Orioles: Intrasquad update
Left-hander Rich Hill took the mound in today's intrasquad game and showed again why he's had everyone scratching their heads all spring. He threw 28 pitches in the first inning, hit Donnie Murphy with a pitch and gave up a monster three-run home run to Luke Scott. He settled down a little in the second inning, but drilled Ryan Freel with another errant pitch.
Still, he seemed satisfied with his performance: "It went well. I threw the ball well and felt good. It was a first outing, so you just want to come out and feel healthy."
Brian Bass started for the black jerseyed team and pitched a little better, but he also gave up a huge three-run blast to Ty Wigginton and hit Justin Turner with a pitch. I was waiting for the benches to clear at that point, but the umpires didn't even issue a warning.
Closer George Sherrill pitched an inning and gave up a couple of runs before the inning was called short of three outs. He doesn't look very good right now, but it's only spring and he is a closer, so it's hard to gauge what's going on with him.
Quiet day otherwise...at least so far.
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Comments
So Hill has pretty much lost his control? Yeah he's going to be in extended spring training or on the DL...
He has the pitches that can turn heads, but something is messing with his control, whether it be the backproblem again or the injury he had earlier this spring
Posted by: Nate | March 25, 2009 11:46 AM
Peter
How can they have 37 pitchers in camp and NONE of them can pitch?
How can this be? You think they need new scouts?
Posted by: LEE | March 25, 2009 11:48 AM
Good morning Pete,
At this point it is fair to say that the Hill experiment is a failure. From a pitching perspective the Orioles have taken more than one leap of faith with other team's castoffs this spring .
Pete, in your opinion do you see hope for any of the gambles that the team has taken with pre-injured and/or pre-inneffective pithcers?
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Pete's reply: I think Hendrickson and Eaton still have a chance to help.
Posted by: Gil Jr | March 25, 2009 11:54 AM
Chris Ray is pitching lights out right now. I predict that come mid-May, he is our everyday closer. He just appears to be the better man. Your thoughts Peter?
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Pete's reply: That's quite possible, but it would be good for the team if both pitch well.
Posted by: Paul | March 25, 2009 12:00 PM
Keep up that NOBLE work {KINISH} i mean ANDY.Keep filling your team with complete bustouts from other teams like the cubs. Pie and hill are both bust outs that once again made it look like this team is headed in the right direction.It's wednesday pete and outside of yesterday's 3 good innings from koji our starting pitching will be made up of pitchers who made it through attrition not on performance. Thats ok i have to keep pinching myself about the fact that this is just a STOPGAP measure until all the star pitchers come to the rescue . God forbid Pete if they don't pan out this organization will be set back another 10 years or more. Instead of REMEMBER THE ALAMO. it will be remember JAKEBERGERSON.There is a major misconception with how Tampa bay pitching staff got so good last year. Garza, kasmir, sonnestine , were aguired pitchers.Price was the highly drafted number 1 pick and i read today that he will start the season in the minors. It is next to impossible to fill your entire starting 5 with home grown kids from the minor leagues. in this day and age .
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Pete's reply: Your understandable frustration is duly noted.
Posted by: blancione | March 25, 2009 12:03 PM
Pete - Ray should get his closer job back. One you shouldn't lose your position just because of an injury and two he has looked so much better than Sherrill this spring.
Posted by: nebraska_jeff | March 25, 2009 12:04 PM
Well I guess on the bright side at least it was our guys hitting the ball hard instead of the Nats minor leaguers.
Posted by: terpfan | March 25, 2009 12:05 PM
oh my it only took to march 25 for a touch of reality to set in with regards to Sherrill.
Posted by: Jeff V. | March 25, 2009 12:23 PM
At least the O's will "win" this game!
Not big into comments recently, Pete? Or have you just been pumping out blogs and articles, which have been excellent btw.
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Pete's reply: Sorry, trying to catch up right now.
Posted by: bms | March 25, 2009 12:23 PM
Peter...I'm got this bad feeling our SP is going to be even worse than last year. Guthrie has looked horrible for the O's and in the WBC, Koji looks ok, and we have no one concrete for the other 3 spots. Hill says "it went well"....28 pitches? hitting people? C'mon....going to be another long year.
Posted by: Bryan | March 25, 2009 12:41 PM
Peter: I just got back last night from LA, where I attended the WBC. I wish the US had played better, but that final game was one of the best baseball games I've ever seen.
How petty was Orioles management to make Guthrie leave the stadium early, take a red-eye flight and then pitch the next day? I guess it's comforting on some level that highly paid baseball players can still end up working for the same sort of jerks who supervise the rest of us. The O's remind me of a convenience store I worked for in college, not an employer of specialized professionals.
Posted by: section 34 | March 25, 2009 1:07 PM
Like most of the Orioles pitching staff, he has no idea how to find the strike zone.
Posted by: Canice Murphy | March 25, 2009 1:09 PM
one or the other if kranitz can get through his (slump) i can see Hill becomin a solid #3 for a couple years. The Os didnt give up anything to get him so if he flops you can just get rid of him. called low risk / high reward move made by mcphail just like Pie . both have potential
Posted by: greg | March 25, 2009 1:14 PM
Peter,
Maybe we can opt out for this season and just throw batting practice for NY, Bos, and Tampa?
Posted by: Nathan | March 25, 2009 2:35 PM
Pete:
With the status of the O's rotation, do you feel that they should spend a few dollars on Pedro?
JV
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Pete's reply: That's not the direction Andy MacPhail wants to go, and I understand why, but I wouldn't mind it. There would be some entertainment value there, and he have something to offer some of the younger pitchers.
Posted by: Joseph Vielbig | March 25, 2009 2:53 PM
From the sound of it, it seems our hitting will be unstoppable this year.
Posted by: Steve | March 25, 2009 4:27 PM
MacPhail has done a horrible job with his free agent pitchers selections but a great job with trades. So I was dissapointed last year when Sherrill wasn't dealt. He will never have that high a value again.
Posted by: eicholtz | March 25, 2009 4:38 PM
I feel bad for some of the young guys even though they are still with the team all be it in the minors. Montanez, Reimold and Turner have no role and were three of their best performers. Those are three guys I would have been excited to watch every day. Maybe Reimold and Montanez eventually make it but unless Turner moves to like SS or somewhere he may never come up with the deal Roberts got. Do you ever see a scenerio besides injury that could allow Turner to get a look? The Hernandez trade they got some good stuff. I was surprised they got that much back for him.
Posted by: eicholtz | March 25, 2009 4:40 PM
Pete,
I got a laugh out of your smart a$$ed comment about waiting for the benches to clear. I fully support the team's commitment to properly develop their young pitchers, but I'm starting to see visions of a Wizards-like year coming up.
Posted by: cliff | March 25, 2009 4:45 PM
Re: who should be thfifth starter.
Answer: No One
Set up a four man rotation . Only expectthem to pitch 5 innings. Set up a second tier of 4 other pitchers to be scheduled to pitchevery four game for say two innings. Use you other four or five relievers to get thorugh the last two innings. No one gets overused.
Posted by: mel | March 25, 2009 5:00 PM
Why not Simon? Okay, we've got this core of young pitchers we're protecting, but Simon isn't one of them. So why not give him five April starts and see what happens? We (and the Phils) already know what Eaton has, and it's ugly. An English cricket player won't make the national team no matter how good he is, unless the panel of old men who rule the sport feel like he's the right sort of English fellow and all. Maybe if Simon would smoke a pipe and wear a monocle . . .
Posted by: Danny in WV | March 25, 2009 6:06 PM
It amazes me that other teams are looking for that fifth starter and we are looking for #'s 3,4, and 5. Andy M. told us that the number one priority for the off season was to acquire pitching. It's still the number 1 priority. Was is Das I hear? A pitcher, a pitcher, my kingdom for a pitcher. Truly desperate days ahead I fear.
Posted by: Jay Peterson | March 25, 2009 6:55 PM
Congratulations to Harold Baines on his selection to the Orioles' Hall of Fame. He was a pretty good hitter and a class act too.
Posted by: Julie | March 25, 2009 8:00 PM