Tides vs Braves: 4/19/2009

Just a few thoughts on the Norfolk vs. Gwinnett game I attended on Sunday.

I was mildly disappointed that Uber-catcher Matt Wieters tweaked a hammy on Friday (who knew it was even possible for steel to get tweaked?) and did not play on Sunday. The most I saw from Wieters was when he stood for the anthem and jogged out to the bullpen.

The Matt Wieters vs. David Price matchup from last week would have been rivaled by a Matt Wieters vs. Tommy Hanson showdown (Hanson is Atlanta's own uber-prospect, a 22 year old RHP with wicked stuff) but it was not to be. Some highlights:

RHP David Pauley looked pretty good. He gave up a monstrous (though questionably fair) solo shot to C Clint Sammons in the third and that was it through six innings pitched. CF Gregor Blanco hit a rocket right back to Pauley. It knocked him 4 feet off of the pitcher's mound and, as he fell to the ground, for a split second I thought that the ball had killed him. But somehow he had gotten his glove up in front of his face in time and caught the ball. Amazing that he wasn't seriously hurt by that drive.

Justin Turner was playing SS today and made a great grab on a scorcher to his left, flipped the ball to the second baseman to start a nifty 6-4-3 double play. Turner will have no problem playing second in the bigs and could even be passable at short.

I have to give another defensive star to Lou Montanez in right. Braves 1B Wes Timmons shot a liner to right, Lou scooped it up on a dead run and gunned it to Jolbert Cabrera at first. Timmons legged it out but just barely. A fantastic effort by Lou.

RP Kam Mickolio was bringing it in the bullpen and entered the game in the 7th, his first action of the year. He promptly gave up a "just enough" solo shot to center to OF Joe Borchard but retired the next three batters in order. Alberto Castillo pitched a scoreless 8th and Bob McCrory (who was hitting 95 on the radar guns) struck out the two in the 9th for the save.

I was messing around with my camera's movie functions and caught a little vignette in two parts that I like to call "The Joy and Pain of Mike Costanzo"

Costanzo is number 24. There is no sound. Here's the first act entitled, "Costanzo Makes The Play".




Pretty nice, eh? Here's the second act entitled "Costanzo is hitting .111 and Is Not Very Happy About It, Thanks"





And now, Bob McCrory bringing it in the bullpen.





And some random snapshots from the game:




Tides vs Braves

This is only my second AAA ball game that I've attended and I've got to say that the level of play is real close to what you see in the Majors. Must be frustrating to some of these guys to be this good but never quite get good enough to make the big club.

Tides win 4-2 and sweep the inaugural series at Gwinnett Stadium.

Markakis Locked Up and Bierd Traded to Sox

The Orioles have reportedly locked up RF Nick Markakis with a 6-year, $66 million deal.

This is welcome news and a (relatively) long time coming. Markakis is overlooked outside of Baltimore but is legitimately one of the best young ballplayers in the majors. For 2008, OPS+ leaders for players under 25:

              OPS+
C. Quentin     148
H. Ramirez     146
D. Wright      141
J. Mauer       137
N. Markakis    134
B. Mcann       134
M. Cabrera     130
G. Sizemore    128
P. Fielder     128
R. Braun       128

He's an elite talent, with the bat and the glove, and now he's an Oriole through 2014, his age 31 season.

FanGraphs.com values Markakis' 2008 performance at $24.3 million but even by current values in the marketplace, $11 million per season is a bargain for Markakis. In a market that pays Raul Ibanez $10.5 million per season, the Orioles saved themselves a lot of headaches later on. Especially since Nick Markakis is due for a breakout season in 2009.

In other news, RP Randor Bierd was traded to the Boston Red Sox for SP David Pauley.

Randor, we hardly knew ye. The Orioles acquired Bierd from the Detroit Tigers in last year's Rule 5 draft and he made quite a splash in April by pitching 13.1 innings at a 2.03 ERA. But he hurt his shoulder, didn't return to action until late July and wasn't the same after that. I would not be shocked if he straightens himself out but with a glut on minor league righthanded relievers, The Warehouse viewed him as expendable.

David Pauley is likely cannon fodder for the 2009 rotation, perhaps a long reliever. Pauley did manage to post a 4.52 FIP is a couple cups of coffee with the Sox but seems to be similar to the recently departed Garrett Olson; a soft-tossing finesse guy who may turn out to be a AAAA pitcher.

But as I've said before, the slogan for the 2009 Oriole rotation will be "We'll Take Anybody"...