If you asked J.J. Hardy, he would say he’s happy his team got the win. Because the Baltimore Orioles did, in fact, beat the Los Angeles Angels by a score of 3-2 tonight. The O’s pushed across the go-ahead run in the 8th inning and then held the Angels from scoring with two on in the bottom of the ninth.
But if you asked J.J. Hardy if, in his heart of hearts, he wasn’t a little peeved with the Angels outfielders, he’d be lying if he said anything other than “yes.”
It should have been you, Dylan Bundy. After captivating the nerdy end of the baseball world last season with his effortlessly dispatching of the low minor leagues, Dylan Bundy eventually made his way to the big leagues at just 19-years old. It was Bundy’s world, he of the exorbitant contract demands as a high school pitcher from Oklahoma.
But an elbow injury slowed Dylan Bundy’s ascent to Major League stardom. In his place steps Kevin Gausman – the new hope for the next wave of Orioles starters. Unlike Bundy, who was brought up as a reliever, Gausman gets to jump right in and do the real thing: start against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Thursday.
OBVIOUSLY the second half of that headline is completely untrue and sensationalized and ridiculous. I mean, nobody would actually believe a single win in April somehow means more than a single win in a 162 game season.
But Rajai Davis gunning Manny Machado down at the plate is nothing if not awesome, as Machado represented the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninthtenth inning. Davis isn’t exactly known for his cannon but he certainly throws a strike here, getting the Orioles third baseman by a significant margin, prolonging a game the Jays would go on to win in the 11th inning.
Dylan Bundy gets a lot of play here at Getting Blanked. Mostly because of his sky-high ceiling and rocket-to-the-moon path to the big leagues in 2012. There is a good chance Dylan Bundy becomes one of the best pitchers in baseball within the next few years.
He is, however, a pitcher. Which means there’s an equally good chance he becomes nothing. Or, worse yet, a reliever. The road to pitching stardom is riddled with pot holes and landmines that just surviving as a pitcher until age 30 is nothing short of a miracle.
Dylan Bundy is not 30, he is just 20-years old. He is, however, yet to throw a pitch in the 2013 season thanks to soreness and tightness in his right forearm. The problem resulted in a two-week shutdown. Bundy threw off flat ground again on Monday and the soreness persisted. The Orioles are concerned. The Orioles are sending Bundy to an expert. Not just an expect, THE expert.
Cue the dramatic music: Dylan Bundy is going to see Dr. James Andrews.
Manny Machado is rather ridiculous. He’s good at baseball, even though he’s playing out of position and learning on the fly while not yet 21-years old. Last night, in the ninth inning of a one-run game, Manny Machado did what you see above. He made a ridiculous play in a very important moment of the game.
Judging by the super slo-mo replay at the end of this clip, he made that play by the narrowest of margins, thanks in no small part to a set of very large fingers. The ability/confidence to adjust the ball in his hand as he throws it, then tossing a strike to first to nail the very speedy Desmond Jennings, is pretty sweet indeed.
If the whole “star infielder” thing doesn’t work out, maybe Manny can find a second career as a splitter-throwing reliever? He has a hose and would be Miami Bruce Sutter with that forkball grip. Think it over, Manny. Just keep it in your back pocket, you know?
The Atlanta Braves added depth to their bullpen on Wednesday, acquiring reliever Luis Ayala from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor league left-hander Chris Jones.
Ayala, a nine-year veteran, has appeared in two games this season for the Orioles, allowing two runs on four hits. Last season, the 35-year old right-hander appeared in 66 games for Baltimore, posting a 2.64 ERA, 3.67 FIP with 6.1 K/9. The Orioles had been trying to deal him since spring training.
The Braves have been short in regards to bullpen options after learning set-up man Jonny Venters would be out for the first four weeks of the season with a elbow injury. Currently the Braves bullpen consists of Jordan Walden, Eric O’Flaherty, Luis Avilan, Cory Gearrin, Cristhian Martinez and closer Craig Kimbrel. Combined they have a 1.88 ERA and 6.4 K/9 in 24 innings pitched this season.
It didn’t take long for baseball to issue their first suspension of the season, but today, they announced Baltimore Orioles pitcher Daniel McCutchen has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for violating the minor league baseball drug policy.
MLB says McCutchen tested positive for PED substances Methenolone and ametabolite of Trenbolone. 50-game suspension.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) April 6, 2013
Dustin Parkes, Andrew Stoeten, Scott Lewis, Craig Robinson, Matt Klaassen, Eno Sarris, Riley Breckenridge
