Waiting To Fly | A Baltimore Orioles Chise

[Justo]

Baltimore Orioles 2009 Preview

In 2008, the Orioles endured their 11th straight losing season and third consecutive year with at least 90 losses. There were some bright spots in the lineup, but the pitching staff led the league in walks and ranked dead last in strikeouts. With the American League East looking as tough as ever, and Baltimore failing to improve its starting rotation, expect the losing streak to reach 12.

Player of the Year: One thing Orioles fans can get excited about is the expected debut of catcher Matt Wieters. The former fifth overall pick was named Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year after hitting .355 with 27 homers, 91 RBI, and more walks (82) than strikeouts (76). BA gave him another hefty tag this week, naming him the top prospect in all of baseball. The 22-year-old may start the year in Triple A, but many experts have him tabbed as their 2009 AL Rookie of the Year

Big Three: The trio of Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, and Aubrey Huff made sure the Camden faithful got their money's worth last season. Roberts was as close as you can get to the prototypical leadoff man, hitting .296 with 82 walks and 40 stolen bases. Markakis led all outfielders with 17 outfield assists, ranked second in the AL with 99 walks, and hit .306. Huff led the AL with 82 extra-base hits and had a .304-32-108 season. If it hadn't been for AL MVP Dustin Pedroia's 54 doubles, Roberts (54), Markakis (48), and Huff (48) would've ranked 1-2-3 in the AL in two-baggers.

Beyond the Record: At 10-12, Jeremy Guthrie's win-loss record is far from impressive, but he put up overall strong numbers in '08. He ranked seventh in the AL with a .242 opponent's average, 11th in the AL with a 1.23 WHIP, and 14th in the league with a 3.63 ERA. He may not be a true ace, but he's by far the best Baltimore's got.

International Ace: Baltimore is hoping two-time Sawamura award (given to the top starting pitcher in Japan) winner Koji Uehara can anchor down a spot in the rotation behind staff ace Jeremy Guthrie. One of the most successful pitchers in international competition, Uehara is 12-0 with two saves in 25 career appearances in the Olympics, World Baseball Classic, and Asian Baseball Championship combined. He is 112-62 with 33 saves and a 3.01 ERA over his 10-year career, which included eight All-Star appearances.

Strong Finish: Melvin Mora had a nightmarish first half, hitting .232 before the All-Star break. From there on, however, Mora was one of baseball's hottest hitters, tallying a .376 average and 1.073 OPS. He predicted a .340-20-100 season, so you know the vet isn't short on confidence.

Other Notes: New acquisitions not mentioned above include Ty Wigginton, Cesar Izturis, and Felix Pie...The Orioles had a horrific end to 2008, going 5-20 in September...The team's 5.13 ERA was the second-worst in baseball.

[Justo]

Orioles Get First Glimpse At Uehara
By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com

Koji Uehara threw 50 pitches during his first bullpen session as an Oriole on Monday.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- One flimsy chain-link fence separated a media horde from perhaps the most closely monitored bullpen session in franchise history. Two-time Sawamura Award winner Koji Uehara made his first mound appearance as an Oriole on Monday, turning a remote area of Fort Lauderdale Stadium into center stage.

Uehara, the first Japanese player to sign with the Orioles, threw to catcher Gregg Zaun in front of several team executives and 40 reporters who were all anxious to see what he could do. The right-hander threw approximately 50 pitches, concentrating on fastball command and spotting both his forkball and curveball.

“For the first real look at him, I was very impressed," said pitching coach Rick Kranitz. "He looks like he has [better-than] above-average command of his fastball, and I was certainly impressed on what he was trying to do. I could see he was working on things. I was a little surprised, in a good way, that he has a cut fastball. To me, that's going to be a tremendous help for him in this league. ... But his command was as good as anyone I've ever had."
One veteran scribe who's covered the Orioles for two decades could think of only one near-precedent for the interest surrounding Uehara, and that was franchise icon Jim Palmer's aborted comeback attempt in 1991. Uehara is different in that he's a star in his homeland, but one moving out of his prime and into a more advanced league.

And so, a massive group of reporters -- Japanese and American alike -- were allowed into the screened-in bullpen, where they were able to watch the mound sessions of four pitchers simultaneously. All of the attention was trained on Uehara, though, who started leisurely and began popping the glove toward the end of his session.

Uehara began by throwing fastballs, displaying pinpoint accuracy and hitting the glove over and over again. The veteran's forkball displayed late life, often bouncing in front of the plate and caroming off Zaun's pads. The slow breaking ball was a little more wild, but Baltimore's starting catcher and manager came away impressed.

"From what I saw today, it's definitely above-average Major League stuff," said Zaun. "You couple that with the fact that he has the ability to throw the ball pretty much wherever he wants to. He changes the speeds pretty well, and his split, for the first day, was pretty darn good. I imagine when he gets to feeling better and his arms in shape, it will have even more bite. ... He's everything as advertised, to me. I can see why he had so much success over there."

"One, it looks like he's done it before," said manager Dave Trembley. "He's able to repeat his delivery, and that's probably what's allowed him to have the success that he's had. He repeats his delivery, and he makes it look easy. I don't think he broke a sweat. And obviously, that has occurred because he's worked very hard. You can tell."

Uehara, for his part, said that his outing went "OK" for a first session and that he was a little concerned with his forkball, which didn't dive as much as he'd like. Uehara also said that the massive media attention -- which included several television cameras, still photographers and a boom microphone -- didn't affect him.

"With the [Yomiuri] Giants, there would be more people watching," Uehara said via translator Jiwon Bang. "It didn't really bother me."

Uehara threw more than most of his teammates, and Kranitz said he had no problem allowing the pitcher to sculpt his own preparatory schedule. Zaun said that he expects to bring Uehara out to dinner on Tuesday night with several teammates in an effort to get to know him better and make him feel more comfortable.

Zaun made a point of seeking Uehara out this morning and making sure that he caught his side session, mostly so that he could prove to him that he could corral the forkball. Trembley, who only watched the beginning of Uehara's mound work, said that he looks forward to monitoring his progress over the rest of the exhibition season.

"The next step is to see him throw batting practice and then let him pitch in a game," Trembley said. "I've seen him on DVD, but he's much more impressive pitching in person. He's very fluid and he makes it look very easy. The ball comes out of his hand, and I think whoever his catcher is will enjoy catching him because he's right there."

[Justo]

following...gl being the fat kid in the race for the AL East

yea i know, i had this going before but i stopped when i got the show but everyone started doing the Nats so ill start the O's back up.

[Justo]

Season Goals

[Justo]

Starting Lineups

[Justo]

Pitching Rotation

[T.Dot]

ill follow, good stuff

[Justo]

expect this to start up tommorow guys

[Justo]

Series Preview


Baltimore Orioles (0-0) vs. New York Yankees (0-0)

Game 1
vs.
Jeremy Guthrie (0-0) 0.00 ERA | C.C. Sabathia (0-0) 0.00 ERA

Game 2
vs.
Koji Uehara (0-0) 0.00 ERA | Chien-Ming Wang (0-0) 0.00 ERA

Game 3
vs.
Mark Hendrickson (0-0) 0.00 ERA | A.J. Burnett (0-0) 0.00 ERA

[T.Dot]

GL vs the Yanks, that pitching for them is STACKED

[Justo]

Guthrie Throws A Complete Game Shutout In Opening Day Win

O's Players Celebrate After Shutting Out The Yankees

Yankees Pitching
C.C. Sabathia L, (0-1) | 7.0IP | 4H | 1R | 1ER | 4K's | 1.29 ERA
Damaso Marte 1.0IP | 0H | 0R | 0ER | 0K's | 0.00 ERA

Orioles Pitching
Jeremy Guthrie W, (1-0) | 9.0IP | 6H | 0R | 0ER | 3K's | 0.00 ERA

Yankees Batting
Derek Jeter (0-4)
Johnny Damon (0-4)
Mark Teixeria (0-4)
Hideki Matsui (3-4) 2B (1)
Jorge Posada (0-4) 2B (1) SO
Xavier Nady (2-3) SO
Robinson Cano (0-3)
Brett Gardner (1-3) SO
Cody Ransom (0-3)

Orioles Batting
Brian Roberts (0-4)
Adam Jones (1-3) RBI, SO
Nick Markakis (0-3) SO
Melvin Mora (0-3)
Aubrey Huff (0-3)
Ty Wiggington (0-3) SO
Luke Scott (2-3)
Gregg Zaun (1-3)
Cesar Izturis (0-3) SO

[Justo]

Wang's 9 Strike Outs Lead To An O's Loss

Wang Pitched A Great Game Going 8.2 Innings

Yankees Pitching
Chien-Ming Wang W, (1-0) | 8.2IP | 7H | 2R | 2ER | 9K's | 2.08 ERA
Mariano Rivera S, (1) | 0.1IP | 0H | 0R | 0ER | 0K's | 0.00 ERA

Orioles Pitching
Koji Uehara 6.0IP | 5H | 1R | 1ER | 4K's | 1.50 ERA
Dennis Sarfate L, (0-1) | 1.0IP | 3H | 2R | 2ER | 1K | 18.00 ERA
Chris Ray 2.0IP | 2H | 0R | 0ER | 0K | 0.00 ERA

Yankees Batting
Derek Jeter (0-5) SO
Johnny Damon (0-4)
Mark Teixeira (1-4) 2B (1), SO
Hideki Matsui (1-4) HR (1), RBI (1)
Jorge Posada (1-4) SO
Xavier Nady (3-4) SO
Robinson Cano (1-4)
Brett Gardner (1-4) RBI (1), SO
Cody Ransom (2-3) RBI (1)

Orioles Batting
Brian Roberts (1-4) 3 SO
Adam Jones (0-3) SO
Nick Markakis (2-4) 2B (1)
Aubrey Huff (1-4) 2B (1), RBI (1)
Luke Scott (1-4)
Melvin Mora (1-3) 2B (1), SO
Felix Pie (1-3)
Gregg Zaun (0-3) 3 SO
Cesar Izturis (0-3) SO

[The Messenger]

Sucks you don't have Cabrera. Glad he's on the Nats, but he would've been great for you.

[Justo]

O's 2 Run 6th Inning Leads To A Victory

O's 3rd Baseman, Melvin Mora After Getting Thrown Out of The Game

Yankees Pitching
A.J. Burnett L, (0-1) | 6.0IP | 5H | 3R | 3ER | 6K's | 4.50 ERA
Damaso Marte 2.0IP | 1H | 0R | 0ER | 2K's | 0.00 ERA

Orioles Pitching
Mark Hendrickson 4.0IP | 4H | 2R | 2ER | 2K's | 4.50 ERA
Danys Baez W, (1-0) | 5.0IP | 3H | 0R | 0ER | 2K's | 0.00 ERA

Yankees Batting
Derek Jeter (1-4) 2B (1), SO
Johnny Damon (0-4) SO
Mark Teixeira (0-4) SO
Hideki Matsui (2-4) HR (2), 3B (1), RBI (2)
Jorge Posada (0-4) RBI (1)
Xavier Nady (0-4) SO
Robinson Cano (1-3)
Brett Gardner (0-3)
Cody Ransom (3-3)

Orioles Batting
Brian Roberts (1-4) SO
Adam Jones (1-3) 3B (1), RBI (2), SO
Nick Markakis (1-4) 2B (2), RBI (1), SO
Aubrey Huff (1-3) HR (1), RBI (2), BB, 2 SO
Luke Scott (0-3) BB, SO
Melvin Mora (0-2) Ejected In 5th
Ty Wigginton (0-1)
Felix Pie (1-3)
Gregg Zaun (1-3) SO
Cesar Izturis (0-3) SO

[Justo]

Series Review



Trembley's Corner