Photo courtesy of The Baltimore Sun

Mini-camps and OTAs are through, so we won’t see our Ravens suited up and practicing until training camp begins on July 21^st. Since the first wave of practice broke, here is the depth chart you can expect entering training camp. These are what I believe to be the top 60 men in line to make the team, with the seven guys on the bubble of making the final 53-man roster. New additions to this season’s squad are denoted in bold. Players on the bubble are denoted with an asterisk*.

Discuss your opinion on the depth chart, and bubble guys on our message board.

Changes since the last depth chart:

Offense: Vonta Leach was released after the team and Leach couldn’t agree on a reduced salary. That makes Kyle Juszczyk the feature FB.  Billy Bajema was resigned by the team following the Leach cut, and will serve as the teams 3^rd TE. This move bumps Matt Furstenburg off the bubble.

Defense: Daryl Smith was signed by the Ravens in the wake of Arthur Brown’s injury, and a not quite healthy yet Jameel McClain.  Pertaining to McClain, Dean Peas noted that the starting MLB job is McClain’s to lose once he is healthy. That was before the Daryl Smith signing. Chris Canty moves ahead of rookie Brandon Williams. Coaches seem very impressed with Canty early in mini-camp. Adrian Hamilton suffered a muscle contusion that doesn’t appear to be serious. However, he has fallen off the bubble

Seven guys on the 53-man bubble:

Next four out:

Post OTA/Mini-camp injury round up:

With the exception of McClain, whose timetable for a return is unknown, all players are expected to be full participants in training camp.

The post Ravens depth chart 3.0 appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Music provided by: Eddie Spaghetti – The Value of Nothing

The post Bird Talk – Episode 33 appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

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Through the first few weeks of the 2012 season, Corey Graham was simply a backup cornerback on the roster who was relegated to Special Teams duties when he played at all.  But he was suddenly thrust into action in the Week 6 game against Dallas when Lardarius Webb left the game (and the season) injured with his second career ACL tear.  With Jimmy Smith struggling with his own injuries, Graham was given the starting cornerback role opposite Carey Williams as well as slot corner duty in the Ravens’ Nickel package.  His usage is plotted below:

Raw data credited to ProFootballFocus

The Backup “Stepping Up”

The Ravens had a disappointing season on the defensive side of the ball by their own standards.  Much of this was due to injuries (Suggs, Webb, Jimmy Smith, Ray Lewis, etc.), but injuries are an ever-present reality in football, so the next man must be ready to fill the role vacated by those at the top of depth chart.

Based on the chart above, one can see that once Jimmy Smith went down (after Week 9 vs. CLE), the majority of Graham’s snaps-per-game were no longer dominated by coverage duties in Nickel or Dime situations.  He began to be a regular starter and, save for the meaningless Week 17 game, Graham played no less than 97% of the teams’ snaps per game.

It’s clear that the Ravens preferred Graham’s skill-set over Chykie Brown and Chris Johnson, so I decided to take a look at the season that was to see how he’ll fit in the defense this coming season.

Graham’s Versatility

Watching this defense through the past few years (and defensive coordinators), we see that the Ravens clearly covet versatility.  This system asks its players to execute a number of variable tasks throughout a game and to excel at each of them.  Few Ravens exhibit this trait more than Corey Graham.  I saw Graham filling the following roles on multiple occasions:

• Man (press and off) coverage from the outside and slot
• Slot Blitz
• Deep and shallow Cover 2, 3, 4, and 6 zone coverage

While Graham doesn’t exhibit natural straight-line speed, he has good acceleration with nimble hips that help him cover receivers across the middle of the field.  His field sense also stood out as a strength based on his efficient switching on route combinations and understanding of complex zone coverages/blitzes that the Ravens often employ.

As a Slot Corner

When offenses attacked the Ravens with >2 receiving threats, Graham bumped from his outside CB role to the slot.  This is where he made his biggest impact.  As an example of Corey Graham’s slot play, I looked at his pass deflection (and eventual INT) in the waning minutes of the Wild Card Playoff game.

Closing out the Wild Card game

In Image #1, Graham is defending Reggie Wayne in the slot in man-to-man coverage.  The Ravens prefer to jam the slot receivers, especially with short yardage, in order to keep them from running unabated “option” routes that kill 3rd down defenses.  Graham doesn’t have the luxury of pressing as Wayne is off the LOS.

Image #2 exemplifies why slot corner is so difficult to play. Wayne has just gotten out of his stance and Graham is forced to back-pedal straight because Wayne has a “2-way go.”  Besides studying team tendencies, Graham has no way to discern whether his matchup will run his route inside or outside.

Once Wayne breaks to the outside (Image #3), Graham accelerates forward and looks back to the QB well before the WR does.  Risky?  Yes, he could get double-moved, but the Ravens are blitzing so Graham knows the ball needs to come out. Graham drives to the ball, deflects it into the air, and Carey Williams pulls it down for a momentum killing interception.

Corey Graham excels at sticking to the back hip of receivers running shallow routes.  This task is not an easy one, as he needs to stick with shifty, intermediate receivers and play the ball. It’s my opinion that his solid man coverage in the slot allowed the Ravens to Cover-0 blitz much more during their Playoff run than during the majority of the regular season.  Where Graham’s game begins to break down is when he defends receivers up the seam or down the sideline:

Standard Man-Under coverage

Graham’s assignment on this play is the same as the previous breakdown; man coverage on the slot receiver.

Post-Wheel combo. A good play-call vs. Man-Under as the left-most receivers run a “pick” play and the Free Safety is held still by a back-side post.

Graham and Williams do a good job communicating and stick to their original matchups throughout the legal pick play.  Even in tighter quarters (bunch formations) Graham rarely struggled to maintain his assignment and this example is no different.

Moss has a step

Problems for Graham begin once Moss directs his shoulders vertically.  Santana Moss gets a step and Graham can’t make up ground, he just simply lacks that next gear.  The ball eventually lands incomplete (luckily for the Ravens) but only because the ball was late coming out and slightly underthrown.

This is a weakness of Graham’s and it could become an issue if teams use speedier receivers up the seam (a shorter throw) as evidenced in the Conference Championship when Graham got burned by Welker on a double-move down the seam.

Graham getting his uniform dirty

In the beginning of the year when Graham came onto the field as a Nickel corner to play the slot, he didn’t play the run particularly well.  He seemed apprehensive about taking on lineman (relatively), and it didn’t appear that he wanted to get his nose dirty.  Once Graham took on a greater workload as a starter, I saw his attitude start to shift.

Graham began to play the run more aggressively and sifted through the “trash” to make tackles on the edge with more regularity.  He is no Webb in this sense (few are) but his tenacious side began to shine through, which can only lead to a greater role in this defense due to slot corners necessarily needing to be sturdy on the edge against run plays.

When aligning in the slot, the Ravens took advantage of his proximity to the QB by blitzing him off the edge:

Cover-6 Slot Blitz

Corey Graham was very effective at disguising blitzes as this image suggests.  His outside alignment on the slot receiver doesn’t tip his hand in the slightest.

Suggs (#55) slants toward the left guard from his outside alignment leaving Graham one-on-one with the left tackle Castonzo.  As it (hopefully) shows in these slides, Graham uses Castonzo’s exaggerated lateral movement to cut inside of him and pick up the sack on Luck.

This was Graham’s lone sack of the year but he did pressure the QB on 13% of his pass rushes last year.  Depending on how much slot-play Graham sees next season once Webb returns, I can see Graham playing a big role in the Ravens zone blitz or Amoeba packages.

Conclusion

Corey Graham didn’t get the credit he deserved for his role in the secondary.  I think there are several reasons for this:

1. He was penciled in as a Special Teams guy at the beginning of the year
2. His controlled way of playing is not explosive but it allowed hyper-aggressive players like Reed, Pollard, and Kruger to play their risky game without fear of disaster.
3. He allowed touchdowns in his coverage in both the Denver and New England games

Altogether Corey Graham is sagacious in his approach to the game but, it doesn’t hinder him from excelling as a skilled man-coverage slot corner with a hint of nastiness that we are just seeing the beginnings of.  His fit in this defense is as a Nickel corner with a potential to start on the outside if Jimmy Smith struggles or if Webb transitions to a safety role.

The post The New Defense on Film Part 7: Corey Graham appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

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The difference between the biggest spender (the Denver Broncos) and the smallest spender (Cincinnati Bengals) is roughly $33 Million. This is a function of there being a salary cap that limits the spending of the biggest budget teams.

In Major League Baseball, the difference between the biggest spenders (the New York Yankees) and the smallest (Houston Astros) is a slightly larger $202 Million. The Yankees spend roughly $6 Million more per player than the Astros. That figure is even a little misleading because the Yankees massive salary is spread across 33 players (so far this season) while the Astros have only had 27 players count thus far.

The key to running a baseball team well is getting a good bang for your buck, regardless of your budget. The image below shows how teams across MLB compare to the league average and one another:

As you can see, there are a few outliers that likely pull the league average up. The Yankees  (NYA) and Dodgers (LAN) for example have salaries north of $220 Million, more than double the league average. On the other hand, the Astros (HOU) and Marlins (MIA) boast salaries below $40 Million, the opposite end of the spectrum.

So how do the Orioles stack up against competitors? In the American League East, the Orioles come in second to Rays when it comes to bang for their buck. In order to determine  how wisely teams use their money, I took their committed 2013 salaries, and figured out how much they’ve used to this point in the season. In the O’s case, 43.8% of the season is over with, meaning they’ve effectively spent $40 Million and change of their total $92.2 Million in commitments for 2013. Dividing that number by the number of wins each club has gives you their cost per win ($/Win) below:

This, to me anyway, is impressive. The O’s may be second in the division to the Red Sox, but they are currently paying almost $700,000 less per win to get to the 40-win plateau.

All of this may not seem like a big deal, but the reality of the situation is that not every team has the luxury of revenues in the billions like the New York Yankees. Every team operates within a budget to one degree or another. For some it is closer to the luxury tax threshold, and for others it is tied closely to their annual revenues. For every LA Dodgers (salaries are up 128% over last season) there is a Tampa Bay Rays (salaries are ‘down’ 1.5%). While Tampa Bay takes every effort to keep their salaries consistent from year to year, teams like the Dodgers can more than double their salaries after the signing of a new TV deal (and new ownership).

One benefit of keeping your cost per win low is that you can then spend that money in other areas of the club. Teams like the Rangers, Cardinals, Athletics, and Rays have built competitive teams by managing salaries, allowing them to spend savings on the farm system, scouting, player development, etc. O’s fans should be ecstatic to see the club doing well once again with getting a good bang for their buck.

For the Orioles to be competitive, it will take a lot of things going their way. One way they can help themselves is for Dan Duquette to continue finding valuable yet cheap players (Miguel Gonzalez for example) who provide a lot of surplus value to the club. This will go a long way when the team looks into locking up young stars like Matt Wieters of Manny Machado. Keep an eye on this in the coming years, because while salaries may not get up to that magical $100 Million dollar mark as quickly as fans like, it might just mean that the team is focusing more on extracting value from the guys they can get at discount rates. Surplus value is crucial, no matter where it comes from.

**All data from this post from Baseball Prospectus.

The post Getting More from Less appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Image Credit: The Baltimore Sun

2012 Statistics: 9 games played, 7 games started

During the offseason at the end of the 2011 season, most experts projected Bennett Fulper to start at center for Maryland in 2012. It made sense. Fulper had started the majority of the Terps’ games in 2011 at center and was entering his senior season. But the emergence of the sophomore Sal Conaboy allowed Randy Edsall to move the talented Fulper to left guard and start Conaboy at center.

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Sal Conaboy was a 3-star offensive guard recruit out of Abington High School in Clark Summit, PA. He chose Maryland over a plethora of other schools, including Michigan State, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, and West Virginia. He saw action in a few games at center for the Terps in 2011, and that helped the coaches see him as the future at center for the team. He impressed in spring camp as well, allowing him to start half of the team’s games at center in 2012.

Injuries are the reason that Conaboy wasn’t able to start all of the team’s games in 2012. Towards the end of the year, a nagging ankle injury forced freshman center Evan Mulrooney into action. Unfortunately for Conaboy, Mulrooney was so impressive in his spot starts last season that there should be a good competition for the center spot in fall camp. Conaboy got a jump on that job in spring camp, as Mulrooney did not play due to injury.

Conaboy will be a junior in 2013, and hopes to be another solid piece to the Terps’ offensive line moving forward. For a depleted offensive line, having a solid center is key for the line’s success. Conaboy definitely has the talent to be that guy as long as he can stay healthy.

I would expect to see Conaboy starting at center for the Terps in their opening game in 2013 against Florida International. But if Evan Mulrooney hadn’t missed spring camp with an injury, that prediction could be totally different. Either way, the Terps have 2 very talented young centers with great potential.

The post Offensive Line Preview: Sal Conaboy appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Courtesy Scout.com

Last night it was announced that Jared Nickens had become the 3rd commitment to Coach Turgeon and the Maryland staff in the Class of 2014.

ESPN: 4 stars
247 Sports: 3 stars, 153rd overall
Scout.com: 3 stars
Rivals.com: 3 stars

Several of the services call him a SG, several call him a SF. So let’s split the difference and say he is a wing. At 6’6, he has good size. He looks to have a frame which can carry some additional weight.

Recruiting Analyst Evan Daniels from Scout.com, wrote the following last night:

“Jared Nickens made his college pledge on Sunday. Nickens, a 6-foot-6 wing out Westtown (Pa.) High, committed to Mark Turgeon and Maryland, per a source.

Following a big spring period, Nickens gained interest from a host of programs including Oregon State, Temple, Providence, Seton Hall, St. Joe’s, VCU, Dayton, Richmond, Creighton, Wake Forest, St. John’s, Oklahoma, Miami and Georgetown

A three-star prospect, Nickens is a long, lean wing prospect. He’s known for his ability to make shots from three, but he’s also developed his ball skills and is a shot maker from mid-range.

Mark Turgeon now has a stable of incoming guards and wing players that can help when they get to campus. To go with Nickens, Maryland has commitments from four-star guards Romelo Trimble and Dion Wiley.”

With Nickens, currently the 2014-15 Terps look like*
Guards: Faust (Sr) Allen (Jr), Peters (Soph), Trimble (Freshman), Wiley (Freshman)
Wings: Wells (Sr), Layman (Jr), Nickens (Freshman)
Bigs: Smotrycz (Sr), Cleare (Jr), Mitchell (Jr), Dodd (Soph)

*With 1 remaining scholarship available.

Look at all those guards and wings. Things have a way of working themselves out. For example maybe Wells develops a consistent shot from outside this year, and leaves early – he would probably be projected as a 2nd round pick at this point. Right now though you wonder how Coach Turgeon is going to get all of these guys on the floor. Certainly a good problem to have.

It makes me wonder if Coach Turgeon’s future teams will feature more pressing and trapping. There will be enough depth to consistently send out athletic bodies to run at the opposition.  One trait that is showing with Peters this year, and the commits in the Class of 2014 is Turgeon is actively pursuing shooters, not just scorers. Maryland has gone through some recent seasons where scoring often became difficult if the Terps could not get out and run. This looks like a roster where opposing teams will pay for zoning MD to death, and daring the Terps to shoot.

The focus becomes what MD will do with that last remaining available scholarship. If everyone mentioned above is on the roster, the obvious need is an above-the-rim PF. There are several PF’s the Terps are in on, who would fit that bill. Players such as Kevon Looney, Ben Bentil, Obi Enechionyia, etc.  After Wiley committed, and prior to Nickens commitment last night; The Washington Post had reported that MD was still after local guard Phil Booth. With Nickens on-board,  you have to think that ship has sailed.

The post MD lands Jared Nickens; Picturing the ’14-’15 Terps appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Reminder: The Aberdeen Ironbirds begin play tonight. Their Opening Night Starter will be RHP Sebastian Vader. He has a smooth delivery to go along with his deceptive fastball that sat around 89-92 in 2012 when I saw him. The deception helps play up his average arsenal.

The rest of the roster (as of 6/16/13):
LHP Steven Brault
RHP Jose Figuereo
RHP Michael Joseph
RHP Williams Louico
LHP Harry Marino
RHP Luc Rennie
RHP David Richardson
LHP Jorge Rivera
LHP Alex Santana
RHP Janser Severino
RHP Austin Urban
RHP Jimmy Yacabonis
C Jack Graham
C Scott Kalush
C Tanner Murphy
INF Jared Breen            
INF Jeff Kemp
INF Kristopher Richards
INF Hector Veloz
OF George Barber
OF Conor Bierfeldt
OF Manny Hernandez
OF Sam Kimmel
OF Anthony Vega

Position Player of the Week: Jerome Pena – 2B

.367/.457/.600 (11/30) with 4 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 6 K (A+)
Players like Pena come and go, and often are on the outside looking in. He may not have a great tool-set as a player, but he does bring that “grinder” mentality and plays the game hard. He has a short swing with decent bat speed, and sprays the ball well around the diamond. He has grown some surprising pop in the past year, which was non-existent beforehand. Like I said, Pena has an uphill battle, but he has been producing. At a position that is fairly thin in the Orioles system, Pena has been a nice little story this year.

Starting Pitcher of the Week: Parker Bridwell – LHP

2 GS, 13.2 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 15 K (A)
It’s about time. Bridwell has been a disappointment this year, but the stuff has been there. He finally displayed some domination. I talked to someone whom was in attendance, and they said he looked like the “great” pitcher that we have all been waiting for. He’s been inconsistent this year and is repeating the level, but there is still ability here. He still flashes swing-and-miss stuff and he should not been cast aside fully just yet. The process has not gone as planned with the former multi-star athlete and he still may be learning many aspects of pitching. At the very least, welcome back Parker.

Relief Pitcher of the Week: Oliver Drake – RHP

2 G, 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (AA)
Drake is back and in action. He missed quite some time the past two years and it has really set him back within the organization. This week, he displayed some solid stuff in his return. He is a fastball/slider pitcher with an average change thrown in as his third selection. The arm may not quite be back to hitting 95 mph, but he can still sit 90-93. The fastball sinks, and this was a terrific pitch when he was on his game. I am not sure whether the Orioles plan to have him start anymore, but as of now he seems to be working well back as a reliever.

Other Notables:

Nik Balog – 1B – (A) .300/.333/.433 (9/30) with 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
Tucker Nathans – OF – (A) .464/.531/.679 (13/28) with 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 SB
Torsten Boss – 2B – (A) .320/.346/.440 (8/25) with 3 2B, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 SB
Michael Ohlman – C – (A+) .276/.333/.621 (8/29) with 1 2B, 3 HR, 3 BB, 8 K
John Ruettiger – OF - (A+) .290/.324/.290 (9/31) with 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 7 SB
Henry Urrutia – OF – (AA) .417/.462/.417 (5/12) with 1 BB, 2 K // Scouting Report
Caleb Joseph – C – (AA) .522/.539/.783 (12/23) with 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
Ty Kelly – 2B/3B – (AA) .350/.439/.400 (7/20) with 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K
L.J. Hoes – OF – (AAA) .444/.583/.722 (8/18) with 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 6 BB, 4 K

Josh Hader – LHP – (A) 1 GS, 6.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Juan Guzman – RHP – (A) 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Lex Rutledge – LHP – (A) 2 GS, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 13 K
Sander Beck – RHP - (A) 2 G, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Zach Davies – RHP – (A+) 2 GS, 12.0 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 13 K
Zach Fowler – LHP – (A+) 2 G, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Jesse Beal – RHP – (A+) 2 G, 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Miguel Chalas – RHP – (A+) 2 G, 4.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Jason Gurka – LHP – (AA) 2 G, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K
Oliver Drake – RHP – (AA) 2 G, 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Mike Belfiore – LHP – (AAA) 1 G, 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Chris Jones – LHP – (AAA) 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K

The post Minor League Players of the Week: 6/10 – 6/16 appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

The hosts are Matt Jergensen, and Mike Randall.

This weeks topics include:  Vonta Leach’s release, Kyle Juszczyk, Questions Heading into Mini-Camp, Jacoby Jones, Cam Cameron, and much more!

The Retro Ravens spotlight is on both Gary Baxter and Tom Zbikowski.

You can discuss the show here.

The post Ravens Rap – Episode 28 appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Haloti Ngata is an interesting player. On the one hand you have a guy who has been named an All-pro each of the last five seasons. The NFL players voted him the 9^th best player in the league entering 2012, and 42^nd entering this year. On the other hand, you have a guy who is versatile enough to play nose tackle and defensive end in a 3-4 scheme, but  noticeably heavier entering 2012. It’s something that may have affected his abilities as a DE. Maybe it led to his knees bothering him all season as well.

Head over to our message board and lend your opinion on this topic

The seven year veteran will play more of role as a nose tackle in 2013 and is bulking up again because of it. However at a press conference yesterday, Ngata would not divulge his current weight. We can only hope the added weight doesn’t hamper his health.

Ngata has been a hot topic of debate, and some scrutiny on our message boards. Is he living up to his five-year, $48.5 million dollar contract? ($27.9M guaranteed). He enters the third year of that contract this year, with a salary cap hit of $11.5M. That will jump up to a $16M cap hit for 2014 and 2015.

You can only tell so much without the help of film. Even watching the games, where are your eyes and where is the camera? Following the guy with the ball. Even statistics aren’t the definitive answer, but it’s a start. Haloti Ngata is also a special case because of the places he lines up in the “organized chaos” defense. Sometimes he’s in the 3-4 DE spot. Sometimes he’s over the center as a DT. Once or twice a game he even drops back into coverage after the snap. As far as stats go, Ngata is measured against other DTs in 2010 and 2011, but as a DE in 2012. To be fair, how many 340 pound defensive ends are there?

As far as stats go, a defensive stop is considered one where the tackler holds the ball carrier to 40% of 1^st down yardage (less than four yards on 1^st and 10), less than 60% of required 2^nd down yardage, and not allowing a conversion on 3^rd or 4^th down. In 2010 Haloti Ngata made 25 tackles on running plays and 24 of those were considered “stops”. He made a stop on 10.3% of all run snaps he played. That is third best in the league behind Aubrayo Franklin (11.9%) and Richard Seymour (11.5%).  However, as far as tackles go, his 25 on run snaps ranked 17^th. Ahtyba Rubin was 1^st in the league in that department with 58. You’re probably wondering, “who is Ahtyba Rubin?” He seems like someone who teams were not afraid to run in the direction of, or opposing teams didn’t feel the need to put and extra hat on. Safe to say tackles aren’t a definitive way to measure a nose tackles success. If a big guy takes up two men, allowing the LB to make the stop, that’s great. He’s not missing tackles. And that’s the gray area that only the coaching staff, the guys who line up along side and opposite of him really know what Ngata brings to the table.

When it comes to rushing the passer in 2010, Ngata was very middle of the road. Pass rushing productivity measures sacks, hits, or hurries on all pass rushing snaps. There is a weighted advantage toward sacks. Ngata posted a 4.5 PRP in 2010, while Richard Seymour was tops with 8.7.

Since Haloti Ngata’s 2011 contract extension:

2011 Run Stop % (Defensive tackles)

2011 Pass rushing productivity (Defensive tackles)

2012 Run Stop % (3-4 Defensive ends)

 2012 Pass rushing productivity (3-4 Defensive ends)

Remember, pass rushing productivity is weighted heavier in favor of larger sack numbers. Ngata, not your traditional edge rushing defensive end, still ranked 5^th best among 3-4 DEs. Higher than some guys you may know, such as Darnell Dockett (5.8) Brett Kiesel (5.3) Justin Smith (4.3) and Cory Redding (3.5). Sure he only recorded five sacks, but he got pressure on the QB 48 times, averaging three times a game he’s a disruption in the passing game.

To sum it up, 2011 was a bit of a down year after receiving that large contract extension. But the fact that he moved back into the top ten at stopping the run, and top five at disrupting the passing game in 2012 is a testament to the big man’s versatility and athleticism.

Haloti Ngata has the fifth highest average salary of all defensive tackles and 3-4 defensive ends. Did the team get their money’s worth in 2012? You could say that. You might also wonder if a move back to nose tackle is the right one for Ngata, given his success as a DE in 2012.

The post Haloti Ngata’s production appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

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After the game last night, the club made the decision to send him down to Triple A Norfolk to get his first taste of Triple A ball.  The team didn’t immediately announce a corresponding move, but early Friday they announced they would be calling up Jake Arrieta prior to Friday’s game.  Anyone who has followed Buck Showalter’s bullpen management over the past few years can tell you that he pays close attention to the workload of the relievers in his bullpen.  After the 13 inning game last night, he feels the need for reinforcements.  Apparently the Red Sox feel the same need as they’re calling up Rubby de la Rosa and sending down Alex Wilson who threw two and two thirds innings last night.

Gausman hasn’t been great in his five starts so far, but he’s shown tons of promise and he’s had two good starts out of his last three.  He’s also compiled a 20 to 6 strikeout to walk ratio over his 24 and two thirds innings.  The problem is that he’s been leaving too many balls over the center of the plate and he’s given up seven home runs already.  He also still needs to refine his slider as it hasn’t been effective at the major league level.

The Orioles have called up Arrieta even though he hasn’t been pitching well in Triple A.  He’s given up seven and eight runs in his last two outings.  He’s also not striking hitters out at the Triple A level.  With his natural ability he should be dominating in the minor leagues, not struggling to get outs.  Odds are he was called up because he was already on the 40 man roster and he hasn’t pitched since Sunday so his arm should be fresh.  Considering the level at which he’s pitching I wouldn’t expect it to be a long stay.

There is a problem with the way that the bullpen is currently constructed; there is a lack of flexibility.  Only Matusz and O’Day can be optioned to the minors without clearing waivers because they have options left.  It wouldn’t make sense to send down either of them because the club needs them and they’re both pitching well.  Technically T.J. McFarland has options remaining as well but as a rule 5 draft pick, he can’t be sent down without risking losing him either.  That left the team with a choice of designating Strop for assignment, or sending down Kevin Gausman.  Freddy Garcia could have been an option to DFA as well, but he’s at least holding serve at the back of the rotation.

I don’t think that the team should give up on Strop right now even though he’s struggling mightily.  I think the Orioles should have given him some time in AAA before he came back from the DL to get straightened out but it’s too late for that now.  Strop’s velocity is down about a mile and a half from last season, but he’s still averaging 96 mph with his fastball and sinker so that’s not the problem.  His control on the other hand, is the problem.  With a delivery that isn’t very balanced and includes Strop falling off heavily to the first base side, it’s difficult for him to be able to predict where the ball is going.  That’s led to a 15.8% walk rate and balls getting left in the middle of the plate that are getting crushed.

But he still has an electric arm that the Orioles shouldn’t give up on.  If he’s able to tweak his delivery to become more balanced, his control should follow suit.

Returning to the game last night, six of the seven relievers in the pen were used in the 13 inning game against the Sox.  Each reliever except Strop whose struggles we just discussed came into the game for the Orioles.  Matusz and Patton both worked for the second day in a row, and Johnson worked for the second time in three days.  While Hunter only threw 21 pitches, he did work two and a third innings so he had to get up and down three times.  Odds are Matusz isn’t going to be available on Friday after throwing 26 and 23 pitches the last two days.

Since this demotion for Gausman wasn’t really based on his performance last night, there is the chance that after Arrieta comes up for what is sure to be a tough, long weekend series with the Red Sox that the Orioles find a way to sneak Gausman back onto the roster before what would’ve been his next scheduled start on Tuesday.

Typically, when a team sends a player down to the minors he has to spend a full ten days there before he can be recalled except if the player is recalled to replace another going on the DL.  However, since Major League Baseball instituted the new paternity leave list last season that can be used as another loophole to bring players back before their ten days are up.  It just so happens that Miguel Gonzalez’s wife is due to have a baby any day now.  Gonzalez is scheduled to start Sunday against the Red Sox, so if everything works out perfectly Gonzalez could start Sunday and then be placed on the paternity list so that Gausman could be recalled for his start on Tuesday.

There’s no guarantee that things work out so well though.  If his wife goes into labor before his start, he would need to be replaced on Sunday with another starter which would then eliminate the Gausman loophole.  In this case, it’s likely that Zach Britton would be recalled to take his turn in the rotation.  Britton has turned things around over his last few starts in Triple A and has 24 to 6 strikeout to walk ratio over his last four outings.  He’s also compiled a 2.16 ERA over that span.  If Britton were recalled for that start, odds are he’d be sent right back down for a starter on Tuesday.

In addition to Gausman not performing great at the major league level, there’s also the service time game.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this was the main motivation for sending him down to Triple A but I’m sure it was down on the list in terms of the clubs decision making.  As we’re seeing more clubs turn to their top prospects like Gerritt Cole and Mike Zunino at this point in the season, the Super Two deadline is getting close if it hasn’t already passed.  If the Orioles are able to buy another few weeks of time for Gausman in the minors whether now or later in the season, they could potentially push Gausman’s service time past the Super Two deadline.  Accomplishing that would hold down his future salaries by making him only eligible for arbitration three times instead of four.

Isn’t it fun trying to keep up with Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter as they shuffle the roster to get the pieces they need to build a winner in the AL East?

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