Nifty little weekend there, Birds. And a decent way to start off the 2nd half as well. With a sweep of a fellow A.L. playoff contender in their own park the O's have put a game and a half between them and Texas for the 2nd Wild Card slot, and now have a 3.5 game cushion over the Yankees and Cleveland. And while the O's go to face a struggling K.C. squad, the Yankees travel to Texas while simultaneously the two teams ahead of the O's in the A.L. East, Tampa and Boston square off. Look at the schedule, Chatters. The O's have a month long stretch here where they should be able to compile a significant number of wins. Series vs. K.C., Boston, Houston, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona, and Colorado comprise the O's next 24 games. Let's get some predictions on their record after that stretch. They currently sit 56-43. I'll go with 74-49, meaning I think they'll manage an 18-6 record of that span. Enough dreaming. Onto some linkage.
Grading the weekend series: An 'A' for the O's - CBSSports.com
There was a lot of great action this weekend, but the Orioles take home the highest grade for their work against the Rangers.
School of Roch: Cleaning out my notebook
Your Monday Morning Roch-pile of notes.
Baseball Prospectus | Overthinking It: Second-Half Risers and Fallers for Every Team, AL Edition
Ben Lindbergh foresees Matt Wieters' bat as resurgent during the 2nd half. While also speculating on rougher times for Tommy Hunter and Miguel Gonzalez.
Wieters wielding hot bat out of second-half gate | orioles.com
Guess who's OBP has finally eclipsed the .300 mark? Hint: it ain't JJ Hardy. I'll gander Matty will end up with an OBP in the .315-.320 range by season's end. Which is pretty good when accounting for a) how bad it was not too long ago and b) the current run-environment in MLB.
A Baltimore Without Matt Wieters | Baltimore Sports and Life
A lot of kvetching about Wieters in the not so distant past. To which I always wonder, but who are you going to replace him with? Crawdaddy somewhat attempts to answer that question.
Orioles Tommy Hunter going through rocky spell | Comcast SportsNet Baltimore
Perhaps the aforementioned Mr. Lindbergh knows a thing or two about a thing or two.
Could Chris Davis Match Roger Maris? | FanGraphs Baseball
Note before clicking: there will be maths.
Chris Davis is chasing the single-season home run record, but is it 61 or 73? - Yahoo! Sports
Hey Joey Votto, don't hate.
Weekend Buzz: These guys a deal away from stretch-run stardom - CBSSports.com
Mr. Miller opines that Raul Ibanez and Baltimore are a perfect fit for each other. And he might not be wrong. But last year's playoffs skew my thoughts on such a fit.
Dr. Frank Jobe, Tommy John and the Surgery That Changed Baseball Forever | Bleacher Report
Okay, okay. Yes. It's from Bleacher Report. But it's a really, really superb piece and worth your page view.
Better data offers few clues to Tommy John surgery. | SportsonEarth.com : Chris Cwik Article
More on the eponymous surgery.
On this date in 1996, EDDIE! EDDIE! Murray returned to the Birds after a trade with Cleveland. He hits a 2-run HR in his 3rd AB.