is not 100% either with a sore hamstring, though at least he is still playing.

But perhaps the biggest issue is with Felix Pie. For the first time Andy MacPhail does not look good this season due to the play from the left fielders. Luke Scott is doing all right, but Pie has only hit is two games out of 11 and is sitting with a batting average below the Mendoza Line. Meanwhile in Norfolk, Lou Montanez and Nolan Reimold are tearing it up after 10 games, both batting above .400.

For the Orioles, they may need to bench Pie for the time being and use him sparingly. It is early and he has a lot of talent, but he has not had a season batting above .241. His defense could certainly use improvement as he had real problems in left. The Orioles don't want to go with just Luke Scott in left. It is very early to judge, but the way Montanez and Reimold are playing, they should probably get their chance.

Montanez had expressed his frustration after he was not chosen to join the majors for the season, and so far he is proving why he was right. Pie can't go to Norfolk because he is out of options and the Orioles would risk losing him due to waivers, where he would be lost to someone. At the very least though, with the injury to Freel, either Montanez or Reimold should get a chance in left.

(Photo credit: AP)

UPDATE, 12:15 PM- The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Lou Montanez has been called up after Ryan Freel was put on the DL.

Prospect Report - Nolan Reimold

On popular demand (Falco), next up is Nolan Reimold, who has long been one of the headline power-hitting prospects for the Baltimore Orioles. Lost in the magical starting pitching of his Bowie Baysox and the meteoric rise of Matt Wieters has been the steady power bat of this right fielder. Nolan Reimold has played between the 4th and 5th hole in the lineup for the majority of the 2008 season. After years of being slowed by injuries, Nolan is looking to break into the bigs this September and to take residence in left field in Camden Yards.

So, who is Nolan Reimold? Nolan Reimold was first drafted by the Orioles early in the second round of the 2005 First Year Player Draft out of Bowling Green. Nolan was the MAC Player of the Year in his senior year, and upon drafting immediately became the Orioles premier power prospect, being ranked the O’s 4th best overall prospect at the end of 2005. After blasting out of the gate in 2005, he was set on the fast track in 2006, beginning the season at High-A Frederick. At Frederick Nolan struggled at times with his swing, batting only .255 for the season and striking out 107 times in 415 AB. Reimold still belted 19 homers that season, making the Futures team as a backup. In 2007 Reimold was set off track, suffering an oblique injury early in the season, limiting him to only 50 games with the Bowie Baysox, where he batted .365 with 11 homers. Fully healed with some extra playing time in the Arizona Fall League, he came into the Spring hoping for a shot at making the club in Spring Training; the chance did not come, but this season he has presented a strong case to management that his star isn’t fading. As an everyday player, Nolan Reimold has played in 134 games with the Baysox this season, hitting to a .282 average with 22 home runs.

Strengths: Nolan’s biggest strength is his ability to hit for power to all fields. He has an ideal frame (6’4”, 209 lbs) for a power hitter and does an excellent job of using that leverage in his swing. Complementing that size is surprising speed on the base paths and a very capable defender in the outfield. His stolen base numbers (7 SB in 134 games this season) certainly don’t leap out, but those numbers can be somewhat deceptive. He is a very capable right fielder, and has shown the capacity to play center and left. If he intends to play in Baltimore, certainly that versatility will be necessary to get him to that goal.

Weaknesses: From his drafting, Nolan Reimold’s biggest problem has been his high strikeout rates. This can be attributed to a few factors; (1) maturing knowledge of the strike zone, (2) time lost due to injury, (3) impatience. This season he has cut down on those strikeouts and has improved plate discipline, but certainly this will need more work moving forward. His swing has some holes still in it, and the onus will be on Nolan to make those corrections as he faces higher pitching. If he does that, his future should be in his own hands.

Projection: Because of injuries, Nolan has too often been looked over this season by the fan base when projecting the O’s future. Of the proverbial ‘five tools’ (power, average, speed, arm, defense) Nolan grades out as no less than average at each one. His power is certainly plus, but there is no one tool that would peg Nolan as a one-dimensional player. It’s in that spirit that I believe Nolan will come up to Baltimore following the Bowie playoff run, and compete for a starting job in Spring Training of 2009. Nolan Reimold will make the club out of Spring Training in 2009.

No Shortage of Future Orioles at Bowie

“Could the Bowie Baysox beat the Seattle Mariners?”

“No.” quipped Windsor, suddenly pausing for a moment. “Well, depends who’s pitching.”

Windsor and I trekked down to Bowie last Sunday to catch the Binghamton Mets face off against the O’s double-A affiliate on what turned out to be a very special event. It was Fan Appreciation Night, and this club certainly knows how to throw a good event like this. All the players were out signing autographs up until 15 minutes before the game, with the Matt Wieters line longer than 90 feet by my estimation. I was getting the autograph of Ryan Finan when he motioned to the player next to him and said to me, “You gotta get David Hernandez, he is incredible.” The sportsmanship and good will of the players was exemplary towards the fans, and Bowie remains one of the best parks I have been to to watch a baseball game (and there is quite a bit of competition there). Oh, and they did eventually play the game…

Brad Bergesen impressed from the first pitch. He had no fear about going right at batters from the very start of the count, throwing first pitch strikes to the first 15 batters he faced. When he did miss the strike zone, it wasn’t by much. As a result, most hits against Bergesen came on a pitchers count because the batters knew that Bergesen wasn’t going to go outside the strike zone. It appeared that every pitch was going to be hittable if the batter knew where it was going in the zone. I am not sure whether this was by Bergesen’s design or whether Matt Wieters was calling the game that way, but it was astounding how he was able to pound the strike zone.

Moreover, his composure on the mound was Even when he went up 0-2 on batters Bergesen did not back off, consistently forcing the Binghamton batters to swing into easy outs. In his six innings of work, Bergesen gave up two solo home runs, after each of which he retired the next batter. He has a short memory, and immediately went back to work after each home run. He could have gone out for the 7th in my opinion, but even so this was an incredibly strong outing for the future Oriole.

That was the good news for the pitching. The bats were largely another story. We did not get to see Nolan Reimold or Matt Wieters sport the offensive numbers they have been known for. I would best summarize Nolan Reimold’s at bats with the phrase “swing away.” It seemed that on every pitch he saw the potential for a home run, and would only lay off the ball if it was down in the dirt. I understand why O’s fans are so enamored with the idea of Nolan Reimold, but there is a reason he is 24 and has not had a prolonged stay in the majors yet. He is batting .278 at AA and has strikeout numbers reminiscent of Corey Patterson. In fact, he reminds me of Luke Scott with LESS patience at the plate. His fielding is mediocre, and aside from the home runs he leaves little for a major league team to have faith in. I am sure he will get some sort of late season call-up, but what I saw on Sunday did not inspire me.

Matt Wieters didn’t get a hit either, but he was far more mature in his approach to his at-bats than nearly anyone else on the team. He came into the game sporting a .358 average which was down to .352 by the end of the night but he worked every count near full and drew necessary walks, which were unfortunately followed up by a lineup that had gone suddenly cold on the warm Sunday evening game. Most spectacular however was Wieter’s defense, gunning down runners and apparently calling a beautiful game for Brad Bergesen. We won’t see Wieters in September, but we will see him on April 1st, 2009. Yes, he is as good as advertised.

Jonathan Tucker. No, I didn’t know who he was either. Not only did he go 2-3, but he scored on a sacrifice fly by making an acrobatic headfirst slide into home plate, narrowly avoiding a tag that for most other runners would have been applied easily. He is hitting .375 in his last 10 games, and aside from that I know he stood out to the fans as the only true offense the Baysox could rely on on a night when nothing else seemed to be going right at the plate.

Free Kicks back tomorrow!