Oriole #1015- Ariel Miranda

In my attempts to continue posting about the 2017 Orioles debuts, I realized that I had skipped over a debut from last year, so I'm going back before I move forward. To be honest, Ariel Miranda's Orioles debut last season came as a relative surprise to me, and I wasn't ready with an autograph of his for my collection.

The Orioles had signed the lefty out of Cuba in July 2015, and he spent time with the Gulf Coast O's, Hi A Frederick, and AA Bowie through the last half of that season. He had moved up to the AAA Norfolk Tides in 2016 and was having a decent, if not spectacular season there, with a 3-7 record and a 4.06 ERA when the Orioles selected his contract on July 3.

The team was playing in Seattle at the time and Ariel appeared in the game that day; he pitched 2 innings and gave up three earned runs. And that was it for his Orioles career. The very next day, he was optioned back to Norfolk, and he would be traded to the Mariners less than a month later in return for Wade Miley.

At the time of his debut, he didn't have a single professional baseball card in any set, not even in the minors. (He was eventually included in the 2016 Tides set which came out shortly afterwards.) It was honestly hard to even find a picture of him in an Orioles uniform, but my dad and I dug up this shot of him with the Gulf Coast O's, and my dad's Old Man Card printing press was in action yet again. I then found a Seattle connection who was able to help me get the card signed a few months later and I was finally able to cross Ariel off of my need list.

Since the trade, Ariel has a 7-4 record with a 3.62 ERA over 16 games (15 starts) with the Mariners. Over that same time, Miley has gone 3-6 with a 4.76 ERA for the Orioles covering 16 starts. On paper, it seems like the Orioles should have just stuck with Ariel, but you win some and you lose some! Good luck to him in the future, at least if he's not pitching against the O's!

Oriole #1021- Parker Bridwell

I know that I'm skipping a few debuts at this point, but July/August is always a hard time of the season to keep up with autographs on the team as players are traded or acquired from other organizations and I don't have their autographs waiting to add to my collection. So I'm going to move ahead with a debut I was prepared for; that of the Orioles 9th round draft pick in the 2010 draft, Parker Bridwell.

Parker was drafted out of Hereford High School in Texas, and apparently could have been the quarterback at Texas Tech if he had chosen to go that route, so it seems like he was an all-around gifted athlete in high school. He worked his way through every level of the Orioles minor league system over the past seven years, at times seeming like a sure-fire Major Leaguer following up with other stretches where it seemed like he would never make it to the show. 

He has consistently been ranked as one of the Orioles highest prospects, owing at least in part to their shallow farm system, and was added to the 40-man roster prior to the 2016 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Parker was also invited to the big league camp for the first time in 2016 so all the signs seemed to be pointing in the right direction for him. However, during the season, he battled some injuries and was also moved to the bullpen, where it seems like the team thinks his MLB future might be, so it took most of the season before he finally got the call to the O's. He made his MLB debut on Sunday August 21st against the Astros, and pitched two innings in relative mop up duty to help out the overtaxed Orioles bullpen. He gave up two hits, including a HR, and struck out two Astros batters.

I have a number of Parker's signed minor league cards from over the years, although he pitched in Aberdeen and Delmarva, two places that I didn't often get to during the years that I made it to the most minor league games. It feels nice to once again have been prepared for the debut of a new Oriole!

Parker has always seemed like a decent guy so I hope that he has finally found his way to the Orioles permanently. Good luck to him!

Oriole #1017- Donnie Hart

For the time being, I'm still waiting for an autograph of Oriole #1015, but more debuts keep happening, so I'm moving forward to write about the more recent debuts. Hopefully, I will have something to show for 1015 in the near future.

As the Orioles search for a match-up type bullpen lefty continues, Donnie Hart has become the most recent player to attempt to fill that role for the Birds. His contract was selected from AA Bowie on July 15th, and he made his Orioles and MLB debut two days later in a game against the Rays in Tampa. He went on to pitch in three straight games, and has yet to allow a run. So far at the MLB level, he has pitched 2.2 innings, and allowed 2 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 1. That 1.50 WHIP isn't great, but the 0.00 ERA will probably keep him in Baltimore for the near future.

Donnie was drafted by the Orioles in the 27th round of the 2013 draft out of Texas State University. Over four seasons in the O's minor league system he has pitched for the Ironbirds, Shorebirds, Keys, and Baysox. He appeared in 117 games, all out of the bullpen, and had a 11-6 record with a 2.27 ERA. He also appeared in the Arizona Fall League following the 2015 season, which means the Orioles considered him to be some sort of prospect. And following Jayson Aquino, he became the second straight player to debut with the Orioles directly from AA. Although Hart wasn't already on the 40 man roster, which makes this move more surprising, but I guess it says something about how the O's perceive the lefty bullpen pitchers at AAA right now.

The two autographs above are the only autographs I have of Donnie, and luck was once again on my side as I got both of these cards signed at the same Bowie meet the team day that Jayson Aquino signed for me. So the meet the team day really came through for me! Since Hart wasn't on the O's 40 man, and I had no idea that he was on their radar, we hadn't made an Old Man Orioles Card of him at that point. My dad just made Donnie's first Orioles cards and hopefully we can get them signed sometime soon.

In the meantime, good luck in Baltimore Donnie!

Oriole #999- Mychal Givens

Wow, I hope that none of you read my post from last week speculating about who the one thousandth Oriole might be, seeing as how I listed ten potential candidates to make their Orioles debut, and not a single one of them was Oriole #999 Mychal Givens. Partially, this is because I chose to focus on the potential debuts of players at the AAA level to somewhat limit the pool of candidates (outside of Bowie Baysox pitcher Tim Berry, who was on the 40 man roster). Additionally, Givens hadn't been invited to the Orioles big league Spring Training, generally an indicator at the time about a player's general standing in the organization. HOWEVER, Givens is a name that Buck Showalter has mentioned multiple times this year in assorted interviews and once Buck has an eye on you, it generally means positive things about your future.

Givens has a pretty interesting history in the O's farm system, as he was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2009 draft, and the Orioles decided to have him play shortstop. Apparently, coming out of high school, many other teams like his arm better as a pitcher and thought he had a brighter future on the mound than at short, but the O's thought otherwise.

After three relatively unremarkable seasons in the field and at the plate, the Orioles finally conceded that Givens might do better as a pitcher and moved him to the mound in 2013. Success didn't come right away, but apparently once someone changed his mechanics to throw from a three quarters arm slot, his velocity and results improved.

This past Saturday, the Orioles selected Mychal's contract from AA Bowie and added him to the 25 & 40 man rosters. After watching three games from the bullpen, he got to make his Orioles & MLB debut in last night's game against the Red Sox in Boston. He needed only 11 pitches (8 of which were strikes) to retire the "heart" of the Sawx batting order, including two ground-outs and a four pitch strike out of Mike Napoli.

Mychal was optioned back to AA Bowie prior to today's game to make space of the roster for Miguel Gonzalez, but he sure showed some promise in his debut. Especially since he is now on the 40 man roster, I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in Baltimore sometime soon.

And for the record, I'm pretty sure that I have a personalized autograph of his Bowman Orioles card at the top of this post. I'm pretty sure he signed and personalized both a copy of that card and the Shorebirds card for me at the same time, but all of my stuff is pretty unorganized these days. Regardless, congrats on your debut Mychal!

Oriole #995- Oliver Drake

Wow, with four players making their Orioles debut last week, it's really pushing the pace of my posts. Considering there's no way I have time to write four in a week right now, maybe slow down a little bit with the new players, whaddya think O's? But then again, at this rate, we will see Oriole #1000 in just a few short weeks!

In this past Saturday's game against the Marlins, Oliver Drake became the third Orioles pitched within a week to make their MLB debut for the team, following Mike Wright, and Tyler Wilson. And it was another stellar showing once again!

Drake entered in the ninth inning of a scoreless game (no additional pressure for an MLB debut, right?) and pitched three scoreless innings giving up just two hits and striking out two. He pitched again in the eighth inning on Monday's game, with the O's staked to a 4-3 lead, and was dominant yet again, as he struck out two of the three Astros he faced and didn't allow anyone to get on base. 

Oliver took the long and winding road to the major leagues, as he was drafted by the O's in the 43rd round of the 2008 draft out of the Naval Academy. He pitched at every level of the O's farm system, including Bluefield, which hasn't even been an Orioles affiliate since 2010, but he continued to rise through the system. The O's actually added him to their 40 man roster way back in 2011 to protect him from the Rule V draft, but subsequent injuries and roster crunches led to his being removed before pitching for the team at that point. 

He was actually a minor league free agent following the 2014 season, but he agreed to a major league deal that once again saw him added to the 40-man roster. It was a deal that made since for both sides since Drake knew that being on the 40-man made a call-up much more likely and the O's obviously liked something they saw in him. 

He was largely a starter over his first four years in the O's system, but was converted to a reliever in 2013 and his results seemed to improve at that point. In fact, as the AAA Norfolk Tides closer this season, he had 8 saves and a 0.96 ERA with 30 strikeouts over 18.2 innings in 16 appearances. Those are the kind of numbers that dignify a promotion!

Good luck with the Orioles Oliver! I have a feeling that you might stick around in Baltimore if you continue to pitch the way you have been so far!

Oriole #994- Tyler Wilson

For the second time in the last three games, a pitcher has made their Orioles and MLB debut when Tyler Wilson took the mound in the ninth inning against the Mariners with the Orioles losing 4-1 to become the 994th player in Orioles history. He was officially recalled from AAA Norfolk on Sunday when Bud Norris was placed on the DL with lingering issues with bronchitis, but he had been with the club for a few previous days as a member of the "taxi squad".

Tyler allowed two singles in the inning but also got Robinson Cano to ground into a double play over his scoreless frame. I'm sure that he was relieved to not allow any runs in his debut.

He is the second consecutive home-grown player to debut for the O's, after Mike Wright's debut this past Sunday, and was selected in the 10th round of the 2010 draft out of the University of Virginia. He was also born and raised in VA, so it sounds like he had a nice contingent of family and friends at the game last night to seem his MLB debut.

It sounds like Tyler will continue to pitch out of the bullpen for the time being, but is a very likely candidate for the starting rotation in 2016. He seems to have made quite the impression on Buck Showalter during this past Spring Training, as he went 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA covering 14 innings over 6 games, and was given many opportunities to appear in games over some more senior pitchers who were competing for jobs on the big league club.

Good luck with the Orioles Tyler!

Oriole #993- The Mike is Wright

Now THAT'S how you make an MLB debut! 

Mike Wright was recalled from AAA Norfolk last Wednesday and announced his presence to the baseball world on Sunday. Due to an illness and an injury to Bud Norris and Chris Tillman respectively, Mike was called upon Sunday to make the start against the Angels, and a lineup that included MVP winners Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. 

How did he respond? Only by shutting down the Halos on just four hits over 7.1 innings and striking out six, including Trout. His Orioles debut, which was also his MLB debut, was among the best ever for Orioles starters, and I can say that I had the pleasure to be there with my family. It was a game that we won't soon forget, and I'm sure that it must have been one of the best days of Mike's life. 

Mike was drafted by the Orioles in the third round of the 2011 draft out of East Carolina University, and Bowman was cool enough to mess up his first, and one of the only current, cards of him by somehow photoshopping him into a Nationals uniform. I remember when Mike signed this card for me during his time as a Frederick Key in 2012, and I asked him how he felt about being pictured with the wrong team. At this point, I forget what he said but he seemed to take it and stride and didn't react too strongly.

I can also tell by the Old Man Card that Mike signed and personalized for me that I found that photo a few years back. I'm pretty confident it was taken on a back field during Spring Training (probably 2012 or '13) and at that point was one of the only shots of him in an Orioles uniform. Looking at the picture now, you can barely tell that it's him, but trust me that it is!

On one of my family's spring training trips, we happened to stay at the same hotel as some of the O's smaller name players and minor leaguers who were in big league camp and Mike was one of those players. I don't remember specifically interacting with him around the hotel, but you could pretty obviously tell that he was a player by his size (he's 6' 6", 215).

And I would be remiss not to mention that I read an account by how Mike preps for his games by reading a book in the stands prior to his starts. The book he was reading on Sunday was one of the Harry Potter books, which my wife and I both enjoy, so it makes him even easier to root for!

Good luck Mike! I hope you have many more starts for the Orioles like the one on Sunday. But even if you don't, no one can ever take away the fact that you are the 993rd player to appear in a game for the O's!

Jaret Wright Makes it Right

The past couple weeks have been very good to me and my collection as I was able to add not one but two new autographs from my long-time need list. I wrote about my Freddy Garcia autograph earlier this week, and now I happily will also get to write about Jaret Wright. 

I covered Jaret's career in a post that I wrote way back in December 2011, and nothing has changed, baseball-wise for him since that time. The three games he pitched for the Orioles at the beginning of the 2007 season were the end of his MLB career. He pitched in four minor league games at hi A Frederick and AA Bowie towards the end of the 2007 season, and spent Spring Training 2008 with the Pirates but wasn't able to pitch well enough to get back to the show.

Jaret was featured in three major release sets as an Oriole in 2007, this Topps base set card, Topps Heritage, and Upper Deck Series 2. I know that a lot of other collectors work on Heritage sets, so I figured I had a much better shot at coming across a signed copy of the Topps or Upper Deck card. It just took over eight years for it to work out. I saw one signed copy of his Orioles Topps Heritage card on ebay maybe two years ago but someone else had bought it before I had the chance to do so, but this time around I quickly grabbed this signed card as soon as I saw it for sale.

I didn't really get back into collecting autographs hard-core until sometime in 2008, otherwise I would have almost certainly attended the Keys or Baysox games that Jaret was scheduled to pitch at to try to get one of his Orioles cards signed then as minor league rehab games are always a pretty good shot to get rehabbing Major Leaguers to sign, but I happily am adding this autograph to my collection now, better late than never!

Oriole # 976- Caleb Joseph

Caleb Joseph made his Orioles & MLB debut in yesterday's 4-3 win over the Rays in Tampa. He batted ninth and caught, which seems to me to be a somewhat rare occurrence for a player that was just called up. He did a great job behind the plate, especially considering he was working with many pitchers that he had likely never caught for in a game. Some of them he might have known from Spring Training or the minors, but he certainly held his own. He went 0-3 at the plate, but I'm sure he will get a hit soon enough!

In yesterday's post about Caleb getting the call to Baltimore after six plus seasons in their minor league system, I mentioned that I had thrown my hat into the ring to collect his cards back in 2010. That's when he received his first Bowman card. 

At the time, I had thought that it would be his first of many Orioles cards, but to date it's his only card in a major set. Of course, you all know that these Bowman sets have a ton of variations, even beyond the chrome/regular versions. This gold chrome is numbered to just 50 copies and  is the rarest one I own. I hope to snag a picture of my rainbow of these variations to add to this post sometime soon.

Caleb has been included in a number of Orioles minor league sets over the years, mainly as a member of the Bowie Baysox over the past four seasons. It has been my goal to get every one of his minor league cards signed by him, and I believe I'm pretty close to my goal.

I'm not aware of any website that catalogs a player's minor league card issues, but there are only two that I don't believe I have signed at this moment.

These minor league all-star sets always crack me up when they use the exact same image as the team set. 

But I never mind as much when an orange uniform is being worn. 

So many Caleb autographs...

And there you have it, I believe that about covers my Caleb Joseph autograph/collection, if you include the three I used for yesterday's post. But somehow I neglected to ever ask him to personalize one for me, d'oh!


Good luck in the future Caleb! My family is really pulling for you!

Orioles #964 & 965- Jonathan Schoop & Jason Pridie

Hey, something to get excited about, a post with actual autographs AND pictures. That's probably why you checked this site in the first place!

Two players on divergent career paths both made their Orioles debuts during Wednesday night's game against the Blue Jays. Since they both made their debut in the field in the top of the first inning, I have to use my debut tiebreaker system of the numbered positions on the field to declare Jonathan Schoop (pronounced scope) (2B) Oriole #964, while Jason Pridie (pronounced pry-dee) (CF) becomes #965. Schoop is the O's top minor league position prospect whose debut was also his first MLB action, while Pridie has mostly been a minor league journeyman, and the O's are the fourth big league team that he has played in a game for at the MLB level.

I was lucky enough to be at the game, and had some amazing seats to boot. All the better to take some quick shots of the two guys making their black and orange debuts.

Jonathan Schoop- Oriole #964, debuted 9/25 against Blue Jays

I was specifically excited to see Schoop's debut, as he has been one of the O's top prospects for a few years now. He has played primarily second base and shortstop in the minors, but can also man third base. In 2011 and most of 2012, he and Manny Machado played together at Frederick, and then Bowie to form a double-play combo with some serious MLB potential. I think that Machado has already surpassed his early career expectations and I'm hoping that Schoop will have the opportunity to make the club at the start of 2014.

Jonathan was one of the players whom I discussed possibly making the club out of Spring Training this past year, but there was ultimately way too much competition for the Orioles 2B job in 2013. Next year should be a clearer path with the end of B-Rob's contract and the unlikelihood of Casilla's return. 

Schoop has always seemed exceptionally down to earth and should be an extremely easy player to root for; just ask my dad who was fortunate to have a nice conversation with him in our hotel lobby upon Jonathan's return from playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic this year. As you can see, he also has been kind enough to sign a number of autographs for me over the years. 

His MLB career began with a bang, as he went 2-3 with a HR and three runs scored in his first MLB game. 

Here is at first base after singling in his first MLB at-bat

And here he is crossing home plate following his HR. He became just the second Oriole ever to homer in his MLB debut, following Larry Haney in 1966.

Jason Pridie- Oriole #965, debuted 9/25 against Blue Jays

I can pretty confidently say that this is currently the only signed Jason Pridie Orioles card out there, thanks to my dad's old man card production, in addition to a helpful graphing buddy in Norfolk, as I personally missed out on Pridie during Spring Training. For quite some time, it seemed like a forgone conclusion that Pridie was not going to play for the 2013 O's, mainly due to his absence from the 40 man roster, and after his name was not included in the September call-ups, I put this card in my trade pile. 

But he was definitely a Buck Showalter kind of player whose name had come up over the course of the season so after AAA Norfolk's season ended, the O's sent him to Sarasota to remain fresh in a sort of taxi-squad type of situation. They needed a fresh player after Manny Machado's nasty knee injury coupled with Chris Dickerson's hamstring tweak, so Jason finally made it to Baltimore. 

Here is his first at-bat with the O's

So far in two games with the O's, he is 2-7 with an RBI, and has played left- and center-field. He also had an unfortunately timed error in last night's game when he straight flubbed an easy fly ball with two outs which allowed a Blue Jays runner to score from first base to take a 1-0 lead. But luckily the Orioles came back to win so it didn't cost them the game, though that is the kind of play that can leave behind bad memories when considering off-season roster moves.

Interestingly enough, I also read that these two debuts have pushed the Orioles to having used 54 different players during the course of the 2013 season, which ties the 1955 Orioles for most in franchise history. And it is absolutely crazy to think about that many players appearing in a game for the team in a single season, especially when that team remained in the hunt for a playoff spot until the final week of the season. Expect a run-down on the 54 players next week.

Spring Training Minor Leaguers

I love baseball for many reasons, but at least one of them is due to its general quirkiness. And that rarely is more evident than during spring training, when minor leaguers and their major league counterparts intertwine to form some interesting rosters, especially for road games. Most of the starting lineups for away games consist of back-ups and guys trying to make the roster, and the players that replace them later in the games are generally straight minor leaguers, typically guys with some upside. And here are some autographs that I have of some of those MiLB guys that I've seen in some games so far this spring.

These first two guys were actually on the official camp roster, but were among the first round of cuts that were announced yesterday. de San Miguel spent part of Spring Training playing for Australia in the WBC and was mainly in big league camp because extra catchers are always needed. Wright is actually the O's number four pitching prospect and held his own over three appearances.

The other three players sent to minor league camp were Eduardo Rodriguez, the O's #3 pitching prospect who is just 19 years old, and catcher Luis Martinez and pitcher Zach Braddock, neither of whom have yet appeared in a game due to injury/recovery from an injury. I don't yet have an autograph of any of those three guys.

And here is some of the menagerie of minor leaguers who have logged some game time with the O's so far this spring. I've even added some notes when I have something "worthwhile" to say.

Buck is Zach Britton's older brother

 Glynn is a local undrafted speedster prospect

 I really don't like Ty's signature. I know he has a short name and all, but c'mon.

Yes, John is related to the Rudy Ruettiger, who is his uncle.

What an awesome name. 

Chris is an under the radar guy who likely has a shot at an MLB relief role some day.

I Love Spring Training Games

MASN, the local Orioles TV network, broadcast the first Orioles game of the year today, and it is always great to see some Orioles baseball again after four long months. 

The network almost always airs O's home games played at their stadium in Sarasota, so the game typically begins with a fairly typical Orioles line-up, featuring many of the regular starters. But, as I'm sure you all know, as the innings pass by during Spring games, the regulars slowly disappear from the game, and they are replaced by players trying to make the 25 man rosters and/or minor leaguers trying to show off their skills. 

I think that I get the most enjoyment out of watching these late innings of games. They help me to get acquainted with new players in the organization and remind me about some minor leaguers I have seen play in the organization over the years. 

Towards the end of today's contest, both Xavier Avery, and L.J. Hoes made an appearance. Respectively the O's 2nd- & 3rd-round draft picks in the '08 draft, both players made their Orioles debuts last season. (Avery debuted on May 13th as Oriole #926 & Hoes appeared in just a single game on September 25th, the final debut of the season, as Oriole #942.) 

The late innings of Spring games are a great chance to catch a glimpse of players who will eventually make it to Baltimore, while some others never will.  

Interestingly enough, former Oriole, and one-time late innings Spring Training guy, Pedro Florimon, is currently in camp with the Twins and played against the Orioles in Saturday's Spring Training opener.

While a guy like Jai Miller, who I probably considered a near lock to become an Oriole at some point at this time last year, never came close to making it to Baltimore and had actually slid down to AA Bowie by the end of the season. 

This off-season, Miller retired from baseball, and announced that he is returning to college to play football at Alabama. Seems like he came to a fork in the road and decided to take it.