Birds Watcher » Nick Markakis

Baltimore Orioles: Defense needs to improve

Amanda Redman — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 03:26:09 +0000

Let’s just get this out of the way — Adam Jones‘ gum had nothing to do with Friday night’s loss to the Yankees.

April 4, 2012; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones (10) and left fielder Nate McLouth (9) misses the fly ball during the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. though the Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3. Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Is worth noting however that the Orioles have now made some really crucial miscues defensively. Friday it was Jones, in Boston, Nate McClouth dove for a ball that he should have played on a bounce and two runs scored, Chris Davis let a ground ball go by him against the Twins at home which led to a loss. . . I could actually keep going.

The Orioles started playing really well last season when their defense was solid. True, lots of other things were going right for them, but it’s tough to battle back when you’re constantly giving away hits and runs. Last year, the addition of Manny Machado really improved the infield, allowing Mark Reynolds to shift over to first. The outfield defense was solidified with the addition of Nate McLouth (though for much of that run nick markka is was injured). The right pieces seem to be there this season defensively, many of these mistakes seem to be mental.

The season is young — really it is, please don’t panic! — so it could be that the every day grind hasn’t quite come together for the position players. Certainly it is more difficult to get into a groove when every day seems like a different start time, and the O’s have still only played 3 home games out of 10 total, so there has already been a fair bit of travel.

There is no doubt that the defense can pull it together, no matter what the issue is. Entering Friday’s game, the team ranked 8th in the league in fielding, but some of these poor plays pointed out were not scored as errors. More importantly they seem to be coming in big situations.

The potential for this defense is high, with machado and hardy on the left side of the infield and hopefully a healthy Brian Roberts coming back in a couple of weeks. Hopefully the team is getting it all out of their system early.

Once the defense improves, the rest will fall into place. And maybe they’ll turn a triple play, too.

Baltimore Orioles: Let’s roll!

Domenic A. Vadala — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:00:15 +0000

When I was a kid my late grandmother would pile my cousins and I into her Mercury Grand Marquis for the 45 minute trip to Path Mart in Newark, DE (from Rising Sun, MD) when she’d do her grocery shopping. Once we’d all be settled she’d look at all of us and with her thick Italian accent say, “…let’s roll!” That was always symbolic to me in that it told us that the journey (to the store) was beginning. And now, so many years later, it’s something that I still recall fondly.

After watching almost every other team in the league open the season yesterday, the Baltimore Orioles will get their first crack at 2013 this afternoon at Tropicana Field against Tampa. At just after 3 PM US east coast time this afternoon, the response to the best season in the last 15 years will begin. David Price will throw the first pitch to Nick Markakis, and the season will be off. And with that said let’s start right there; Markakis will return to the lead off spot in the lineup this afternoon, which he stumbled upon in effect by accident last season. With Brian Roberts injured and the Orioles having no other options to lead off, it fell to Markakis when he returned from injury after the all-star break…

Courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

…Markakis hit .335 as a lead off hitter, with an OBP of .390. That was amazing production out of that spot for the Orioles, and it lasted until September 8th when he was hit in the hand by NY’s CC Sabathia. One gets the impression however that Buck Showalter might have obsessed a bit during spring training with regard to who would bat lead off. With Brian Roberts returning to the lineup in apparent great shape and Nate McLouth re-signing with the Birds, there was decision to be made. It will most certainly be interesting to see this afternoon exactly how that lineup functions with Roberts wraping up the bottom of the order and then having it turn back over to Markakis. For the record that, along with the presence of McLouth and Nolan Reimold, should give fans a lot of hope.

Jason Hammel will head to the bump this afternoon for the Birds, in an apparent nod to him being the staff ace. When he wasn’t injured last year, Hammel was arguably the Orioles’ best pitcher. He developed a two-seam fastball in being traded to Baltimore last year, which served him well all season. The question however surrounding all Oriole starters is whether or not they got the necessary seasoning during spring training. Buck Showalter held them all out of the big league games in the second half of spring training so as to not show his hand to competitors. On one level I suppose that’s understandable, however one has to hope that they all got their work in properly to the point that they’re ready to go.

Tampa will send David Price to the mound, a guy who’s given the Orioles fits over the years. In fact that can be said about most of Tampa’s pitchers and many of their players. Joe Maddon’s team always competes, and with all of the turnover they have year-over-year, they seemingly find some way to be in the mix. That’s a tribute to Maddon and his coaching staff. This year their big losses were “Big Game James” Shields, and of course BJ Upton in centerfield. However the Orioles will have to find a way to defeat the likes of Price, Evan Longoria, et al, if they’re going to start the season on the right foot.

Regardless of the outcome of today’s game, I would remind Orioles fans that it’s only one of 162. Throughout spring training we spoke of giving as little importance as possible to the actual results of the games. Now the results matter and then some! However in saying that we should remember that one game is just that…one game. The famous line in Bull Durham is “…some days you win, some days you lose, and some days it rains.” (I can guarantee that rain won’t be an issue in this series given that Tampa plays in a dome!) However it’s always good to get off to a good start, especially when you start with division games right off the bat. So with that said…ladies and gentlemen, let’s roll!

Baltimore Orioles: Betemit, Markakis, and BUCKle Up

Domenic A. Vadala — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:36:04 +0000

Baltimore Orioles’ utility man Wilson Betemit has officially been diagnosed with a Grade 2/3 tear of the PCL in his right knee. Betemit collapsed on the base paths in Monday’s game as he tried to go from first to second, and was later carted off the field. For the time being it appears that Betemit might not need surgery. The Orioles are planning on re-evaluating him in six to eight weeks, and that there’s a chance that he might be able to return to the team after that time at some point. During that six to eight week period Betemit will continue to receive treatment and rehab the knee in Sarasota. My personal opinion is that Ryan Flaherty will now break camp with the team given that Betemit will presumably be sent to the DL.

In more promising injury news, Nick Markakis is expected to return to right field in tonight’s game against New York in Sarasota. Markakis was the DH in yesterday’s 9-5 loss to Minnesota, going 1-for-5 in the game. However tonight will be the first time that Markakis will have been back in the field since March 1st, as he’s suffered from neck spasms since then. If there was ever a good time for him to come back, it’s now. Whereas much of this spring training has been about seeing what kind of depth in pitching and in the field the Orioles could manage to take north with them, spring training takes a turn away from that in the last 7-10 days. At that point it becomes about making sure that the regulars are firing on all cylinders moving into the regular season. One thing that we do know about Markakis is that he’s not the type of guy that needs a lot of reps to get into game shape, so that bodes well in his and the Orioles’ favor.

Courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight’s game will be shown live on MASN at 7 PM, after which MASN will be showing the DVD that they produced this past off season, BUCKle Up Birds: An Underdog Story. According to Roch Kubatko of masnsports.com, the program will also air at 6 PM on March 30th, and 12:30 PM on April 5th (in anticipation for the Orioles’ home opener that afternoon). Fans can still purchase their copy of the DVD at www.orioles.com/buckleup.