Something that stood out for me in Bergeson's performance was that he seemed to flinch back to the fielding position every time a Pirate made contact, be it a fly ball or a foul over the net. I hope he doesn't have mind games going on in there or something, after being hit with that liner last year.

maybe i'm worrying too much, but what the hell is with wieters only having 1 hit so far?

Maybe Luke could have sent a few rounds into the air.

Six relievers. That's the answer.

Pete,

Did you see the line on Hayden Penn today?

Penn (W, 1-0) 3.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.60

Do you think he turned it around yet?

Liz and Olson are still struggling...

waspman:

Oh boy, please don't give Trembley any ideas. Though his argument might be, "Why stop at 6 if I've got 7 pitchers in the pen?"

207 days remaining

One of the biggest things that stood out to me watching the game was how well Jason Berken pitched. We hear so much that if we rush a guy that he will fall apart and lose all his potential, but Jason had his brains bashed in last year and he went out every 5th day and never made excuses like the wind was blowing or he had to rush his delivery because he was going to have a 3 way with those two Bird loving girls from the infamous MASN commercial, he just pitched and got a little bit better as the season went on. He looks like he has the confidence needed to come out of the pen and pitch well. It's hard to root against him after the bashing he took in 09.

Wiggy got an RBI, but in his 2nd plate appearance, he was swinging at pitches so far out of the strike zone that it was comical. This guy has no plate discipline and when he's out there with Luke, you have two guys that will swing very freely at pitches. Luke isn't going to lose his spot, but I am hoping Turner or Hughes will end up taking the spot reserved for Wiggy.

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Pete's reply: I agree about Berken. He had a tough season last year, but I was always impressed with the way he handled it, and he threw the ball very well last night.

Haha, yeah, it already seems Trembley needs to get his mileage in. No sense in encouraging him.

I agree with the poster on Berken,this guy got a lot of hate last year despite improving down the stretch.There's no doubt in my mind he'll be back in the rotation at some point this year.The O's have kind of doghoused him and Hernandez and handed matuz and Tillman the 4th and 5th spots.

The Pirates have a small logjam in their middle-infield roster, and the Pgh. Post-Gazette speculates that the O's might be a logical place for them to trade 2B Ramon Vasquez, since we may be looking for insurance at that position. He played injured last year, and had knee cartilage repair after the season. The Pirates would owe him 2 million, so he'd come pretty cheap while they try to save any amount of that they can. P-G story:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1041955-63.stm?cmpid=pirates.xml

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Pete's reply: Interesting, but I think the O's would rather throw Justin Turner out there than pay $2 million for an insurance guy.

Pete,
Just looking at the comments makes me feel glad that I wasn't the only one watching the game last night. The pen was outstanding. I agree with Todd as to Berken. Maybe he has turned a corner as well. Let's just hope for the best, folks.

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Pete's reply: You'd be amazed at the amount of interest in the Orioles, though it isn't reflected in the stands.

"[Berken] got a lot of hate last year despite improving down the stretch."

Jason Berken was 2-1 in September and October. However, he had three no decisions in games lost by the O's. His ERA jumped from 6.33 to 6.54 during that stretch. And his last win coming in his last start -- making him 6-12 -- was a 13-7 win where he gave up four runs, all earned, in five innings.

In 24 starts, he finished the seventh inning only once -- in start number two. Overall, he was one out short of averaging five innings per start. Ind September and October, he averaged 4.77 innings per start.

Poor guy. All that "hate" he had to endure. Especially down the stretch.

Last season I took a guess at 62-100. Came close.
2010: 70-92
And the beat goes on. Roberts down for how long? No pitching.

By the way, Birdland Todd, Berken is 25, not 21 or 22 like Matusz and Tillman.

At Berken's age, I am expecting him to do more than five innings per start and an ERA of better than 6.54. Perhaps he can finish the seventh inning more often if he's brought into the game in the seventh inning.

And, yes, I am hoping he will do much better in whatever role he is given.

And at the same time, I am hoping whoever is making the decisions on Matusz and Tillman won't be sending them out for 30-plus starts no matter how well they are doing. There is over a century's worth of evidence that says that kind of stuff can ruin a pitcher prematurely if that happens at the age of 22 or earlier. The exceptions are few but I presume they exist.

Furthermore, I am glad Bergesen wasn't happy with his performance. It shows he holds himself to a higher standard even if he is just getting work in. The two aspects don't have to be mutually exclusive. Good for him.

You can't lose 'em all.

Tom Glavine, 22, 34 GS, 7-17. 4.56 ERA
Greg Maddux, 21, 30 G, 27 GS, 6-14, 5.61 ERA
Jim Palmer, 20, 30 GS, 15-10, 3.46 ERA. Missed most of next two season, came back to become HoF pitcher.
John Smoltz, 21 12 GS, 2-7, 5.48 ERA
John Smoltz, 22, 29 GS, 12-11, 2.94 ERA
Sandy Koufax, 19-22, 102 G, 54 GS, 20-21, 4.21 ERA. Didn't have ERA lower than 3.52 until eigth seaon at age 26.
Mike Flanagan. First two years: 3-6, ERA above 3.5. Won 15 games as 25 year old.

The list goes on.

The point to this exercise is to remind everyone that even the best prospects take a little time to get established and we can't expect HoF numbers out of first and second year pitchers.

Will Berken ever be a number one or two? Likely not. But with his makeup, experience and stuff, he could at least be a serviceable number four or solid middle reliever. Same with Hernandez, who looks wonderful so far in the spring. Not all of them can be superstars, ya know.

Beating the lowly Pirates is no basis to bare your chest and thump triumphantly!

Thank said, the pitching was impressive, the hitting--quite ugly.

Who is this Jeff Salzar guy? He has more ABs than either Bell, Snyder, Aubrey or Weiters. Why? The answer: Trembley is an absolute freaking IDIOT, an IDIOT, an IDIOT!

Also, I have yet to see a line-up that approximates the likely opening day--at least I hope I haven't seen it. Pie is not a lead-off hitter and, he's not a projected starter--same with Andino. With Brian Roberts now a real question for opening day, shouldn't Trembley identify an alternative for lead-off. So riddle me this: Why did Turner bat at o the bottom of the order? But what really want to know is GOD is persecuting me with that idot Trembley as the Orioles manager!

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Pete's reply: Jeff Salazar was a journeyman outfielder who played for the Pirates.

ken.... good job!

You just reminded everyone how this team is destined to lose for at least a few more years, as you correctly predicted what fans can expect from the young arms.

Yes, it does take time........

But of course many of the faithful on these blogs feel that every one of the O's youngsters will become the studs you mentioned above, all at the same time, which of course is the PLAN.

Thanks for reminding me how desperate the situation truly is!

"Orioles win...finally"

Why do I get the feeling we'll be seeing this headline again this season?

Birdland Todd: Totally agree on Berken. I've said the same thing...this kid went out every time he was handed the ball & never bitched or moaned he wasn't getting run support, or no defense or the bullpen blew another one etc. etc. I feel he's earned his shot & with a year of experience behind him, he'll be even better this year. I think he's got a real chance of turning into one pretty reliable pitcher.

jack -

Not sure I understand your logic here...

Berken was very good in his first two starts, but he was absolutely awful from then on. He put up a 7.02 ERA from June 6th through the end of the year and opponents put up a .336/.390/.537 line against him! In those 22 starts, Berken threw 107.2 innings and made it through the sixth inning just five times! He gave up 18 home runs! He struck out just 61 and walked 39! He gave up six or more runs four times! He put up a 9.50 ERA in his last four starts!

But he deserves another shot because he didn't whine about it?!? Seriously?!?

So if I somehow got a chance to pitch for the O's and I got worse and worse by the month, but didn't complain about anything, you'd want me to keep going out there?

Come on, man. That's just plain ridiculous. No... wait... It's not ridiculous. Ridiculous isn't a ridiculous enough word for that. Someone help me out here...

nb, you can't throw out logic around here...

For the O's, Berken is a star!

Besides, even though he likely wouldn't even be in the majors for any other teams accept perhaps the Nats or Buc, the dude never complained.

Remember, the orioles are on their own curve. An F is really a C, and so on.....

Listening to the Jim Hunter/Rick Dempsey postgame much?

I just checked out Berkens splits for '09, and I can't for the life of me find one positive on him. I didn't realize how uneffective and horrible he was until just now. The only time he ever showed any type of effectiveness is when he's facing the bottom half of a line up!

Hitters posted a 1.522 OPS on balls hit to the outfield against him. Boston had a .529 OBP agaist him in 87 plate apperances.

At least David Hernandez has a positive side to speak of. Looking his splits, he's most effective in his first 3 innings. But Berken, geez, I even tried to look and there is absolutely nothing to speak of. Nothing.

Here's a link for some fun:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=berkeja01&year=2009&t=p

wayne,

Do you have a dictionary?

Look up "accept".

Now look up "except".

Uh oh... The grammer/spelling police are hear...

Their always so annoying. I can't stand it when they come in with they're stupid dictionaries and thesauruses...

dave - That link isn't any sort of fun!

not brooks,

Know-it-alls should at least know the difference between accept and except.

*grammar