Looks like more bad decisions, based on an arbitrary schedule/plan versus performance to me. Why do they even keep stats if players have a draft number and they don't get promoted based on their performance (or dominance) but on GM's schedule?

I see why professional sports have Unions, any other business run like this would be out of business!

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Pete's reply: If only the game were that simple.

If three Norfolk pitchers are indeed in the rotation, I'd have to think Wieters is next, since the original point was to supposed to be to have them already accustomed to throwing to Matt when they came up. Batterymates coming up en masse was the idea.

"That's what we expect for him to be able to match up in situations, left against left," Trembley said. "It hasn't worked of late."

It hasn't worked for Oriolee since 2007. The scary thing thing is he is the 6th highest paid player on the team! $4.5M! I know the present GM didn't sign him, but what bad contract to be burdened with.

And yes, we can second guess, We are fans and thats what we do. Game decisions are tougher than they seem, but some moves with rosters can be more frustrating. Like not trading D. Cabrera when we had the chance. Everyone knew his mental make-up and the potential word got thrown around so much they believed their own hype. It's those type of decisions that frustrates some of us.

Stat of the day: The Orioles pitchers have a combined batting avg. higher than Pie or Zaun or Wiggington, etc....

Drop Jamie Walker now. The guy can't get anyone out for the second consecutive year. Gosh this makes me angry. Release Jamie Walker now!!!

Oi. I like the idea of the young pitching reaching the majors, but I am just troubled if we're being forced by need rather than development schedule. I think there might be some here who are clamoring for complete turnover but are actually too young to have seen a lot of young pitchers enter the majors.

Just in recent memory, with Adam Loewen we were forced to give him a MLB contract which meant that he had 3 years to hit the bigs, which in retrospect hurt his development before he was ready. He was still basically building up stamina and developing his mechanics against big league hitting with a big league amount of innings. If we look at Greinke who is breaking out now. He was rushed to the majors at age 18 and had a near nervous breakdown which forced him to take off 1.5 years from pro ball possibly never coming back. He comes back this season but he's coming back a stronger player and ready to play.

I understand why we fans are impatient and want to see the team get batter ASAP, but no matter how frustrated you are, you won't make the kid grow any faster than they will anyways. There's only a chance where our impatience might put them in impossible situations and perhaps damage them.

Great. Now when can we take care of the bullpen and let Wilfrido Perez come up to dump Jamie Walker?

All these new faces and still no Wieters. Once, if ever it seems like, Wieters comes up, will that be turning a corner?

Weiters is probably going to struggle when he gets here,so it'll be a while before he helps.Pitchers will junk ball him just like they did Jones,Pie,now Reimold who would start seeing better pitches if Weiters was hitting behind him.

Every fan has a right to question everything Orioles related from the slow grass at OPACY to the Sunday debacles, but I find it so hard to believe that people still question Andy and his efforts to rebuild this team. We have a star in the making in Adam Jones, an All Star closer who is actually better this year than last year, our 1st Japanese player (best pitcher on the staff so far), extensions for Nick and Brian, plus when we have to dip into the minors, we have choices. Losing sucks, but there is more than just talk about turning the corner, there is proof throughout the minors. Nolan has been great since being called up and Brad has kept the team in games more times than not.

People can talk about the worth of MASN, but it's still in its infancy and in all likelihood will never reach the heights of NESN and YES, but I also don't think the O's are in the same financial league as the Royals and Pirates, but why spend just for the sake of spending to lock up guys that will take away money from locking up our own guys and using that money when we are 2 bats or a pitcher away from seriously being good.

I honestly believe that we are in the reverse mode of years past, as I think the rotation will get better with these call ups and as soon as the O's doing something about Walker and Ray, the Pen might be the strength that many of us thought it would be before the season started.

There is still hope for a good season.

I thought it was interesting that the "left hand specialist" was able to get the two right handers out after he gave up the grand slam to the left hander.

As I wrote previously, at least a 1/3 will be diff., if not 1/2, by the time the trading deadline is over. Next is Berken for Ray, then Scott for Montanez and Hernandez for Koji. Then Weiters finally arrives by 6/15. That's 1/3 even before we start trading.

Any talk about shopping Guthrie this season? Obviously, he needs to pitch better for a max. return but he is "old" and there are lots of replacements available. He, Huff and Sherrill (maybe even Baez though I can't believe I just wrote that) figure to net the best prospects in any trade. Still need to move Walker (Perez) and Hendrickson (anybody) to truly clean house of the dead weight on the roster but they are "addition by subtraction" and won't yield much.

You aren't saying that Uehara's out of the rotation permanently, right?

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Pete's reply: No, of course not.

Seems to me that the reason the O's don't win on Sundays is that there seems to be a "Sunday Lineup" where all the bench players get to start. You can't really expect to win with a sub-par lineup can you?

Once agaain DT cannot manage a game...why is Sherrill not available...WOW he pitched two innings in two days maybe 35 pitches...ridiculous. Shoud have used Baez as soon as AJ hit the homer to put us ahead. 2 innings for Denys and then Sherrill. Too much specialization in the bullpen of DT. Not second guessing because I said it when it happened. I agree about Walker. He's not part of the future, bring up a lefty if we need to. What is your take now on DT's managing ability Pete?

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Pete's reply: Too many guys who aren't durable. He couldn't use Baez because Baez can't pitch back to back.

first i think the minor league pitchers are ready to be given a chance in the majors. they have all been successful in double a and have been successful so far this year in triple a. berkin pitched at clemson and is 25 hernandez pitched in junoir college and is 23. loewen came out of high school and was rushed to the majors so the comparison with loewen and the others isn't valid. walker needs to go. he was lousy last year and he isn't getting the job done this year. how about usingpitchers that can pitch more than one inning at a time and can get hitters from both sides of the plate out, my guess is weiters will be brought up within 2 weeks. i also think koji will be in the bullpen by july or august and at that time i would guess patton if he doesn't have any setbacks from his surgery will take his place in the rotation. tillman because he just turn 21 will stay at norfolk. pie will be gone when lou h comes back in 2 months.

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Pete's reply: My only dispute with your contention about the young pitchers is that you talked about the group as one entity. Some are probably ready, Many probably are not. One size never fits all.

Both Ray and Walker can go. That opens two spots in the pitching corps.

Dump Walker? I'm not a fan, but for crying out loud, put Chris Ray back in AAA!!! He is single-handily driving this team's ERA up up a few notches. His career might be finished, seeing as he doesn't look to have recovered from surgery.

Sandy K and Adam I couldn't agree more. A left handed specialist that can not get out a left hander to save his life is outrageous. Cut Walker now! Maybe one of our opponents could sign him and then bring him in releif against Nick, Luke, or Aubrey. I can hear goodbye home run and enjoy it.

And more changes to come, no doubt. Wonder how long it will be until we see Tillman and some of the others? My guess is they'll patch things together until the All-Star break, then gradually start working some of the kids in.

Might as well get their feet wet this year, even if it means holding their feet to the fire for awhile.

Is anybody aware of how calling up Wieterrs before June 1st affects his contract status? You want to lose an entire year of eligibility so he can be here two extra weeks during a losing season. Please pay attention before ripping the front office...Having the pitchers pitch to him in Norfolk was the perfect scenario...and he'll be called up shortly - AM is doing agreat job,.

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Pete's reply: Calling up Wieters now would affect only arbitration, not the amount of time under reserve.

I think it might also be time for Chris Ray to pay a visit to Norfolk. Does he have any more options? I know he is coming back from an injury, but he has been awful.

Walker must go!

Once the Orioles are satisfied that Wieters cannot obtain Super 2 staus, he'll be brought up.... not until.

Pete, I predicted on your blog back in April that the Orioles would use 14 different starters by the All Star break. Actually, it didn't take a genius to see it coming either, with what happened at the 37 man spring pitching tryout camp.

Pete, I think Jamie Walker has given up more game breaking home runs and hits to left handed hitters in the last two years than any other such "specialist" in baseball. Why in the hell don't the Orioles just cut him and get it over with?

I think the bullpen could be aligned better. Since Jamie Walker's days of getting lefties out are over, wouldn't we use the guy who can (Sherrill) in the situations that called for it? Which is to say, wouldn't the O's be better served to have Baez closing with Johnson and Sherrill available in the 7th or 8th?

Or even better, how about we just not designate a closer? At which point, the manager would be willing to use Sherrill (instead of Walker) in the 7th or 8th to get a lefty out. Dave Trembley certainly isn't the only major league manager who is attached to the concept of a "closer" - most of the others are too. But it would be refreshing to see someone think a little differently.

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Pete's reply: Baez can't close because he can't pitch frequently enough.

Chris Ray to Norfolk to open a roster spot for Berken tomorrow? Followed by designating Jamie Walker for assignment to make room for Hernandez or Waters on Thursday? Or does Berken get the one start and then get sent back down right away to open up the spot for Thursday's starter?

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Pete's reply: You sure ask a lot of questions.

I agree with Birdland Todd on the state of the team. McPhail has done a LOT of positive things with the team so far. He has made one or two goofs, but with all the moves he has made I think his performance is way above the curve. Walker? He may want to be the next Jessie Orasco and pitch til he's 60, but he should be released now. We can't wait to see if he turns it around. Ray? With Walker gone maybe we can give him more time to recover his form, but IF he has an option left I say Hello Norfolk. Pie? Seems like it's the IDEAL time to try and sneak him thru waivers. Does any team really have a roster spot out there for a sub .200 hitter who looks like he's still learning to play the OF? Leave Tillman and Patton on the farm til Sept. Bring on Pauley, Waters or even Hernansez. Can they do worse than Walker and Ray so far??? BTW, Brandon Snyder, whipping boy for many this Spring, is tearing up AA. He should be in Norfolk by June 15th. Patton is having trouble going more than 5-6 innings, but to be expected after a yr off. What IS very encouraging is he's lights out when he does pitch for Bowie. The future is coming! Shades of 1960. Stay the course. For once, in over a decade, there is at least a course being set, and so far, AMcP is steering us in the right direction.

To everyone who wants to trade, or "get rid" of Chris Ray, a few facts to consider. First he's 13 innings into his first season back from tommy john surgery, don't be surprised if he's better, perhaps dramatically, in the second half of the season. Of course he actually hasn't been that bad so far this season, though he has been very unlucky. Don't get fooled by the glaringly high era of 10.13, his FIP, or fielding independent pitching, a much better gauge of a pitcher's performance is 5.32. In addition, his BABIP, batting average on balls put in play, is .482, the league average is .301. That is staggeringly unlucky. Based on nothing more than regression to the mean stat's such as era should improve. His K/9 is 10.13, a bit better than 2007. The problem is walks, his BB9 so far this season is 6.75, vs an average of around 3.78 the previous three seasons. Typically the last things to improve after TJ surgery are command and control, so that walk number is likely to come down as the season progresses. Likely his K rate will come down a little too, but the overall effect of improved command/control, and just even average luck, could make for a marked improvement. That plus his reasonable salary and relative youth mean he's a valuable commodity for the o's and likely part of at least their near and mid term solution. Sorry for all the stats but it can be helpful to step away from the emotional frustration of watching the pen blow leads and take another look based on facts.

Ray's career might be finished after 2 months of return from Tommy john suregery? Pretty ignorant statement. He probably should be in AAA, but to think he's done is ridiculous. No pitcher returning from that surgery is back to pitching his best this early in his return.