Monday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are winless but it doesn’t count

Hello, friends.

There are now 31 days to go until Orioles Opening Day. This number was most recently in use by Ubaldo Jimenez since 2017. Although there may never have been a nicer Oriole, I’m glad he’s not back to claim it again in 2018. It’s now in use by Jimmy Yacabonis, according to the Orioles roster page.

Today’s spring training action will come at home against the Tigers at 1:05, although the game will not be televised or on the radio anywhere. If that’s the case, does it really count? Only if someone gets hurt.

The Orioles have now played four spring training games. It’s a good thing they don’t count because they’ve yet to win any of those games. That includes three losses and one tie, which can only happen in spring training because the games don’t matter. It’s early yet, so it doesn’t really matter if someone isn’t sharp so far. In another couple of weeks if key Orioles are still sluggish, maybe that will be a different story. Let’s hope we don’t have to worry about it.

Around the blogO’sphere

Can Mike Wright follow Chris Tillman’s path to turnaround? (Steve Melewski)
It seems to me that any attempt to try to compare Mike Wright to Chris Tillman will fail for the same reason one might attempt to try to compare Wright to Jake Arrieta, namely that Tillman (like Arrieta) was widely believed to have real potential.

With no deal from Orioles, utility man Ryan Flaherty starting over with Phillies (Baltimore Sun)
Stacey highlighted this article yesterday and I’m bringing it up again because it’s one of the more vivid - if probably not all that important - demonstrations of dysfunction with how the Orioles are run.

Gabriel Ynoa competing for rotation (Orioles.com)
We’re going to hear a lot over the next month about how Ynoa is out of options. I don’t expect to lose any sleep over it.

Rasmus to make Grapefruit League debut on Monday (Baltimore Sun)
Although as we’ve already discussed, you won’t be able to see this unless you’re actually in Sarasota.

Orioles agree to terms with Pedro Alvarez on minor league deal (School of Roch)
In the event of Mark Trumbo suffering an injury, the Orioles could probably do worse than this as insurance.

Birthdays and anniversaries

One lone former Oriole has a birthday: 2001-02 pitcher Josh Towers.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564), author Victor Hugo (1802), Levi Strauss & Co. founder Levi Strauss (1829), singer-songwriter Johnny Cash (1932), singer-songwriter Michael Bolton (1953), Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk (1973), former University of Maryland basketball standout Steve Blake (1980), and gold medal moguls skier Hannah Kearney (1986).

On this day in history...

In 1616, Galileo Galilei was banned by the Catholic Church from further teaching of the idea that Earth orbits the Sun.

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from his exile on Elba, setting sail for France with 700 men.

In 1919, President Wilson signed an act of Congress that established the Grand Canyon National Park. A decade later on the same day, President Coolidge issued an executive order establishing Grand Teton National Park.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on February 26 - or at least, until something happens later, which it surely will, it just won’t count. Have a safe Monday.