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Orioles Minor League Rundown: August 31st, 2013

The big league club may not be poised to make the postseason but a number of affiliates have put themselves in position for such glory.

The sun has already set on ERod's days in Frederick. But his future with the O's is just dawning.
The sun has already set on ERod's days in Frederick. But his future with the O's is just dawning.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Durham (Rays) 0, Norfolk 1

So, (LHP) Tsuyoshi Wada has kinda made something of this season. He certainly got off to a rather slow and unimpressive start following his rehab from Tommy John surgery. But he has been nothing but spectacular over 7 of his past 10 outings. Tonight (or yesterday night, depending on when you happen to read this) saw Wada go 6 shutout innings, yielding 5 hits and 3 walks while K'ing 2. Over his past 10 starts (dating back to July 5th) his is sporting a 2.83 ERA over 60.1 innings, with 46 Ks to 18 BBs. I imagine he'll be getting a call up to Baltimore and given a shot (at least in the 'pen) to show whether he is worth his $5m option for next season.

On offense, (2B) Jonathan Schoop went 0-3, w/ 1 K and an Error. But he did help turn 2 DPs. (RF) Henry Urrutia went 1-3. (CF) Chris Dickerson went 1-3, w/ a BB and a K.

The Tides have now taken control of the International League Wild Card slot with 2 games to play in the season.

Bowie 6, Erie (Tigers) 1

(LHP) Eduardo Rodriguez continued his 2nd half shine with 6 innings of shutout pitching. He allowed 5 hits and a walk while K'ing 6 over the course of 92 pitches (58 strikes). SteveO informs us of ERod's production of late:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>In his last 4 starts for Bowie, Eduardo Rodriguez is 3-0 with 0.36 ERA. That is 25 IP, 16 hits, 1 runs, 3 BB, 26Ks, .182 avg against.</p>&mdash; Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) <a href="https://twitter.com/masnSteve/statuses/373990120598159361">September 1, 2013</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Pretty good, I'd say.

(LF) speedster John Reutigger went 0-1, w/ 3 BBs. (DH) Caleb Joseph was shocked to find himself going 2-5. (RF) Dariel Alvarez went 1-4, w/ a K and a Run. ( C ) Brian Ward went 2-4, w/ a 2B and a Pickoff of a runner at 1st.

While the Baysox are not in contention for postseason play, this win did ensure a 6th consecutive season of .500 or better play. Nice little streak goin' there fellas.

Potomac (Nats) 7, Frederick 5

(RHP) Zach Clark has not taken to the mystical arts of the Knuckleball quite as quickly as Eddie Gamboa, it would seem. 4+ innings, 6 hits and 5 BBs lead to 5 ER in this game. (RHP) Matt Hobgood came on in relief and pitched 4 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 ER while not walking any and K'ing 2 with a 7 to 1 ground out to fly out ratio. While Hobgood's 4.32 ERA on the season over 93.2 innings pitched (mostly out of the 'pen) isn't exactly sterling, the nearly 2 to 1 ground out to fly out ratio on the season is quite intriguing. Generating that much sink and keeping the ball in the park (just 4 HRs allowed on the season) is a perfect recipe for the O's as long as the infield defense is above average. His biggest bug-a-boo at the moment is with his control; 39 walks in his 93+ innings, or about 4 per 9 innings. If he can cut the BBs down I remain of the opinion that Hobgood has a legitimate shot of making the majors and being a productive pitcher for the O's as soon as 2015. It will be interesting to see how he is handled next season. I imagine he will return to Frederick at the onset of the season. But will he be used as a multi-inning super-reliever again? Or perhaps will he be stretched out some more and given a shot in the rotation? Time will tell...

( C ) Michael Ohlman's 2013 season has been spectacular. He would go 3-3, w/ a BB and 2 runs scored as the DH in this game. On the season his slash line sits as such: .312 / .410 / .524. Among his fellow Carolina Leaguers those marks are good for: 4th / 5th / 4th. He has the 8th most BBs drawn in the league with 56. And, he's a pretty decent runner on the basepaths: 5/5 in SB attempts. The defense is still a work in progress, certainly. But there is plenty of time for this 22 year old to work on that aspect of his game. Bowie stands to be a much more exciting offensive squad once he makes it there next season.

Other of note: (2B) Ryan Flaherty continued his tour of the O's minors. He went 1-4, w/ a solo HR. (CF) Glynn Davis: 0-5, w/ 1 K. ooof.

Delmarva 2, Hickory (Rangers) 8

(LHP) Matt Taylor brought a close to a decent enough 2013 campaign. 5 innings, 8 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk and 4 Ks, along with 1 pickoff in this game. A solid 3.77 ERA over 25 starts and 138.1 innings on the season. He'll almost certainly find himself in Frederick's rotation to start next season. (CF) Gregory Lorenzo went 1-4, w/ 1 K and was picked off 1st in his own right. Corner OFers Creede Simpson and Lucas Herbst each had 2 hit nights.

Aberdeen 7, Brooklyn (Mets) 0

With this win the Ironbirds seized control of their Division. (RHP) Sebastian Vader set an Ironbirds record with his 7th Win of the season. He pitched 7 shutout innings, yielding but 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4. He will certainly make his way to Delmarva to start his 2014 season. (RHP) Alex Santana came on in the 8th. He allowed 2 hits and a walk over his 2 innings of work, and struck out 4. That makes 48 Ks in 33.2 innings for him. That's pretty gaudy.

(1B) Trey Mancini was the primary star on the offensive side. 4-5, w/ a 2B and a SB. (CF) Mike Yastrzemski put forth a 2-5 effort with a 2B as well and stole his 8th base in 16 attempts. Gotta work on that % there, Mikey.

Among the 2 playoff contending squads, Norfolk and Aberdeen, Steve Johnson will get the start for the Tides today and Hunter Harvey takes the mound for the Ironbirds. Go get 'em, lads.