Break Up the Baysox: Month 1
The Nolan Reimold Award, brought to you by Fremulon Insurance
It’s getting a little ridiculous now. In his first month of AAA action, Nolan Reimold has dominated anyone with the guts to pitch in his general direction: 8 home runs, 6 doubles, and 11 walks in 93 plate appearances (1.225 OPS – second in the so-called International League). And he is a perfect 4 for 4 in stolen bases. I want to see Reimold get called up, if only so that someone else can get an opportunity to be in the weekly spotlight.
Norfolk Tides (12-10, 2nd IL South)
Norfolk is being carried on the strength of Chris Tillman, David Hernandez, and of course Nolan Reimold. Reimold is teaming up with non-prospects Oscar Salazar and Jeff Fiorentino to give Norfolk some offensive punch while Justin Turner (.534 OPS and 5 errors) is floundering and Matt Wieters (.373 OBP but 16 Ks and just 4 XBH in 63 AB) is adjusting to AAA pitching. Tillman and Hernandez are impressing, but with the big caveat that they aren’t pitching nearly deep enough into games at all. They are averaging just under 5 innings per start, but with 12.34 strikeouts per nine.
Bowie Baysox (9-12, 4th EL South)
Bowie only really has five interesting players: Brandon Snyder (.412 OBP, 2 HR), Brandon Erbe (19 K, 8 BB in 20 IP), Jake Arrieta (22 K, 8 BB in 18 IP), Troy Patton (0.94 WHIP and a healthy shoulder) and Wilfredo Perez (11 K in 10 scoreless innings despite 7 walks). It’s a jump from last year, when Bowie was the jewel of the franchise, but those five players are as good as any five anywhere else in the system, and all of them could be in Baltimore within three years.
Frederick Keys (9-14, 4th CL North)
I’m basically at the point where I’m pleading with the Orioles to just go ahead and promote Brian Matusz to Bowie, because he is predictably manhandling the Carolina League, with 32 strikeouts in 27 innings (despite averaging just over 5.1 innings per start). I don’t believe Matusz is really benefitting from overwhelming A players with his advanced repertoire. On the offensive side of things, it’s disappointing to watch Bill Rowell continue to struggle (.766 OPS and 22 strikeouts) and Ryan Adams get injured after a quick start (.916 OPS).
Delmarva Shorebirds (12-9, 3rd SAL North)
Delmarva is quickly becoming a pitching force in the Sally League. The Shorebirds have a team ERA of 2.97 and a WHIP of 1.17. Unfortunately, the bats are not keeping up with the arms, with a team OPS of just .622. Notable performances include Pat Egan (12 K, 0 BB in 10.1 IP), Nate Nery (19 K, 7 BB in 23 IP), Cole McCurry (22 K, 4 BB in 21.2 IP), Rick Zagone (25 K, 9 BB in 27.2 IP), Jerome Hoes (.262 OBP, 4 E), Xavier Avery (25 K, 1 BB), and Greg Miclat (.241 OBP, 1 XBH).
(photo via AP)
There certainly seems to be some excellent talent in the farm system, but the collective development is clearly not advanced enough to provide any immediate assistance to the O’s.
Every day seems to look gloomier. I have tichets for Wednesday’s game against the Twins, but I’m not excited because Hendrickson’s scheduled to pitch. He pitched the last game I had tickets for. . .his debacle v. Rangers, e.g., lead-off homer for three innings. . .!!!!
Clearly the pressure is building, and everyone is now pressing. . .at least DT knows that Sherrill is NOT the answer at closer. I understand some measure of DT’s loyalty, but the last half of last season and this season to now, Sherrill’s performance demonstrates that he’s not a reliable closer.
I can only get better. . . right????
I need a break from the Orioles. I’m carrying their slump into my own personal seasonal depression. It’s not healthy.
I’m kind of doing what I do every September in regards to the O’s… that is, sort of just ignore them and tune out for awhile. I’ll check highlights, watch a game here or there, catch some Joe and Fred when I can. But I’m in full-on Swoon Mode – I’m just trying to tune them out until some changes are made.
I’ll say this.. no O’s fan has any desire to watch Mark Hendrickson or Adam Eaton. Nor should they. And it’s a problem if you’re a baseball team trying to convince your fanbase that it’s interesting when a lot of the time, it’s really not, and the game is over before it’s even begun. Fans like us recognize the depth of talent in the system, but it’s more black and white to a lot of other fans.
A trifecta shakeup involving Wieters, Reimold, and, say, Tillman, would change a lot of that. Unfortunately, while Reimold may be close, the other two may not be. It’s kind of funny when you think about it – nobody really expected Wieters to struggle at all. It’s throwing a bit of a wrench in things as far as keeping this season interesting is going.
@dan the man – your comment re: Wieters is so true. I am somewhat surprised by his hitting performance to this point, although it’s been pointed out elsewhere that he’s being pitched around, etc., since the AAA hurlers have heard the hype surrounding him – and likely each feels a special incentive to “shut down the best.”
@rick – What’s really encouraging about Matt Wieters is that he’s still getting on base. He has 11 walks, so he’s still showing off that great batting eye. Plus, it’s probably really healthy for him to have had an entire month where he OPSed under 800 before he comes up to Baltimore. That has to constitute a bad month of struggling for him, and it’s a healthy thing for an overhyped prospect to go through.
Of course, it’s probably setting back his promotion a couple of weeks, but what the hell difference does it really make? And rick is spot on, I’m loving the good performances we’re getting out of every level in the system, but outside of Reimold, there really isn’t anyone you can call up to solve any of the Orioles’ problems.
Nope, not yet. The organizational pitching depth is great right now… finally. Now it’s a long waiting game until they’re ready.
Andrew, would you agree that Tillman is the closest to being ready out of all of them? I guess we could argue Matusz might actually be, if they weren’t taking their time with him.
That’s a good question, but no. I think Troy Patton is at the top of the list. All he is doing right now is proving that his shoulder can handle the burden of pitching. Of the Big Three, though, I actually think it’s Arrieta who is closest (despite having the lowest ceiling) right now. He’s the oldest and is pitching the deepest into games on his career. Frankly, though, all three of these guys are probably coming to Baltimore this September or next April, barring injury. Depending on how the draft goes, it could be a foursome in April (though that’s not really very likely).
Yeah I forgot about Patton, as usual. I think he’s got to be the next guy called up.
Should we be hoping for an Adam Eaton meltdown tonight or is that wrong.
Hahaha, well, since nobody is going to be called up anytime soon, we’re pretty much stuck with Guthrie-Uehara-Eaton-Bergesen-Hendrickson/Hill…so I would keep rooting for Eaton to succeed (unless you want to see the Orioles be really bad and win the consolation prize of pick #1 next year – I sure don’t).
On the other hand, part of me feels like losing to Tampa Bay is the Orioles’ special way of giving the finger to the Yankees/Red Sox…but I really can’t stand this losing streak much longer. It’s getting stupid.
@Greg – I heard there’s a cure for that. It’s called Caps playoff hockey tonight at 7.
I think we’ve got a chance if Eaton pitches halfway decent. As long as we don’t let Crawford steal 6 bases on us in one game like he did against the Sox the other day. 3 more steals and he’ll have 20 on the year already. That’s ridiculous. He could get 70 or 80 at that pace. And we know Zaun can’t catch anybody stealing. At least Eaton’s quick to the plate?
WIN DAMNIT
@dan the man – Two things:
one) We’ve got a chance if Eaton pitches halfway decent, but then again I’ve got a chance at being taken in this year’s MLB Draft if I can suddenly figure out how to pitch at high speeds with strong command.
two) I’ve been doing some research in my spare time, and I’m starting to wonder if the ability to steal a base is more predicated on the pitcher than the catcher. And I have no idea how well Eaton holds on runners.
LET’S-GO-CAPS!