Roch, I'm outraged! Sacrificing your blog for your health?!?

just kidding. get better and throw some trade rumors our way!

Burres 1 2/3 innings!

Burres 1 2/3 innings!

Burres 1 2/3 innings!

McPhail please do something. Trade for veteran pitching or the orioles will have the worst second half record all time.

You can forget Tex coming to town!

On Walker:
That's just what we need, our left handed reliever giving up "rocket ships."

On Bradford:
Anybody keeping track how many times he has come into a game and put the first hitter on base?

In a moment of brilliance, I determined what to do to fix Daniel Cabrera. It's time for him to change his number again. That should deliver him another string of a dozen or so good starts before he'll need to change it again.

Roch, feel better soon!

You didn't miss much, Roch. Probably the same old rip job by us - but a deserved one - on Burress, and the same old, "This team just never quits," postgame b.s. Mighty peculiar for a bunch of pitchers who Trembley keeps telling, "You're up here to win."

The AT&T player of the game on MASN should have been Fahey for stretching that hit into a double. Best piece of baserunning I've seen from this club in weeks.

It is funny how a game can turn on a ball strike call. O's within 1, with runners on late in the game, two outs and Roberts strikes out looking with two of the strikes more than outside. A Sahme , but it happens every game, each way.

Hope you feel better, Roch, as an O's fan in Boston, you do a fabulous professional job blogging about the O's.

Roch-
What are the chances we get to see one of the Bowie starters at some point this year? I need something to look forward to.
Also, Reimold started at LF the last couple of days. I can not wait to see him in LF next month. (I hope).
Ben Sheets and Roy Oswalt were the last 2 top starters on Team USA. Arrieta is there now. If Only.

You're allowed a sick day. Just one though.

Saw Bowie lose in exras to Erie tonight. Tillman pitched and apparently he warms up pitching to Wieters because everything was about shoulder to ear-high on, well, everyone. He only lasted 4. Again, if everyone was 7' tall, he'd have been throwing strikes. But between he and Wieters, everyone else looked like Oompa Loompas. *Freakishly* tall in comparison.

Someone in an earlier thread mentioned they saw Wieters at a game being less-than-fan-friendly, and I have to say... I kind of agree. He didn't say one single word to anyone while he signed, and there were a bunch of Oriole fans there tonight. I made an effort to break the awkward tension by mentioning also having gone to Ga Tech, and he didn't even look up and just said "yeah, and?"

Oooookay then.

His third AB resulted in a homer to center that may not have actually landed yet, it put Bowie back in the game, but they lost in the 10th to a walk off home run. Crap.

Roch I am worried about you, seem to be getting sick a lot. If I recall you had a bad roast beef dinner at a DC game.

Rochet Man...get well soon. We need you! Yeah, real insightful stuff from the Tremmeister, gotta change that line-up around, that'll do the trick. Our starting pitching is off-the-charts embarrassing! How in the heck can this organization not produce a decent starter or two after ten years of losing and getting relatively high draft picks? UNBELIEVABLE!! Burress will soon be just another sorry casualty in this long litany of failed Oriole pitchers. Yawn!! Oh, and throw in Olson and Cabrera too. Double yawn.

You can only do so much with a minor league pitching staff , you won't see quality pitchers in Baltimore until Peter the Great sells the team because he won't pay top dollar for a pitcher to pitch every five days,,,,,,,,,,,,,this rebuilding process is a joke , but the only one laughing is the Great one..................the great fans of Baltimore are the blunt of it.....................wake up people.............

Roch,

We've hit the downhill spiral. We are still playing hard but the starting pitching is burying us. In fact in Olsens last game it appeared where Trembly would normally pull him, with the O's leading and 2 on in the 5th, it was like he needed to stretch him out regardless of the outcome! It's time to sign Brob and Nick and become sellers of Huff, Sherrill, Mora, Millar and Hernandez. Huff and Sherill should be worth a couple of top prospects the rest might bring us a bullpen catcher but lets move forward!

Aw Roch, I hope you feel better this morning!

Zach - Tillman pitched last night(Friday). Should be up next on Wednesday, but call Baysox office next week to verify. He's been rocked in his last two outings.

Hey Roch, I think the o's have made us all a little sick lately...u deserve a day off though buddy.

man, we stink.

feel better, dudebro.

Gee. If I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of minutes with Amber, I should feel quite heeled!
Seriously, here's hoping it is the 24 hour variety bug and you'll be ready to take us inside of the clubhouse before tonight's game begins.
We could really use a victory tonight, and could really profit from a little momentum before hitting the road. I hope that Thursday's modest offensive output is not the shape of things to come for the rest of the season. Our pee poor post All Star game starting pitching seems to be impacting our offense which has gone to the well so often that we may be running out of water with miles to go before we rest.

As an indication of how bad the starting pitching has been and its negative impact on the bullpen, note that only once in the last 19 games has a starter thrown 7 innings. Also, with a July starter ERA of 6.73 it is easy to understand why the team has only won 7 games while losing 14 so far this month.

Stop hanging out with Anita Marks and you won't get sick.

Trembley is right about the psychology of shaking it up which is why he should do something radical ( not the lineup) this Sunday.

Have everybody show up 15 minutes before game time or run the phantom infield drill.

It's best to take a few days off to recoup than try to work through it. Hope you feel better.

If only we had good starting ptiching... most of those close games wouldn't be -- they'd be wins.

Roch,

Has anyone mentioned the O's trading for Tex? The last talks I heard had the Braves not asking for a load of talent and this would be a great way to get him into Baltimore and then sign him to a long term deal. Worst comes to worse, he walks and we get two picks?

Roch, I had the same experience with Wieters last week when he signed for me. What is going on with him? It would be nice to interview him. I realize he may still be adjusting to Bowie and may have left friends back in Frederick or even at GT, but he is doing what he loves to do and is being paid well. Hope everything is ok. Maybe he's just quiet.

I hate to hear that stuff about Wieters come off as an arrogant person...maybe a little time around Adam Jones will do him some good. Or maybe he was just having a bad day? Lets hope he's not another "misunderstood" case like Bedard.

Hey Roch:
Glad you are recovering and I have a question that I have not seen answered before. If the O's moved Weiters up to Bowie at the break, why hasn't Reimold been moved up to Norfolk? People in this column are talking about him being brought up to the majors in September, when he hasn't even played at the AAA level. What gives?

Roch,

Trembley stretched out Sarfate 3 1/3 innings. Any chance he plans to move him into the starting rotation to replace Burres?

They should have everyone pitch one inning, infield, outfield, catcher and one pitcher. Couldn't do any worse than what is happening now.

Have you heard about anything involving the Orioles for the trading deadline, Roch? Rumors - ideas - deals?

I desperately need to see a piece of good news! I think we ALL know the problem by now. Pitching! Starting pitching!

Forget Teixiera! We need starters to replace Olson, Liz, and Burres. We need to have a big fundraiser for that kind of cash! Maybe Anita, Amber, and Roch can have a big party?

R is for Roch!

Jim from Dundalk -

You truly are infatuated with this Peter The Great thing aren't you! Try adding a few other observations. We all get how you feel about "Peter The Great".

It's obvious that we need to add more quality arms into our system. Everyone, including myself was worried about the hitting. And there have been games that it truly has been pathetic, however for the most part our offense has been competitive.

Our focus on rebuilding should be finding kids that can throw strikes, players that are willing to work on the fundamentals over and over, and hitters that have the patience to work the count. It will take time to upgrade our farm system from both player and coaching aspects. But we do have some talent, it's just a few years away. Let us not forget the injuries. A team with limited farm system resources typically can't overcome injuries like Albers & Lowen.

White Sox released Esteban Loaiza, is he worth a look?

I hope Weiters isnt like that. We dont need another Albert Belle.

Roch: Get better. The quote from Dave Trembley about the need to shake up the lineup because of the losses is pretty incredible. I mean, he simply can't honestly believe that (it's no reflection or disgrace on the Orioles' offense that they were shut down by Roy Halliday and A.J. Burnett---two pitchers with above average stuff).

So, what's the purpose of such a remark, to perform a slight of hand that gives the impression that the captain somehow is righting the sink even as it continues to sink?

Whatever the case, Trembley (who I still think has done a terrific job this season) isn't facing reality and is slipping in his role to put the team on the field that gives him the best chance to win.

The past month has exposed the O's Achilles Heel: starting pitching. Trembley himself has called it the key to competing in the AL East and this is where the shakeup has to begin right now if the team is to prevent the season from being a collapse of potentially historic proportions.

As it now stands there is one starter in the rotation who can be counted on consistently to keep the team in games and that is Jeremy Guthrie. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz came to the team this spring highly regarded for his ability to develop young pitching, something it was said former coach Leo Mazzone couldn't do, but now more than halfway through the season Kranitz has done little to justify that reputation--even his main project Daniel Cabrera, who looked
improved early on, now looks searching for answers, answers which Kranitz is supposed to be providing.

So, four games out of five the Orioles' starter isn't pitching deep into games and the bullpen is beginning to crack under the weight of all those innings pitched. Obviously, this is where Trembley should be putting his focus, not on a lineup that doesn't need a lot of tweaking. But what to do?

Right now there's no available decent veteran starters to sign or get in a trade. Anyone the team may acquire in a trade over the next week is going to be a prospect and most teams aren't going to give away a quality starting prospect because top pitchers are a rarer commodity than the top position players.

Certainly, reaching down to the minors to bring up a starter is something that well may happen and soon, but it has been a move the O's front office hasn't wanted to do. And frankly, it doesn't appear that anyone there is ready to go against big league hitting and definitely lack experience.

There is one option that the team does have and it's something that can be done immediately: Move Jim Johnson to the rotation. Yes, he's been great as setup man and there's no assurance that he can make the transition, but he has the stuff to be successful as a starter and I believe the makeup, as well, as he doesn't back down from hitters and has an idea of what he's doing on the mound.

Who to put in the bullpen? Radames Liz would seem to be the logical choice, since he has better stuff than Garrett Olson or Brian Burres, while Daniel Cabrera has shown that he can eat up innings if he's not having a horrendous outing, such as his past meltdown.

Yet Liz had shown a capacity on given days to go deeper into games than Olson or Burres, so the argument can be made that one of them should be removed from the rotation instead.

What about a setup man if Johnson becomes a starter? I like Randor Bierd in that role. His stuff has been very good since coming off of the disabled list, with some great late movement on his pitches. Also, his control seems to be better than Dennis Sarfate's at the moment.

The front end duo of Guthrie and Johnson could help stabilize the rotation, which in turn could improve the staff overall by giving the bullpen more of a breather.

Clearly the team needs to do something and quick, to prevent becoming laughingstocks again, and this, I think, is part of the solution--at least short term.

Ken-- good posts. Were you storing them up like a camel?