Orioles Arizona Fall League Weekly Recap

Greetings, Chatters. I figured a weekly summation of what the various O's players out in the AFL did could be a useful exercise. Trying to keep track via the haphazard comments I leave in the Open Thread is not particularly efficient. So here goes. But before I continue let me add a brief note. Please keep in mind that the AFL stats tell only a small part of the story about a player's development. In-person scouting is far more telling as to whether a player is developing or stagnating. I will try to incorporate mentions of O's players from talent evaluators on the twitter in these recaps in order to provide a fuller picture of just how well a player is actually playing.

The star of the week was certainly Michael Ohlman. He's on the so-called 'Taxi Squad', meaning he can only play in 2 games per week. And boy did he make the most of his limited playing time. This week he played one game as the DH and the other as the catcher. Over 8 plate appearances he managed to go 3 for 5 with a double, a home run, and 3 walks. He scored 4 runs, drove in 1 run, and did not strike out. Per twitter, one of the two outs he made was a fly ball hit to deep center field. Nice to see his bat is still smoldering after a month + layoff.

Behind the plate was another story for Mr. Ohlman. In the game he served as catcher opposition base stealers went 4/4. 3 of those were by one player alone. Now, it is an open question as to how much of this was due to Ohlman's defensive abilities vs. how much was due to the pitchers ability to hold runners effectively vs. how much was due to the speed and baserunning skills of the player. But it bears monitoring. If Ohlman can develop his defense to an acceptable level he can raise his stock as a prospect a significant degree.

Henry Urrutia also had a solid week. Playing LF twice and RF once, he went 4 for 8 with a walk, an RBI, and 1 K. He left his last game, on Friday, after 1 at bat due to some elbow discomfort. He is not expected to miss any additional game action.

Dariel Alvarez started two games and came in as a pinch runner / defensive replacement in a 3rd. He played exclusively in right field. At the plate he managed 2 hits in 8 at bats, including an RBI double. He scored 1 run, drew 1 walk, and K'd once.

Rounding out the O's positional players, Jonathan Schoop played twice; both games at shortstop. At the plate he went 0-8, but did manage to draw 2 walks and score 1 run. He also K'd twice. In the field he helped turn 2 double plays, starting one and serving as the middle man in the other. He also committed one error of the throwing variety.

On the mound, Eduardo Rodriguez started on Wednesday and drew some positive twitter buzz with his performance. He pitched 3 innings, allowed 3 hits and 2 earned runs while walking none and striking out 3. He also committed a balk. His line could have been much better, but the aforementioned Mr. Schoop allowed a pop up to drop into shallow left field. Per twitter commentary it was a catchable ball that fell as a result of some lackluster communication between the fielders. These things will happen.

Lefty reliever Jason Gurka made two appearances. In his first he came in with a 3-2 lead, but allowed one earned run on two basehits. The offense picked him up from his blown save chance though, and scored 4 runs in the bottom of the inning which allowed him to vulture a Win. In his second appearance he allowed a base hit but kept the opposition off the board.

Branden Klein returned from the leg injury that cost him the bulk of the 2013 regular season. He made one appearance, going 2 innings in relief while allowing 5 hits and 2 ERs. He did not walk or K any batters.

Tim Berry made one appearance in relief and had a miserable go of things. He allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, hit 1 batter, and saw 2 runners cross the plate.