A few weekends ago, I was with some friends at a bar before a NBA playoff game and the conversation turned to the Orioles – specifically, the pitching staff.

One of my friends harked, “so do you think Freddy Garcia is going to get a start this year?”

At the time, Jake Arrieta had just been optioned to Triple-A.

I said, “Unfortunately, yes.”

My friend asked, “how many?”

I said, “maybe five…”

Well, I figured Garcia – a pitcher who was once a fireballer back in the day who has turned into a finesse guy – who would be seen in Baltimore, because despite his advanced age can still pitch.

In addition, Dan Duquette seems like finding diamonds in the rough rather than spending on a small fortune on players that may be only marginally better. Garcia was not a special pitcher for the New York Yankees last season, but he was serviceable and productive.

Furthermore, the Orioles do need a veteran-tested arm in the organization; however, Garcia is not a guy who I had in mind. Then again, there’s a reason why he’s been seemingly been able to stick around forever.

Sure enough, this week -- he got the call. Duquette has been a master with the roster callups and using the depth in the system. Garcia is just another in a long line of moves to help the team’s flexibility.

Garcia will be starting against the Los Angeles Angels this Saturday and the game will be featured on FOX. Something tells me that Garcia will do fine against the Angels; however, who knows.

The Angels are struggling and this is a team that Garcia should be able to work around. He’s a pitcher who relies on guts and guile; however, if the Halos can find some mojo, it could be an ugly afternoon out there.

Here’s the press release with the announcement of Garcia being promoted:

Orioles select contract of RHP Freddy Garcia from Triple-A Norfolk

RHP Zach Clark designated for assignment

The Orioles today announced that they have selected the contract of RHP FREDDY GARCIA from Triple-A Norfolk. To make room for him on the 25- and 40-man rosters, RHP ZACH CLARK has been designated for assignment.

Garcia, 36, has gone 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA (33.2IP, 10ER) in five starts for the Tides this season. He was named International League Player of the Week for the week ending April 28 (2-0, 1.69 ERA, 16.0IP, 10H, 3ER, 9K).

The veteran right-hander is 152-101 with a 4.15 ERA (2183.2IP, 1006ER) in his 14-season major league career with Seattle (1999-2004), the White Sox (2004-06 and 2009-10), Philadelphia (2007), Detroit (2008) and the Yankees (2011-12). The two-time All-Star (2001 and 02 with Seattle) finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting in 1999, when he went 17-8 in 201.1 innings for the Mariners. Garcia has twice finished in the top-10 in AL Cy Young voting (1999 - 9^th and 2001 - 3^rd, when he went 18-6 with a 3.05 ERA).

Among active pitchers, Garcia's 152 career victories rank ninth, and he has the most wins for any Venezuelan-born pitcher in baseball history. He has gone 6-3 with a 3.28 ERA (60.1IP, 22ER) in 10 career post-season starts, including 7.0 shutout innings in clinching Game 4 of the 2005 World Series for the White Sox.

Garcia will wear #38.

Clark, 29, made his major league debut for the Orioles on Wednesday at Seattle (1.2IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, K). He went 1-2 with a 4.56 ERA (25.2IP, 13ER) in five starts with the Tides this season. He went 15-7 with a 2.79 ERA (167.2IP, 52ER) in 28 games (26 starts) with Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk in 2012.

Additionally, CA LUIS EXPOSITO has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.

After splitting their series with the Seattle Mariners, the Baltimore Orioles headed down to Disneyland – ok, Anaheim, California – to face the Los Angeles Angels.

The series in Seattle for the Orioles, in my mind, was one they could have easily won if the pitching and defense had held their own; however, they bounced back with a 5-1 win over the Angels.

I stayed up and watched the first six innings of the game and amazed by the work of Chris Tillman. Although he has been shaky a bit this season, Tillman looked again like the pitcher who contributed to the playoff run last year by pitching eight shutout innings.

A big complaint of mine with this team over the past month is that the Baltimore starting pitchers have to get deeper into games.

Although Buck Showalter has done a masterful job with the bullpen, you can only use those arms for so long before they tire out.

Tillman gave the bullpen a night off and also showed us all that he can pitch. He used an array of pitches, guile, smarts and also used the entire plate on Thursday night.

Tillman is not an ace yet for Baltimore, and still learning; however, last night was a sign that the last few months of the season may be not a fluke after all for the tall righty.

The Angels – despite their record – still have quite a formidable lineup and Tillman handled them with ease. The opening inning for Tillman was a little concerning with the amount of pitches that he threw, but Nick Markakis’ throw to nail Mike Trout at home perhaps changed the tone for Baltimore.

After that, the Orioles put it together at the plate later as Nate McLouth – who is hotter than hot right now – homered (thanks to a Mike Trout gift) drove in two runs and Manny Machado, Nick Markakis and Chris Davis each drove in a run.

As of today, McLouth, Markakis, Jones and Davis all have averages north of .331 right now. I know many fans were concerned about the offense as the organization didn’t do much in the offseason; however, they are holding their own against everyone.

They are 17-12 and in third place in the division; however, they perhaps blew a wonderful chance against the Mariners to keep up the pace with the surging Red Sox and consistent Yankees.

Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles named the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month for April

Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has been voted the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month for April. Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and sponsor of 23 of 30 clubs, is also the presenting sponsor of the National League Player of the Month Award.

Davis batted .348 (32-for-92) with eight doubles, nine home runs, 28 RBI, 19 runs scored and 16 walks in 27 games to claim his first career Player of the Month award and the first for the Orioles since Melvin Mora took home A.L. Player of the Month honors in August 2008. Davis also won A.L. Rookie of the Month while with the Texas Rangers in July 2008. Among league leaders in April with a minimum of 81 plate appearances, the 27-year-old finished first in slugging percentage (.728) and total bases (67), tied for first in homers and RBI, second in extra-base hits (17), fourth in batting average, fifth in on-base percentage (.442), sixth in walks and tied for seventh in runs.

The Texas native came out swinging to begin the season, hitting safely in his first five games with three multi-hit performances over the stretch. On April 3rd, Davis notched a career-high-tying four hits, including a pair of doubles, a homer and four RBI in an 8-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. In Baltimore's home opener against the Minnesota Twins two days later, Chris launched an eighth-inning grand slam to break a 5-5 tie as the Orioles closed out a 9-5 victory at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Through Baltimore's first four games of the season, Davis batted a combined 9-for-15 (.600) with three doubles, four homers and a Major League-record 16 RBI, eclipsing the old RBI
mark of 12 (set three times). In addition, the left-handed-hitting slugger became just the fourth player in history to launch homers in a season's first four games, joining Willie Mays (1971), Mark McGwire (1998) and Nelson Cruz (2011). Davis' offensive exploits earned him A.L. Player of the Week honors for April 1st-7th, his second career weekly award after splitting the award with Detroit Tigers hurler Justin Verlander in the final week of the 2012 season. Additionally, he became the first Oriole to garner consecutive weekly nods since Eddie Murray in 1981. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 20th, the fifth round pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft (by Texas) went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored to lead the Orioles to a 7-5 triumph in Baltimore. The next night, the sixth-year veteran tallied three more hits, including a double, as the O's dropped the game to the visiting Dodgers, 7-4. In his last 13 games in April, Davis batted .356 (16-for-45) with four doubles, three homers and nine RBI.

Others receiving votes included the reigning A.L. MVP Miguel Cabrera (.363, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 21 R, 13 BB) of the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians backstop Carlos Santana (.389, 9 2B, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 14 R, .722 SLG, .476 OBP).

The Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month, Chris Davis, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, for his accomplishment.

If there’s one theme that we as fans have seen with the Baltimore Orioles since last season, it is this: manager Buck Showalter will find a way for everyone on his team to contribute.

It seems that there is a different player contributing on a daily basis for the Orioles to another postseason berth; however, so far, in the first month of the 2013 campaign, one player has stood out to me.

Well, it is not Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Chris Davis, nor Matt Wieters – it’s Nate McLouth.

He is not a flashy player, or household name, but a grinder.

To be quite honest, I like many fans and those in the media were a bit perplexed that the Baltimore front office did not bring in any marquee players during the winter.

Then again, the organization did not seem to  acquire anyone of note; however, their biggest deal of the off-season was reacquiring McLouth. He signed a one-year, $2 million dollar contract with incentives

I wondered if he could repeat what he did last year for Baltimore, especially his work down the stretch of the 2012 season.

McLouth, as we all know, played an integral role in the Orioles’ first playoff berth in fifteen years.

It looked as if McLouth was a star on the rise in baseball during the 2008 season. He hit 26 home runs and drove in 94 runs for the Pirates that year and made the All-Star team; however, his career soon went into the wilderness and McLouth looked like another potential player who would flame out.

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Roberto Alomar Elected to Orioles Hall of Fame

Longtime baseball operations executive Don Pries named Herb Armstrong Award winner

Former Orioles second baseman ROBERTO ALOMAR has been elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame, the team announced today. Former Orioles scout and baseball operations executive DON PRIES will be inducted as this year's Herb Armstrong Award winner. Alomar and Pries will be honored at a luncheon at Oriole Park sponsored by the Oriole Advocates, founders of the Orioles Hall of Fame, on Friday, August 2. The induction ceremony will take place prior to the Orioles' game against the Seattle Mariners that night.

Alomar spent three seasons with the Orioles from 1996-98, compiling a .312 batting average, 50 home runs and 210 RBI in 412 regular season games. His .312 career average with the Orioles is the highest among all players in franchise history with at least 1,200 at-bats for the team and he ranks 9^th all-time in slugging percentage (.480).

In 1996, Alomar set a franchise record with 132 runs scored, 4^th-most in the American League, and also led the team in batting average (.328), hits (193), doubles (43) and on-base percentage (.411) to help the Orioles to their first playoff appearance in 13 seasons as the American League Wild Card. He set team records for home runs (20, 22 total) and RBI (84, 94 total) as a second baseman in a single season. In the playoffs, his 9^th inning, two-out single tied the American League Division Series Game 4 against Cleveland and his 12^th inning home run won that game and the series for Baltimore.

Alomar won Gold Glove Awards in 1996 and 1998, a Silver Slugger Award in 1996 and was elected to the All-Star Game in each of his three seasons in Baltimore, including Most Valuable Player honors in the 1998 All-Star Game in Colorado.

A 12-time All-Star and 10 time Gold Glove winner who also played for the San Diego Padres (1988-90), Toronto Blue Jays (1991-95), Cleveland Indians (1999-2001), New York Mets (2002-03), Chicago White Sox (2003, 04) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2004), Alomar was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. He was the first player to be enshrined as a Toronto Blue Jay and is one of 12 Hall of Fame members who played for the Orioles and were inducted for their on-field accomplishments.

Pries worked for the Orioles for seven years from 1968 through 1974 as an area scout (1968-69), Director of Player Personnel (1970-72) and Assistant to the General Manager (1973-74). He oversaw the Orioles' farm system and worked with General Manager HARRY DALTON during the most successful time in club history, when the team went to the playoffs five times, winning three American League pennants and a World Series in 1970.

Pries left the Orioles after the 1974 season to help Major League Baseball design a computer system for the MLB Scouting Bureau, benefiting all teams. In 1987, he became Director of the Major League Scouting Bureau and a year later created the Scout Development Program, a curriculum designed to teach all facets of scouting. Since its inception, more than 1,000 people have completed the program and more than 75% of those are currently employed or have worked in Major League Baseball. Pries played 13 seasons in the minor leagues and managed for five years before beginning his off-field career as a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1960. He also scouted for the Cleveland Indians and Oakland A's prior to joining the Orioles.

Tickets for the luncheon on August 2 are available by calling Ann Serio at 410-247-2703. Tickets for the induction ceremony and the Orioles-Mariners game that evening are available at www.orioles.com or by calling 1-888-848-BIRD.

The Baltimore Orioles began their eleven-game West coast swing and started off on a high note as they defeated the Oakland Athletics, 10-2. The offense was clicking last night as every starter had a hit; Chris Davis hit his eighth homer; both Nate McLouth and Nick Markakis plated in two runs, plus Adam Jones – who is still red hot – had three hits.

Baltimore starting pitcher Jason Hammel was not great but did his job well. He went six innings, gave up two runs on three hits and kept the homer happy Athletics at bay.

The Orioles are now 13-9 and are two games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East.

Right now, the Birds are flying high and many in the baseball world were not sure how they would follow up on their playoff season. Although the Orioles lost Wednesday’s game in extra innings – their first in a year – they showed again that last year may be no fluke. They play every out and never seem to go away in a contest.

Once again, Baltimore is relying on pitching, clutch hitting, a strong defense and a very stingy bullpen to win. Considering most of the starting pitchers on the roster (aside from Jason Hammel) do not have much of a track record, no one knew what was to be expected.

That is a truly good sign to see. I'm happy now that Dan Duquette and the front office did not spend an insane amount of money to sign a pitcher this offseason.

In addition, Manny Machado is not playing like a 20 year old … but a veteran who has been in the league 10 seasons. I still cannot believe how well last season’s summer call-up has worked for the Orioles.

Adam Jones – despite his defensive gaffes early – is a rock in the middle of the lineup and Davis may hit more than 40 home runs with the rate he is going.

The season is only about four weeks old; however, the Orioles have not missed a beat at all since last year.
 
If they can keep up their excellent play is anyone’s guess; however, it’s so far, so good for the Orioles.

On Sunday, Jake Arrieta started on the mound for the Baltimore Orioles. One would have thought after successful spring training, he would finally figure it out on the mound after several seasons in the majors.

From the looks of things, he still may have not. After his performance on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arrieta was again optioned to Triple-A Norfolk for seemingly the umpteenth time in the last couple of seasons.

Sitting in the stands on Sunday, I wondered how a guy who looks like your prototypical power pitcher at six-foot-four cannot get it together. Arrieta has been less-than-mediocre in his young major league career. He has 20-24 record, a 5.40 ERA and 0.5 WAR in parts of four seasons with the Orioles according to Baseball Reference.

By now, most Oriole fans know that he was one of the members of the vaulted ‘cavalry’ from several seasons back that was supposed to get the franchise out of a decade-plus losing rut.

The Orioles did finally dig themselves out the basement and ended up in the playoffs in 2012; however, Arrieta was absent from it mostly by his own doing.

On Sunday, he looked like an ace the first few frames; sadly, in final innings of his start, Arrieta became unglued. The problems that have plagued him throughout his young career – walks, giving up hits at inopportune times and not trusting his stuff – played a large part in costing the Orioles a series sweep.

Fans know that Arrieta is super talented and has the stuff in his arsenal to succeed. The question is when does it come together?

Could his problems be mechanical? Mental? A lack of confidence or a coherent game plan?

Manager Buck Showalter and the front office seemingly still believe in him; therefore, he will be given every chance to succeed.

Arrieta is 27 and may be entering a crossroad in his career, but it would not make sense to dump or trade him as of yet.

There’s a pitcher in the organization that has been down the same road that Arrieta is on right now: Chris Tillman.

Tillman was another highly-regarded pitcher that had his shares of up and downs during his major league career. He was another guy who often shuffled between the majors and minors; however, last season, Tillman finally delivered on his promise and had a 9-3 record with a 2.93 ERA in 15 starts.

Now, Tillman – for now – is a mainstay in the Baltimore rotation and part of the franchise’s future.

Can the same be said for Arrieta? Scouts seem to love him, and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick quipped this week that if the Orioles offered him up in trade or released him, "I know 29 teams that would be takers."

Arrieta has the potential to go far in the majors, but developing pitchers is a hard task to accomplish in any organization.

At this point, whether or not that can happen depends on him.

The Baltimore Orioles pulled off another win against the Toronto Blue Jays last night, 4-3, as pitcher Mike Gonzalez won his second game of the season and Jim Johnson recorded his eighth save on the young season.

The Birds are now 12-8 on the season and will look for the series sweep as Josh Stinson – who was called up from Norfolk this week – will start the game on the mound this afternoon.

Baltimore was triumphant on the night as they used a four-run second inning and hit Toronto starter, R.A. Dickey hard. Aside from that, Dickey was not all that terrible, but the poor frame did him in.

Now that we’re on the topic of Dickey, what can you say about the Toronto Blue Jays? They were expected to contend and take the division according to many baseball experts; however, with an 8-13 record, they are mired in last place in the American League East.

Meanwhile, the Orioles – who many still don’t believe in – are looking more and more like they are for real. They trail the Boston Red Sox by a game, and are still showing the grit and timely hitting that we all saw time and time again last year.

We will see what they are made over the next ten games as they have to face a tough Athletics’ team, the Angels and Mariners during an extended west coast swing.

Like I said yesterday, the starting pitchers do need to go deeper into games, but the bullpen has looked very strong as of late, and Pedro Strop (who was beginning to worry me) came through in a pinch during the eighth inning.

Buck Showalter obviously still believes in Strop and gave him a chance to succeed on Tuesday. Now, can Strop maintain that consistency?

Manny Machado was the star at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with two runs driven in.

Despite the win, the bad news from yesterday with the organization centered on Dylan Bundy. When you hear an athlete’s name along with James Andrews – the renowned orthopedic surgeon – it is usually not a good thing.

From the Baltimore Sun: Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy, shelved since March with right arm tightness, was scheduled to see renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday in Gulf Breeze, Fla., to get a second opinion on what’s causing his ongoing discomfort.

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The organization has been deliberate with Bundy’s recovery, but the move to seek a second opinion came a day after the right-hander felt lingering discomfort while throwing from 90 feet off flat ground at the team’s spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla. It was the first time he had thrown that far since going on the seven-day minor league disabled list April 4. Bundy hasn’t pitched from a mound since late March.

- snip-

An MRI taken at the beginning of the month showed the elbow was clean, and the Orioles believe Bundy’s injury is muscle soreness in his forearm and not related to anything involving his elbow ligament or tendon.

One theory about how the injury occurred is that Bundy began having muscle spasms as a result of how he twisted his arm as he placed the baseball in and out of his glove — a habit that he has worked to correct.

(Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-orioles-top-prospect-dylan-bundy-getting-second-opinion-on-arm-tightness-from-dr-james-andrews-20130423,0,7114019.story#ixzz2RO3ZgLtA)

Hopefully, it’s not the worst case scenario with Bundy. As we all know, he’s part of Baltimore’s future and could have a prominent role with the big league team this season if all goes well.

Bundy is still young and has time on his side; however, no one will be happy if there is a setback.

Last night, the Orioles pulled off a walk-off victory as Nick Markakis singled in the winning run to help them win, 2-1.

Chris Tillman – who started for Baltimore – pitched very, very well. He went 6 2/3 innings, gave up a run on four hits, and was rolling until the 6^th inning. Despite solid outing on the mound, Tillman – as well as every Oriole starting pitcher – needs to go deeper into games.

It’s that simple. Each and every year with the Orioles (as well as the 29 other teams in the sport), it’s about starting pitching.

While the Orioles are off to a good 11-8 start, the bullpen should not be taxed as much as it has. It is still very early, but the starters should look towards pitching seven plus innings as night.

The bullpen – which was no doubt a strength for the team last year – is fairly deep, but as the year goes forth, the starting corps will have to do more to ensure the Orioles keep winning.

Speaking of starting pitchers, Jake Arrieta got optioned down to the minors this afternoon. According to the Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly:

Arrieta will join the starting rotation in Norfolk -- there’s no talk of moving him to a relief role because the Orioles still believe his arsenal of pitches is best utilized as a starter -- and Showalter said he mentioned some things to Arrieta privately that he’d like for him to work on.

Showalter expressed that he still has faith that Arrieta can help the Orioles get to the playoffs, but “when will be up to him.” He added that he believes Arrieta’s issues are entirely mental.

Showalter’s sentiments about Arrieta are right. Hopefully, he can work out his issues in the minors; however, have we not seen this before?

I think Arrieta may be who he is.

Then again, if someone in the organization could get him to focus, trust his stuff, become more efficient on the mound, and throw strikes, the righty will be fine. Arrieta felt bad for the damage he caused in the fourth or fifth innings on Sunday, but the bottom line is that the team lost and he has not been consistent in the first few weeks of the season.

Then again, with the Orioles looking to contend and compete, they could not afford to spend any more time wonder if Arrieta would figure it out on the mound in the weeks to come.

The organization has depth right now, and will tap into it if needed, so Arrieta has become expendable for now.

Orioles recall RHP Alex Burnett from Triple-A Norfolk; RHP Jake Arrieta optioned to the Tides

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled RHP ALEX BURNETT from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned RHP JAKE ARRIETA to the Tides.

Burnett, 25, was claimed off waivers from Toronto on April 12. He went 4-4 with a 3.52 ERA (71.2IP, 28ER) in 67 appearances for Minnesota in 2012. Burnett is 1-0 in three scoreless appearances for the Tides this season. He will wear uniform #68.

Arrieta, 27, is 1-1 with a 6.63 ERA (19.0IP, 14ER) in four starts for the Orioles this season.

Ah, Jake Arrieta.

If you bring up his name to a lot of Orioles fans, it often does not conjure up good thoughts at all.

Sunday’s game was a case exhibit for that opinion.

I saw the self-destruction of Arrieta live and in person at the Yard; however, before the game against the Dodgers, I and several season ticket holders in my respective section pondered how many innings Arrieta would toss.

Furthermore, we all wondered when he would finally implode.

“He’s going to last six innings”, said one person.

“I say five, plus”, harked another.

Although I consider myself an optimistic person, but I quipped, “Four and two-thirds.”

For the first three frames on the mound, Arrieta looked as good as ever, and the Baltimore offense was rolling.

With a comfortable cushion at the time, he breezed through a Los Angeles lineup has that been struggling and endured a long losing skid; however, starting in the fourth inning, the implosion happened.

Walk after walk, followed up by a hit, then more walks, wiped away a 4-1 Baltimore lead which led to a 7-4 loss.

The loss prevented a three-game sweep of the Dodgers.

During the fourth and fifth innings, we all shook our heads and looked up wondering, “Will he ever get it out there on the mound?”

“Does he trust his stuff? Or no? Why he is nibbling? He’s got the stuff – just throw STRIKES!”

“Dude, he is Daniel Cabrera – part two?”

“Is his problem from the neck and up?”

Of course, it’s easy as fans to give our commentary and nitpick everything that’s wrong with him.

We all get angry and wonder why a guy who can throw in the mid-90’s can’t seem to be consistent on the mound at all?

It’s painful to watch as a fan and hard to see, however…

I’m sure it’s a hundred times harder on him.

Someone in the group harked after Arrieta shuffled back to the dugout, “why doesn’t he just go back to Triple-A?”

Arrieta has been back in the minors numerous times over the years, and each time he goes down – he dominates.

The Orioles bring him back up from the minors and he looks like a new guy  on the mound; however,  he returns to the same old pitcher we have seen again – and again.

Now the question again is …. What do you do with him?

Do the Orioles let him work out his problems? Send him to Triple-A for the umpteenth time, or  on his way out of the organization?

I think the latter two options may placate most of the fanbase; however, I think the team should let him work out his issues right now in the big leagues.

I don’t know what good sending him back to the minors would do right now. Maybe the Orioles can let him work in the bullpen in low pressure situations, or in long relief.

That’s not a call for us fans, but Buck Showalter and the front office.

Arrieta has the stuff and pedigree to succeed; however, he will never take the next step forward if his consistency issues can’t be worked out.