Wednesday Bird Droppings: Lamar Jackson eyes Orioles tryout

Good morning, Birdland!

We seriously need a new CBA. Team social media accounts are running on fumes at this point. They cannot use 40-man players in their posts, and instead have been pushed to—among other things—send birthday wishes to minor leaguers, discuss best baseball movies, and provide occasional left field wall updates. Although that last one is rather specific to one club.

On Tuesday, the O’s looked outside of baseball altogether for inspiration.

For some reason, Tennessee Titans wide receiver AJ Brown was taking batting practice, and he posted a video of his nice-looking swing to Twitter. He tagged the Padres, generating a bit of buzz in the process. The Baltimore Ravens quarterback got in on the fun, retweeting Brown’s post and adding a note “@Orioles Give me 2weekz.”

I have no clue if Jackson ever played baseball of any kind, but given his athletic prowess I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he could put on a show in a home run derby at least. Nonetheless, the Orioles social team put together a quick Photoshop of what a baseball-playing Lamar would look like if he took workout advice from Bo.

If there was one Raven with the best shot of making some noise in a game, however, the odds on favorite appears to be linebacker Patrick Queen. He informally challenged Brown to a home run derby, and he has mentioned multiple times that he was actually a really good hitter in high school.

The football players had better be careful. Rob Manfred could be on the lookout for scabs at any moment, and it would be even better if they were players that he didn’t have to do any work marketing. That is his perfect scenario.

Links

Joey Krehbiel enters 2022 as bullpen candidate after brief Baltimore stint | The Baltimore Sun
The daily player articles from Camden Chat and the Baltimore Sun intersected as both of us discussed the great Joey Krehbiel less than 24 hours apart. If you need any more Krehbiel content, you know where to look.

Trial of former Angels employee over role in Tyler Skaggs’ death begins; Matt Harvey provided pills, defense alleges | The Athletic
The death of Tyler Skaggs remains a deeply tragic story, and it is sad that it seems there were several people within the Angels organization that knew of Skaggs’ drug use and actively enabled it.

Looking back at Mattson’s 2021 season | School of Roch
Isaac Mattson was a relief pitcher that I had somewhat high hopes for in 2021. It didn’t work out, but he should be back in the mix for a bullpen role, and there are going to be plenty of innings to cover for this team.

This pitching prospect could crack the rotation this season | Steve Melewski
The struggles of several young pitchers last season has me viewing Kyle Bradish with a tad of skepticism. But his performance in Triple-A (105 strikeouts in 86.2 innings) is enticing, and it’s easy enough to argue that he is one of the five best starting options in the organization right now.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Bruce Zimmermann turns 27 today. The Maryland native came to his hometown team via a 2018 trade from the Atlanta Braves. Since then, the lefty has pitched in 16 games between 2020 and ‘21, and would seem poised to stake claim to a spot in their rotation for 2022 as well.
• Napoleón Calzado is 45. The outfielder played in four MLB games in his career, all of which came for the 2005 O’s.
• Hall of Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero celebrates his 47th birthday. He made his name as an all-star and perennial MVP candidate with the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Angels before wrapping up his career with a solid 2011 campaign in Baltimore.
• Doug Linton turns 57. He pitched in 14 games for the 1999 Orioles, serving in a swingman role.
• The late Erv Palica (d. 1982) was born on this day in 1928. The right-handed pitcher had a 4.28 ERA over two seasons in Baltimore from 1955 through ‘56.
• Another posthumous celebration for Vic Wertz (1925-1983). He was a part of the St. Louis Browns team that moved to the Charm City in 1954. He played 29 games for the O’s before being dealt to Cleveland in June of that year.

This weekend in O’s history

1982 - The Orioles and Reds pull off a trade, with the O’s sending infielder Wayne Krenchicki to Cincinnati while pitcher Pal Moskau lands in Baltimore.

2010 - Veteran pitchers Mark Hendrickson and Will Ohman sign free agent deals with the Orioles.