By Zach Wilt, on May 20th, 2012  Baseball's best catcher and best closer discuss the business of the latest save. From MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko comes some nifty stats about Jim Johnson’s dominance in the closer’s role for the Birds.
Johnson is a perfect 15-for-15 in saves this season and 23-for-23 dating back to August of 2011.
The Orioles have won 19 of their last 26 and 9 in a row on the road against the Yankees, Red Sox, Royals and Nationals. Their 15-5 road record is the best in all of baseball.
Since September of 2011, the O’s are 14-3-2 in their last 19 series.
This pace would be historic if kept up, but what would you be satisfied with now?
By Zach Wilt, on May 17th, 2012  Yesterday we determined that “yes, in fact it is still okay for Baltimore fans to boo Mark Teixeira.” Today we pose another question to the boo birds of Camden Yards.
Is it time to cut Kevin Gregg some slack and stop booing him?
In Gregg’s last six outings for the O’s he’s surrendered zero runs on just three hits in 8 1/3 innings of work and has walked three and struckout eight. Oh, and he recorded the win in the Orioles fifteen inning Marathon against the Royals last night.
Yet somehow, every time Gregg gets up in the pen, Baltimore breaks the internet with #KevinGreggSucks tweets.
Yes, I know he blew seven saves last season, lost the closer’s role and wasn’t happy with the demotion. But that was 2011, a season in which the Orioles were 19-21 on May 17. They’re 24-14 now, this is clearly a different team.
All I’m saying is, there are plenty of guys in pinstripes and red socks that deserve heckling. Gregg has proven to be no longer deserving of the grief.
By Zach Wilt, on May 16th, 2012 The Orioles finally cracked CC Sabathia. Last night Baltimore put up four runs on the Yankees ace and cruised to victory behind a dominant seven inning performance by 26-year-old Taiwanese stud Wei-Yin Chen.
The performance was not only enough to make Chen the AT&T Player of the Game (take that to arbitration), but it earned him a shaving cream pie from his teammates.
 A "pie" is baked...  Jim Johnson watches as his teammates torture Chen  My eyes burn just looking at this picture READ MORE >>>
By Zach Wilt, on May 9th, 2012  Last night’s college baseball game between the Bluejays and Huskers in Creighton drew a crowd of 12,184, which means that nearly 1,000 more people were in attendance in Nebraska than in Baltimore to witness Josh Hamilton hit four home runs against the Orioles.
Baltimore drew 11,263 a day after 11,989 fans welcomed home the first place Orioles from the 5-1 road trip in New York and Boston.
In his Wednesday column on FOXSports.com, Ken Rosenthal reported on the lack of response from Orioles fans to their hot start.
The players get it. Showalter gets it. After 14 straight losing seasons — a streak that began under owner Peter Angelos long before anyone currently wearing a uniform arrived — the Orioles no longer merit the benefit of the doubt.
“It’s our fault. It’s not theirs,” Showalter said of the fans. “They don’t trust us. I don’t know if that’s the right word. But my take on it all along is that it’s our responsibility. It can’t be lip service. It can’t be. It’s got to be, ‘Show me.’ “
Orioles closer Jim Johnson is less optimistic about the turnout. ”The big test will be when football season comes around,” Johnson said in Rosenthal’s piece. “Will people be more worried about minicamp or more worried about what we’re doing? That’s the true test. If we’re in it, if we’re playing competitive baseball, you’ll see what the city truly thinks of us.”
I fear finding out the answer to that question.
By Zach Wilt, on May 5th, 2012  It took 13 innings, but the Orioles got it done last night against the Boston Red Sox with a 6-4 win in Fenway.
Baltimore still hasn’t given Jon Lester his first “L” against the O’s, but I’m confident that this is the team that finally will.
Friday, Wei-Yin Chen kept the Orioles in the game with a five inning performance in which he surrendered three earned runs. Then the Orioles bullpen shut down the Sox. Matt Lindstrom, Pedro Strop, Luis Ayala, Troy Patton and Jim Johnson combined for eight shutout innings in relief.
As Brittany Ghiroli reports, the Orioles bullpen lowered their league leading ERA to 1.56 with last night’s effort.
By Avi Miller, on May 3rd, 2012  Pitching coach Rick Adair walking along side catcher Matt Wieters Yes, THE Baltimore Orioles. The same Orioles who couldn’t string together much of any pitching last season are currently atop the American League in Team ERA with a 2.83 mark. Before last night, the Texas Rangers held the lead in this category in the AL, but after Toronto scored a whopping 11 runs off of them at the Rogers Centre, the Orioles have taken over.
The only two teams in all of baseball pitching better than the Orioles (in terms of ERA) are the Cardinals and the Nationals, both of which have stacked rotations full of star quality names like Stephen Strasburg, Edwin Jackson, Adam Wainwright, and Chris Carpenter.
The Orioles rotation made it through the month of April without any changes, and includes Jake Arrieta, Tommy Hunter, Wei-Yin Chen, Jason Hammel, and Brian Matusz. The worst of those guys in the ERA category is Matusz at 4.67, which isn’t terrible right now considering the 10.69 he posted in 2011 along with the fact that he has shown major progress in each start over the last month. Hammel leads the group with a 1.97 ERA. READ MORE >>>
By Steve Giles, on April 27th, 2012  I have a little catching up to do after missing last week’s edition of this segment. So here’s a quick recap of what’s been going on with the O’s over the past two weeks. They went 6-4 on their longest road trip of the season. They just got done sweeping the Blue Jays and are now 5-1 against them this season after losing 12 of 18 to them last season. Their pitching has been stellar and their hits have been timely. All in all, things are good in the Baltimore baseball world right now. I just hope it stays that way.
Who’s Hot
The Bullpen – The O’s bullpen ranks first in the majors with a 1.96 ERA and has been the most solid aspect of the team so far this season. They have a closer in Jim Johnson, who is 7-for-7 in save opportunities and has yet to give up a run. They have a set up guy in Pedro Strop, who seems to never throw below 95 mph. And they have a bunch of other guys who can come in when they are called upon and get batters out. Collectively, the O’s bullpen has 50 strikeouts to just 22 walks on the season and hasn’t allowed an earned run in their last nine innings of work. READ MORE >>>
By Zach Wilt, on April 24th, 2012  Here's a photo of Roch Kubatko after he tweeted the Orioles lineup for tonight. Orioles reporters might want to wear their surgical masks when walking in the locker room tonight.
Roch Kubatko tweeted this afternoon that the flu bug has been making its way around the clubhouse. Dan Connolly added that Jim Johnson made a hospital visit this morning with flu symptoms.
Needless to say, JJ won’t be available for tonight’s matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays.
In addition to Johnson, Nolan Reimold is out tonight with a lingering neck injury. Reimold has missed three of the Birds last four games.
Mark Reynolds is also on the bench tonight as Ryan Flaherty gets the start at third base. ”I just want him to take a breather mentally and really focus on some things he wants to get better at,” Buck Showalter told Kubatko.
Roch added that Reynolds has been bothered by the flu bug as well.
Probably the worse part of all is that Robert (Bob) Andino will miss Wednesday and Thursday’s games for the birth of his child in Miami.
It’s starting to feel like September around here.
By Mark Brown, on March 27th, 2012  The closer position changes a lot. As long as you have someone who is actually recording saves, you will be fine. Saves are highly inconsistent and can’t be relied upon. There are just too many factors that determine whether or not a closer will get a save. For the most part it’s out of their hands. So how important is it to get good closers? Unless your in a league where you have an innings cap, closers aren’t very important at all. The Fantasy God never ever drafts high closers. Every single year I’m able to wait until the end of the draft and still wind up with elite closers. Last year instead of taking guys like Rivera, Papelbon, and Valverde, I waited until the end of the draft to get Craig Kimbrel. He was one of the bottom feeding last round closers in 2010. Mainly because he hadn’t proved anything yet, and because he was a rookie. I was also able to pick up Jordan Walden once the job was his. How do you think I fared with Kimbrel and Walden? Both were All-Stars. And I didn’t waste a pick above round 20 to get one. Are there guys like that this year? Sure there are. Read ahead.
2012 Fantasy Closer Rankings:
1. Jonathan Papelbon (PHI)
2. Craig Kimbrel (ATL)
3. Mariano Rivera (NYY)
4. Jordan Walden (LAA)
5. John Axford (MIL)
6. Brian Wilson (SF)
7. Jose Valverde (DET)
8. Rafael Betancourt (COL)
9. Carlos Marmol (CHC)
10. Heath Bell (MIA) READ MORE >>>
By Zach Wilt, on March 23rd, 2012  Declining velocity has been all the rage of Spring Training. All the cool kids are doing it.
Orioles closer Jim Johnson has seen his fastball dip a little this Spring. CBSSports’s Danny Knobler tweeted that Johnson’s velocity was down and MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko wrote that JJ’s fastball was between 89-91 MPH during his appearance on Thursday.
That’s not a good sign for a closer.
According to FanGraphs.com’s velocity chart, 89-91 is much lower than Johnson’s average last season. Typically Johnson was between 94-96 MPH, hitting the 97s a few times throughout the season.
So now we’ve got to throw the question out there that everyone is wondering. Is Jim Johnson playing hurt or is this just normal “get you ready for the season” velocity issues?
By Mark Brown, on January 1st, 2012   With all the hot Orioles talk lately from the readers of BSR, I figured I’d stir the pot some more. Trying to invoke some New Year’s spirit, I’ve decided to address the New Year’s resolutions of our beloved Orioles team. I’m not sure what the actual resolution of each guy truly is, but I can easily tell you what they should be.
2012 Baltimore Orioles New Year’s Resolutions:
Matt Wieters’ New Year’s Resolution is to surpass the offensive statistics of Brian McCann- Along with guys like Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez, McCann has been considered one of the league’s elite catchers over the past 6 years. When Matt Wieters was drafted scouts were saying that he would hit for the average of Joe Mauer and with the power of Brian McCann. Bypassing McCann would be a major feat and would immediately put Wieters into elite status. In 2011 McCann put up .270/24/71. Wieters put up .262/22/68. So they were already close. Wieters will be entering his 3rd full major league season and is still only 25 years old. If he were able to jump McCann in 2012, then the Orioles know they have a legit #3 batting switch hitting catcher. Have I mentioned that his defense has already surpassed McCann’s?
Mark Reynolds’ New Year’s Resolution is to at least reach his career batting average- It’s only a .238 career average. That seems pretty bad right? It’s actually pretty solid compared to the .198 he put up in 2010, and the .221 he put up in 2011. READ MORE >>>
By Mark Brown, on November 17th, 2011  In this new weekly article I will take a look at recent MLB Hot Stove action. I’ll analyze each move and look at how well each player will fit in to their new team. I’ll also take a look at each signing’s fantasy impact. And of course I will keep track of the Orioles offseason as well. This first article will feature every offseason move that has taken place up to this point. From here on out I’ll recap moves on a weekly basis.
The Washington Nationals re-sign Chien-Ming Wang- I understand that the Nats fully want to cash in on rebuilding Wang over the last 2 seasons. His previous 2 year commitment only gave them 11 starts. It was important for them to re-sign him so that he can now give back to the organization with a full season. That’s if he can stay healthy. Let’s not forget he has only made 20 starts over the last 4 years. With all that being said I don’t think there was really any room to sign Wang. The Nats rotation is pretty full already. Strasburg and Zimmermann are locks at the top of the rotation. They are rumored to be wanting another veteran starter as well. Assuming that they get one, that leaves 2 spots for Wang, Lannan, Detwiler, Peacock, and Milone. Wang and Lannan have to take rotation spots because of their veteran status. This means that 3 young guys who had success in 2010 must be pushed out of the rotation. Peacock is a k/ip flame thrower who has as much upside as Jordan Zimmermann does. He is not a guy you want to hold down. Detwiler has upside because he was a #6 pick overall and posted a 3.00 ERA in 2011. Wang adds depth but really takes away a spot deserved more by another young pitcher. For fantasy purposes Wang probably shouldn’t be drafted unless the league is very deep. I can see him putting up decent #s, but he is injury prone, and he will have a short leash because of the depth behind him.
READ MORE >>>
By Zach Wilt, on September 28th, 2011  The Baltimore Orioles announced that centerfielder Adam Jones has been named the Most Valuable Oriole for the 2011 season. Jones finished ahead of J.J. Hardy and Matt Wieters respectively.
MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports that Hardy and Wieters both received first place votes from the members of the media that cover the O’s. Mark Reynolds, Jim Johnson, Robert Andino and Nick Markakis also received votes according to Kubatko.
Jones enters tonight’s season finale hitting .281 with career highs in home runs (25), RBI (83), doubles (26), stolen bases (12) and games played (150). He also leads the league in outfield assists from a center fielder with 12.
By Mark Brown, on July 29th, 2011 Jim Johnson has bounced back this year to be the great reliever the Orioles saw out of him a few years ago. Lets face it, the Orioles bullpen has been terrible this year. Its extremely sad that the only two bright spots are two guys who are free agents at the end of this season. Both Koji and Johnson have produced numbers that the Orioles must replace next year if they ever want to have a respectable record. The two of them have had similar seasons and also have similar value at the trade deadline. Koji is much older, has an option, and is a type A free agent, while Johnson is much younger, and isn’t ranked on the Elias rankings. This means that whoever acquires Koji will get a first round pick the next season, but Jim Johnson comes with no pick. The fact that Johnson is much younger and healthier than Koji makes up for the fact that Koji would come with a pick. For that reason I think they have similar value at the deadline. But the Orioles seem a little more hesitant to trade Johnson because of his youth and the hope that they can resign him next year. For a team to acquire Johnson they may have to give up a little more than they would to get Koji. With that being said lets take a look at what the O’s can get for Johnson. The names and teams will be similar to those of Koji’s, but there are some differences.
Pittsburgh Pirates- They are in on almost every tradable Oriole this year. We should just give them a big package and give them Guthrie/Koji/Johnson/Lee for a big piece. But of course thats only wishful thinking. The usual names come up here. Brad Lincoln, Ross Ohlendorf, and Daniel Moskos, plus minor leaguers Setson Allie, Luis Heredia, Bryan Morris, Rudy Owens, Jeff Locke, Zack Von Rosenberg, and Starling Marte. Check out the Koji Uehara article for more information on all these guys. I would think that Brad Lincoln would be a must have in a deal for Johnson. Because of his increased value I’m not sure the O’s would only accept minor leaguers with no experience.
READ MORE >>>
By Zach Wilt, on July 25th, 2011 It should surprise no one that the two Orioles that are receiving the most trade interest are arguably their best starting pitcher and their best relief pitcher. This is a league that lives and dies with guys on the mound.
While our very own trade deadline expert, Mark Brown, will be taking us through the rumors in depth all this week, I figured I would share the latest brief reports on the interest in Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara.
MLBTR also reports that the Orioles are willing to accept offers for Jim Johnson, but that he is unlikely to be moved since he could be a part of next year’s rotation. He also expects that Derrek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero would clear waivers, meaning that Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail could wait until August to deal that duo.
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