A look at Bergesen

Brad Bergesen is making his MLB debut tomorrow against the White Sox in Camden Yards.

In 480 innings in the minors, Bergesen has compiled a 3.75 ERA, 307 K's (5.79 K/9) to 87 BB's (1.6 BB/9). Bottom line he's a control pitcher who doesn't strike a lot of batters out. So to have success, he'll have to keep the ball low in the zone and stay ahead of hitters in the count.

We saw what happened with Garret Olson last year, a guy who like Bergesen, didn't have overwhelming stuff. Olson nibbled a lot, fell behind in a lot of counts and was forced to throw a hitter's pitch. More times than not, the hitters made him pay for it.

Hopefully Bergesen has a more aggressive mentality and trusts his stuff.

One thing that will have to improve for Bergesen to have success: the defense. The O's have made some costly errors recently and with a pitch-to-contact guy in Bergesen, they'll need to stay on their toes. Bergesen isn't the kind of guy who can come back from an error with a strikeout to end an inning.

It'll be interesting to see how Bergesen does tomorrow, that's for sure. Hopefully he looks good enough to become a fixture in the O's rotation as it transforms into what we hope is a rotation that will allow the O's to contend for the playoffs.

Blue Monday

Man, what a Monday.

It’s pouring in Baltimore while the O’s are about to be swept in 4 games by the Red Sox in Boston.

It’s hard to believe this team was at one time 6-2, isn’t it?

Anyway, the injuries are starting to mount. That’s always good. Adam Jones left the game on Sunday due to tightness in his hamstring. It’s the same thing that will delay Matt Wieters’ promotion to the big leagues for at least another week. Thankfully for both Jones and Wieters, it’s only supposed to be a day-to-day injury but who knows.

Then Ryan Freel was plunked in the head during a pick-off attempt, and was motionless on the ground for some time. He had to be walked off the field. If he’s suffered a concussion, he’ll be headed to the DL as well.

At least Mark Hendrickson pitched decently. And by decent I mean it took him 102 pitches to get 15 outs, and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits and 3 walks.

At that point it was 3-1 Boston. And in the top of the 6th, the Orioles had runners on first and second with 1 out. And what does Ty Wigginton promptly do? You guessed it, ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 6th the defense promptly choked and Boston did what Boston always does when the other team makes mistakes – they took advantage of it and are now leading the O’s 11-1 in the... scratch that... 12-1 in the bottom of the 7th.

By the way, remember that awesome offense we were supposed to have? The O's have scored 2 runs in the last 22 innings.

The bullpen is a mess. Dennis Sarfate 3 ER... Radhames Liz 6 ER and a trip back to Norfolk. Maybe Liz will pass Brad Bergesen on his way. Bergesen will make his MLB deubt tomorrow against the White Sox at Camden Yards.

At this point, it’s hard to care.

It’s only 3 weeks into the season and the Orioles look like they are in mid-August form.

Bergesen... Wieters... Reimold... are they enough reason to watch?

I really don’t know anymore.

And to make matters worse -- it's still only Monday.

Ravens trading for Boldin?

Word is the Ravens are considering trading for Cardinals disgruntled wide-receiver Anquan Boldin.

Right now the Cardinals are asking for a first and third round pick for Boldin. If these picks are taken from the 2009 draft, it would leave the Ravens with only 4 picks on draft day.

Boldin is the #1 WR the Ravens have needed for years, but he doesn’t come without risks. In six seasons he’s played 16 games only twice, and he’s missed 4 games in each of the last 2 seasons.

Then there are the attitude problems. Boldin was seen complaining to coaches and throwing towels on the sidelines during the 2008 playoffs. Will that emotional baggage come with him? Or does he leave it in Arizona?

Joe Flacco could desperately use a huge target like Boldin in 2009 to go along with Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton. But it’s unlikely the Ravens part with the draft picks it would take to land him. Since the Ravens moved to Baltimore, they have put more stock in the draft than probably any other organization in the NFL.

However, if the Ravens are ever to have a bona fide #1 WR, they’re probably not going to be drafting him. The Ravens have never drafted a WR that has had 1,000 yards receiving in a season and until they drafted Flacco, QB and WR were the positions the Ravens still seem to have trouble evaluating in the draft.

If the Ravens are in deed looking to upgrade at the WR position, and they should be, a smarter route would be to pursue the Bengals’ Chad Johnson. Johnson is coming off a bad season, largely due to the fact that Carson Palmer missed most of the season and the Bengals blackballed him after Johnson’s public outbursts.

The Bengals had their chance to unload Johnson last year, but turned down the Redskins’ offer of 2 first rounders for Chad. Cincinnati is reportedly still asking for a first round pick for Johnson, but there’s no chance the Bengals will get that kind of return. Johnson is still a good receiver, but is getting older (he’s 31), and despite the legit excuses for his down year in 2008, it’s unlikely that he has another 1,400 yard receiving season.

But Johnson will rebound with a chance of scenery, and I think Baltimore is about the best change of scenery Chad could ask for.

It's official...

Well, today is officially the day the Orioles can call up Matt Wieters without starting his 2009 service clock, meaning they’ll buy themselves another year of having Wieters under their control.

In case it sounds like a shady way to do business, the Tampa Bay Rays did it with Evan Longoria last year. Oh and Scott Boras is Wieters’ agent, so all's fair in love and war.

But the question remains: when will the Orioles call up Matt Wieters?

It doesn’t look to be any time this weekend, even though the Orioles could use his bat in a 4-game series in Boston.

The earliest call-up could be this Tuesday, when the Orioles come home to play the White Sox. The O’s will probably want to take advantage of the PR that comes with Wieters beginning his career before Oriole fans. Waiting until Tuesday may also help ease Wieters into the major leagues instead of throwing him into the Fenway fire.

One thing is for sure, however, and that is Wieters is ready to play the majors. He’ll improve the line-up instantly and by the end of the season, should become the middle-of-the-order power bat that the Orioles have lacked for years.

It’s just a matter of whether or not Andy MacPhail wants to continue his ultra-conservative approach of not rushing players, or whether MacPhail believes Wieters is ready for the big show.

But he’ll be here soon, it’s just a matter of when.

2009 Schedule is out!

The Ravens 2009 regular season schedule is out.

Sun 9/13 Kansas City 1:00 pm
Sun 9/20 at San Diego 4:15 pm
Sun 9/27 Cleveland 1:00 pm
Sun 10/4 at New England 1:00 pm
Sun 10/11 Cincinnati 1:00 pm
Sun 10/18 at Minnesota 1:00 pm
bye
Sun 11/1 Denver 1:00 pm
Sun 11/8 at Cincinnati 1:00 pm
Mon 11/16 at Cleveland 8:30 pm
Sun 11/22 Indianapolis 1:00 pm
Sun 11/29 Pittsburgh 8:20 pm
Mon 12/7 at Green Bay 8:30 pm
Sun 12/13 Detroit 1:00 pm
Sun 12/20 Chicago 1:00 pm
Sun 12/27 at Pittsburgh 1:00 pm
Sun 1/3 at Oakland 4:15 pm

Some thoughts:

• A very winnable home opener against a non-divisional team in Kansas City. Although the Chiefs traded for Matt Cassell and were pretty decent on offense in 2008, against the Ravens they are still extremely overmatched on both sides of the ball.

• The first three home games are pretty easy (KC, CLE, CIN), but they are matched by the challenge of three first road games (@SD, @NE, @MIN).

• The Ravens will get their first shot at home against the Steelers in a primetime game since 2003. Maybe looking like wusses by asking the NFL to avoid scheduling a BAL @ PIT primetime game paid off after all.

• I don’t like closing out the season with 2 games on the road, including a trip to the west coast. I don’t know how many other teams close out the season with 2 road games, but I bet it’s not many.

• Three primetime games in 4 weeks. America might get as sick of the Ravens as they are the Steelers, Cowboys and Patriots.

• A very early pre-draft prediction: 11-5.

April Fools

Well, the O’s are doing it again.

They’re teasing us with their typical decent play to start the season. Who needs September and October when you’ve got April in Baltimore? What’s the name of that Who song? We won’t be fooled again? Well, here I am, a smile on my face, writing another blog entry and looking forward to watching no-name starting pitcher Alfredo Simon and the 5-2 Orioles take on the Rangers tonight at 8 p.m.

So I’ll be fooled again and like it.

But I’m not blind. I know that the Orioles have a team ERA of 6.10. I know that the wins will not last.

But, at least there is something to look forward to each night – the offense.

So far, Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff have been deadly at the top of the line-up. Felix Pie is also fun to watch, and collected 3 hits last night including his first home run as an Oriole.

The patented weak bench of Oriole past is finally gone now that decent players like Ty Wigginton, Luke Scott and Ryan Freel are available on most nights.

Oh and in case you forgot, that doesn’t even factor in ultra-prospect Matt Wieters, who the O’s can call up on Friday, and avoid starting his service clock in 2009.

So while the O’s pitching has been pretty bad thus far, their hitting has been just as good, and looks to get better. And there is pitching help on the way.

I think.

****

Just a week in, there are already roster moves begging to be made.

Relief pitcher Brian Bass has just 5.1 IP, and has already allowed 10 ER. He’s as good as gone. The O’s made a mistake by sending down Matt Albers instead of DFAing Bass when they needed to activate Adam Eaton, but that mistake can be erased be recalling Albers in a week and releasing Bass, who will almost certainly pass through waivers and be optioned to Norfolk.

Utility man Ryan Freel is a decent guy to have around. He can play anywhere, gets on base and then steals them pretty well. However, with Wigginton and Roberto Andino on the roster, Freel is redundant. The O’s could trade or release Freel tomorrow and it wouldn’t impact the team at all. Meanwhile, OF Nolan Reimold is off to a hot start in Norfolk and could share AB’s with Pie if he is promoted to Baltimore to take the place of Freel.

So here we are again. The first week of the season is over and the O’s are battling for first place. Would you have April any other way?

Rotation taking shape

If you’ve been following the O’s this spring, you probably know that the rotation is taking shape as we speak. With Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara the only guaranteed starters, and Rich Hill currently injured, there are currently 5 candidates to fill 3 spots.

Adam Eaton – The Trachselesque Veteran. Putting it mildly, Eaton has been eaten on the mound since 2005, including this spring. He pitches to contact, and more times than not, that contact turns into hits and runs. But, the O’s still seem to go ga-ga over pitchers who have “done it before”, regardless of whether they are any good or not.

Mark Hendrickson – Lurch. In an offseason of smart, low-risk, high-reard moves, the signing of Hendrickson leaves many O’s fans scratching their heads. The O’s have plenty of arms that could have taken Hendrickson’s place in the rotation and bullpen, but the O’s saw it fit to ink Hendrickson to a 1-year, $1.5 million contract. In the past, Hendrickson has been solid out of the bullpen, and solid crap (the week old kind) as a starter. As more and more candidates fall out of contention for whatever reason, the likelihood of Hendrickson being forced into the rotation becomes greater.

Hayden Penn – the Former Prospect. Penn was the organization’s #1 pitching prospect before Adam Loewen came along. Yeah, it’s been a while. Penn has suffered through bad luck and injuries, and bad luck injuries, and has failed to regain the top prospect status he had a few years ago. He also hasn’t done much thus far in spring training to warrant a guaranteed spot. It appears likely that Penn will make the team however, since he is out of options, and can’t be sent down to the minors without first being put on waivers. Penn has only pitched 10 innings in 5 different games, so it looks like Penn is headed for the bullpen.

Brian Bass – the Retread. You may not remember (I sure as hell didn’t), but Bass pitched for the Orioles last September and didn’t humiliate himself like the rest of the team was intent on doing (4.71 ERA in 21 IP), so that alone gives Bass a chance. It looks like only one of Bass and Penn will be in the rotation with the other in the bullpen.

Alfredo Simon – the Dark Horse. Simon also pitched for the O’s last season, and even pitched a solid game against the AL Champion Rays before the bullpen took over and handed them the game. Simon has pitched well this spring and is said to have great stuff, despite his downright horrid MiL numbers.

So there you have it. The O’s rotation could be filled with a whole lotta nothing, but remember, kids… the cavalry is coming!