The Bird is the Word- A Baltimore Orioles MLB 11 The Show Franchise

[osubeavs721]

Author's Note: Optimal Viewing is to have a forum skin with a white background.

The Setup
Game: MLB The Show 11
Difficulty: Veteran
Rosters: Knight's OS Full Minors 1.0
Controls: Meter- Pitching, Timing- Hitting, Classic- Fielding


Outlines: I will be playing one game per series and report on the other games in the series. Big series (red sox, yanks, ect) I will most likely play 2 games or the whole series. Each update will be a series report.

Until Knight's roster hits I will do spring previews. Speaking of spring training. I will play 1 game a week and give "weekly" updates.

[osubeavs721]

Spring Preview

After the Orioles finished strong under new manager Buck Showalter, the club decided to give him more weapons to compete with the heavyweights in the division. The big signing was DH Vladimir Guerrero, who was with the AL champion Texas Rangers last year. He hit .300 with 27 HR and 115 RBI as their full time DH, a position he is expected to play with the O's. They also traded for 3B Mark Reynolds from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Reynolds adds power to the lineup and the ability to drive in runs. A problem the 2010 Orioles had looks like it will be fixed in 2011. In another trade the O's picked up JJ Hardy from the Twins for a couple of minor leaguers. They also added 1B Derrek Lee, who is coming off a down year, but he will be protected in this lineup. He is also a good defense 1B which adds value to the team. The offense shouldn't be a problem this year. This should be the most potent lineup Baltimore has had in years.

The team also added pitching in the form of SP Justin Duchscherer, who should compete for a spot in the back of the rotation. The bullpen got some added help with the addition of Kevin Gregg who signed for 2 years. He should be the closer for the birds. Another bullpen arm added. Jeremy Accaedo was signed to a one year deal. He should add some much needed depth in the bullpen.

Going into camp there is one big battle is the for the back of the rotation. Jermey Guthrie, Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta should have a hold on the top 3 spots. Justin Duchsherer, Zach Britton, Chris Tillman and Brad Bergesen will compete for the last two spots in the rotation. As I mentioned before there maybe a competition for the closer spot. Kevin Gregg is expected to win the job but sources inside the organization say that Showalter will give Koji Uehara and Mike Gonzalez a fair shot in the spring to win the job.

We will have more in the coming days. There will be updates on the farm system, lineup projections and a season outlook. Stay tuned for everything Orioles Baseball.

[osubeavs721]

Down on the Farm
Pre-Season Check-In

Today We are taking a look at the Oriole's consensus Top 10 Prospects in the farm system.

1. SS Manny Machado, ETA 2013- Getting compared to a young A-Rod is a lofty expectation for this young kid. He appears to have to tools on offense and defense. He doesn't project to have elite speed, but it won't hurt him in the future.

2. SP- Zach Britton, ETA 2011- The top pitching prospect in the farm is a lefty. He has three major league ready pitches with very good command and is an innings eater. If he doesn't break camp with the big league club, he should finish the year in the rotation.

3. OF Xavier Avery, ETA 2012/13- He is a speedy CF projected outfielder who can steal bases. He has a tendency to strikeout to much, but he did make it to AA Bowie this last year and should start there this year.

4. RHP Dan Klein, ETA 2012/13- He was a closer at UCLA. There are reports the club may try him out as a starter because he has a good four pitch mix. Some scouting services think he maybe better off as a closer.

5. 2B L.J. Hoes, ETA 2013- After having a good year before a knee injury Hoes was showing that he maybe a top of the order hitter. He is still learning the position at 2B. But he projects well to take over 2B when Brian Roberts finally retires.

6. 1B/OF Joe Mahoney, ETA 2011/12- Mahoney was Baltimore's minor league hitter of the year. He led the system in average and showed flashes of his raw power. With Derrek Lee signed to a one year deal, Mahoney may take over full time next year. Don't be surprised if he gets a shot this year

7. SS Mychal Givens, ETA 2013- He was out last year with a thumb injury. Givens is a good hitter and a good defender as well. He has the tools to be a good player. The question lies where will he play in the future? Machado looking like the sure thing and Hoes taking 2B. Could Givens move to 3B?

8. 2B/3B Ryan Adams, ETA 2012- Adams doesn't project well defensively like Hoes does at 2B. He played 3B in the Arizona Fall League. He has a good bat, but has defensive woes. And with all the younger talent, does he have a spot on this team in the future?

9. RHP Ryan Berry, ETA 2013- Berry is another "What is he?" guy. He could be a 4th starter or a good relief pitcher. Regardless he has the talent to play at the MLB level in the future.

10. SS Jonathan Schoop, ETA 2014- He made his american debut last year. The Curacao native looks like a good prospect. But again Machado, Given and Hoes in the middle infield is there room for him?

Out of the top 10, it looks like a lot of the 2013 lineup is in this group of 10 players. They even have some depth at the infield positions, especially up the middle. With Britton most likely ending the year in Baltimore this year, the system has provided the big league club with good pitching depth and some more to come in the next couple of years. The plus side of things is there is some good young infield talent here and they should be ready when the big league club will need them.

[osubeavs721]

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up. Now that Knights rosters are out i am using the "spring training" roster they just released. Should have the first week of Spring Training post this afternoon

[Yanks22]

I will be following this my al eastern rival

[osubeavs721]

Spring Update 1


The big story so far in week 1 of spring training for the orioles is Brian Roberts' struggles. Starting out in his first 23 AB he is hitting .130. Though Vladimir Guerrero is living up to the billing so far with 3 HR and a .458 average. The biggest surprise from the fielders is JJ Hardy's bat. He's hitting .565 in 23 AB. He's been Roberts' opposite.

The O's though the first 8 games in spring are 4-4, good for 9th in the grapefruit league. The big problem has been the pitching so far. That is to be expected. Pitchers usually find their groove late into spring and the start of the actual season. In the back end of the rotation spots no one has made their case for either the 4 or 5 spots.

This is part one of three for the spring updates. The next update will include who is projected to win battles. Manager Buckshowalter has stated the only battle in the field is at shortstop between Cesar Izturis and JJ Hardy. Hardy has the better bat but Izturis has the better glove. If either can improve where the other lacks that's who will win the job. After week one with Hardy's hitting, the job looks like it's his. The other battles are for the 4 and 5 spots in the rotation and a three way battle for closer between Mike Gonzalez, Kevin Gregg and Koji Uehara. We will have updates on all the battles.

Spring stats so far. Hitters have a minumum 19 AB and pitchers have a minimum of 5 IP.

2011 Baltimore Orioles Spring Numbers Stats - Hitting
NAME	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
CF-Adam Jones	4	9	2	0	1	2	1	3	0	1	.310	.333	.483
RF- Nick Markakis	5	7	1	0	2	2	1	9	0	0	.259	.286	.519
1B- Derek Lee	4	8	1	0	1	4	2	6	0	0	.308	.357	.462
3B- Mark Reynolds	3	6	1	0	1	2	2	10	1	1	.231	.286	.385
C- Matt Wieters	3	7	3	0	0	1	1	5	0	0	.269	.296	.385
DH- Vladimir Gurerreo	4	11	3	0	3	9	2	4	0	0	.458	.481	.958
2B- Brian Roberts	3	3	1	0	0	1	3	8	1	0	.130	.222	.174
SS- JJ Hardy	3	13	4	0	1	8	6	2	0	0	.565	.655	.870
LF- Luke Scott	3	6	0	0	1	3	1	4	0	0	.316	.350	.474

2011 Baltimore Orioles Spring Numbers Stats - Pitching
NAME	W	L	SV	QS	HLD	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	ERA
Jake Arrieta	1	0	0	0	2	10.0	10	8	4	7	5	1.70	7.20
Brian Matusz	0	0	0	0	0	8.0	7	2	0	3	11	1.25	2.25
Jeremy Gutherie	0	1	0	0	0	7.0	9	6	1	5	3	2.00	7.71
Brad Bergenson	1	0	0	0	1	5.0	4	1	0	1	1	1.00	1.80
Troy Patton	0	0	0	0	0	5.0	4	1	0	3	4	1.40	1.80

[osubeavs721]

Spring Update 2



This just in from Manager Buckshowalter, JJ Hardy has won the starting SS battle. Through the first three weeks JJ has out performed Cesar Izturis at the plate substantially and his work in the field has been good too. While 2B Brian Roberts still continues to struggle he says that he'll be ready for opening day. Vladimir Guerrero has continued to stay hot this spring. The 36 year old DH has 5 HR while hitting .321 with 16 RBI. He leads the team in HR and RBI, While Hardy leads the team in AVG with .352. This year's projected lineup looks like this.

2B-R- Brian Roberts
RF-L- Nick Markakis
1B-R- Derek Lee
DH-R- Vladimir Guerrero
3B-R- Mark Reynolds
LF-L- Luke Scott
C-S- Matt Wieters
CF-R- Adam Jones
SS-R- JJ Hardy

"We have a very powerful lineup from top to bottom. I am confident in everyone of the guys in our lineup" Showalter commented.
One thing in the order that might change is that CF Adam Jones might hit 9th.
"It's something we are tinkering with at the end of the lineup, to have his speed then turnover the order with Brian's speed as well. We could generate some more runs." Showalter said.

One place that has yet to be decided is the rotation. Veteran pickup Justin Duchscherer hasn't pitched in a game yet. We were told that He and Zach Britton will be put in the 4th and 5th spots to finish out the last two weeks of spring. By the looks of it though, just through numbers Brad Bergesen is in the lead for the 4th spot. In 14.0 IP he has a 1.21 WHIP with a 3.21 ERA. That's the lowest of any pitcher with more than 10.0 IP on the club. So with the move of Britton and Duchscherer into the rotation, it seems they are battling for the 5th spot in the rotation. Chris Tillman looks to be out of the race, posting a terrible spring so far with a 10.19 ERA in 17.2 IP. He's pitched the third most innings this spring. The projected rotation looks like this

Jeremy Guthrie
Brian Matusz
Jake Arrieta
Brad Bergesen
Zach Brittion/ Justin Duchscherer (winner of the two)

Now to the bullpen. They have been pretty good. While the O's have pitched a lot of the starters more innings to figure out the rotation, the bullpen has been pretty set. Kevin Gregg is out of the closer competition, he has been given the role of one of the setup men. Mike Gonzalez will finish spring as the closer. Koji Uehara has done a good job in spring so far he has 3 saves in 5 appearences (no blown saves), with a 1.80 ERA. "We want to give Mike (Gonzalez) a fair shot at the job, While Koji (Uehara) has done a wonderful job and he is the leader, Mike deserves a shot" Showalter stated
The Bullpen projects to look like this.

RP- Alfredo Simon
RP- Jim Johnson
RB- Jeremy Accardo
RP- Jason Berken
SU- Kevin Gregg
SU or CP- Mike Gonzalez
CP or SU- Koji Uehara

Now the 25th spot on the roster is also up for a battle. The team doesn't know if they will go with 13 pitchers or 13 fielders. The two players on the line are 1B Jake Fox and LHP Troy Patton. Patton would be a long reliever and a spot starter for the club, while Fox would add power off the bench and he is availible to play 3B, LF, RF and C off the bench when needed. We will find out the club's decision at the end of spring in our last update. Here are updated spring stats.
Batters have 40 or more AB pitchers have 10.0 IP or more

2011 Baltimore Orioles Spring Numbers Stats - Hitting
NAME	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
CF-Adam Jones	8	14	4	0	1	3	4	8	0	2	.233	.281	.350
1B- Derrek Lee	7	18	2	0	2	8	2	14	0	0	.305	.339	.441
DH- Vladimir Guerrero	12	18	6	0	5	16	5	10	0	0	.321	.371	.696
C- Matt Wieters	6	16	5	0	1	7	5	10	0	0	.291	.350	.436
2B- Brian Roberts	10	10	2	1	0	3	10	14	2	1	.185	.308	.259
RF- Nick Markakis	11	16	4	0	4	8	4	13	0	0	.296	.356	.593
3B- Mark Reynolds	10	15	2	0	2	6	5	15	1	1	.278	.328	.426
SS- JJ Hardy	7	19	5	0	2	13	10	10	0	0	.352	.453	.556
LF- Luke Scott	8	13	0	0	4	11	3	10	0	0	.310	.356	.595

2011 Baltimore Orioles Spring Numbers Stats - Pitching
NAME	W	L	SV	QS	HLD	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	ERA
Jake Arrieta	3	0	0	0	2	21.0	20	9	4	12	10	1.52	3.86
Jeremy Guthrie	0	2	0	0	2	18.0	20	9	3	6	16	1.44	4.50
Chris Tillman	2	3	0	0	1	17.2	34	20	4	6	4	2.26	10.19
Brian Matusz	0	1	0	0	1	16.1	16	7	1	5	21	1.29	3.86
Brian Bergesen	1	0	0	0	2	14.0	14	5	2	3	6	1.21	3.21
Troy Patton	0	0	0	0	5	10.2	10	4	0	5	6	1.41	3.38

[osubeavs721]

Spring Update Final



The battles have been settled and spring has finished. The Baltimore Orioles have set their 25 man roster. Koji Uehara won the closer job. He posted a 1.00 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP in 9.0 IP. Mike Gonzalez led the team with 7 holds in spring and is the club's number one setup guy. The rotation has also been set up. Brad Bergesen and Justin Duchscherer won the 4 and 5 spots. Chris Tillman and Zach Britton will start the year in AAA. The team elected to stay with 13 fielders and 12 pitchers. The following is the breakdown of the depth chart.

Baltimore Orioles 25 Man Roster/Depth Chart Depth Chart - 2011

• Catcher
• Matt Wieters
• Craig Tatum

• First Base
• Derrek Lee
• Jake Fox

• Second Base
• Brian Roberts

• Third Base
• Mark Reynolds

• Shortstop
• JJ Hardy
• Cesar Izturis

• Left Field
• Luke Scott
• Felix Pie

• Center Field
• Adam Jones

• Right Field
• Nick Markakis
• Vladimir Guerrero

• Starting Pitcher
• Jeremy Guthrie
• Brian Matusz
• Jake Arrieta
• Justin Duchscherer
• Brad Bergesen

• Relief Pitcher
• Mike Gonzalez
• Kevin Gregg
• Jim Johnson
• Jeremy Accardo
• Jason Berken
• Alfredo Simon

• Closer
• Koji Uehara

• Designated Hitter
• Vladimir Guerrero

Here is the breakdown of the 2011 Spring Stats.

2011 Baltimore Orioles Spring Stats Stats - Hitting
NAME	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
CF- Adam Jones	12	18	5	0	1	5	7	17	0	2	.198	.253	.286
1B- Derrek Lee	12	24	4	0	3	11	6	18	0	0	.279	.333	.430
2B- Brian Roberts	14	21	4	2	0	6	11	18	2	2	.247	.327	.341
DH- Vladimir Gurrero	15	25	8	0	6	18	7	13	0	0	.294	.344	.600
SS- JJ Hardy	11	26	6	0	3	16	14	11	0	0	.313	.418	.494
3B- Mark Reynolds	11	22	5	0	2	8	7	25	1	1	.268	.326	.402
C- Matt Wieters	12	26	5	0	4	15	8	17	0	0	.317	.374	.524
RF- Nick Markakis	13	21	4	0	6	11	5	17	0	0	.288	.342	.589
LF- Luke Scott	11	18	3	0	4	13	7	18	0	0	.273	.351	.500

2011 Baltimore Orioles Spring Stats Stats - Pitching
NAME	W	L	SV	QS	HLD	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	ERA
Jake Arrieta	4	1	0	0	2	32.0	28	11	5	14	15	1.31	3.09
Jeremy Guthrie	0	3	0	0	4	29.1	32	15	4	11	25	1.47	4.60
Brian Matusz	1	2	0	0	1	27.1	27	14	2	10	31	1.35	4.61
Brad Bergensen	1	0	0	0	2	14.0	14	5	2	3	6	1.21	3.21
Jim Johnson	0	0	0	0	4	14.0	12	4	0	7	4	1.36	2.57
Justin Duchscherer	2	0	0	0	1	13.0	14	5	2	6	9	1.54	3.46

The lineup looks like this for the big club.

Vs Righties- As you can see Showalter elected to bat Jones 9th. "At the end of spring it started to click having him (Jones) bat 9th. Brian (Roberts) started to hit better too. We think that Brian can get more RBI's while getting on base for our sluggers." Showalters stated

2B S Brian Roberts
RF L Nick Markakis
1B R Derrek Lee
DH R Vladimir Guerrero
3B R Mark Reynolds
LF L Luke Scott
C S Matt Wieters
SS R JJ Hardy
CF R Adam Jones

Vs Lefties- "With this lineup we kept our top 4 the same then ordered the lineup on who hits lefties better. We feel this will be effective for us on offense this year." Showalter commented.

2B S Brian Roberts
RF L Nick Markakis
1B R Derrek Lee
DH R Vladimir Guerrero
LF L Luke Scott
SS R JJ Hardy
3B R Mark Reynolds
CF R Adam Jones
C S Matt Wieters


Down on the Farm
The O's have a pretty good farm system full of prospects. The 2013 lineup should come from the system with players like Manny Machado and LJ Hoes, potentially being ready. Superstar prospect Zach Britton will start in AAA Norfolk. Here are the depth charts and rosters for the AAA, AA and A clubs.

Norfolk Tides 25 Man Roster/Depth Chart Depth Chart - 2011

• Catcher
• Michel Hernandez
• Adam Donachie

• First Base
• Brandon Snyder
• Rhyne Hughes

• Second Base
• LJ Hoes

• Third Base
• Josh Bell

• Shortstop
• Brenden Harris
• Pedro Florimon

• Left Field
• Nolan Reimold
• Joe Gaetti

• Center Field
• Matt Angle
• Daniel Figueroa

• Right Field
• Jeff Fiorentino

• Starting Pitcher
• Zach Britton
• Troy Patton
• Chris Jakubauskas
• Rick Vanden Hurk
• Chris Tillman

• Relief Pitcher
• Mark Hendrickson
• Mark Worrell
• David Riske
• Alberto Castillo
• Josh Rupe
• Pedro Violq

• Closer
• Luis Lebron

• Designated Hitter
• Rhyne Hughes

Bowie Baysox 25 Man Roster/Depth Chart Depth Chart - 2011

• Catcher
• Caleb Joseph
• Steven Lerud

• First Base
• Joe Mahoney

• Second Base
• Nick Green

• Third Base
• Ryan Adams
• Brandon Waring

• Shortstop
• Greg Miclat
• Robert Andino

• Left Field
• Tyler Henson
• Kyle Hudson

• Center Field
• Xavier Avery

• Right Field
• Trent Mummey
• Ronnie Welty

• Starting Pitcher
• Chorye Spoone
• Dan Klein
• James Houser
• Wynn Pelzer
• Brandon Erbe

• Relief Pitcher
• Casey Lambert
• Chad Thall
• Armando Gabino
• Mitch Atkins
• Timothy Bascom
• Eddie Gamoa

• Closer
• Brandon Cooney

• Designated Hitter
• Ronnie Wlety

Single A Roster Players
#	PITCHERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
23	Matt Hobgood	P	R/R	20	6'4"	250	263k
20	Ryan Berry	P	R/R	19	6'1"	195	155k
18	Michael Ballard	P	R/L	27	6'2"	180	136k
27	Parker Bridwell	P	R/R	19	6'4"	190	396k
24	Bobby Bundy	P	R/R	21	6'2"	218	298k
57	Clay Rapada	P	R/L	29	6'5"	200	60k
31	Steve Johnson	P	R/R	23	6'1"	200	63k
#	CATCHERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
14	Brian Ward	C	R/R	25	5'11"	200	30k
#	INFIELDERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
8	Manny Machado	SS	R/R	18	6'3"	185	396k
21	Mychal Givens	2B	R/R	20	6'1"	190	396k
1	Blake Davis	2B	L/R	27	5'11"	170	256k
34	Jonathan Schoop	SS	R/R	19	6'2"	187	34k
77	Connor Narron	3B	S/R	23	6'3"	195	30k
9	Tyler Townsend	1B	L/R	22	6'3"	205	30k
#	OUTFIELDERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
33	Brian Conley	RF	L/R	24	6'2"	195	30k

The Orioles open up in Tampa to face the Rays on opening weekend. The open at home versus the Detroit Tigers on Monday April 4th.