The Maryland Sports Blog

By: Sam Smith
July 4th, 2010

Nationals closer Matt Capps was the Nationals lone selection to the 2010 All-Star Game. If you ask me, he was the right choice. Capps has recorded 22 saves this season, while maintaining a respectable 3.19 ERA. 

As an Orioles fan, seeing what Capps has done with the Nats really makes me wish that the Orioles had signed him instead of Mike Gonzalez last off-season. Capps has pitched great and has been a solid force for the Nationals in the ninth inning.

Ryan Zimmerman is a candidate for the National League’s final pick along with Heath Bell, Carlos Gonzalez, Joey Votto and Billy Wagner. Alth0ough, I personally think that Gonzalez deserves the final pick, I would not be surprised to see Zimmerman get the nod from the fans just because of his offensive and defensive notoriety around the league.

Ty Wigginton was selected from the Orioles. Honestly, I would rather see Nick Markakis make the trip to Anaheim to represent the Orioles. Markakis has never been an all-star, yet he has been the most consistent Oriole in recent years.

I’m not trying to say that Wigginton doesn’t deserve the be an all-star this season, becuase he has most certainly played like one this season, but I feel Orioles fans would be more excited to see Markakis finally get a chance to make his first appearance in the midsummer classic. 

I thought Markakis should have made the team last season when Adam Jones was selected instead.  Since he is leading the Orioles in batting average (.302), on base percentage (.393) and hits (90) this season, I thought he had a pretty good shot to make the team this season. I Guess not. Mybe next season.

Orioles manager said that he never recieved a phone call from Yankee and American League All-Star team manager Joe Girardi asking for his oppinion on who should be the Orioles’ representative. Samuel said he would have recomended Markakis.

 It is  tough to make an all-star team as an outfielder becuase there are so many good ones around the league. Becuase Ty Wigginton is versitile and can play all of the infield positions,  he is an easy choice to round out Girardi’s team.

Nick Markakis running the bases

The Orioles had another come from behind win against the Nationals Saturday. The Orioles were down by 5 runs in the top of the fourth inning but came back thanks to a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth by Adam Jones and a 4 run inning in the sixth.

Corey Patterson, Matt Wieters, and Miguel Tejada all had great days at the plate. Wieters had 3 hits and 2 RBI’s, he finally looks comfortable in the batters box.

Brad Bergesen struggled in his first game since being called up from triple A. For the long run I am not worried about him he missed a lot of time due to weird injuries and still has not found the mechanics that he had perfected for so long. He allowed five earned runs in four innings.

On the Nationals side they lost back to back games in which they had a big lead early in the ball game.

By: Sam Smith
June 14, 2010

By: Sam Smith
June 13, 2010

Stephen Strasburg is 2-0 just like that. His first two starts are out of the way, and you could not ask for a better start for a rookie pitcher.

Stephen Strasburg pitching

Strasburg only went 5.1 innings. The five walks that he allowed is what did him in and condensed his second outing.

Although he did walk five batters, he also struck out eight batters. After two starts, Strasburg has a K/9 rating of 16.05. It’s kind of ridiculous.

It’s clear that Strasburg has the ability to be one of the greatest strikeout pitchers the game has ever seen. However, like any other strikeout pitcher he is going to throw a lot of pitches and when you combine that with five walks it’s no wonder his outing was short.

So far, the only runs that major league hitters have scored off of him have come off the home run ball. This measn that he is just like every other pitcher in the league. If he leaves his pitches, especially his off-speed, over the middle of the plate it will get hit. That’s what happened when he left a pitch in Travis Hafner’s happy zone, it was deposited into the right field seats.

Strasburg is a mentally tough man; not much can rattle him. After the homerun surrendered to Hafner he went right back to work and retired the side without any more damage being done.

Overall, baseball fans should be pleased with Strasburg’s second outing. Although he only pitched into the sixth inning, he did give the fans what they wanted to see: strikeouts, high heat and a victory.

Although Strasburg hasn’t had many mistakes to learn from in his two starts, he should begin to understand that even his stuff is hitable in the MLB. Much like any other rookie pitcher, the key is to not rev up and throw fastballs by the hitters, although he is more than capable of doing that, but rather pitch to the corners of the plate.

When Strasburg stops leaving his pitches in the middle of the plate, then we should start seeing some shutouts, and lots of them. Strasburg might be complacent with giving up one or two runs as long as he has the victory, but what he needs to understand is that everytime he takes the hill he has the chance to make history.

An interesting stat: Combined with the seven strikeouts Strasburg recorded to end the Pirates game and the two strikeouts he recorded to start the Indians game, he struck out nine batters in a row. The record is 10.

By: Sam Smith
June 12, 2010

As we await Stephen Strasburg’s next start, we must remember that he is only a rookie. Don’t look for something extravagant such as another 14 strikeout game, because that rarely happens.

 Strasburg said himself that the 14 strikeouts were lucky, and keep in mind that he will be facing a Cleveland Indians lineup that has been on a tear the last four games. They’ve scored 33 runs in that span.

 However, we are still talking about Strasburg. It is fair to put the recent success in Cleveland aside and look at the facts. It’s Cleveland, they are a losing team, Strasburg should dominate.

 Judging by Strasburg’s minor league dominance and the ridiculous first game he pitched, he has not had an inconsistency problem. If he can just restrain from hanging his changeup again, in the middle of the plate, we should expect the same velocity and location. Cleveland is in trouble.

 Ivan Rodriguez will have the catching duties once again. Cleveland is in trouble. Oh that’s right, I already said that.

 Hopefully Rodriguez will be catching all Strasburg’s starts. Strasburg seemed comfortable throwing to Pudge, and it would be nice to see him develop a relationship and learn from the future hall-of-famer early in his career.

 Austin Kearns thinks he is hot, but he better be ready to swing early and often, because in the words of Bruce Springsteen, “he can throw that old speed ball by you.”

 Oh yeah, and don’t flinch on the breaker.