Scattershooting around the Oriole organization, plus an old favorite.
Joel Bennett, SP Born 1970 Age 28
Year Team Lge IP H ER HR BB K ERA W L H/9 HR/9 BB/9 K/9 1994 New Brit Eas 119.3 162 80 11 63 92 6.03 4 9 12.22 0.83 4.75 6.94 1994 Pawtuckt Int 21.0 23 16 8 12 20 6.86 1 1 9.86 3.43 5.14 8.57 1995 Pawtuckt Int 77.0 106 60 7 53 43 7.01 2 7 12.39 0.82 6.19 5.03 1996 Bowie Eas 51.7 48 23 6 18 33 4.01 3 3 8.36 1.05 3.14 5.75 1997 Bowie Eas 105.3 116 48 11 41 100 4.10 6 6 9.91 0.94 3.50 8.54 1998 Rochestr Int 81.0 90 35 8 30 64 3.89 5 4 10.00 0.89 3.33 7.11
Bennett’s been the surprise of the season for the lackluster Oriole farm
system (Trivia: Rochester has all of two players on their roster originally
signed by the Orioles, one of whom has spent the entire year on the DL.) He’s
off to an 8-0 start. And yet…well, we didn’t cover him in our book. Sickels
didn’t cover him in his book. If other pubs mentioned him, it was to dismiss
him. The parent club has called up four other pitchers, ignoring him.
There’s a reason, besides the fact that he’s old (like almost everyone else
the O’s have playing for them). If he gives it everything he has, and is clocked
by a fast radar gun that hasn’t been calibrated recently, he might make 87 with
a fastball. He relies on a changeup and a sloooowwww (60-65) curve ball. And ever
since he joined the Orioles from the Red Sox organization, he’s had success with it.
Can’t do any worse than Norm Charlton.
Ryan Minor, 3B Born 1974 Age 24
Year Team Lge AB H DB TP HR BB R RBI SB CS Out BA OBA SA EQA 1996 Bluefld App 88 18 1 0 3 4 6 7 0 0 70 .205 .239 .318 .186 1997 Delmarva SAL 496 128 15 1 16 41 58 64 3 2 370 .258 .315 .389 .244 1998 Bowie Eas 214 45 4 1 5 11 15 16 1 1 170 .210 .249 .308 .187
The hype machine for him was in overdrive all winter long, and cranked up
another notch when he hit .500 for the first week of spring training. Eastern
League pitchers are teaching him the same lessons they taught Josh Booty, with
similar results (75 strikeouts, 14 walks in 215 atbats).
Fall tryouts for the NBA are probably looking more and more attractive.
Willis Otanez, 3B Born 1973 Age 25
Year Team Lge AB H DB TP HR BB R RBI SB CS Out BA OBA SA EQA 1993 Bakrsfld Cal 324 73 7 1 8 17 25 29 1 2 253 .225 .264 .327 .201 1994 Vero Bch Fla 474 119 12 0 20 45 57 66 3 1 356 .251 .316 .403 .249 1995 Vero Bch Fla 355 80 10 0 10 22 30 34 1 1 276 .225 .271 .338 .208 1995 SanAnton Tex 100 23 3 1 1 5 8 7 0 1 78 .230 .267 .310 .194 1996 Bowie Eas 508 123 17 1 19 36 53 64 3 4 389 .242 .292 .392 .234 1997 Bowie Eas 78 23 4 0 3 6 11 13 0 1 56 .295 .345 .462 .273 1997 Rochestr Int 168 32 4 0 5 12 11 12 0 0 136 .190 .244 .304 .182 1998 Rochestr Int 238 67 8 1 12 14 31 41 1 0 171 .282 .321 .475 .272
Cooling off after a torrid start. I think this is fairly representative of his
real ability; it is well in line with his seasons in 1994 and 1996, and I know
he went through some injury problems in ’95. Can’t play other infield
positions, and isn’t likely to get any chance at third for the O’s.
Dave Stieb, RP 1958 Age 40
Year Team Lge IP H ER HR BB K ERA W L H/9 HR/9 BB/9 K/9 1998 Syracuse Int 63.7 53 21 5 17 38 2.97 5 2 7.49 0.71 2.40 5.37
Celebrated his return to the majors by pitching a scoreless (yet troublesome) ninth
against the Orioles while I was writing this up, so I decided to throw him in.
He doesn’t have his old fastball, but what he had was more than a match for
AAA hitters. The Jays may have been resisting calling him up, but quite
frankly he deserves it. On merit, not memory. Good luck, Dave.
Thank you for reading
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