Oriole #977- Preston Guilmet

In last night's Orioles loss, yet another player made their Orioles debut, and this was the first one of the year that really threw me for a loop. (Well, I guess the late spring trade for INF Steve Lombardozzi could qualify as well.)

Right-handed relief pitcher Preston Guilmet was called up from AAA Norfolk yesterday, and quickly made his Orioles debut last night. He was pretty impressive, and struck out two Tigers over 1.1 innings pitched to finish the game for the O's in a losing cause.

He was drafted by the Indians in the 9th round of the 2009 draft (the O's picked Ryan Berry, who seems to have already washed out of baseball), and made his MLB debut last year for the Indians; he pitched 5.1 innings over 4 games and gave up 6 earned runs for a 10.13 ERA. That might explain why they were willing to trade him to the Orioles on April 7th for infielder Torsten Boss, who was the O's 8th round pick in the 2012 draft.

The post Spring Training trade and subsequent assignment directly to the AAA Norfolk Tides, whom I almost never get to see or get autographs from are the reasons why I didn't have Preston's signature in my collection already. Since the O's added him to their 40-man roster after the trade, I knew that there was a chance he would eventually pitch in Baltimore, but he has very few minor league cards and he doesn't seem to sign TTM requests, so I was stuck.

Once it was announced that Preston was getting the call to Baltimore, I pulled the trigger on this signed card that I bought on ebay. I hope to get an opportunity to get a personalized OMC Orioles card of his signed soon, but this will hold a spot in my collection for the time being.

Preston's minor league numbers over the past five plus seasons have been very encouraging, as he has a 2.71 ERA, 94 saves, and has a strikeout rate of 9.8 over nine innings over 208 appearances, with all 193 of them since 2010 coming out of the bullpen.

It will be interesting to see how long Preston sticks with the Orioles, but with minor league success like he has had along with a strong debut, I wouldn't be surprised to see him settle into a bullpen role with the O's throughout the 2014 season.

Spring Training Autographs- Top Prospects

I promise that I will make it through my Spring Training autographs one day. In fact, I hope to wrap them up tomorrow, but no promises.

Today's autographs are of players who are currently among the organization's top prospects or who have been regarded as a prospect over recent years. If applicable, I will list their current ranking according to Baseball America.


I was very happy to get my first autograph from the Orioles 2011 First Round pick and 2012 top prospect, Dylan Bundy. He was still at the O's big league camp during my trip and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get his signature.

The Birds' #2 prospect (who was #1 in 2011) is Manny Machado, who also got into some big league Spring Training games. The team seems very high on him, as they likely should be. I was very glad to get  a personalized autograph from him, and his autograph seems like it has improved a bit since the end of last season.

 

#3 prospect Jonathan Schoop (all the way up from #10 last year) is probably my favorite player in the system right now. He's consistently nice to the fans and I think he has a legitimate chance to really help the Orioles a few years down the road.

Since he has yet to pitch above lo-A Delmarva, I haven't had a chance to see #4 prospect Parker Bridwell pitch yet. But at least I have his autograph.

The Orioles 2nd round pick in the 2011 draft is 3B Jason Esposito, who BA ranks as their #8 prospect. This was my first chance to get his autograph and he seems like a pretty decent guy. He even took his time signing the Topps USA card since he said they often smudge; thanks for the effort Jason!

Dan Klein has some serious potential but has battled injuries throughout his time in the minors. He could very well be the Orioles closer of the future , but only if he can stay healthy. He is the #10 prospect this year, slipping from #5 last season.

Glynn Davis, no not Glenn, is ranked just outside the top ten and is regarded as the fastest player in the O's farm system. 

Ryan Berry was the organization's #9 prospect last year but injuries derailed his season, so he's off the list this year. And somehow I didn't notice that both of these cards used the same picture until i was getting them signed.

Matt Hobgood was the team's 2009 first round pick and #5 prospect in 2010 but has yet to have much success at the professional level. And he won't pitch this year due to some sort of injury. At this point, I'm not expecting much of Matt, it's kind of a Billy Rowell 2.0 situation.

Caleb Joseph was ranked as the #10 prospect in 2010 but seems to have plateaued. He's always been a favorite of mine, but he needs to make the jump to AAA this year to prove himself. 

Kipp Schutz has never been ranked amongst the team's top 10 prospects but he has some major league potential, so I'm including him here.