Pete,

You are on tonight. Thanks for keeping this light, while the balls hit by the Rangers disappear into the night!

I wonder if keeping Hammock would have been better than Moeller. Moeller isn't much of a hitter, can't play other positions and doesn't seem to be calling games very well. I'm not blaming him for the losses though.

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Pete's reply: I guess we'll never know. Hammock is hurt and Moeller is 4 for 11 with a home run, so he isnt hurting them offensively.

Tomorrow's headline: O's send Liz and Albers to Norfolk...

There is absolutely no reason that RLiz be anywhere near a pitcher's mound in a major league ballpark.
The minor leagues are full of guys with good arms that can't pitch. If this was a throwing contest, ok, maybe.
But it's not.

The sad scary part is there may come a time during the season when we're fondly remembering the well-pitched games in April...

Hey Pete, how about a puff piece on Kranny...I mean throw the guy a bone. Being the pitching coach for this bunch might drive him right out of coaching. This has got to be a reputation killer,no?(Where is Mazzone anyway??) The guy comes here with this great rep, and might end up as the pitching coach for one of the league's worst 2 years running.

Maybe for sanity's sake he should be at AAA and AA working with the future...it sure as hell ain't in Baltimore.

Albers hasn't fully recovered and probably wont if he doesn't have surgery because this isn't the same guy that was the key to the O's BP last year.

I really thought Bass was going to be a surprise this year, but he has looked bad since opening day. This might be a really good time to get him through waivers and see if he can regain his confidence in the minors.

I am glad D Cab isn't here, as well as the non-signing of Redding, but it's pretty sad how bad starting pitching is when the failure to sign Looper could have a huge impact on this year. The guy would have given us innings and a chance to win, as well as 3 legit SPs, but if the O's need to find 3 serviceable SPs now, they are in huge trouble.

Pete, is there a point where not signing Pedro, will hurt this team in more ways than the money he wants? I was hoping Tillman would have no shot of coming up this year, but at this rate, prospects will be rushed and the only guy out there that could stop it is Pedro. I think the O's are being foolish. I am not blaming Dave, but this BP will collapse quicker than last years BP, if these SPs can't go 6 innings.

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Pete's reply: I think the horse is out of the barn on Pedro. He hasn't pitched in a month and didn't pitch that much in the WBC, and he was about a five-inning guy a year ago.

I have a feeling that they involve not getting any salsa on your Tommy Bahama shirts at a Lake Tahoe buffet.

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Pete's reply: I would say that's a fair assumption.

Can't wait to see the roster moves the "braintrust" comes up with on roster moves over the weekend.I guess to be fair to Liz,and i really don't want to, he was barely used in spring training and with Norfolk so far. Hard to be sharp under those conditions.Has there ever been a backup catcher under as much pressure as Moeller is right now? This guy is a walking jinx machine right now.

Peter, at what point does O's leadership think about converting Jim Johnson back into a starter? He's proven he can handle major league hitting. It would just be a matter of time necessary to stretch his innings out.

As Bill Lumberg from Office Space would say, "Uh, we have a little bit of a problem here."

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Pete's reply: Don't see it with him this close to that shoulder issue in spring.

Hey Peter,
I watched the game until Liz came in and gave up the grand slam. I looked at the box score this morning and Texas didn't take out of their starters. Why did they do this? When your up by 10 runs why not rest some starters. The Orioles did, Andino and Freel came in. I recall Texas doing the same thing in the 30-3 game. Their manager is disrespectful.

Pete , I have a question for you , Do you think in Baseball today, the hitters are dominating the game over the pitchers? I never seen such high ERAs across the league . One more question , do you think raising the pitcher's mound by 2 inches might level the game more evenly?
Thanks in advance .

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Pete's reply: History says raising the mound would have an impact. I just think it's early and there have been some notable pitchers not throwing well yet.

Wow, what a beat down. For all those who wonder if you can hit your way into contention with very little pitching let this game be a lesson. the O's once again scored 6 runs, not bad huh? They got crushed just the same. The team that did it, has been trying to compete with "all hit no pitch" for years now, and has just as many WS rings in the last 10 years as the O's do.

Good day Mr. Schmuck,
I am saying this in the most hopeful way. The fourth day is always better than the third day, it seems. That means the O's next game should be a win. Of course, who's Pitching? We have 2 "experienced" pitchers on our staff with 2 pitchers with experience(mostly bad). It seems that we always start off the season with these great successes, and then fade away. This shows that our pitching is at best transparent. When you get past the glare of the spring sun,the hitters see, all too well, the mediocre performances. We need to stay the course and remember the Plan. Let's get to 2010. Experimenting this year to build a solid foundation for the long term future.

Hi Pete,

The Orioles are going to start both Eaton and Hendrickson in Fenway Park. This is a sad, sad situation as far as the pitching staff is concerned, and all the talk about rebuilding and 2011 seem awfully far away when the other team is playing jai-lai with the what is left from the 37 man pitching tryout camp.

Macphail is going to have to do something to get some starting pitching in here or the position players will gradually begin to fold out of frustration.

Pete, do you have any ideas other than wait and hope that the young pitching prospects stay healthy and eventually succeed?

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Pete's reply: Not really. They aren't interested in Pedro Martinez and nobody trades decent pitching in April, so that's about all you can do is wait for the young guys. But you won't have to wait that long.

Good Day Mr. Schmuck,
I am saying this hopefully. It seems we don't do well on the 3rd day/game . We have 2 "experienced" pitchers with 2 pitchers with experience(mostly bad).
We seem to start each year with great success only to fade away. This shows that our pitching is transparent. After the glare of the Spring sun wears off, the batters see all too well the mediocre pitching. Let's remember The Plan. Experiment this year to build a solid foundation for the future years.

Pete-
As an O's fan living in FLA, I watch the Marlins (now my 2nd favorite team) throughout the season. Thought I would give you a Hayden Penn update. He got the win in relief last night against the Braves. Came in in the 4th and retired all four batters he faced over 1 1/3 innings. Looked good on some of the pitches, but gave up one fly to the warning track in center that would have been out in June or July. Overall, no complaints.

Obviously it was not his fault that the Orioles got smoked, but I did not like the way that Moeller was framing pitches. I like the way Zaun calls the game and frames the pitches for the ump. I don't think the Orioles should give up on Liz. He does have some nasty stuff if he can just be more consistent with his location. Watching Hendrickson trying to get that curveball over last night was downright painful. I don't know why he didn't mix in a few more "fast"balls. If Koji and Hendrickson don't bounce back, this might be one of the worst pitching staffs in MLB history. Hopefully the defense got all of its brain farts out in this game.

O.......M........G!!!! No way anybody could've convinced me that our '09 rotation would be worse than '08's. I pray at night for world peace, an improving economy, my loving family, and good health for Brad B, Hernandez, Matusz, Arrieta, and Tillman. Andy...be patient, and do NOT hold Trembly and Kranitz responsible for this mound garbage you've given them.

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Pete's reply: C'mon now, there'll be plenty of time to panic. They're still 6-3.

I think MacPhail has been pure genius since joining the team, but he's got it wrong on Pedro. It's clear we have a wealth of young pitching talent, but what we lack is an old war horse who can mentor these kids on how to win. Say what you want about him, but Pedro is a fierce competitor who knows how to get the job done. Having someone like that would be invaluable - not just for the pitchers, but also for position players like Jones, Markakis, and Wieters. Pedro would have the same effect Sutcliffe had when he was with the club in 1992 and 1993. In this sense, Pedro actually enhances MacPhail's plan.

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Pete's reply: Of course, the obvious question, then, is 'Why hasn't anybody else signed him?' Lots of teams need a starting pitcher right now, but 29 other teams haven't signed him either.

At what point do you think you'll start seeing guys like bergesen and hernandez get their shots? I don't have anything against eaton or hendrickson but i think i saw somewhere that the bullpen has pitched more innings than the starters at this point, they've gotta find some guys who can go out there and eat up 6 or 7 innings and i just don't see that from most of the guys in the rotation

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Pete's reply: I think you'll see somebody from Triple-A pretty soon.

I'm down with your stellar analysis of the pitching situation, but what I am not down with is why you're bailing on fantasy BB. Afraid of something? Let's all vote for a challenge Pete league. Pete, you get to pick the biggest loudmouths from the blog and showdown head to head. There's still time.

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Pete's reply: That would be fun, but I just don't have the time to do it justice. I've got nothing against fantasy baseball, just am not in a position to commit to it. And when I have gotten involved, all my supposed inside knowledge has done me no good.