O Say Can You See The Future

Wipe your eyes, the future is bright!

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the Orioles future is officially here. And the Orioles future is a lot better than recent past. I’m not just optimistic because I’m a fan, the talent that is upon us is the real deal!

Friday marks the debut of the #1 prospect in all of baseball, Matt Wieters. He has played like a man among boys in the minors for a little over a year, and as Macphail said “it’s time.” He’s a switch hitting 6’5″ 230lb BAD-ASS!

Pictured above is rookie Nolan Reimold. His walk-off 3 run homer today was his 4th HR in his short 2 week career. He seems to be a keeper. Center Fielder Adam Jones appears to be the next Eric Davis (healthy in his prime, Eric Davis.) Jones has a .354-11-34 line so far this season. Oh yeah, he’s playing like a gold glover defensively. You know Markakis is a stud, I’ll just remind you he is only 25 years old!

So far this season the Orioles have saw 3 rookie pitchers win their major league debuts, they’ll go for #4 tomorrow when David Hernandez takes the hill. Hernandez was 3-1 with 2.91 ERA in the minors this season, along with 60 strikeouts in only 43 innings. He struck out 14 in his last start at Norfolk. In the next 4 games against Detroit the Orioles will stroll out 3 rookies with only 9 games experience under their belts…and I couldn’t be happier. No Eaton, no Hendrickson.

But, the future talent doesn’t stop there, the O’s minor league system is loaded. Chris Tillman (5-0 2.13 ERA) and Troy Patton (5-1 1.62 ERA) will be in Baltimore before the end of the year. Last years 1st rounder, pitcher Brian Matusz, and 2005 1st rounder, 1B Brandon Snyder will be up next season. Pitcher Jake Arrieta will also be making his prescience felt soon.

It’s a great time to be an Oriole fan. Although there are still some growing pains ahead of us, it’s obvious that the next 10 years will be better than the last.

Amen to that.

Cheers and Hail