Oriole #969- Evan Meek

The third new Oriole to make their Baltimore debut on Opening Day was relief pitcher Evan Meek who is now Oriole #969. He was an extremely long shot to make the roster heading into Spring Training, but over eight appearances that covered nine innings  Evan allowed just a single earned run and two hits while striking out ten batters. It was enough to edge out Alfredo Aceves for the final bullpen spot and make the Opening Day 25 man roster. 

Evan's story is an interesting one, as he bounced around the minors in the Twins, Padres, and Rays farm systems from 2002-07 before being selected by the Pirates in the 2007 Rule V draft. He then pitched 156 games for the Pirates from 2008-12, and even made the 2010 National League All-Star team, a deserving honor for a season in which he sported a 2.14 ERA over 70 games for a team that won only 57 games. Of course, every team must have an All-Star representative and there weren't many options on the Pirates team, which partially explains how a middle-reliever made the roster (says the Orioles fan whose team was obligatorily represented only by Ty Wigginton that year). 

Evan began to have some injury problems arise in 2011 and really struggled for the Bucs in 2012, and rode the AAA shuttle for much of the year before being designated for assignment in September. He spent 2013 in the Rangers minors before signing a minor league deal with the O's prior to the 2014 season. 

He didn't have a great performance on Opening Day for the O's as he walked two and struck out one against the Red Sox over two thirds of an inning, but did earn a hold for his effort. Evan seems like an easy guy to root for and I hope he can maintain his spring success now that the regular season is in full effect.

He also made it easy for me to like as he was one of the few players that on my Spring Training trip said he would sign when he came back and actually did so; for those of you who might not know, generally when a player tells you that they will sign on their way back out or something along those lines, you probably have just gotten blown off. It happens all the time so it's not a big deal, but I have to give Evan props for following up. The second card he signed for me is for trade if anyone is interested. 

Spring Training Autos Ready to Join the Collection

Today's focus is on the autographs that I got on my Spring Training trip that are ready to plug into my collection if and when these players debut for the Orioles this season. I've tried to list them in the order of likelihood that they end up in Baltimore at some point, starting from the most likely down to the least. 

I have a pretty good feeling that Evan Meek will be on the 25 man roster that breaks camp. Looks like Evan agrees with me. 

If Meek isn't the last member of the bullpen that breaks camp, then I'm pretty sure it will be Alfredo, who is out of options while Meeks isn't, but Meeks has pitched better. This one should be interesting. 

I'm pretty sure that Brock was merely a victim of the roster crunch, and that he impressed Buck enough to eventually make it to Baltimore this year. 

Almanzar is an interesting case since he is a Rule V pick from the Red Sox, if that wasn't the case, he would be much further down this list. He is currently injured, which seems to even further muddy the waters on this, so really only time will tell. I am pretty sure that the O's would like to keep him in the system if it's a possibility.

 

The O's seem to be intrigued by Berry's speed and could certainly use a pinch-running stolen base threat, so he will likely make an appearance at some point.

Eddie and his knuckleball was likely another victim of the roster crunch, but he also seems to have impressed Buck this spring. And I know that the creator of these awesome Old Man Cards is certainly in his corner! (My dad has run into Eddie's dad each spring the past three years, and they seem to have hit it off.)

We have officially entered crapshoot territory, I'm not really sure about the chances of any of the rest of these guys. Depending on injuries with the big league club and their performance, anything is possible. 

Ivan seemed to battle some small injuries this spring and struggled to make his way into games. Who knows?

I'm pretty sure that Tim will play for the Orioles someday in the future, but I'm not convinced it will be during the 2014 season. 

I really don't know what to make of Xavier's chances; he played in the late innings of a lot of games, but I don't know what he brings to the table that some of these others do not.

Chris was injured for a vast majority of the spring and never made it into a big league game. If he can stay healthy and put up a strong season, it's possible he could make it to Baltimore.

I have an inkling that Cord Phelps might be the 2014 version of Russ Canzler, knocking on the big league door but never quite cracking the club. 

Johnny Monell is currently in DFA(designated for assignment) limbo after being taken off the 40 man roster to make room for David Adams. He lost the spring back-up catcher competition to Steve Clevenger and would likely stay at Norfolk if he stays in the system.

 Fabio spent a good chunk of the Spring at big league camp, but worked mainly in mop-up type duty. I would be surprised to see him in Baltimore. Side note- I got to use my rudimentary Spanish skills to ask Fabio to personalize this card for me.

Jonah has a good shot to play in Baltimore down the road, but is probably a few years away at this point.