SB Nation - Luke Scott

The Changing of the O's

Stacey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:12:47 -0000

2007 - Pre-MacPhail. 2010 - Based solely on current players. How much have we improved, really? Discuss. Is it fair to say that the only position where the 2010 Orioles are worse off than the 2007 Orioles is shortstop?

All lineups are based on who played that most games at that position in each year.

2007 Baltimore Orioles	2008 Baltimore Orioles	2009 Baltimore Orioles	2010 Baltimore Orioles
C: Ramon Hernandez	C: Ramon Hernandez	C: Matt Wieters	C: Matt Wieters
1B: Kevin Millar	1B: Kevin Millar	1B: Aubrey Huff	1B: Luke Scott
2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts	2B: Brian Roberts
3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Melvin Mora	3B: Ty Wigginton
SS: Miguel Tejada	SS: Juan Castro	SS: Cesar Izturis	SS: Cesar Izturis
LF: Jay Payton	LF: Luke Scott	LF: Nolan Reimold	LF: Felix Pie
CF: Corey Patterson	CF: Adam Jones	CF: Adam Jones	CF: Adam Jones
RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis	RF: Nick Markakis
DH: Aubrey Huff	DH: Aubrey Huff	DH: Luke Scott	DH: Nolan Reimold

It wasn't all bad in '09: Best Offensive Performances by the Orioles

Stacey — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:11:25 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

In 2010 the top 7 offensive performances by an Oriole will all be by Matt Wieters. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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Baseball-Reference.com just revamped their Play Index tool and I've been messing around with it to learn all the new features. They've added some good stuff, so far my favorite is that you can do a search on how many times a player did something in his career. Last summer when Brian Roberts hit his 50th double, I was really interested to see how many players had more than one 50 double season. This new feature wasn't available so I had to do a search on 50 or more doubles and sort by name. Not anymore!

Anyway, I was doing some searches on the 2009 Orioles and it got me wondering who had the best individual performance at the plate this year. The first thing that came to my mind was the cycle by Felix Pie, followed by Luke Scott's monster day at the plate on Matt Wieters Day. It's obviously subjective, but after doing some searching on B-R.com, I've come up with a short list of finalists.

Luke Scott - July 11th @ Seattle. LUUUKE drove in two runs in the first inning off of Erik Bedard, then socked it to the Mariners bullpen with a two run triple in the 6th and a 3 run homer in the 7th. His final line: 3-4, 3B, HR, 2 R, 7 RBI. GameThread and recap.
Ty Wigginton - June 14th vs Atlanta. Wiggy had three hits including two home runs to lead the O's in an 11-2 butt kicking of the Braves. His line: 3-4, 4 R, 3 RBI, BB, 2 HR. GameThread and recap.
Matt Wieters - September 15th @ TB. Your personal Savior had the best game of his young career on this night. After falling behind the Rays 5-0, the offense staged a comeback led by Wieters who went 3-5 with a HR, a 2B, a BB, 2 R, and 5 RBI. GameThread and recap.
Felix Pie - August 14th vs Los Angeles/Anaheim. You all know the game. Felix hit for the cycle, saving the triple for last. He ended the game with 4 hits, 3 runs, and 4 RBI. He also made Mike Scioscia look like a tool by apologizing for being too excited. GameThread and recap.
Brian Roberts - Sept 12th @ New York. This game is better known as the night Brian Matusz mopped the floor with the Yankees, but Brian Bob had a pretty big night himself. With two runs already scored in the top of the 2nd inning, Roberts launched a grand slam off of A.J. Burnett. He'd add 2 more hits on the night, including his 51st 2B of the year to end the night 3-4 with 1 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR. GameThread and recap.
Adam Jones - May 12th vs Tampa Bay. Dr. Jones only had two hits on the night but he made them count as he homered in back-to-back innings. The O's won 7-5 with Adam going 2-4 with 2 R, 4 RBI, and 2 HR. GameThread and recap.
Luke Scott - May 29th vs Detroit. I didn't really want to list any players twice but how could I leave this one out? Since coming to the American League, Luke Scott has made the Tigers miserable. On this, Matt Wieters Night, Luke continued his assault with 3 hits, 2 of which were HR (one being a grand slam), 5 RBI, 2 R, and a BB for good measure. GameThread and recap.

There are probably a number of other good individual performances, but the list was getting a little long, and that game where Nicky hit the grand slam was so awful I didn't want to look at the recap. So what do you say? Who of the above had the greatest offensive night of '09 for the O's?

Poll

What was the greatest night for an Orioles hitter?

Luke Scott vs the Mariners (3-4, HR, 3B, 2 R, 7 RBI)

51 votes

Ty Wigginton vs the Braves (3-4, 2 HR, BB, 4 R, 3 RBI)

2 votes

Matt Wieters vs. the Rays (3-4, HR, 2B, BB, 2 R, 5 RBI)

11 votes

Felix Pie vs the Angels (4-4, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 R, 4 RBI)

71 votes

Brian Roberts vs the Yankees (3-4, Grand Slam, 2B, BB, 1 R, 4 RBI)

14 votes

Adam Jones vs the Rays (2 HR in consecutive innings, 2 R, 4 RBI)

6 votes

Luke Scott vs the Tigers (3-3, 2 HR, BB, 2 R, 5 RBI)

22 votes

Others - explain in the comments.

1 votes

178 votes | Poll has closed

Tuesday Afternoon Astros Link-Fest

davoag — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:00:55 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

How is the weather in Arizona, Jason?

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Let's look at some baseball-related links while wondering why the heck Joe Girardi is still pitching to Chase Utley...

Here's a nice roundup done by Brian McTaggart on the Astro Winter League contingent. Of note, Chia-jen Lo has headed back to Taiwan for a while and the Astros can't hit or pitch. I kid, of course, though one is more troubling than the other. I saw a tweet from Jonathan Mayo that the AFL league ERA was something like 5.87. That's with Stephen Strasburg, even. So, I'm not as worried about Danny Meszaros, especially when he has struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings. But, Jason Castro, Jose Vallejo and Jon Gaston all struggling is worrying. Castro has played a ton in the past season, though, and Vallejo isn't expected to do much next season. This leaves Gaston. He's got more potential than anyone gave him credit for, but with the extended slumps, the strikeouts and the fact he's probably going to settle in left field, how is he not a younger Luke Scott? Not that that's a bad thing, but it's an interesting comparison. I may have to look into a little more deeply.

Speaking of prospects, here's a good interview by The Unofficial Scorer with Jiovanni Mier. I have to admit, I've been intrigued with Mier all summer. He's played well, has shown good range at short and has got some pop in his bat. Like Castro, he profiles as more of a doubles hitters than a home-run threat, but as long as he can get on base at a .360-.380 clip in the majors, I'm fine with fewer homers.

Sparked by the Astros flirtation with Phil Garner, this article from THT talks about all the rehirings throughout history. Under Peculiar Owners, Jaffe lists just Charlie Finley and George Steinbrenner, but I'm thinking a certain grocery magnate from Temple could join that list...

File this under, 'Things I would have done if I had lived in 1911.'

Finally a bit of speculation on the merits of Russell Branyan. He's been mentioned a few times as a possible candidate for that black hole at third base the Astros currently have. Would he tingle anyone's toes if he signed? According to FanGraphs, Branyan was worth 12.5 million in 2009, which is more than he was worth in the previous three seasons combined. It might be a bad idea, then, to give him a multi-year deal. Instead, how about targeting a guy like Joe Crede, who may be released by the Twins. Crede earned 2.5 million in 2009 but was worth 8.3 million. His hitting has never rebounded to 2006 levels, but his wOBA was back to .330 as recently as 2008 with the White Sox. He's great with the glove, so maybe a move to the National League will help his hitting.

Back tomorrow with a look at the Astros fielding...

A Preliminary Look at the 2010 AL East Offenses - Part 1

Stacey — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:47:40 -0000

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

I miss him already. Get here soon, spring! (AP Photo/ Gail Burton)

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I was fortunate enough to get a preview of Bill James' 2010 hitter and pitcher projections, which will be coming out as part of his handbook on November 1st. If you want to buy the handbook (which I wholly recommend), you can order it from the ACTA Sports webpage, or at Amazon.com or the like. The handbook includes a lot more than just the batter and pitcher projections; it's a real treasure. I haven't seen the 2010 version yet as it's not released but I've read past years' versions and they rock.

If you're unfamiliar with Bill James' player projections, he releases them every year for current players and prospects that could get playing time. They're all based on past performance and what James considers to be the natural extension of what they've already proven they can do. For the players with little or no major league experience, he doesn't attempt to make a determination on if they will play in 2010, just a determination of how they will do if the team brings them up. The example he uses in his introduction is actually regarding Josh Bell:

What we should do is try to answer this question: If this player plays, how will he play? If Joshua Bell opens the 2010 season as the Baltimore Orioles third baseman, what will he hit? That's the question we should be focused on. Whether Bell will or will not get a chance to play next season, when his chance might come. . .we don't have a fair chance to get that one right. Our job is to figure out how good he will be, when and if his ticket arrives.

I thought it'd be fun to do a little AL East comparison by position using the projections. For the most part they won't take into account any changes the Orioles or other AL East teams hope to make before the 2010 starts. It should give a pretty good indicator of the biggest areas of needs for the O's (not that we don't already know them, really) as well as where they actually match up well in the division.

This will be part one of the discussion, focusing on C, 1B, and 2B. Part two will cover SS, 3B, and DH, and part 3 will tackle the outfield.

Oh, and I said that for the most part I won't try to account for any changes, but I've taken a few liberties. One is to insert Josh Bell at 3B, even though I think we all know it's unlikely he'll start 2010 there. James' projections include Melvin Mora and Ty Wigginton, but there's no way I'm even considering Mora back at 3B, and I don't want to talk about Wiggy. I also made two other speculative changes that you'll see when the time comes. Suspense!!

See the good stuff below the jump.

Catcher

Shall we start with the best? Matt Wieters finished 2009 on a tear and looks poised to break out in 2010. And Bill James? Well he pretty much agrees (of course he thought that last year as well).

Matt Wieters	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
James '09 Projections	118	416	127	22	21	72	64	81	67	56	.305	.402	.519	.921
Wieters '09 Stats	96	354	102	15	9	35	43	46.5	28	86	.288	.340	.412	.752
James '10 Projections	148	547	170	29	20	75	92	101	61	112	.311	.381	.484	.865

To be fair to James' '09 projections, pretty much every projection of Matt Wieters for 2009 was a little bit absurd. PECOTA practically inducted him into the HoF with its numbers. It was as though all of the statistically oriented minds were taken over by fanboys when it came to Matt Wieters in 2009. Of course his numbers would have been very difficult to predict given that he hadn't played beyond AA when the predictions were made, but still. The projections for 2010 are still pretty lofty but I think attainable by our golden boy. For reference, in the past ten seasons there have been 21 times when a catcher has had an OPS of .865 or greater. In 2009, only Joe Mauer had an OPS over .865. In fact, if Wieters had put up the 2010 projections this year, only Joe Mauer would have had better numbers than him at C, and Mauer had the most ridiculous year ever. And honestly, maybe it's just me, but I think the HR prediction might be a little low. Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled with 20. But I think he can do better.

Wieters easily has the best projections of any of the other catchers in the AL East, and I look forward to seeing just how much better he'll be in 2010.

James '10 Proj.	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Jorge Posada	116	420	116	26	18	59	74	72	60	104	.276	.372	.467	.839
Victor Martinez	150	560	167	36	19	78	97	97	67	74	.298	.377	.464	.841
Gregg Zaun	88	244	58	13	7	29	29	30	33	44	.238	.333	.377	.710
Rod Barajas	114	366	85	20	14	41	52	40	20	67	.232	.278	.402	.679

For the Rays, Dioner Navarro was actually projected for more playing time (110 games), but I just can't imagine the Rays using him as their everyday catcher. ZAUN is a lot older, but he's better. Rod Barajas...is not good, but the Jays don't really have anyone in the system to replace him right now. Posada is good, of course, but he'll be 38 in 2010. Eventually that has to start mattering for him. And Victor Martinez is a huge upgrade over Jason Varitek, sadly. If these four plus Wieters are the 5 starting catchers in the AL East in 2010, Wieters, at age 24, will not only be the best catcher in the division, he'll also be the only one under age 30. Verdict: WIETERS!

First Base

After the euphoria of the Orioles catching situation, here's the cold reality: The Orioles need a first baseman, and bad. In-house the Orioles have a few options. Luke Scott proved an adequate fielder in the short time he spent there in 2009 but his Jekyll and Hyde act at the plate gets tiresome. Michael Aubrey is great with the glove and while his bat showed some promise, my personal opinion is that he's our new Oscar Salazar: useful, but not an answer. Down in the minors Brandon Snyder is hoping to win the job and I'd have to think it's on the mind of Rhyne Hughes as well. I'd like nothing more than for Brandon Snyder to step up and earn the job, but even if he does that I don't believe it will be out of spring training. So for the meantime I have to think they'll go with Luke Scott at 1B for 2010, at least until another solution is found.

Luke Scott	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
James '09 Projections	142	476	130	31	25	69	79	75.9	57	98	.273	.354	.508	.862
Scott '09 Stats	128	449	116	26	25	61	77	71.6	55	104	.258	.340	.488	.828
James '10 Projections	142	463	120	29	24	64	76	76	56	109	.259	.342	.486	.828

So James expects Luke to basically have the same exact year that he did in 2009. Fair enough. Luke is pretty much at the stage of his career where he is who he is. And honestly, if he could come by those numbers in a more even fashion I'd be happy with them. But he's hard to rely on when he hits like Babe Ruth for two months and Brandon Fahey for two months. I'm not totally unhappy with Luke playing 1B for the O's in 2010 as long as he's not looked at as any kind of permanent solution.

James '10 Proj.	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	RC	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Mark Teixeira	156	596	179	42	36	191	121	129	84	113	.300	.395	.559	.953
Kevin Youkilis	149	557	161	42	23	98	95	105	85	128	.289	.394	.492	.885
Carlos Pena	148	530	127	27	36	88	99	93	93	176	.240	.360	.498	.858
Lyle Overbay	140	460	123	34	15	60	63	73	65	100	.267	.359	.443	.803

Ah, Carlos Pena. I often think of that commenter here by the name of Wade Boggs Hair who loved Carlos Pena. You guys remember him? He was the president of the Carlos Pena fan club before Pena signed with the Rays. After we later learned that Pena almost came to the Orioles and they couldn't work out a deal (what could he have been asking for, really, the the O's wouldn't give him but the Rays would??), it was a major bummer. If only it had worked out. sigh. VERDICT: At least it's not Kevin Millar

Second Base

The Orioles stalwart. The veteran. With Melvin Mora out of the picture, Brian Roberts takes his place as the longest tenured Oriole, and the only one to have been with the team prior to 2006. With all of the changes to the Orioles in the past few years, Brian remains our comfort. 2010 will be Brian's 10th in the majors, all of which have been losers. When the Orioles finally rid themselves of their losing ways Brian Roberts probably won't know what to do with himself. Actually there is no doubt in my mind that when the time comes for this team to be in a pennant race, old man Brian Roberts will be leading the charge and playing like we've never seen him. Here are Brian's numbers:

Brian Roberts	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	SB/CS	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
James '09 Projections	156	623	176	44	10	100	58	36/12	79	99	.283	.364	.414	.778
Roberts '09 stats	159	632	179	56	16	110	79	30/7	74	112	.283	.356	.451	.807
James '10 projections	159	630	177	47	12	103	65	30/10	78	108	.281	.361	.422	.783

Roberts is steady in his production. James always pegs Brian to have less power than he does. I'm not sure why since he's had an SLG less than .432 once since 2005, and that was in 2006 when he was returning from that awful arm injury. He slugged right around .450 in both 2008 and 2009 but James continues to project him low. I feel like we always know what we're going to get from Brian, and it's nice to have one less thing to worry about. He's one of the leading 2B in the American League, although unfortunately you could also say that about several 2Bs in the AL East.

James '10 Proj.	G	AB	H	2B	HR	R	RBI	SB/CS	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Robinson Cano	161	624	193	46	20	89	87	4/3	32	69	.309	.347	.489	.836
Dustin Pedroia	156	623	191	50	15	109	75	16/6	66	43	.307	.378	.465	.843
Ben Zobrist	153	509	143	28	23	86	75	15/6	84	93	.281	.385	.491	.876
Aaron Hill	138	540	153	35	20	78	76	5/2	40	78	.283	.337	.463	.800

I'll be honest, the Rays roster confuses the hell out of me. 2009 started with Akinori Iwamura as the starting 2B with Ben Zobrist playing RF/UTIL/Bench. Aki went down with an injury and Zobrist took over 2B pretty much full time and ended up having just a monster year. With Zobrist at 2B the RF duties were left to the Gabe of the Day platoon, neither of which were anything special. Initially I imagined that Iwamura would return to 2B in 2010 with Zobrist going back to RF. I did some snooping around on DRaysBay though and they seem to be of the consensus that Aki's option won't be picked up and Zobrist will return to 2B.

Anyway, the projections have every other AL East 2B as having a better year than Brian Roberts, pretty much. I'm not sure I buy that, especially for Zobrist and Hill. Zobrist will be 29 in 2010 and just played his first full season in the majors. Even though the James projection predicts he'll have a regression, the numbers are still high enough to give me pause. He could be a late bloomer, I suppose, but there just isn't enough evidence to give me much confidence in him. And don't even get me started on Aaron Hill. If he has an OPS of .800 or more in 2010 I'll eat my shoe.

You know what bugs me about Dustin Pedroia? The way everyone acts like, "Look at this little dude coming along and showing everyone what he can do!" Please. Brian Roberts was doing that for years before Pedroia came along, although with hardly any attention.

Don't get me wrong. I know that Pedroia is a more valuable player than Brian Roberts. Most of the value is in his age (he's also, by all accounts, NOT a lollygagger). He puts up slightly better numbers than Roberts, but five years earlier in his career. That's a pretty big deal, especially since it's how he started his career. But it doesn't explain why Pedroia is so much more revered when looked at in a single season scope. Behold the numbers:

2007	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	H	2B	HR	SB/CS
Roberts	.290	.377	.432	.808	112	180	42	12	50/7
Pedroia	.317	.380	.442	.823	112	165	39	8	7/1

2008	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	H	2B	HR	SB/CS
Roberts	.296	.378	.450	.828	117	181	51	9	40/10
Pedroia	.326	.376	.493	.869	122	213	54	17	20/1

2009	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	H	2B	HR	SB/CS
Roberts	.283	.356	.451	.807	108	179	56	16	30/7
Pedroia	.296	.371	.445	.819	108	185	48	15	20/8

I was sure to include the OPS+ in there, since they're identical in 2007 and 2009. It's easier to hit in Fenway Park? You don't say! Yeah, Pedroia gets more hits than Roberts, but check out the OBP. Pretty close. Add in Brian's base stealing prowess and the margin tightens even more. Like I said, if I'm looking for a guy on my team for the next 10 years, yeah, I go with Pedroia (or Cano for that matter, who I've completely ignored). But for 2010? Brian Roberts suits me just fine. VERDICT: He's not the flashiest, but I stand by Brian Bob. (oh, and Dustin Pedroia? Brian's 2005 season laughs in the face of your 2008 MVP season)

With three positions down, I'd say the O's look pretty good comparatively. They just gotta find a legit 1B. They really haven't had one since Palmeiro's first tour (no offense Jeff Conine!),

Next up will be a look at Shortstop, Third Base, and Designated Hitter (warning, this one is a lot uglier).

Ten Lessons Jim Hendry Needs To Learn From The 2009 Season

Al — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:00:14 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Example of a player Jim Hendry should not sign to an overpriced, multiyear contract.

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I suppose this post could have waited till next week, but once again we are faced with more than 48 hours between games -- for the last time in 2009 -- and so I thought I'd start some discussion this morning with these things that I think were done poorly by Cubs GM Jim Hendry since the end of the 2008 season.

Hendry got a three-year contract extension (through the 2012 season) after last year's successful regular season, with the hope that 2009 would be even better. It didn't work out that way; Hendry had about as bad an offseason last year as any GM in recent memory, but with new ownership poised to take over, it isn't the right time to blow everything up and start over. Hendry will be given at least one more year to get things back on the track we thought the Cubs were on during their two-year run as NL Central champions in 2007 and 2008.

Some of the problems with the 2009 Cubs were not Hendry's fault and many of them were beyond his control. It's not Hendry's fault that Aramis Ramirez dislocated his shoulder four weeks into the season and missed a total of 75 games (through yesterday). A-Ram produced above his usual level (.906 OPS, compared to his career level of .847) and I think we all agree that the Cubs missed his production in the two months he was out from mid-May to mid-July, not to mention that he wasn't at full strength on his return. To have produced the way he did after the All-Star break -- without complaining -- is a credit to Ramirez's work ethic and ability. It's not Hendry's fault that Alfonso Soriano played most of the year injured, though he perhaps could have insisted harder that Soriano have arthroscopic surgery in June, and maybe he'd have been ready in September. It's not Hendry's fault that all the Opening Day rotation starters spent time on the disabled list, forcing the Cubs to have 21 starts made by guys (Sean Marshall, Kevin Hart, Tom Gorzelanny and Jeff Samardzija) whose performance can best be called "uneven". (The Cubs were 9-12 in those 21 games.)

Credit where credit is due: give Jim credit for recognizing that Randy Wells could help the team as a starter, though I don't think anyone could have guessed he'd be as good as he has been. Credit for giving Koyie Hill the backup catcher job; he's been very good in that role. And credit for getting John Grabow and Gorzelanny for, essentially, nothing; Grabow will likely be retained as a key part of the 2010 bullpen and Gorzelanny, though his performance has been up and down, does have talent and will be in the mix for the 2010 rotation.

With that in mind, below the fold you'll find ten ideas Hendry must internalize and go by as he builds a roster for 2010. (Not necessarily in priority order.)

1. Stop fixing "problems" that do not exist. I think this is one we can all agree on; the troubles with the 2009 Cubs began with the decision made at the organizational meetings last fall that "we're not lefthanded enough", a mantra particularly of Lou Piniella's, due to the Dodgers' RHP-centric pitching staff in the 2008 NLDS. The Cubs didn't lose that series because of a lack of LH batters, but since Lou (and the rest of the staff) thought that was the reason, they went out of their way to identify a "lefthanded, middle-of-the-order bat" that they could insert behind Derrek Lee and ahead of Ramirez. We are all familiar with the expensive disaster that produced so I won't rehash it here. I caution Hendry about this because they are about to do the same thing -- fix a nonexistent problem. "We need a speedy leadoff man", goes the managerial mantra. Well, no, Lou, you don't. A leadoff man's primary job is to get on base. You already have someone who can lead off and do that -- Kosuke Fukudome, who ranks 8th in the NL in walks, despite having almost 100 fewer plate appearances than the leader (Albert Pujols). The Cubs are 22-13 with Fukudome leading off this year (that's a 101-win pace for a full season). The last time Hendry went after this type of player, he traded three useful minor leaguers for Juan Pierre. Jim -- do not get sucked into this trap again.

2. Stop bidding against yourself for players. The first argument against this, you might think, is "Jason Marquis", but Marquis did what he was asked to do -- if the Cubs had kept him this year and he had produced the way he did in Colorado, the Cubs would have gotten fine 4th or 5th starter value for the $7 million a year average per year over the life of Marquis' contract. True, Hendry could have likely had Marquis for less, since no one else had expressed interest at the time. And you can't make the argument "Alfonso Soriano" about this, either, because Soriano had been offered six-plus years by the Phillies and seven by the Angels; the Cubs were determined at the time to make a statement in the free agent market. Soriano was the top free agent after 2006, and yes, the Cubs overpaid to get him. He may still be healthy and productive enough to be worth the deal, at least for the next 2-3 years. (Heaven help the Cubs in years 7 and 8, though.) No, what I'm talking about is paying $30 million for three years' worth of the iffy Milton Bradley when absolutely no other team was even after Bradley, much less offering three years. Or giving a two-year contract to Aaron Miles for any amount of money, when we now know there was at least one option (Andres Blanco) right in the Cubs' own farm system who could have done a better job for the league minimum. Advice to Jim: when you're thinking about doing this, don't. Just don't.

3. Stop giving out contracts that are longer than they need to be. Related to the last point, there was no need to give Marquis a three-year deal; two plus a mutual option would have likely done it, and then if the Cubs really did want to deal him last year, they could have arranged for the other team to pick up the option (if that team wanted him badly enough) or simply decline the option and let him go to free agency. This is particularly true in the case of Marquis; the return for him (Luis Vizcaino) was worthless, because the Cubs wound up dumping him and eating the contract. The same thing applies to the Miles and Bradley deals.

4. Stop trading for guys you think are good because you liked them five years ago, or are fond of their college coach. You don't have to guess who I'm talking about here; his name is Aaron Heilman. (And several years ago, his name was Michael Barrett.) It's great for a GM to be loyal to his players, and Hendry is someone a lot of MLB players want to play for, for this very reason. But any Mets fan could have told Hendry that Heilman had lost whatever command he had last year -- you should have heard the booing for Heilman when he came in at Citi Field, louder than I think I've ever heard for any returning former player -- and though Heilman has been better the last six weeks, he still was not worth losing Felix Pie (Pie, though he went to Baltimore, essentially was part of this deal because Garrett Olson, who was acquired for Pie, was part of the deal to the Mariners for Heilman). And really, Jim, isn't it time to stop the Notre Dame-Wrigley Express? As far as I can tell, there are four active major leaguers who went to ND: Heilman, Samardzija, Craig Counsell and Brad Lidge. All of those guys have issues. Enough already.

5. Stop handing out one-year renewal deals to players like candy. Chad Gaudin didn't throw very well and had a noted off-field incident in 2008. He didn't figure to play a major role in the 2009 rotation or bullpen, yet the Cubs signed him to a $2 million deal in December to avoid arbitration. Then he stunk it up in spring training, forcing the Cubs to simply release him and eat the contract; the Padres and Yankees later got replacement-level production for the league minimum. The Cubs could have gotten this sort of production out of Justin Berg or Esmailin Caridad, as it turned out. Gaudin should have been non-tendered in December.

6. Don't waste half a year's roster spot on a Rule 5 pick that your manager isn't going to use. Maybe David Patton would have pitched better if Lou Piniella had actually used him more than once every five games. We'll never know, obviously, but Lou essentially wasted a roster spot by relegating Patton to pitching in blowouts or in long extra-inning games. The Cubs could have used an extra bench player -- since Aaron Miles was useless -- because Lou was working with what was for all practical purposes an 11-man pitching staff. Lou and Jim deserve equal blame for this one -- and I hate to say it, but BCB poster BLou was right about this one. At this point, maybe it's best for the Cubs to stay out of the Rule 5 draft for a while.

7. Do more careful evaluations of your prospects and young players to maximize their value, whether it be in the major league lineup or in trades. It's clear now that the entire organization was split on Felix Pie's progress. Two years ago, his trade value would have been a lot higher than "Garrett Olson", and of course, now it's probably far higher than that again. Hendry sold on Pie at the lowest possible point, and he and Lou together dragged down a former top prospect's trade value (they did the same with Rich Hill, who could have been dealt after the 2007 season for a pretty good return, although few would have suggested it after Hill put together such a good season). This is another reason why it's silly to have played Bobby Scales in left field for even one game. Scales is a great story and maybe he's a 25th guy on someone's roster next year -- but his trade value is close to zero. Jake Fox, on the other hand, might either be a useful spare part for the 2010 Cubs or might have some trade value, but scouts aren't going to see it if he sits on the bench, Lou. This is where a GM has to have some input with his manager, not simply let the manager dictate the roster. In general, GM's shouldn't be making out lineups -- but Hendry, in this case, could have let Lou know that Fox should have been playing (and Fox should have also been playing 3B from the day after A-Ram went down, too).

8. Don't automatically think that you have to sign expensive free agents to get better. Last offseason, rather than sign Milton Bradley, the Cubs could have approached the White Sox for Jermaine Dye. Dye could have been available by trade; at the time it appeared the White Sox were trying to dump contracts. In fact, I wrote about this possibility last November. Dye didn't have a great year, but he was at least as good as Bradley without the baggage, and with Dye having a $12 million mutual option that will almost certainly be declined by the White Sox, he might be available for not too much money and years (see points 2 and 3). There may be other players available like this -- and, in fact, Hendry almost has to use this route to be able to move Bradley's contract. Magglio Ordonez is almost certain to be on the block, and though he had a terrible season, it's possible he could rebound and he's a lifetime .308/.389/.513 hitter in Wrigley Field (relatively small sample size of 90 PA). NOTE! Do not assume that because I mentioned Ordonez, he is the ONLY player I'd go after for such a deal. He's only one example. Another such player is Luke Scott, who would have looked pretty good in a Cubs uniform in 2009, and who is likely headed for a hefty raise in arbitration. Maybe the Cubs can do that if they can trade Bradley elsewhere. The point of all this to Jim Hendry is: get creative, the way you did when you pulled off the Nomar Garciaparra deal in 2004.

9. Get "good clubhouse guys". I mean, this should be a no-brainer. Any Cubs fan who's been around even for ten years knows that the 2003 Cubs, managed by a player's manager, Dusty Baker, succeeded in part because they had strong clubhouse leaders, Eric Karros and Damian Miller. Miller and Karros were sent packing before 2004, and the 2004 Cubs, despite having more talent and ability than the 2003 version, collapsed in the final week. The acrimony there was visible in public, with players calling the press box to bitch, along with some high-profile public trouble between the team and its broadcasters. I'm not saying those were the only reasons for the success or failure of those two teams, but they clearly did have some impact, particularly with a players' manager like Baker who pretty much lets the clubhouse run itself. If there are no strong player-leaders, such a clubhouse is an "inmates running the asylum" situation and the results are predictable. Similarly, the Cubs lost strong player-leaders Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood after 2008 and added one player who reportedly was not a good clubhouse presence. NOTE! I am NOT saying that the Cubs must go out and reacquire DeRosa and Wood. However, I am saying that I believe all successful teams have players like this in their clubhouse. Hendry needs to identify some such players who can both do this and be productive in the lineup, and acquire a couple of them. Without trying to ignite the stats debate again, I believe having guys like this does matter. (Of course, they should also be good players -- that goes without saying.)

10. Think outside the box. Jim Hendry did this when he managed to dump an unproductive Todd Hundley on the Dodgers and get back two useful players in Mark Grudzielanek and Karros, without whom the Cubs might not have won the division in 2003. He did it again in 2004 when he engineered the four-team trade that got Nomar to the North Side. He needs to be creative in his thinking again this year. Don't fall prey to the "this is what's wrong with us and we are going to go fix that no matter what it costs" thinking that helped ruin the 2009 Cubs. Be ahead of the curve; that's what helped the Cardinals do so well this year. Also, this could apply to the idea that Hendry might be able to find solutions just by looking in his own system for next year (say, Andres Blanco, Justin Berg, Esmailin Caridad) rather than scouring the waiver wire for someone else's discards (as he did this year with the Aaron's).

There may be more lessons than just these ten, but going by these simple precepts might help Jim Hendry build a 2010 Cubs team that will once again be the favorite to win the NL Central -- and this time, actually do it.

Orioles 7, Yankees 3: Brian Matusz makes us happy

Camden Chat — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:32:20 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

Brian Matusz made Derek Jeter so mad he almost said a bad word to the umpire. Siddown, Jetes. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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Last June, according to the story told by Gary Thorne on today's telecast, Brian Matusz had just signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He was in New York for the draft, and saw the new Yankee Stadium being constructed. He said to himself, "I'm going to pitch there someday." He had yet to throw his first professional pitch.

Fast forward 15 months. Brian Matusz got his wish, or, more accurately, earned his destiny and took the mound at the new Yankee Stadium today against the New York Yankees. He entered the day having won his last two outings, and having gone 7.0 IP in both. He'd given up just 5 ER in those 14 innings, and O's fan might have been cautiously optimistic about today's game.

Throw caution to the wind, people - Brian Matusz will be winning a lot more games in Yankee Stadium over the next six years.

Matusz went 7.0 IP again today, and aside from a SAC fly in the 1st inning, didn't allow a run in his last six innings of work. Sure, he had his troubles, but not many. There was a 20-pitch inning, and the Yankees sent five men to the plate in the 7th. That was the most he faced all day - five batters in an inning. It's great to win. But to face just three or four batters an inning, almost every inning? And by a rookie? Against a team that's up by eight games in the AL East? I'll take it.

The offense did its best, for one inning, to make this an easy day for Matusz. In the second inning, AL ROY candidate Nolan Reimold led off with a home run to left-center, Matt Wieters walked after Luke Scott looked terrible, again, and Ty Wigginton singled Wieters to second base. Michael Aubrey singled the two runners over, and Robert Andino singled Wieters in.

Then Brian Roberts came up. Then the ball went out, over the wall in right-center. Pretty quickly, too.

The grand slam by Roberts, his 15th HR of the season, made the game a 6-1 lead for the Orioles, and the way Matusz was pitching, you could almost feel comfortable. Next year, when he's allowed to complete games, a 6-1 lead may be as automatic a win as you can earn in the majors. But, for now, we're at the mercy of Diamond Dave's decisions with the bullpen.

The sight of Chris Ray warming up in the 7th inning was not needed. Really, Dave, really? Chris Ray? In New York? You do remember what happens when Chris Ray pitches in New York, right? Instead, sanity prevailed, Matusz was allowed to finish the 7th, and Danys Baez came in to pitch the 8th, and did so in a completely professional and non-exciting manner. Thank you, Danys. Jim Johnson finished the game. That's all I'm saying about Jim Johnson today. I will not spoil the good mood.

The Orioles go for the improbable series sweep tomorrow, and here's hoping the O's close them out. -duck

Poll

Who was the Most Birdland Player for Sept. 12, 2009?

Brian Matusz (W, 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 K, 2 BB)

158 votes

Nolan Reimold (2-3, HR, RB, amazing first-row catch of foul ball)

6 votes

Brian Roberts (3-4, Grand Slam, 4 RBI, 1 R, and, oh yeah, a GRAND SLAM. Plus a walk.)

62 votes

Danys Baez (1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1K, not being Chris Ray while in New York)

0 votes

226 votes | Poll has closed

Orioles 10, Yankees 4: Orioles don't care who's night it's supposed to be.

Camden Chat — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:48:11 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

2 months ago: Baltimore Orioles' Cesar Izturis (3) follows through on an RBI single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees on Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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Tonight's game was one of the most ridiculous exercises I've witnessed in recent history. The game started late due to rain and even when it started it was still pouring. Both teams played through the sloppy weather and the sloppy umpiring until they finally called a rain delay with two outs in the top of the 7th at about 11:30 PM. They could have called the game but instead started playing again at just about 12:50 AM. Yes, they resumed a game at nearly 1 o'clock in the morning, when the teams play again at 1 p.m., just twelve hours later.

Andy Pettitte, the Orioles arch-nemesis, didn't look so tough tonight. In the 2nd inning the O's scored their first run off of him on back-to-back doubles by Melvin Mora and Luke Scott. They'd strike again in the 5th. Brian Roberts got his first RBI of the night on a sacrifice fly to score Felix Pie (who'd reached base on a walk). Three batters later, with the bases loaded, Pettitte hit Mora on the elbow to force in a run. Melvin was in quite a bit of pain. He took his base but eventually had to come out of the game.

Damaso Marte relieved Pettitte to start the 6th inning and the O's greeted him quite rudely. They loaded the bases on two singles and walk for Brian Roberts. Roberts lined a hit into left center to score two runs and Cesar Izturis followed him with another RBI single. Nick Markakis would knock in the fourth run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.

The O's weren't finished, though. They came back in the 7th for 3 final runs off of Kevin Millar's BFF Edwar Ramirez. Ramirez struck out Wieters and Fiorentino to start the inning, then proceeded to give up RBI singles to Izturis and Markakis. The Orioles wouldn't score again after the rain delay, but 10 runs is pretty impressive.

Although he allowed four runs, Chris Tillman pitched a pretty good game. It didn't look good in the first inning. After striking out Derek Jeter to get things started, he walked Nick Swisher, gave up a single to Mark Teixeira, and then did what he does every now and again. He left a fastball up and over the plate and Alex Rodriguez just CRUSHED it. It was a no doubter into the second deck in left field and gave the Yankees at the time a 3-0 lead. They'd score their fourth and final run in the fourth inning as a result of some sloppy fielding. With two outs and a runner on first, Brett Gardner hit a ground ball to Luke Scott at first base. Luke ranged wide to get it and looked a little uncertain on the throw. He finally shuffled it to Tillman, who was hesitantly running to first. Gardner was hustling down the line and beat Tillman, which extended the inning so that Jeter came to bat and got an RBI single to right.

Tillman only pitched 5 innings and gave up 4 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks. He struck out a career high of 8 and earned his 2nd career win. The line wasn't that pretty but I'll take it for Tillman's first ever start against the Yankees and in New York, especially on a night when the crowd was especially electric and loud for some reason.

Mark Hendrickson pitched the final three innings after the rain delay, saving most of the bullpen for the game later today. In doing so, Hendrickson earned his first ever major league save.

Finally, I guess I should address a history making hit that occured tonight. In the top of the 9th inning, at approximately 1:17 a.m., rookie Justin Turner got his first major league hit, a clean single up the middle to center field. Congratulations, Justin! I hope it's the first of many.

You can put this one in the win column as the Orioles get their first win in New Yankee Stadium. They play again on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 PM as Brian Matusz looks to lead the O's to back-to-back wins.

-Stacey

Poll

Who was tonight's MBP?

Brian Roberts (1-3, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI)

12 votes

Nick Markakis (2-5, BB, 2 RBI)

3 votes

Cesar Izturis (2-5, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI)

2 votes

Chris Tillman (5 IP, career high 8 Ks)

29 votes

Mark Hendrickson (3 scoreless innings post rain delay, first career save)

40 votes

86 votes | Poll has closed

Felix Pie's Progress, With a Side of Player X

devil_fingers — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:57:19 -0000

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

TIME FOR PIE (at a baseball game).

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This past January, as part of their seemingly perpetual plan to get better by getting older, the Cubs traded long-touted prospect Felix Pie to the Orioles for a ~~quarter pound of raw beef~~ Garrett Olson and A ball reliever Henry Williamson. Pie, 24 years old to start the 2009 season, had almost always hit well in the minors at levels in which he was among the younger performers. Bur after less than 300 disappointing MLB plate appearances spread over the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the Cubs were "done" with Pie. The Orioles, who have spent the last couple offseasons ripping off clubs with less-than-brilliant GMs, received a guy who had come to be seen as a tool-sy guy who had lost his luster. He was to serve as maybe a defensive LF (where he would be a defensive standout, given his good defensive in CF) or a fourth outfielder for the Orioles, already loaded with young talent with Adam Jones in CF and Nick Markakis in RF. Then the year began, and Pie wasn't hitting. At all. He had some injury problems. Luke Scott started killing the ball, then Nolan Remold came up and did the same.

The last few weeks, Pie has really been smoking the ball. Adam Jones' injury has given him even more playing time. I'm not going to do one of my little "projections" here, but let's take a look at some of the positive factors about Pie this season that make him possibly more than just a high-end stopgap for the Orioles, a team that many (rightly) see as having a very bright near future.

The first thing to note, of course, is that Pie never really got a chance with the Cubs. 300 PAs is nothing, and Pie got less than that spread over two seasons.. Second, again, Pie was only 24 years old at the start of the season. There would seem to be plenty of development time left.

Despite his dreadful career MLB wOBA prior to joining the Cubs, the "big" projection systemss that also took into account his minor league performance all saw him as a .310-.320 wOBA hitter. That's about 5-10 runs below average over a full season. Not good, but when combined with good defense in CF, it leaves open the possibility for a league average player. Thus far this season (in only 230 PAs, to be sure), Pie has exceeded those expectations, with a .335 wOBA. Nut bad for a 25 year-old, really. While 230 PAs isn't much, let's look "behind the scenes" a bit to see if there's anything to the improvement.s

His peripheral hitting stats show some progress so far this season. With the Cubs, his walk rates were between 7% and 8%. This season he's up to 9.7%. He still strikes out a great deal, but his K rate is down to 22% after being over 25% in his time with the Cubs. His BB/K ratio is also up to .49, up from the .33 and .24 he put up in 2007 and 2008 with the Cubs.

This does seem to be a reflection of a more refined approach to the strike zone, as his O-Swing (percentage of pitches swung at outside of the strike zone) is down below 28%, which is an improvement for him from this Chicago seasons. His contact rate is also back up.

Pie is also hitting more line drives and flyballs, and many of those are going out of the park. Although Pie's fast, getting the ball in the air is good. His 2009 BABIP a the time of this writing is .309, and The Hardball times xBABIP calculator returns a .316 for me. Not luck there. HIs HR/FB rate does seem a bit lucky. According to Hit Tracker Online, 3 of Pie's 8 home runs this season have been "just enough," and that's a bit of a lucky rate. Still, he's hitting a decent number of doubles, and power, like patience, is something that usually is still developing for players Pie's age.

As for fielding, Pie has a very limited sample in the OF this season, with less than 500 innings so far. But his UZR/50 is +7.9 so far, which is in line with prior performance. UZR doesn't like him so much in CF this season, but less than 220 innings of defense is like judging a players hitting by 50 PAs. For his career, Pie is +4 in CF, and scouting reports tend to agree that he's a good defender out there.

Again, there are no guarantees here, but looking at age, past performance, and peripherals for this season, Pie definitely looks like a guy who has a very good chance than just a a stopgap starter or 4th OF. Let's compare his with another center fielder, Player X.

Player X is only 6 months younger than Pie. The player is a better hitter than Pie prior to 2009, and this season is still better, but Player X's 2009 wOBA of .343 is only a few runs better than Pie's .335 (and, again, one really should use a projection here -- I'm just looking at perception). Player X has a sterling defensive reputation, but this season has actually been -8.7 runs below average in CF this season. His career UZR/150 in CF is 1.0 as opposed to Pie's 4.3

While Pie's career walk rate, 8.5%, is about average, Player X isn't exactly Rickey Henderson at the plate, with a 5.6% walk rate. Player X's .39 BB/K ratio is also below average and worse than Pie's in 2009, although it is an improvement for Player X. Most shocking, perhaps, for those of us who don't follow the Orioles on a day-to-day basis, player X as a 35.3% O-Swing for his career, while having only about a 75% contract rate.

Who is Player X? Player X is the guy that Pie backs up: Adam Jones.

My point is not to put down Jones. Far from it. Despite some obvious flaws in his strike zone judgment and a down year defensively, Jones is still rightly regarded as a cornerstone of a resurgent Baltimore franchise. My point is that when you look at Pie's numbers in comparison, and realize that despite Pie seemingly having been around forever, that they are about the same age. So (sample size caveats granted), Pie needs to be in the mix for a starting spot next season.

Indeed, maybe Pie needs to be in CF with Jones in left, although either way would mean great OF defense. Reimold (who isn't making anyone forget the young Barry Bonds in left field) could move to DH or first, with Luke Scott taking the other spot (unless they trade him).

Or, hey, maybe the Orioles just want to give up on Pie like the Cubs did. That's fine by me. I know a team that could use a good outfielder or two... couldn't Baltimore use a shortstop who was once more valuable than Billy Butler?

Yankees win good ol' Baltimore slugfest, 9-6

Travis G — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:26:52 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

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This was like a game out of the late '90s: three hours and 41 minutes, 15 runs, 11 pitchers, 10 walks, seven homeruns, 360 pitches, and of course, the Yankees coming out on top.

Burnett (5.1 ip, 5 er) continued his inconsistent streak. He could never really command any of his pitches. He only walked two but was constantly falling behind on hitters which is why he allowed 11 hits.

The Orioles' David Hernandez was just as bad, giving up five runs in six innings with six walks and three homers.

The big blow was a Jorge Posada two-run jack that gave the Yanks a 5-3 lead. However, it looked like Burnett may have given the game away when he served up a Luke Scott three-run homer, but the Yanks came right back to tie the game on a two-out RBI single by A-Rod. Then the Yanks broke it open the next inning with back-to-back homers from Nick Swisher and Eric Hinske.

Damaso Marte, Dave Robertson, Phil Coke and Mo Rivera shut the door after the fifth inning. They combined for: 3.2 innings, 0 r, 2 h, 0 bb, 2 k. It was a little surprising that we didn't see Phil Hughes: it was a close game and he hadn't pitched in two days.

Is Jorge Posada a catcher? I'm not sure anymore because we saw him forget the count on two occasions. Two. One happens to everybody now and then, but two in one game?! Regardless, it was a good thing someone was paying attention because he walked the first time (when he thought the count had gone full) and homered the second (when he thought he had struck out).

Yankees 9, Orioles 6

Stacey — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:17:35 -0000

by Rob Carr - AP

3 months ago: New York Yankees' Jorge Posada rounds the bases after hitting a home run, as Baltimore Orioles first baseman Luke Scott stands nearby during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

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You'd have to be blind not to notice that there have been some tense moments around Camden Chat lately, and I'd be in denial if I said that I had nothing to do with it. It's another long, hard baseball season and personally it's taken its toll. It takes a toll on me every year, but this is the first year I've had a larger responsibility here. Don't get me wrong, I love Camden Chat. We have a wonderful thing going here. But for me it's been sort of amplified, the suckitude, at least compared to years past. So if I start acting like a biotech on anybody, my apologies in advance; just call me on it and I'll get over myself.

Tonight was yet another frustrating loss. My head says, "Who cares" but I can't help it. Watching the losses, listening to that pro-Yankee crowd, seeing another season end with a whimper, it's tough. It makes my stomach hurt. We keep banking on the future, but what if it never comes? What if there is 12 more years of this? Do I stop liking baseball? Because I can't keep it up, and I can't root for another team.

I'm sorry. This is self-serving drivel. It's not a game recap, not even close. I just can't wait for the day that fights don't break out about Felix Pie because we have nothing else to focus on, and that September isn't a month to dread and the the off-season isn't one of the most exciting times of the year. That's it for that kind of talk, though. It's depressing and useless. On to the recap!

David Hernandez pitched poorly. He only gave up four hits but he walked 7 and 3 of the 4 hits were home runs. Two of those home runs were hit with a runner on base who'd gotten there via a walk. Dennis Sarfate then made his triumphant return by facing two batters, both of which reached. Then with two outs and both of Dennis Sarfate's runners still on, Dave Trembley brought in Chris Ray to face A-Rod, because that's always a good idea. A-Rod at least didn't hit a home run, but he did hit a single to score a run. He looked awful but for some reason he went back out for the next inning where he gave up back-to-back home runs to Nick Swisher and Erik Hinske. Nice.

Anyone who has ever watched Chris Ray knows that he's garbage against the Yankees. In 18.1 career innings he's allowed 19 runs and 6 home runs. That's before tonight, by the way. But God forbid anyone on the Orioles pay any attention to that. Who needs strategy when we've got folksy?

The Orioles offense wasn't awful tonight. The Yankees allow an average of 4.69 runs per game and the Orioles scored six. Felix Pie hit another home run, Melvin Mora had a nice RBI hit, and Luke Scott hit a vintage LUUUKE 3 run home run onto Eutaw Street. But it wasn't enough, of course it wasn't. They had a few missed opportunities, sure, but you want to think that six runs would be enough.

Oh, and Adam Jones hurt himself again.

Poll

Who was tonight's Most Birdland Player (MBP)?

Felix Pie (another home run)

16 votes

Luke Scott (beastly 3 run home run onto Eutaw Street)

77 votes

Nick Markakis (3 hits, 2 runs)

11 votes

Nolan Reimold (3 hits, 1 walk, 2 runs)

12 votes

Melvin Mora (3 hits, 2 RBI)

7 votes

Nobody

36 votes

159 votes | Poll has closed