Latest / Birdland Territory / Pete Alonso delivers big hit, Orioles win series vs Giants

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Pete Alonso delivers big hit, Orioles win series vs Giants · Birdland Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: Well, it's only fifteen games into the season, Birdland, But
0:10
Speaker 1: how does tied for first place sound? Because at this
0:14
Speaker 1: hour as we tape this postgame Sunday, after the Oriols
0:17
Speaker 1: beat the Giant six to two, the Birds are tied
0:21
Speaker 1: for first. A week ago there were four games behind
0:23
Speaker 1: the Yankees, and the Yankees have lost six of seven
0:27
Speaker 1: and the Oriols have won five of six. So Baltimore Tampa,
0:30
Speaker 1: New York died for first eight and sevens early, obviously,
0:34
Speaker 1: but you'd rather be that than last. Right, Steve Maleuski
0:37
Speaker 1: and Tim barbarlace with you another edition of Birdland Territory.
0:40
Speaker 1: We're missing our teammate Brad Brock, who turned forty today. Tim,
0:45
Speaker 1: for me, that's still a kidlet. But for Brad, I'm
0:48
Speaker 1: sure that's a milestone birthday, and we're giving them time
0:52
Speaker 1: to celebrate with the family.
0:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was saying he was having to get together
0:57
Speaker 2: at his house.
0:58
Speaker 3: He was golfing in the morning and he said, Hey,
1:00
Speaker 3: I just want to relax and watch the Masters.
1:02
Speaker 2: So happy birthday to Brad Brock.
1:06
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about the Birds of Baltimore, because Tim,
1:09
Speaker 1: Friday night, it was a downer. The Orioles did not
1:11
Speaker 1: get to clutch hit. Pete Alonzo was giving a major
1:16
Speaker 1: May Kulpov sorts after the game. He really took accountability
1:19
Speaker 1: for his poor start to the season, and I wrote
1:22
Speaker 1: on my substact that sometimes accountability comes before production. And
1:27
Speaker 1: I don't know if in this case one led to two.
1:30
Speaker 1: But since Friday night, the Oriols scored twelve runs and
1:33
Speaker 1: won back to back games and got some big hits,
1:36
Speaker 1: including today from Pete Alonzo.
1:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, Pete Alonzo with one of the big moments of
1:42
Speaker 3: this ball game with two outs, down two in the
1:45
Speaker 3: count and he was able to hit that double down
1:47
Speaker 3: the line to score Gunner Henderson and Taylor Ward. It
1:50
Speaker 3: was a big time moment and you could see all
1:52
Speaker 3: the guys in the dugout really get so excited for
1:56
Speaker 3: Pete because it has not been the start to Alonzo's
2:00
Speaker 3: Oriole career that he would hope for, that Orioles fans
2:03
Speaker 3: would hope for. And entering today, Steve he was two
2:07
Speaker 3: for his last thirty one with twelve strikeouts four walks.
2:12
Speaker 3: Now three straight games in which he's reached via walk,
2:15
Speaker 3: which is a good sign because Craig Albernaz was talking
2:18
Speaker 3: about that after the game on Fridays, and hey, if
2:21
Speaker 3: you get on base three times four times via walk.
2:24
Speaker 2: That's a win. We will take that.
2:26
Speaker 3: And earlier in the week I was kind of looking
2:28
Speaker 3: up Steve where Okay, Pete a slow starter. You look
2:32
Speaker 3: at his ops in March and April last year, well
2:35
Speaker 3: over eleven hundred his career ops in March in April
2:39
Speaker 3: eight seventy nine. See you hope that big two run double.
2:42
Speaker 3: He also had another hit in this game, also had
2:45
Speaker 3: a walk. You hope that this can really get Pete
2:47
Speaker 3: Alonso going.
2:50
Speaker 1: It was an interesting weekend for him. Early in the
2:52
Speaker 1: game Friday night, he had a key at batch second
2:55
Speaker 1: and thirty income through. He actually stranded three runners in
2:58
Speaker 1: scoring position in the first three innings of that game.
3:01
Speaker 1: And there weren't booze at Camden Yards, but I would
3:04
Speaker 1: say there were some groans and on social media, tim
3:07
Speaker 1: I was getting delus memorial fans bris baraging me as
3:11
Speaker 1: if I were in the lineup. But it was Pete
3:14
Speaker 1: who was struggling. And you cited some of the numbers
3:16
Speaker 1: before today the Sunday game, he was zero for six
3:19
Speaker 1: this series, one for nineteen, the last five, three for
3:23
Speaker 1: thirty five. Since the calendar turned to April. Three hits
3:26
Speaker 1: in a month, Tim, we're almost halfway through, and so
3:28
Speaker 1: this was his first multi hit game since the calendar
3:31
Speaker 1: turned to April. And I just think he showed leadership
3:36
Speaker 1: Friday night. He did what a star player should do.
3:39
Speaker 1: When you fall short of your expectations and the fans expectations,
3:44
Speaker 1: you get in front of the cameras and you say
3:47
Speaker 1: this isn't good enough. And that's exactly what he did.
3:49
Speaker 1: And furthermore, Tim, I thought it was big and Albernaz
3:52
Speaker 1: would tell us Saturday. After that, Albernaz called him into
3:56
Speaker 1: the office and they talked at length. He and that's
3:58
Speaker 1: when Albernaz said, what you said, if you go oh
4:01
Speaker 1: for oh with four walks tonight, that's great, Pete. You're
4:03
Speaker 1: expanding the zone a little bit. Just get back in
4:06
Speaker 1: the strike zone and the hits will come. And by
4:09
Speaker 1: no means is he locked in yet. One game doesn't
4:11
Speaker 1: show us that at all. But it was such a
4:13
Speaker 1: big hit that maybe that turns the tide.
4:17
Speaker 2: You certainly hope so.
4:19
Speaker 3: And everyone's trying to pinpoint what is off about Pete
4:22
Speaker 3: to start this year, and one number on stackcast that's
4:26
Speaker 3: really stood out Steve is his bat speed it's two
4:29
Speaker 3: and a half miles per hour slower year over year,
4:33
Speaker 3: And Craig Albernas was asked about that and he said
4:35
Speaker 3: exactly what you said. He just thinks that Pete is
4:39
Speaker 3: expanding the zone too much and when you're chasing, of course,
4:42
Speaker 3: it's going to slow down your bat. But you mentioned
4:45
Speaker 3: the leadership, and we've talked about it a lot, just
4:48
Speaker 3: in the first couple of episodes of Birdland Territory, of
4:52
Speaker 3: what Pete Alonso brings, not just on the field, Steve,
4:55
Speaker 3: but off the field and what he does in the clubhouse.
4:59
Speaker 3: And I always reference that moment against the Netherlands, him
5:02
Speaker 3: calling a mound visit when Trevor Rodgers was starting that
5:05
Speaker 3: game because he thought the defense was just very, very sloppy.
5:09
Speaker 3: Pete he did have a couple issues in the field
5:13
Speaker 3: over the weekend, but all in all, he's been better
5:15
Speaker 3: than advertised at first base so far this year. His
5:20
Speaker 3: offensive slump hasn't necessarily affected his defense, which is a
5:24
Speaker 3: good sign. But now you're hoping the back can get going.
5:28
Speaker 3: And it's not just the power Steed. We know this
5:30
Speaker 3: guy can hit over forty home runs, but he scores runs,
5:34
Speaker 3: he drives in runs.
5:35
Speaker 2: He had over one hundred RBIs last year.
5:40
Speaker 1: And Tim's Saturday night, I was at the ballpark and
5:43
Speaker 1: looked at the monitor a couple times to get a
5:45
Speaker 1: close up look at his advats. He swung and missed
5:48
Speaker 1: at some middle, middle pitches Saturday night pitches. He's going
5:51
Speaker 1: to hit four hundred and twenty feet as the summer
5:54
Speaker 1: goes on. So again, by no means as he locked in.
5:57
Speaker 1: But today was better. And ironically, that two run double
6:01
Speaker 1: came on not only an O two pitch, but it
6:03
Speaker 1: was below the zone. He could have not swung taken
6:07
Speaker 1: it would be one and two, or he could have
6:09
Speaker 1: chased it and missed, which maybe Pete would have done
6:11
Speaker 1: a couple of nights ago. He went down and got
6:13
Speaker 1: that ball. That was a good piece of hitting. He
6:15
Speaker 1: had a pitcher's pitch to drive in two big runs.
6:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was an absolutely monstrous moment, and you could
6:23
Speaker 3: just see what it meant for the rest of the
6:25
Speaker 3: guys in the dugout just going nuts for Pete coming
6:29
Speaker 3: through in that moment. But I think this is just
6:32
Speaker 3: you need to take a breath. And I remember talking
6:35
Speaker 3: to Buck Showalter the day that Pete Alonzo signed here,
6:39
Speaker 3: and Buck said so many glowing things about Pete when
6:42
Speaker 3: he called me prior to even coming on the station
6:45
Speaker 3: and said the exact same things afterwards. The one concern
6:49
Speaker 3: that Buck had, and this is a concern for anybody,
6:53
Speaker 3: when you sign a contract of that magnitude five years,
6:56
Speaker 3: one hundred and fifty five million dollars, that's the second
6:58
Speaker 3: biggest contract given out in Oriole's history, do you try
7:02
Speaker 3: a little too hard at times to show your worth
7:06
Speaker 3: of that contract. I'm not saying that that's necessarily happened
7:10
Speaker 3: for Pete, but I think it is fair to say
7:12
Speaker 3: that while he's off to this slow start, there is
7:16
Speaker 3: some pressing. And he was very open about that Friday, saying, yeah,
7:20
Speaker 3: I could tell you that it's a long season, but
7:23
Speaker 3: this is a disappointing start for Pete Alonso. And now
7:27
Speaker 3: he comes through in a big moment today and you
7:29
Speaker 3: hope that it starts to carry.
7:31
Speaker 1: One last thing on Pete, and we'll get onto some
7:34
Speaker 1: other topics. There's some really good ones from today's game. Tim,
7:38
Speaker 1: you mentioned the bat speed that is down a little bit.
7:40
Speaker 1: I thought Alburn has explained that, well, he did not
7:43
Speaker 1: make an excuse for that on Saturday, but he explained,
7:46
Speaker 1: when you stay in the zone and you barrel balls,
7:49
Speaker 1: that's when you get ex of velocity and bat speed.
7:53
Speaker 1: When the pitch is a little out of the zone,
7:55
Speaker 1: you're feeling for it and you don't get off your
7:58
Speaker 1: a swing and the bat's goes down. To me, that
8:01
Speaker 1: made perfect sense to him for what's been happening to
8:03
Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo. And I'll take it a step further. At
8:06
Speaker 1: the beginning of today, the Orioles leader this year in
8:10
Speaker 1: exit velocity was Pete Alonzo, hing the ball harder than Gunner,
8:14
Speaker 1: hing the ball harder on average than Besaio, all of them.
8:18
Speaker 1: The Orioles leader in hard hit percentage the percentage of
8:21
Speaker 1: balls you put in play ninety five plus was Pete Alonzo.
8:25
Speaker 1: So what I'm saying, if the process had some issues,
8:29
Speaker 1: and maybe it did that speed chasing, etc. The results
8:33
Speaker 1: were starting to show. Before we see it in average
8:36
Speaker 1: and RBIs and other things, we're going to see it totally.
8:39
Speaker 3: Steve and I think that was a number of the
8:42
Speaker 3: Orioles fans should have confidence in the fact that heading
8:46
Speaker 3: into today, I believe Pete was still top five in
8:50
Speaker 3: baseball Steve top five in baseball in terms of average
8:53
Speaker 3: exit velocity ninety four point three miles per hour, so
8:57
Speaker 3: he's almost averaging a hard hit ball. It's just been
9:00
Speaker 3: the strikeouts. It's been the swing and miss where he's
9:03
Speaker 3: striking out at a thirty one percent clip, which that
9:06
Speaker 3: just isn't good enough. And we've seen at times, especially
9:10
Speaker 3: for this ball club, where you're striking out, and it's
9:13
Speaker 3: the moments where you're striking out too, because sometimes you
9:16
Speaker 3: just put the ball in play and good things happen.
9:19
Speaker 2: And Kobe Mayo today it just blooped it right into
9:23
Speaker 2: center field, ended up scoring a run.
9:25
Speaker 3: It doesn't have to always be a hard hit ball,
9:27
Speaker 3: but if you put the ball in play, you give
9:29
Speaker 3: yourself a chance you do.
9:33
Speaker 1: So, Tim, here's a stat again heading into today, in
9:36
Speaker 1: the first two innings this year, opponents twenty one runs
9:40
Speaker 1: the Oriels five twenty one to five in the first
9:44
Speaker 1: two innings. They were getting bombed today two to zhing
9:48
Speaker 1: Baltimore because of one big swing by the kid, Samuel Visaiah.
9:52
Speaker 1: We saw today what he can do well. Scouts will
9:55
Speaker 1: tell you, Tim, when you hit appo power like he
9:58
Speaker 1: did the left center with such an easy swing. That's
10:01
Speaker 1: big time power. Most players, even the smaller guys, can
10:05
Speaker 1: turn on one and hit it out pull side. What
10:09
Speaker 1: he did today, that was a big time swing. That's
10:12
Speaker 1: why I got that money.
10:13
Speaker 2: Oh, it's unbelievable.
10:14
Speaker 3: And the raw power that he has as a twenty
10:17
Speaker 3: one year old kid is really is something to marvel now.
10:21
Speaker 3: With Sam, and with a lot of young guys, we
10:24
Speaker 3: talk about expanding the zone, like with Pete Alonzo, it
10:27
Speaker 3: seems like that has been the case for Sam at times.
10:29
Speaker 3: The wiff rate and just getting under pitches, but if
10:33
Speaker 3: he gets a hold of one, it's gonna go a long,
10:36
Speaker 3: long way. And that was his second homer of the season.
10:38
Speaker 3: I remember the first homer, Craig albert as after the game,
10:41
Speaker 3: marveling about it. It hit the batter's eye in the
10:44
Speaker 3: center field. He just couldn't believe that Sam got it
10:47
Speaker 3: all the way out there.
10:48
Speaker 2: So there were a.
10:50
Speaker 3: Lot of good things to see offensively for this team
10:55
Speaker 3: in this series, Sam Bessillo being one of them, Steve,
10:58
Speaker 3: But how about the bottom third lineup the past couple
11:01
Speaker 3: of days, they're nine for twenty three and with they
11:04
Speaker 3: drive in seven eight runs as well. I have it
11:07
Speaker 3: in my notes, ay, I think that that is huge too,
11:10
Speaker 3: Colden Cowser. We know the first week was solid for him,
11:13
Speaker 3: really struggled this past week, but back to back days
11:17
Speaker 3: in which you know he's had some nice moments driving
11:20
Speaker 3: in runs.
11:21
Speaker 1: No doubt. Brian Roberts, I thought made a good point
11:23
Speaker 1: on the telecast today about Pisio an inadvertent benefit from
11:29
Speaker 1: AGLEI going to the IL and we'll get into the
11:32
Speaker 1: injuries which you're mounting for the Ools. Maybe now at
11:35
Speaker 1: being out there every night, catching a little more that
11:38
Speaker 1: they had planned for him to, we'll get him in
11:40
Speaker 1: some rhythm both offensively and defensively. It looked like today
11:44
Speaker 1: he was just very relaxed and comfortable out there.
11:47
Speaker 3: Or consistent playtime is so big, Steve, and we've seen
11:52
Speaker 3: for various different reasons at different points when Toppo's prospects
11:57
Speaker 3: have gotten brought and brought up initially, maybe they're not
12:00
Speaker 3: getting the consistent run that fans would hope for, that
12:04
Speaker 3: we all would hope for it. And I think that
12:06
Speaker 3: that can sometimes affect a young player's consistency because if
12:10
Speaker 3: you're not getting the consistent reps, whether that's behind the plate,
12:14
Speaker 3: whether that's in the batter's box. It just makes it
12:16
Speaker 3: that much tougher for you to get on a roll.
12:21
Speaker 1: So the Oils win six to two. They take two
12:23
Speaker 1: out of three. They have now won the three out
12:26
Speaker 1: of five series three and two in series five and
12:29
Speaker 1: one in their last six eight and seven overall tie
12:32
Speaker 1: to top the division three way tie. As we speak
12:34
Speaker 1: to you tonight with the Yankees and the Rays, the
12:38
Speaker 1: Oriols are two and zero rubber match games. They were
12:40
Speaker 1: very poor in that stat last year, so that's an
12:43
Speaker 1: early encouraging sign. And Jim, we've been talking almost half
12:46
Speaker 1: the show. We need to get into caid Hoovic. Whether
12:50
Speaker 1: he was slim today, lefty, cad whatever you want to
12:52
Speaker 1: call him, he was outstanding. The Orioles finally have a
12:56
Speaker 1: quality start from someone not named Trevor Rodgers. That was pitching. Tim.
13:00
Speaker 1: That's better than I think we saw him at any
13:02
Speaker 1: point last year.
13:04
Speaker 3: I completely agree, and he had seventeen whiffs in this
13:07
Speaker 3: ball game and he was so pitch efficient. Steve, when
13:11
Speaker 3: we were doing the show, what was it last Sunday
13:13
Speaker 3: where he came in relief of Chris Bassett really helped
13:17
Speaker 3: save the bullpen there. He went five and two thirds today,
13:20
Speaker 3: pitched into the seventh inning. I was very, very impressed
13:25
Speaker 3: with kid Povich. Had a really nasty strikeout of Encarnacion
13:29
Speaker 3: with the curveball. Heck, he had strikeouts with multiple of
13:32
Speaker 3: his pitches. You saw the fast rising the rising fastball
13:36
Speaker 3: at times as well.
13:37
Speaker 2: But so pitch efficient.
13:39
Speaker 3: And when Kade Polvich has gotten into trouble in the past,
13:44
Speaker 3: it's been kind of nibbling. It's been not having sharp command,
13:48
Speaker 3: walking too many batters. But now Steve the other thing
13:52
Speaker 3: that's really impressive. Where he has traditionally gotten into the
13:56
Speaker 3: most trouble is each time batters have faced him, you
14:00
Speaker 3: can see the ops rise significantly. Where back to back
14:04
Speaker 3: times he's been able to give this team length.
14:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was good throughout today a second third time
14:10
Speaker 1: through of the batters really weren't getting very good swings
14:13
Speaker 1: on him. I mean, tim, it was a typical crafty lefty.
14:15
Speaker 1: It's only throwing ninety one to ninety two. He's not
14:18
Speaker 1: throwing the ball high by anybody, but albert As would
14:20
Speaker 1: say postgame, great movement on the fastball, and he just
14:24
Speaker 1: had everything he could pitch backwards to a hitter. He could,
14:27
Speaker 1: you know, start him off fastball. The curveball had some
14:30
Speaker 1: big movement on it today cutter change up. I mean
14:34
Speaker 1: he had it all going. He has come up big
14:36
Speaker 1: now twice for the team.
14:38
Speaker 3: His curveball is a hammer. It is a weapon if
14:42
Speaker 3: it's on. And today's Steve seven whiffs on fifteen swings
14:47
Speaker 3: on that curve ball, as he was talking, almost a
14:48
Speaker 3: fifty percent with rate there for k Povich and was
14:52
Speaker 3: able to get ahead of batters for the most part,
14:55
Speaker 3: not pitching from behind. Got first pitch strike in fifteen
14:58
Speaker 3: of twenty four batteries that he faced. But now, Steve,
15:03
Speaker 3: I think the question with Kate is what happens and
15:07
Speaker 3: they still don't have a starter listed for tomorrow. Dean
15:11
Speaker 3: Kramer would be on turn so that they do have
15:14
Speaker 3: that in their up their sleeve that they wanted. But
15:18
Speaker 3: with how Kate Povich is pitching right now, Steve, I
15:21
Speaker 3: think it's tough to send him down.
15:24
Speaker 1: I think it is if he had been mediocre, an
15:26
Speaker 1: obvious move would be Kramer for Povich because Kam can't
15:29
Speaker 1: go again till his next turn. But however it works out,
15:36
Speaker 1: he has left in a douible mark with alburn as
15:39
Speaker 1: in the staff that this guy. If we need him,
15:41
Speaker 1: he can be reliable. So if he goes down, it
15:44
Speaker 1: will be through no fault of his own, simply a
15:46
Speaker 1: matter if they need to get Kramer on there somehow.
15:49
Speaker 1: But Tim, this is a good problem to have a
15:51
Speaker 1: long run, to know that you already lost one starter
15:55
Speaker 1: and you've made up for him so far. Again, it's early,
15:58
Speaker 1: and as albern has again said postgame, we got these
16:01
Speaker 1: kids at Triple A two. So you and I have
16:03
Speaker 1: talked with Brad on this show about the depth from
16:06
Speaker 1: Triple A to the majors. You're gonna need a lot
16:09
Speaker 1: of it over six months of baseball, Steve.
16:12
Speaker 3: If any team knows that, the Orioles know it. Coming
16:15
Speaker 3: off last year where they went through so many pitchers,
16:18
Speaker 3: so many players in general, it's a very good problem
16:22
Speaker 3: to have. And also give credit to Brandon Young again
16:25
Speaker 3: because Orioles lost five of six and then Young started
16:28
Speaker 3: on Monday and that started winning five of six games.
16:32
Speaker 3: They're going to call upon Kate Povich at some point,
16:36
Speaker 3: whether that's by injury or also, Steve. This team there
16:40
Speaker 3: was a lot of talk about using a six man
16:42
Speaker 3: rotation heading into the year. Obviously that was factoring in
16:45
Speaker 3: Zach Efflin, who has done for the season. It wouldn't
16:49
Speaker 3: surprise me if it's some points of this year that
16:54
Speaker 3: maybe you see Kate Povich come up and they run
16:56
Speaker 3: with the six man rotation for a little bit, just
16:58
Speaker 3: to give some guys the extra breathers. The Kyle Bradish
17:02
Speaker 3: innings restriction, that's a factor as well that they're going
17:05
Speaker 3: to have to balance.
17:06
Speaker 1: It's funny, Tim, when we get to October and hopefully
17:09
Speaker 1: the Oils are still playing, it could be that the
17:12
Speaker 1: difference for the playoffs was two or three games, two
17:14
Speaker 1: or three wins, sure, and then we'll never really probably
17:18
Speaker 1: even remember two big outings by katee Bovic in April,
17:22
Speaker 1: but they were two big outings. And as people have
17:24
Speaker 1: pointed out, with the Ools right now, while they're not
17:26
Speaker 1: functioning on all cylinders, they've had a ton of injuries,
17:29
Speaker 1: they've lost two infielders now, they lost Adleie, they lost Steflyn,
17:33
Speaker 1: they're tied for first. They're doing things right, even Tim,
17:36
Speaker 1: when I don't think any of us feel, including the
17:39
Speaker 1: players and the fans, they're playing full go right now.
17:42
Speaker 3: I think that's definitely the most encouraging part of this
17:47
Speaker 3: eight and seven start. Steve, is the fact that they
17:51
Speaker 3: really haven't fired on all cylinders.
17:54
Speaker 2: And there's been times.
17:55
Speaker 3: Where you know, the bullpen has had issues, the defense
18:00
Speaker 3: has had issues, and we know that the offense has struggled.
18:02
Speaker 2: They haven't really been able to put it all together.
18:04
Speaker 3: And we talk about Pete Alonzo and his slow start
18:08
Speaker 3: to the season, and there's plenty of guys that you
18:10
Speaker 3: can mention that with, but for them to weather this storm.
18:15
Speaker 3: And you can look across the American League, Steve, there's
18:19
Speaker 3: not a ton.
18:20
Speaker 2: Of clubs with winning records right now.
18:22
Speaker 3: I know it's early, but the Yankees, they got off
18:25
Speaker 3: to the hot start, they've lost five straight games, the
18:28
Speaker 3: Red Sox off to a difficult start. The Blue Jays
18:31
Speaker 3: are dealing with a ton of injuries themselves. I think,
18:34
Speaker 3: all things considered, it's been far from perfect. But I
18:38
Speaker 3: think if you're an Orioles fan, you should get some
18:41
Speaker 3: optimism from the fact that they're doing this shorthanded. They're
18:45
Speaker 3: doing this without their top players playing up to their potential.
18:50
Speaker 1: They are and it's a much more fun addition of
18:52
Speaker 1: Birdland territory. Tonight, Steve Maluski and Tim Barblace, we are
18:55
Speaker 1: missing our teammate Brad Brock, and we've loved being with
18:58
Speaker 1: Brad enjoying his fortieth birthday. Happy birthday to Brad Brock,
19:02
Speaker 1: and we'll see him on the next episode. And Tim.
19:06
Speaker 1: We remind fans, of course to please subscribe by our
19:09
Speaker 1: YouTube channel. We're on x as well Birdland Territory and
19:13
Speaker 1: we're on the podcast. You can hear us Spotify, Apple
19:17
Speaker 1: and so forth. So check us out all over the place.
19:20
Speaker 1: Birdland Territory a news show. This is only our fourth
19:22
Speaker 1: edition and we're off the great start. I thank and
19:25
Speaker 1: the Oriols have given us some good stuff to talk about.
19:29
Speaker 1: But now Tim the downer part of the show. These
19:31
Speaker 1: injuries that are mounting. This has been ridiculous for the Oriols.
19:34
Speaker 1: It feels like last year and Tim. They have twelve
19:38
Speaker 1: on the IL and as Craig Albert has said post game,
19:41
Speaker 1: he told the media Ryan Mountcastle broke the fourth meta
19:45
Speaker 1: carpal bone in his left foot. That is obviously awful news,
19:49
Speaker 1: which means the thirteenth we'll be headed to the IL
19:53
Speaker 1: that'll lead major League Baseball. That's crazy that this keeps happening.
19:57
Speaker 3: It is crazy and you would have just thought that
20:00
Speaker 3: this team was in for some positive regression coming off
20:03
Speaker 3: last year where it was just one injury after another
20:06
Speaker 3: after another. But focusing on Adli Rutchman, I really feel
20:11
Speaker 3: for him and you hope that it's nothing serious. I
20:14
Speaker 3: know Craig Albernaz said that Adley had an MRI for
20:18
Speaker 3: his ankle and said it was encouraging. So you hope
20:21
Speaker 3: that it's the minimum or not that longer with the
20:24
Speaker 3: ten day IL, but Adley was off to a really
20:27
Speaker 3: strong start and he reached base safely in nine of
20:30
Speaker 3: ten games that he played in. And it's not just
20:34
Speaker 3: the offense Steve that everyone's excited about.
20:37
Speaker 2: Defensively as well. I think he's been much better year
20:41
Speaker 2: over year defensively.
20:43
Speaker 3: You can see it in the framing, you can see
20:45
Speaker 3: it in the caught stealing above average, the pop time
20:48
Speaker 3: is there. I think Adley is off to such a
20:51
Speaker 3: good start that it's just been a lot of injuries
20:54
Speaker 3: over the past year and a half and I really
20:56
Speaker 3: hope this doesn't set him back.
21:00
Speaker 1: There are six of the twelve IL players for the
21:03
Speaker 1: Orioles who are bullpen guys, four of them who could
21:07
Speaker 1: be in the bullpen right now. Two we knew weren't
21:09
Speaker 1: going to pitch, but Kittridge, Heraldo Aiken, Bautista Selby ends
21:15
Speaker 1: six of twelve. Also, you have Tyler O'Neil now with
21:18
Speaker 1: a concussion, Retchman Holiday Kers, Dad Eflyn Westberg. That's two
21:24
Speaker 1: infield starters, you're starting catcher, and a couple key bullpen
21:28
Speaker 1: pitchers that are on the IL right now. And as
21:30
Speaker 1: we said, sadly, it seems Malcastle will be added to
21:33
Speaker 1: the list.
21:34
Speaker 2: Well, Steve, I think another thing.
21:36
Speaker 3: If you're looking for more encouragement, if you're an Orioles fan,
21:40
Speaker 3: this bullpen has been strong and you are going to
21:43
Speaker 3: get Andrew Kittridge back not that long. I know he's
21:46
Speaker 3: pitched in three or four games at the Norfolk levels.
21:49
Speaker 3: So maybe within the next week or two you end
21:51
Speaker 3: up seeing Kittridge and boom, there's your setup man. But
21:55
Speaker 3: you're seeing guys emerge. Grant Wolfram, he's got ten strikeouts
21:59
Speaker 3: to walks. Anthony Nunez again shows up big in big
22:04
Speaker 3: time moments.
22:05
Speaker 2: You're near Cano. He's looking a lot better year over
22:09
Speaker 2: year for this team.
22:10
Speaker 3: Tyler Wells, after scuffling his first couple, he's been able.
22:14
Speaker 2: To steady the ship.
22:15
Speaker 3: I think that's another area of this team that you
22:19
Speaker 3: feel pretty good about, considering that the bullpen is far
22:22
Speaker 3: from full strength.
22:25
Speaker 1: Exactly. Jackson Holliday getting closer. The Orioles have said they're
22:28
Speaker 1: not worried about his stats at Norfolk. They just wanted
22:31
Speaker 1: to be healthy, and he's getting closer to rejoining the roster,
22:35
Speaker 1: so some move will be made at some point when
22:38
Speaker 1: they bring him north. But injuries are mounting, but right
22:41
Speaker 1: now so our victories for the Orioles, and last year
22:45
Speaker 1: those two did not give together. One led to two.
22:49
Speaker 1: Right now one has happened, but two is also happening.
22:52
Speaker 1: Injuries mounting, victories finally starting them out In Birdland Steve
22:56
Speaker 1: Maleski and Tim Barblay Smiths and our teammate Brad Brock
23:00
Speaker 1: birthday today. He'll be back with us soon here on
23:02
Speaker 1: the Birdland Territory. Please subscribe and follow us on YouTube
23:06
Speaker 1: and all the outlets. We'll check in on the farm
23:10
Speaker 1: coming up in a moment here on Birdland Territory.
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23:33
Speaker 3: Well, Steve, you know this ORIOLS minor league system inside
23:37
Speaker 3: and out, and you were at Chesapeake's opening night recently.
23:41
Speaker 3: I know you're going to Frederick opening night this upcoming week,
23:45
Speaker 3: but let's start with Chesapeake.
23:46
Speaker 2: What were you able to learn find out?
23:49
Speaker 3: I know that they've had renovations and Frederick of course
23:53
Speaker 3: becoming an Oriole's affiliate again.
23:57
Speaker 1: Tim, you know I love me some minor league baseball.
24:00
Speaker 1: I've been covering it for a long time and I
24:01
Speaker 1: love to get to know the players, you know before
24:06
Speaker 1: their major league guys, and I have so many of
24:08
Speaker 1: them over the years. When they walked in that clubhouse
24:10
Speaker 1: from a gunner and cowser and many guys on down,
24:14
Speaker 1: I knew him well, and so I love doing that.
24:18
Speaker 1: What's happening on the farm, Tim, is something infrastructure we
24:23
Speaker 1: should note. And this goes along with the state funds
24:26
Speaker 1: that benefited Camden Yards and M and T Bank Stadium,
24:29
Speaker 1: it also benefited minor league ballparks in the state of Maryland.
24:34
Speaker 1: In Bowie, where the Double Ahchesapeake bass Sox play, they
24:37
Speaker 1: now have a performance center that I have only seen
24:40
Speaker 1: a little bit of but the players and coaches rave
24:43
Speaker 1: about it's this huge two story building. Tim. Fans that
24:46
Speaker 1: have been going to Bowie over the years, and you've
24:48
Speaker 1: been there a number of times. The clubhouse used to
24:50
Speaker 1: be down right field. That's now the visiting clubhouse. The
24:53
Speaker 1: home clubhouse is in this plush two story performance center
24:58
Speaker 1: that took millions of dollars to build and took a
25:00
Speaker 1: year to build. They broke around last March and they
25:03
Speaker 1: opened it opening day earlier this week, and the Bowie
25:07
Speaker 1: and the players told me, you know what, they told
25:09
Speaker 1: us this might be the best of the minor leagues,
25:11
Speaker 1: and they might be right. They were raving about how
25:13
Speaker 1: incredible it was. Brian Shawcross, the twenty one year general
25:17
Speaker 1: manager there, I was like a proud papa, and what's
25:20
Speaker 1: good and Tim? Right now? In minor league baseball. Everybody
25:24
Speaker 1: has the technology, everybody has great coaching, everybody has all
25:28
Speaker 1: the data, but facilities maybe can put you over the top.
25:33
Speaker 1: The orals have all this fancy data and technology where
25:37
Speaker 1: they have these batting cages and things they can do
25:40
Speaker 1: with their players that maybe not every organization can do.
25:43
Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to benefit them in the
25:45
Speaker 1: next two weeks, maybe the next two months, but over
25:48
Speaker 1: the next two years as players come through there and
25:51
Speaker 1: get the benefit of it, it might And oh, by
25:53
Speaker 1: the way, Tim, they've upgraded Frederick, They've upgraded del Marva,
25:56
Speaker 1: and even Aberdeen, which is now in the Fall League
25:59
Speaker 1: it's not a film anymore, has had some upgrades. So
26:02
Speaker 1: these state funds have done a lot good and the
26:04
Speaker 1: Oriols have closely worked with it to make sure they
26:07
Speaker 1: get exactly they want for their players. And Tim new
26:11
Speaker 1: facility in the Dominican They've upgraded Sarasota, They've upgraded Camden Yards.
26:16
Speaker 1: The Orioles are really working incredibly hard on infrastructure and
26:20
Speaker 1: facilities to make the best ball players.
26:24
Speaker 3: It's huge and this has been a priority since Michael
26:27
Speaker 3: IIAs took over as general manager of the Orioles when
26:30
Speaker 3: his introductory press conference was at the end of twenty eighteen.
26:34
Speaker 3: Where you're building from the ground up in so many
26:37
Speaker 3: different ways. And Steve, you just think of the lack
26:41
Speaker 3: of involvement in the international market prior to this regime,
26:45
Speaker 3: that the analytics department really didn't exist, the scouting and
26:49
Speaker 3: all of those things that have cropped up since twenty
26:54
Speaker 3: nineteen when Michael Oias took over. This was all part
26:57
Speaker 3: of it because player development is paramount and that was
27:02
Speaker 3: such a big pillar for Michael Oas when he took.
27:06
Speaker 1: Over, no doubt, and someone in the organization said to
27:09
Speaker 1: me in kind of an off the record interview, so
27:11
Speaker 1: I won't throw their name out, watch what this means
27:14
Speaker 1: for us over the next few years. That's what they said.
27:17
Speaker 1: This is someone who's on the inside, sees the tech,
27:20
Speaker 1: knows what the players have access to, and some of
27:24
Speaker 1: the incredible data and tech they have in Tenden yards
27:27
Speaker 1: they now have in places like Bowie and some others.
27:30
Speaker 1: And I can't wait to get to Frederick Tuesday. Tim
27:32
Speaker 1: Frederick's finally back through no fault of the fans there,
27:35
Speaker 1: they lost their team. That was about a facility that
27:37
Speaker 1: was kind of lapidated, Let's be honest, and it's been
27:40
Speaker 1: upgraded and it's now to Major league standards where they
27:43
Speaker 1: can bring an affiliate back. And the twenty nineteen was
27:46
Speaker 1: the last time a Frederick Key's team played as an
27:49
Speaker 1: orial affiliate. They were still an affiliate in twenty twenty,
27:52
Speaker 1: but the pandemic canceled the season. So that's a long
27:55
Speaker 1: time to not be an affiliate, and the fans of Frederick, Tim,
27:58
Speaker 1: I think, are some of the best minors in the country.
28:01
Speaker 1: They year after year, we're a top drawing team in
28:05
Speaker 1: the Carolina League. They love baseball. That community. I've worked there,
28:09
Speaker 1: I've lived there. They love baseball and they deserve to
28:12
Speaker 1: have a team. And my heart breaks for Aberdeen because
28:15
Speaker 1: I love that place. I live in Hartford County. But
28:18
Speaker 1: you know, I think my heart can break for one
28:20
Speaker 1: and be swelling for the other, which is kind of
28:22
Speaker 1: what's happening here. And so real excited for Frederick. So
28:26
Speaker 1: many players are off the good starts. Tim. I'm writing
28:28
Speaker 1: on my substack on Monday, and you can find that
28:31
Speaker 1: at Steve on Baseball dot substack dot com on a
28:35
Speaker 1: couple of young international hitters who might be starting to
28:39
Speaker 1: emerge at Double A and Tomas Sosa and Anderson de
28:43
Speaker 1: la Santos. Plus they've got a strata that's a really
28:46
Speaker 1: good lign up of international talent at Double A. But
28:49
Speaker 1: Sosa and Deva Santos keep your eye on them this year.
28:53
Speaker 1: This could be breakout years for these kids. And the
28:56
Speaker 1: Oriels International program is really starting to hunt him and
28:59
Speaker 1: so it's exciting. It's a good few days in Birdland, Tim,
29:03
Speaker 1: and we know they all won't be like that, so
29:05
Speaker 1: when we get them, we got to take them right.
29:08
Speaker 2: Steve. It's amazing the difference a week makes.
29:12
Speaker 3: We debuted this show when the Orioles got swept by
29:15
Speaker 3: the Pirates, and since that point they won five of six.
29:18
Speaker 2: You're back over five hundred and you feel a heck
29:22
Speaker 2: of a lot better.
29:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're not going to take any credit for that,
29:25
Speaker 1: but it's nice timing on our part to finally have
29:29
Speaker 1: it going well. So glad to right check out Birdland
29:32
Speaker 1: Territory today. We're gonna get Brad Brock back very soon,
29:37
Speaker 1: and we'll have other shows coming here right around the corner. Tim,
29:39
Speaker 1: so follow us and on YouTube, subscribe and check out
29:44
Speaker 1: Birdland Territory. Tim, have a great week. We'll catch you
29:47
Speaker 1: in a couple of days and hopefully we'll have a
29:48
Speaker 1: lot more fun stuff to talk about here in Birdland.
29:51
Speaker 2: Really looking forward to it, Steve.
29:53
Speaker 1: For Tim Barbelace, I'm Steve Maleski. We'll catch you next
29:56
Speaker 1: time on Birdland Territory.