Why hasn't Crowley or Showalter made any progress with the young players working the counts?  It seems like they should be able to sit these guys down and tell them to work the counts to their advantage and make the pitcher work for it. 

Here are the top 3 offenders:

1.  Bell.  By far the very worst.  He's taken 2 free passes to 50 K's.  If he wants to be an everyday player, this must be corrected.

2.  Jones.  I love Adam's work ethic but he has got to get the free swinging under control.  23/106 ratio is really bad for a guy who has been in the league for this many years.  A 4.6 is a bad ratio.

3.  Pie has done well lately and really improved over the last 10 games.  He's taken 6 walks to 11 K's which is a real improvement.  Last night he really worked some counts against Toronto.  He's currently at a 3.0 but before that he was over 4. 

I love the work Buck is doing with the team.  Pie seems to be embrassing it and he will be the starting LF opening day (sorry Nolan).  He just needs to stay healthy.  Jones is killing me though.  He's such a joy to watch play the game with all his abilities.  If he could get a little plate discipline, he would start crushing the league.  I don't know if Bell can every become a big league player unless he gets his mind in gear.  He has ability but he has to learn to work the count.

This is my first post but I will tell you I've been an O's fan since 1977.  I remember riding up to 33rd Street in the back of my dad's pickup truck with a couple of middle school buddies to watch the game.  Jim Palmer started that day.  I've been a fan ever since.