Plug pulled on O’s over-air coverage
No games scheduled for WJZ; Orioles’ Cashner regains feel for his slider
There will be no lineup of Orioles baseball games on WJZ or any other over-the-air Baltimore broadcast channels this season, the CBS-owned station and Orioles confirmed Tuesday.
The end to a Baltimore TV tradition that dates to 1954, when the Orioles’ first home game was played on WMAR, is the result of a decision made by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, according to WJZ and the Orioles.
MASN sent the following statement in response to calls seeking comment Tuesday.
“Thanks for your interest in MASN. As the network that produces and airs all available Orioles games, MASN and MASN2 will now be the exclusive channels to watch Orioles baseball in the Mid-Atlantic region. Also for the first time, MASN and MASN2 will be the only channels where you can watch each ‘O’s Xtra’ pregame and postgame shows.”
MASN is a regional cable network owed by the Orioles and Washington Nationals. The Orioles are owned by the Angelos family. John P. Angelos is president of MASN.
K.C. Robertson, a WJZ spokesman, said his station has been broadcasting Orioles games since the mid-1990s. Last year, WJZ broadcast 20 games, including Opening Day.
WJZ will have an hour of Opening Day coverage Thursday starting at 12:30 p.m. but will not be carrying the game.The Orioles could still be seen occasionally on a local affiliate if its network has rights to a game.
MASN also confirmed in a separate statement that it will be the sole place to see Washington Nationals games in the region this season. There will be no lineup of games on a Washington broadcast station.
Furthermore, MASN and MASN2 will be the only channels with ‘Nats Xtra’ pregame and postgame shows. Orioles pitcher Andrew Cashner said he has his full arsenal of pitches ready for the regular season. Cashner ready for O’s: Listening to Andrew Cashner talk after his final exhibition start Monday afternoon in Norfolk, Va., the Orioles right-hander sounds confident in the arsenal he will carry into the regular season.
That’s because Cashner believes he’s regained the feel for his slider, a pitch that was a regular part of his arsenal before last season pitching for the Texas Rangers. Last season, after throwing his slider 17 percent of the time in his first seven major league seasons, Cashner essentially abandoned it for a cutter, a pitch similar to the slider that has less break but more velocity.
After his final preseason tuneup, Cashner was happy to announce he had found his slider again.
“I really think I just figured it out in the last five days,” Cashner said. “For me, I’ve been throwing a cutter. The cutter is still pretty good, but I think I’ve finally found my balance point and release point with my slider and right now, I’ve got it. So you just have to keep that feeling and keep going forward with it.”
If Cashner can re-establish his slider and use it to complement his power sinker, he will be able to cover both sides of the plate, which should not only help his ground-ball rate but also lead to more strikeouts. Last season, Cashner’s strikeout rate of 12.2 percent was the lowest of his career.
Cashner’s sinker is a unique pitch. He likes to throw it up in the zone and it has dramatic late break, so it is a legitimate swing-and-miss pitch, especially against left-handed hitters. But he can also keep it down to induce ground balls. Cashner owns a 49 percent career ground-ball rate, and last year he posted a 48.6 mark with the Rangers.
Combine the sinker and slider with a four-seamer, curveball and an occasional changeup, and Cashner is excited about the beginning of the season. He will pitch the Orioles’ second game of the year Saturday against the Minnesota Twins.
“I feel like I’m in a really good place mentally, physically,” Cashner said. “I’ve been working on a lot of different stuff. I’m excited for the challenge of Minnesota.” Nationals’ moves: The Washington Nationals put second baseman Daniel Murphy and right-handed reliever Joaquin Benoit on the 10-day disabled list.
The Nationals also put righty Koda Glover on the 60-day DL and selected the contract of catcher Miguel Montero on Tuesday, when Washington hosted the Minnesota Twins in the final exhibition game for both teams.
Murphy had surgery on his right knee shortly after last season ended and had been expected all along to miss the start of this season.
The 40-year-old Benoit, who joined the Nationals during spring training as a free agent, strained his right forearm during spring training. Surgery for Yankees’ Bird: Oftinjured New York Yankees first baseman Greg Bird had surgery on his ailing right ankle and could be sidelined for nearly two months.
The Yankees said Tuesday's operation went as planned.
Bird had surgery will remove a small broken spur on the outside of the right ankle. Dr. Martin O'Malley operated at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.