Will Ohman | Baltimore Sports Report

Are Kawakami or Blanton on the Orioles radar?

By Zach Wilt, on January 6th, 2011

The Orioles finalized their deal with Kevin Gregg on Tuesday, could they be after Kenshin Kawakami or Joe Blanton next? MLBTradeRumors.com speculated that they maybe after one or both as a veteran starter.

The Orioles would like to add a veteran starter and the feeling in the front office is that a trade is more likely than a free agent signing. Kenshin Kawakami and Joe Blanton come to mind as possible trade targets, but that’s just my speculation.

The O’s Starting Rotation in The Year of The Pitcher: Part 1

By BSR Staff, on July 26th, 2010

By Ross Gore

2010 is the year of the pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). Compared to previous years (2005-2009) home runs are down (~11.5%), walks are down (~2%), strikeouts are up (~0.5%), and the Ground ball to Fly ball ratio (GB/FB) is up (~3.5%) as of July 22, 2010.GB/FB measures how frequently a pitcher gets batters out on ground balls versus fly balls. Recording more outs via ground ball is preferred since there is no chance the ball can leave the ball park and ground balls that are not recorded as outs rarely result in more than a single. READ MORE >>>

The Orioles Pitching Carousel Continues – Next Up, Chris Tillman and Frank Mata

By Weston Bruner, on May 26th, 2010

Okay, so let’s try to tally this up- Chris Tillman is back from Norfolk, and brings along Frank Mata, a former minor league free agent in his first season at AAA. Meanwhile, Alberto Castillo gets another shot in Baltimore in the bullpen and gets to pitch alongside David Hernandez, the 5^th starter who will now be a reliever. Oh yea, and in case you blinked, Justin Turner is gone from the organization after being picked up by the Mets. With Koji Uehara going back in the DL (shocker) along with Alfredo Simon, the O’s needed relievers, and this part of the team once hailed as its strength is now all but unrecognizable.

In 2009, the relief staff was made up of Jim Johnson, Chris Ray, Dennis Sarfate, George Sherrill , Danys Baez, Jamie Walker, and Matt Albers. Only one of these players remains with the major league club, and Albers is only with the team right now because he is out of minor league options, and the O’s are out of alternatives. Sarfate is down in Norfolk, Johnson is on the DL, and everyone else is gone. In 2010, Will Ohman has been the most reliable reliever, initially brought in as a left-handed specialist and was an afterthought to fans. He may now be the closer. Of course, this isn’t all bad. Most experts saw David Hernandez as a better fit for the bullpen down the road, with his explosive fastball and the tendency of hitters to get a bead on him the second or third time through the order. He has the endurance to throw 2 or 3 innings and can make a spot start, so he will be a valuable asset in the pen.

Alberto Castillo will likely take over the left-handed specialist duties, but he will have to prove that he isn’t a AAAA player and has a future after his first lackluster stint in Baltimore this season. Frank Mata is the wildcard in all of this relief reshuffling. The 26 year old started closing this year for Norfolk after being acquired from the Minnesota Twins over the offseason. In his first season at the AAA level, Mata was dominating hitters, but only in 19.1 innings so far. That could be a complete aberration, but the Orioles are out of alternatives- at this point they need to take the hottest pitcher at Norfolk at any given time.

While I wish Chris Tillman could have gotten a few more starts at Norfolk to show that he had worked out whatever kinks had plagued him during Spring Training, it makes sense to bring up the pitcher with at least some major league experience. He had posted a 3.12 ERA in 57.2 innings over 10 starts at AAA after a tough first couple outings as he attempted to work on the cut fastball he added to his repertoire this offseason. Among those ten starts was a no-hitter on April 28against Gwinnett, showing a quick rebound from his early struggles. However, he hasn’t completely dominated the competition, allowing 4 earned runs in 6 innings on May 14. Once again, he makes more sense than Jake Arrieta, who would be facing live major league pitching for the first time. At least Tillman has an idea of what to expect, and the Orioles know what they can expect from him. Even if he pitches no better than in 2009, his 5.40 ERA will be no worse than what they got out of David Hernandez.

Finally, the Orioles lost Justin Turner to the New York Mets, failing to pass the utility infielder through waivers. I know we have a lot of Turner fans out there, but I didn’t see him becoming the heir to Brian Roberts at second or ever becoming an everyday starting infielder- he just didn’t have the bat for it. It always stings to lose a potential complimentary piece however, and while he wasn’t getting many reps in Baltimore, it would have been good to have him around and try to work him into the mix down the line.

Just a quick question: Why in god’s name was Pedro Florimon, Jr. protected during the Rule 5 draft and remains on the 40-man roster? He is hitting .183 at Bowie and is lugging around a .927 fielding percentage at the shortstop position. They must see something in him that I don’t quite understand.

“The lovely totals” – 2 of 3 against the M’s

By Zach Wilt, on May 14th, 2010

“The lovely totals” is BaltimoreSportsReport.com’s homage to Orioles radio broadcaster Joe Angel’s phrase after each game. We’ll take a look back at the series against the Seattle Mariners and dig into the numbers of the series win at Baltimore’s Camden Yards.

Michael Aubrey – The last Oriole to hit a grand slam. It came on October 2, 2009.

3 – Home runs Luke Scott hit the first 22 games of the season.

3 – Home runs Luke Scott hit the past three games.

3 for 7, 2 2Bs, 2 RBI – Luke Scott’s career numbers off Justin Masterson.

4-12, RBI – Adam Jones’ numbers this series.

4-11, BB, 2 K – Nick Markakis’ numbers this series.

.341 AVG, 2B, HR, 8 RBI – Nick Markakis in May (12 games).

1 – Number of wins they Orioles have when trailing after seven innings this season.

9-8 – Orioles record in their last 17 games after starting 2-16.

15.1 – Scoreless innings Brad Bergesen consecutively pitched before Chone Figgins snapped his streak in the 8th inning on Wednesday night.

0 ER – Runs allowed in Will Ohman’s 17 appearances this season.

17 quality starts – Number of quality starts Orioles pitchers have recorded this season. Last season, O’s pitchers did not record their 18th quality start until June 9th.

What’s the deal with the O’s bullpen?

By Avi Miller, on May 7th, 2010

Last week, Steve Melewski posted an interested topic on his blog at MASNSports.com about Jake Arrieta possibly having a role in the bullpen. I do not think the organization is really debating whether they should move him up to be a reliever. If anything is going on related to Arrieta, it is specifically as to if it would be the right thing to do to bring him up now or let him continue developing, and also if they should use him in the struggling ‘pen or as a starter.

So here is the bullpen overall as of Wednesday night:

Matt Albers, Cla Meredith, Jason Berken, Mark Hendrickson, Will Ohman, Koji Uehara and Alfredo Simon.

Well, let’s look now at the options in the minors (that I consider to be MLB bullpen ready):

Alberto Castillo, Jim Johnson, Jake Arrieta, Kam Mickolio, and Pedro Viola.

Now how are those guys doing? Castillo was on and off, having solid outings, but then having no so great ones, like facing Robbie Cano in Baltimore last week (I don’t like thinking about that). He is also a lefty with Hendrickson and Ohman, so the O’s don’t feel the need for another lefty in the ‘pen, especially with his inconsistent pitching types (throws overhand, side-arm, and every so often a 3/4 pitch). He can be kept in AAA for now and will be used when needed. Good to have a veteran guy there though if need be for one.

Kam Mickolio won’t have a chance at anything until he gets his command issues under control, and until that happens, there’s no reason to even discuss him as an option. Pedro Viola is a high ERA pitcher with some experience in AAA, but he is also a lefty and won’t be used this year unless injuries really start coming. My consistent on Jake Arrieta is that he has a great arm and needs to keep with his development work in Norfolk, and I see no reason to mess with it. Especially with the record we have now, we are not in contention, so there is no reason to mess up a guy’s track in the organization when he could turn out to be a great starter of the future for the O’s.

Now to Jim Johnson. The guy is given no breaks on a club that gives too many breaks to almost every player. Trembley did finally work with MacPhail and punished some guys like Mickolio and Atkins for their horrendous stats, but then there are guys like Jones, Reimold, and Scott who are still consistently playing despite their terrible hitting numbers on the year. Johnson is a veteran of the team, despite being only 26, and he should be given breaks as much if not more than a guy like Jones who hasn’t even played a full season with the team yet. Also, people do not realize this, Jim Johnson is not doing horribly in his set-up role. His overall ERA may be 6.52 overall, but in the 8th innings, he has a 4.05 ERA. While that might not be incredible, it is still early in the season to be judged on ERA completely and he was pushed past his limit by pitching 2 or so innings in some games. That is not what he has been good at, and it is not something he is used to. Side note: He has better command during day games. 7:1 K:BB on day games and 2:3 on night games. Allowed his only homerun on the year during a night game as well.

Hm. Well, Albers definitely has proven himself lately after blowing 2 straight games against the Red Sox a week and a half ago and being on the chopping block for a bit until he caught fire and has been great as of late, finding his control once again. Cla Meredith, Mark Hendrickson, Jason Berken, and Will Ohman are basically locks for the season as long as none of them making any negative transitions. There are basically 3 spots or so that are up in the air and most likely will change at least a few more times throughout the season.

Arrieta needs to stay and develop. Don’t push him. Viola is worse than Castillo, so if any lefty would be used it would be Senor Alberto. Gonzo is still hurt. Mickolio does not have his command down yet.

The best bullpen would be Meredith, Hendrickson, Berken, Ohman, Johnson, Albers, and Simon. I love Alfredo, and he is on the top of my list to be the closer until we figure out the Gonzo situation. If we let him close, JJ can go back to set-up, and I think we are set with that. That is the order that has obviously worked best, so I do not know why we have strayed away from it. I know I have left Uehara out so far. That is because I have no opinion on him. He hasn’t really shown much for the team. Ever. Except that he can get injured. So this bullpen isn’t the one as of now since Koji is taking JJ’s spot (for now), but I expect him to get injured or for JJ to come up somehow. By the end of this month, the bullpen should be what I said or switch maybe Simon out for Uehara (I hate that idea but the O’s will do it because they don’t like winning it seems).

Now, the other issue is what to do when Arrieta and Tillman are ready for the bigs. Both will get rotation spots soon enough, and whoever is kicked out is either off the team or in the bullpen, depending on who. For instance, Hernandez could be converted to a bullpen guy. Guthrie, though, is a starter and we would not try him in the ‘pen. We will just have to wait and see how that works out along with the constand and nagging injuries that come about. The issue they will have to deal with is that the starting pitching has been very good quality so far, and the bullpen is the main issue (in terms of pitching, the hitting is what overall drags us down the most), so it will be a tough decision to demote a guy like Hernandez or Guthrie if they keep up with solid starts (both of them have had bad starts their last times out, but we will see if that trend continues, although both were against the Yankees).

Matusz shines against NL Champs

By Zach Wilt, on March 20th, 2010

I’m still hoping that my worry about the Orioles is premature. Thankfully, Brian Matusz made me breathe a little bit easier with his performance against the Philadelphia Phillies in his second consecutive solid Grape Fruit League outing.

On Friday night, Matusz pitched to a no hitter in his 5 1/3 inning in his outing against the best team in the National League in Baltimore’s 2-0 win over the Phils.

Baltimore relievers Will Ohman and Jim Johnson kept the no hitter going through the bottom of the 8th, but Dennis Sarfate gave up a single to John Mayberry Jr. to give the Phillies their one hit of the night.

The Orioles swept the Phillies in interleague play last season and are 2-0 against them this spring.

Matusz struck out six and walked two in his fourth start this spring. His record is now 1-1 in 14.1 inning pitched, with a 2.51 ERA and 16 strike outs. I’ve said all along that Matusz is the ace of the future. I like to see him continue to improve me right.

Do you think Matusz has what it takes to be the Orioles’ future ace?

O’s Pick up LHP Ohman

By Matt Sadler, on February 9th, 2010

The O’s have announced that they have signed LHP Will Ohman to a minor league deal. Ohman will be competing for the role of situational lefthanded relief pitcher (ala Buddy Groom).

Ohman, 32, was 1-0 with one save and a 5.84 ERA (12.1IP, 8ER) in 21 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2009 before being placed on the disabled list with left shoulder inflammation on May 28. On July 30, he was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

In 324 major league appearances with the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohman is 11-9 with a 4.25 ERA (231.0IP, 109ER) and has held left-handed batters to a .204 average (85-417). Ohman will wear uniform number 13 at spring training.

A few years back the O’s would have invested big money in a solid relief pitcher. This year they are taking a gamble. Would you rather they spend the money or save it for later?