Good point on Luis Hernandez, Roch, he did look better at second. I have to wonder, though, if he's just better over there or whether his benching was the wake-up call he needed to get his act together.

Hernandez reminds me of another Orioles prospect that struggled defensively at shortstop, Brian Roberts. While Hernandez doesn't have the bat Roberts has they both struggled defensively at shortstop.

Aquino is a 4A guy, sounds like

I was watching the game (and as I stated in a earlier entry, my luck is the Orioles would lose today as the rest of the series was not televised in our area), and I did not see a balk -- but I did not see Burres or Trembley argue the call either.

What I did see was a pathetic effort to hit the ball. Look like a lot of the batters were looking at center field when they swung the bat -- hey how about watching th pitch?!?

Had a bad feeling about the game after Bynum jump to get the ball and it hit off his wrist...still not sure how that is not an error.

On the other hand, hats off to Gathright, who while making it look easy, probably stole possible hits from Jones and Huff -- I am pretty sure the majority of center fielders in the AL do not both those plays.

Anyhow Roch, you got your 3 out 4 wins in KC. We come of out the 20 game strech 8-11 with a tie. I was one who thought we would be 11-9 -- a couple of timely hits in Oakland we might be.

Not a great stretch, but by no means did the wheels fall off either. 16 more games this month and if we come out of those at 8-8 (with 10 against the Yanks/Red Sox) I think we would be doing pretty good.

My emotions are mixed. Last year, we all blasted Perlozzo for lifting pitchers too early and not allowing anyone to work out of their own messes, however this season, Trembley has done the opposite--which I must admit is nice to see--but the results haven't been as promising. It seems every pitcher that goes out there...ends up with a "plus" after their inning line. Olson I believe has been in that situation in all his starts and those runners on base that are his responsibily have ineviteably scored. Granted, you expect a reliever to minimize damage, but each guy who goes out there seems to run himself into trouble at that start of his last inning and it's inflating the starter's ERA. My question is: are fans glad Trembley is giving the starters the chance to work a bit deeper or do the results suggest that he's allowing these guys to push their limits a bit too much? It's hard to knock Trembley because I suspect every starter in baseball would prefer to get a few more outs in a start if possible, but the results suggest these guys might be better off finishing stong. Obviously if Burres or Olson or Guthrie come out and shut down the opposition in that final frame, all is well. It just isn't happening. Take away the "plus" batters in each pitcher's final frame and I imagine their individual ERA's would drop over a run a game. Especially with Olson who's still very young and experienced, perhaps taking him out on a high note would be more beneficial. He must really dread leaving with men on base--since they score basically 100% of the time.

Also, I imagine no starter wants to have Walker come in with inherited runners. A lefty throwing 82mph with a breaking ball SO slow that hitters can just watch it sweep across the plate is not a good option at this point. I might argue that his career is--or should be--done. I can't see him ever being effective again because I don't see any indication that his stuff will improve at all. He cannot control either corner consistantly and his lack of velocity keeps hitters locked in. He really can't use the inside corner back hitters off. I imagine that an inexperienced kid on the farm would be just as effective/ineffective as Walker at this point.

Any thoughts?

Can't go too hard on the offense.... afterall, they were battling the pink bat virus. The home plate umpire must have caught it too... As the game progressed he was seeing things that weren't there...

My emotions are mixed. Last year, we all blasted Perlozzo for lifting
pitchers too early and not allowing anyone to work out of their own
messes, however this season, Trembley has done the opposite--which I
must admit is nice to see--but the results haven't been as promising. It
seems every pitcher that goes out there...ends up with a "plus" after
their inning line. Olson I believe has been in that situation in all his
starts and those runners on base that are his responsibly have
inevitably scored. Granted, you expect a reliever to minimize damage,
but each guy who goes out there seems to run himself into trouble at
that start of his last inning and it's inflating the starter's ERA. My
question is: are fans glad Trembley is giving the starters the chance to
work a bit deeper or do the results suggest that he's allowing these
guys to push their limits a bit too much? It's hard to knock Trembley
because I suspect every starter in baseball would prefer to get a few
more outs in a start if possible, but the results suggest these guys
might be better off finishing stong. Obviously if Burres or Olson or
Guthrie come out and shut down the opposition in that final frame, all
is well. It just isn't happening. Take away the "plus" batters in each
pitcher's final frame and I imagine their individual ERA's would drop
over a run a game. Especially with Olson who's still very young and
experienced, perhaps taking him out on a high note would be more
beneficial. He must really dread leaving with men on base--since they
score basically 100% of the time.

Also, I imagine no starter wants to have Walker come in with inherited
runners. A lefty throwing 82mph with a breaking ball SO slow that
hitters can just watch it sweep across the plate is not a good option at
this point. I might argue that his career is--or should be--done. I
can't see him ever being effective again because I don't see any
indication that his stuff will improve at all. He cannot control either
corner consistently and his lack of velocity keeps hitters locked in. He
really can't use the inside corner back hitters off. I imagine that an
inexperienced kid on the farm would be just as effective/ineffective as
Walker at this point.

Any thoughts?

Would anyone in the lineup not named Markakis care to draw a walk? Fire Crow already; I'm tired of watching this impatient approach to hitting year after year.

About the balk, I was watching the MASN post-game show and they explained it. Rick Dempsey stated that Burress did not come completely set. After all the other bizarre calls, I thought Jim Joyce was losing his mind.

P is for picky.

I just hope people realize how much more pathetic the line up is without Roberts in there.The same people that want to trade Roberts are the same ones who ran Gibbons out of town for Moore and Moore will never be a major leaguer.The O's also need to do something about Adam Jones. Other than running down balls in the OF his baseball IQ overall is bad.The ony way now to salvage the Bedard deal is get something good for Sherill.

With all due respect to Brian Bannister, who pitched extremely well, it sure looked like the Orioles mailed this one in. Maybe they were trying to beat the postal increase which begins on Monday.With Sunday's game being the last game of a ten game road trip, and with an off day on Monday, I guess it came as no surprise. Too bad, as a sweep of the Royals would have given the O's a 5-5 road trip, great considering the fact that they started out 1-5 through Los Angeles and Oakland. The O's also ran their record in Sunday games this year to a dismal 1-5, losing their fifth straight Sunday game. A poor record in Sunday games seems to be an annual thing with this team. It has to be more than a coincidence.

Anybody who read Peter Schmuck's ridiculous column yesterday should check out Joe Sheehan's response at baseballprospectus.com. Look at the "unfiltered" box in the upper right hand corner. Schmuck isn't always that bad, but talk about mailing one in.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Angelos --I somewhat can see what you mean with Dave Trembley's slow hook, but I prefer it over what Sam Perlozzo did, especially as bad as the bullpen was last year. Trembley is definitely concerned about not overtaxing the 'pen, and that's smart baseball.

As far as going too long with his starters, however, I think you need to keep in mind that when the Orioles are in a tight game, as they were Saturday with Garrett Olson on the mound, Trembley tries to leave him in as long as he's still effective.

Notice that when he pulled Olson, it was after the Royals got within 6-2 with two on, one out in the sixth inning, so the worst Garrett could get was a no decision. This is rewarding a young starter for a gutsy performance (at least one Royal reached in every inning, but he hung in there), while not letting him lose confidence with a loss after battling the way he did. Makes sense to me.

Jamie Walker is a question mark. He was pitching the same way last year but getting people out. Maybe he needs a wrinkle in his arsenal, like the sidearm delivery that Mike Flanagan taught Brian Burres. Personally, I'm guessing Jamie's got something left in the tank, and will keep battling until he figures it out.

John -- Yes, the lineup suffers when Brian Roberts isn't in it, no question, though he's another Oriole who's struggling mightily at the plate. That's not a big deal, however, as he was struggling the same way around this time last season, then found his stroke and got hot enough to be named to the AL All-Star Team. We have every reason to expect the same this year. (I do think, as an aside, that Freddie Bynum could do a decent job as a short term fill-in.)

As for the Erik Bedard deal, I think you're really panicking. Yeah, Adam Jones has a lot to learn, but he's too young and too talented to write off. Two years ago people were saying that Nick Markakis would never make it in the majors. Boy, were they wrong!

George Sherrill may bring the O's a nice package of players someday, but he may be the closer they need for future success. (Yes, I know his ERA isn't great, but his 13 saves are second in all of baseball.)

Also, the O's have three pitching prospects in the minors from the Bedard trade, including highly-touted Chris Tillman. Let's remember, too, that the trade was about rebuilding, so a month-and-a-half into the season is a little too early to judge whether this was or wasn't a good deal.

Surprising fact: Miguel Tejada has played a little better at short this season than Luis Hernandez, something no one would have guessed at the beginning of the year.

John--trades need to be judged after the prospects have been given a chance to develop. The 2 key players in the Bedard trade are young prospects. Tillman, who just turned 20 is unbeaten at AA while pitching against players 3-4 years older than him and Jones who is starting in centerfield in the big leagues.Butler and Mickolio are also both pitching well and are young with solid future potential.My advice is not to buy or start your own salvage company as it may well be your IQ that is questionable.To all you Walker bashers, good lefthanded pitching is the rarest thing in basball and we quite simply don't have anyone better in the minors at this time.Brian Bannister was awfully good today and we can not be expected to go 9-0 every year against KC.

I'd say we got great returns in the Bedard trade other than Sherril. Tillman and Mackolio look good so far.
As far as Jones is concerned, he's only, what 22? I seem to remember a certain 22 year old hitter hovering near the mendoza line a couple of years ago before going on a tear. We were patient with Markakis, and may need to be even more so with Adam "Don't Call Me Pacman" Jones. His skills and athleticism cannot be dismissed; he will be just fine. I still think Crowley's time is way past. Let McPhail pick one of his own guys like he did with Kranitz.

John, you must be Sugerbear reincarnated. Salvage the Bedard trade? Too stupid a remark to even dignify.

Greg E. -- I found your observation curious about how on the one hand Brian Bannister "pitched extremely well, but on the other how the O's seemed to have "mailed this one in." If Bannister pitched so well, what would make you think the team wasn't trying? Brian Burres was sure trying; I don't think you'll disagree with that. Maybe Bannister simply had their number today...it happens, you know.

As for the poor Sunday games, it does seem to be the case. I remember how it was a point of discussion last year around this time. I agree, it's probably more than coincidence, but my guess it when a team has a decade of losing seasons, it's going to lose plenty of Sunday games. I'm hoping the O's buck that trend this year!

The point I was trying to make in the last post was that we should be populating our bullpen with pitchers that can get out batters from both sides of the plate AND get at least three outs per outing.

This is not a new concept. We have had Grant Jackson, Dennis Martinez, Sammy Stewart, and others in that role. The Yankees recently had a guy named Ramirez. I’m sure there are many more pitchers I can’t think of right now. Besides, most relievers are starters that either didn’t have enough pitches to get through the lineup twice, or (like Penn and Liz) couldn’t figure out how to get through an inning with less than 20 pitches.

Good pitchers know how to get good hitters out regardless of which side of the plate they are standing on. George Sherrill faces lefties and righties. Wouldn’t we be better with a six man bullpen that gets at least three outs per outing than an eight man bullpen that has three pitchers that are good for a combined 200 outs per year?

The O's made it through 17 out of 20 games on the road, with 2 trips to the west coast, rain outs and rain delays, double headers, and they're at .500. I'll take it.

Ken,

Don't get me wrong...I agree and prefer Trembley's approach of letting these guys stretch it out far more than Perlozzo's approach of giving the early hook. Just wish the results were better. Trembley allows them to sometimes get in trobule but doesn't allow them to try and get out of it with a few exceptions. If they only last a few batters in an inning without recording an out, perhaps that indicates that they ran out of gas prior to the start. Or...they just ran into some trouble in the later innings. These innings wouldn't seem so bad if they took place in the 4th or 5th.

I prefer his approach, just wish the results were better. Plus...bullpen is allowing far too many inherited runners to score

There are a few really thoughtful comments posted here tonight, -- e.g., by Teenage Mutant Ninja Angelos and Ken Francis. I'm shocked ... shocked.

I drove down from Des Moines to attend the game on Sunday. Weather was a million times better than Sat.

Just wanted to say that the lineup pretty much performed how I expected after seeing it posted on the giant screen out there, which by the way, is just as impressive as Roch described.

1st time at Kauffman and other than the loss, it wasn't too bad.

Teenage Mutant.... - I think the thing to try to remember is that Trembley has to pull double duty this season. Not only is he expected to manage to give us the best opportunity to win games, but he also needs to make sure that his young players continue to develop into solid ML players. If we want to contend in a couple of seasons we'll need a core of young pitchers who don't think that someone is going to come out and rescue them every time they get a runner or two on in the 6th. It can be a tricky line to walk sometimes, but I think so far Dave has done a pretty darn good job with his young pitchers.

It would have been nice to come away with a win yesterday, but all things considered equal I can't be upset with the way the road trip ended. We cost ourselves a couple of games by making mistakes against a couple of really good teams (LA and Oak) that will always make you pay for it, and took advantage of a couple of struggling teams (Sea and KC), and played under some cruddy conditions in Chicago. For this team to go 7-9 with a TBD tie and come home at .500 is something I'm content with.

Welcome home, Boys! Now let's go kick some Red Sox arse!

Section 34: Thanks for pointing out Sheehan's article. Ironically, I think Sheehan himself is a bit guilty of "mailing it in." While his discussion of Bonds seems fine to me, his last full paragraph about the Orioles being "a roster full of overpaid thirtysomethings" and everybody being equal in the Orioles clubhouse "because there’s not a single player good enough to stand out from the crowd" is garbage. He might have checked and noted that our outfield is young, talented, and underpaid, or that some of our thirtysomethings are not overpaid (Roberts; and compare the salaries and production of our firstbaseman with his counterparts in New York). I like and respect Baseball Prospectus, but sometimes they do find themselves too witty and erudite for their own good.

This is my first post since Friday so I am playing catch-up.
Johnson should get a chance to start. When someone is that effective, you want to give him as many guaranteed innings a week as you can get him. Swap him and Burres since Olsen/Burres back to back is ineffective. It also gives you a solid lefty that can be a long man or be used situationally since Walker is in a funk right now.
Wieters has no business in Single A. He has nothing left to prove there. I would have him in AA by the end of the week. If he continued to tear it up in AA over the next two months, AAA it is. He is already 22 and seasoned well beyond his years. A-Rod made it to the majors at 19. When you're that good, you should be rewarded with a call-up.
I would give Walker a little more slack (until this time, next month) but not Trachsel. We have way too many talented pitchers right now to be carrying his pathetic arm. The rotation and bullpen (due to lack of use) are better without him.
Payton should go after that selfish display on Saturday. He knew we had no bench and Scott was still getting his strength back from his flu. Give me Terrero (never thought I'd say that). Cintron was the best choice this time as our immediate need was middle-infield.

L. Hernandez is a lifetime minor leaguer unless we trade Roberts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,he then becomes a part time major leaguer until we find a full time major leaguer so he can resume his full time , life time roll as a minor leaguer............

Go O's

Sheets: You're right, he certainly missed Markakis and Roberts, who stand out.
We are still carrying a few too many overpaid 30-somethings, though.
From most overpaid to almost worth their money, here's my list
Danys Baez
Jay Payton
Jamie Walker
Aubrey Huff
Ramon Hernandez
Melvin Mora
Kevin Millar
Chad Bradford
And of course we're still paying Jay Gibbons' salary.
Andy MacPhail has made progress, but the Oriole Way won't be rebuilt in a day.

FYI, there's more Baltimore on the Unfiltered part of Baseball Prospectus right now -- David Laurila has a not-particularly-interesting interview with Chris Tillman just above Sheehan's slam of Peter Schmuck.

This may have little no meaning but in 29 innings this season, Bannister has a 0.62 ERA in day games and the O's have a .5 dip in OPS during the day. In any case, Sunday notwithstanding, we got some positive mo' going into the homestand.

I got my mlb.tv and it's actually fun to hear the away announcers. Frank White is fantastic . He and the play-by-play guy spent a hilarious two minutes debating the physics of how Guillen chopped that foul ball between his legs and the value of wearing a cup.

Section 34: I agree with your list! I consider Mora, Millar, and Bradford to be appropriately paid. That doesn't mean I see guys like them pushing teams to championships, just that they are serviceable, better than many alternatives, and not making ridiculous money. Huff probably makes that list, too, but as someone limited to DH he's probably easier to replace with a cheaper alternative. Baez has always been a terrible contract, paying a below average 4th outfielder $5M like we pay Payton is outrageous, and my problem with the Gibbons contract when it was signed was that it was for a year or two too many.

All the same, we've got some young pitching worth being excited about and for the first time in ages we have the makings of a very good outfield. And the dreaded "thirtysomethings" of the list almost all have contracts that end after 2009, so hopefully MacPhail spreads the upgrades systematically over the next 15 months.

What does Flannigan do? Can I have his job. Can I have Gibbons job. Can I please have Billick's job . OK , I'll take Ernie T's or his son's job. Big bucks.Check it out. Big bucks for the Tylers.More then you Sun reporters. Check it out.