Gil avoids Lopez's fate
BALTIMORE -- Orioles Manager Lee Mazzilli and head trainer Richie Bancells wasted no time trotting onto the field to check on Geronimo Gil after the catcher took a foul ball off his throwing hand Tuesday night against Houston.
The play looked like a carbon copy of the foul tip that broke Javy Lopez's right hand on May 24 and sent the starter to the disabled list.
But Gil remained in the game, and Mazzilli said Wednesday that the catcher is fine. Unlike Lopez, Gil was able to absorb the blow because he held his hand the correct way.
"You should keep that hand back in there, thumb inside the fingers nice and loose," Orioles first base coach and former catcher Rick Dempsey said. "[If the ball hits you], it should hit the knuckles. [Lopez] had his hand in sideways and that's why it got broke."
While Gil had his right hand adjacent to the mitt, Dempsey said he avoided such encounters with deflected balls in his 24-year career by guarding his hand completely.
"I kept it behind the glove all the time," Dempsey said. "Foul balls don't get to your hand when it's behind the glove."
Backup catcher Sal Fasano says breaking bones in the hand is a pitfall that comes with the task of being behind the plate.
"Foul tips happen and it's like a hockey deflection, you can't really control where it's going," he said.
As many catchers do, Fasano said he keeps his hand behind his back when the bases are empty because he doesn't need to be able to get the ball out of his mitt as quickly. But Dempsey doesn't think that method is foolproof either.
"When you put your hand behind your back, it opens up the AC joint [in the shoulder], and if you get a foul tip, it's going to bruise real deep and you'll be out for a month, or sometimes with a sore arm like that, never recover," Dempsey said.
One of only three catchers in Major League history to play in four decades, Dempsey says he can try to teach current players his methods, but the way they catch "is just a habit and you can't break it."
No pressure: When rookie reliever Chris Ray began throwing in the Orioles bullpen for the first time Tuesday, the O's were locked in a scoreless tie with the Astros. The 23-year-old could have made his Major League debut in a tight game before 24,659 anxious fans, but he wasn't aware of the magnitude at that point.
"I didn't really think about that, I was trying to get loose," Ray said. "It was the first time I've thrown in the past couple days so I was just trying to throw strikes."
When the Double-A callup finally did run onto the field to start the ninth, the Orioles had a five-run lead, and he says he was as comfortable as he could have been making his first appearance.
"Yeah, definitely, especially when you know with B.J. Ryan that if you get in trouble, you have one of the best relievers coming in behind you," he said.
Ray retired the first two hitters before pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino slapped a single to right field. Ray settled back in and forced Craig Biggio to pop out to short to end the game.
"I'll probably still have a few jitters [next time]," Ray said. "[Pitching coach Ray Miller] just told me to slow down a little bit."
Boo birds: While Ray received a warm welcome to the Majors, Jorge Julio was booed off the mound after hitting Biggio with a pitch and walking Lance Berkman to start the eighth.
Julio said he doesn't really pay attention to the fans, but Mazzilli noted that Julio was overthrowing the ball.
Before leaving for the recent road trip, reliever Steve Reed earned a similar reaction from the fans after allowing four runs in one-third of an inning and blowing the O's lead to the Tigers on May 29.
But Reed proved his worth Tuesday in his first Camden Yards appearance since that game. He minimized the damage left by Julio in the eighth by striking out Jason Lane and inducing a groundout and a pop out, allowing just one of two inherited runners to score.
"I've been in lots of those situations," said the 40-year-old Reed, who is losing his hair. "That's why I look like this."
Black and blue: Morgan Ensberg showed off a baseball-sized bruise on the left side of his chest to Fasano while the O's were taking batting practice Wednesday. Ensberg was drilled by Julio in the eighth inning Monday.
Fasano was hit in the back of the left leg by a Wandy Rodriguez pitch in the bottom of the second inning Wednesday.
And a little purple: Baltimore Ravens rookie wide receiver Mark Clayton visited the Orioles clubhouse before Tuesday's game. The former Oklahoma Sooner was drafted 22nd overall in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
On deck: After an off-day on Thursday, the Orioles will try to win their second straight Interleague series in a three-game weekend set with the Colorado Rockies at Camden Yards. Daniel Cabrera will face Jason Jennings in the opener, Sidney Ponson squares off with Byung-Hyun Kim on Saturday and Hayden Penn pitches the finale against Jeff Francis.
Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/
The play looked like a carbon copy of the foul tip that broke Javy Lopez's right hand on May 24 and sent the starter to the disabled list.
But Gil remained in the game, and Mazzilli said Wednesday that the catcher is fine. Unlike Lopez, Gil was able to absorb the blow because he held his hand the correct way.
"You should keep that hand back in there, thumb inside the fingers nice and loose," Orioles first base coach and former catcher Rick Dempsey said. "[If the ball hits you], it should hit the knuckles. [Lopez] had his hand in sideways and that's why it got broke."
While Gil had his right hand adjacent to the mitt, Dempsey said he avoided such encounters with deflected balls in his 24-year career by guarding his hand completely.
"I kept it behind the glove all the time," Dempsey said. "Foul balls don't get to your hand when it's behind the glove."
Backup catcher Sal Fasano says breaking bones in the hand is a pitfall that comes with the task of being behind the plate.
"Foul tips happen and it's like a hockey deflection, you can't really control where it's going," he said.
As many catchers do, Fasano said he keeps his hand behind his back when the bases are empty because he doesn't need to be able to get the ball out of his mitt as quickly. But Dempsey doesn't think that method is foolproof either.
"When you put your hand behind your back, it opens up the AC joint [in the shoulder], and if you get a foul tip, it's going to bruise real deep and you'll be out for a month, or sometimes with a sore arm like that, never recover," Dempsey said.
One of only three catchers in Major League history to play in four decades, Dempsey says he can try to teach current players his methods, but the way they catch "is just a habit and you can't break it."
No pressure: When rookie reliever Chris Ray began throwing in the Orioles bullpen for the first time Tuesday, the O's were locked in a scoreless tie with the Astros. The 23-year-old could have made his Major League debut in a tight game before 24,659 anxious fans, but he wasn't aware of the magnitude at that point.
"I didn't really think about that, I was trying to get loose," Ray said. "It was the first time I've thrown in the past couple days so I was just trying to throw strikes."
When the Double-A callup finally did run onto the field to start the ninth, the Orioles had a five-run lead, and he says he was as comfortable as he could have been making his first appearance.
"Yeah, definitely, especially when you know with B.J. Ryan that if you get in trouble, you have one of the best relievers coming in behind you," he said.
Ray retired the first two hitters before pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino slapped a single to right field. Ray settled back in and forced Craig Biggio to pop out to short to end the game.
"I'll probably still have a few jitters [next time]," Ray said. "[Pitching coach Ray Miller] just told me to slow down a little bit."
Boo birds: While Ray received a warm welcome to the Majors, Jorge Julio was booed off the mound after hitting Biggio with a pitch and walking Lance Berkman to start the eighth.
Julio said he doesn't really pay attention to the fans, but Mazzilli noted that Julio was overthrowing the ball.
Before leaving for the recent road trip, reliever Steve Reed earned a similar reaction from the fans after allowing four runs in one-third of an inning and blowing the O's lead to the Tigers on May 29.
But Reed proved his worth Tuesday in his first Camden Yards appearance since that game. He minimized the damage left by Julio in the eighth by striking out Jason Lane and inducing a groundout and a pop out, allowing just one of two inherited runners to score.
"I've been in lots of those situations," said the 40-year-old Reed, who is losing his hair. "That's why I look like this."
Black and blue: Morgan Ensberg showed off a baseball-sized bruise on the left side of his chest to Fasano while the O's were taking batting practice Wednesday. Ensberg was drilled by Julio in the eighth inning Monday.
Fasano was hit in the back of the left leg by a Wandy Rodriguez pitch in the bottom of the second inning Wednesday.
And a little purple: Baltimore Ravens rookie wide receiver Mark Clayton visited the Orioles clubhouse before Tuesday's game. The former Oklahoma Sooner was drafted 22nd overall in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
On deck: After an off-day on Thursday, the Orioles will try to win their second straight Interleague series in a three-game weekend set with the Colorado Rockies at Camden Yards. Daniel Cabrera will face Jason Jennings in the opener, Sidney Ponson squares off with Byung-Hyun Kim on Saturday and Hayden Penn pitches the finale against Jeff Francis.
Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/
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