Kranitz

I'm told that Daniel Cabrera is throwing his changeup a lot in the Dominican Winter League, which is a good thing. Cabrera shied away from his off-speed stuff last season because he still lacked confidence in it. But he won't win consistently at this level without it, which he now realizes. I had someone close to Cabrera tell me that the right-hander will have a "different approach" this year and should be more focused. Cabrera never really meshed with former pitching coach Leo Mazzone, though Mazzone remained supportive of him. New pitching coach Rick Kranitz might want to avoid tinkering too much with Cabrera's mechanics once the season starts.

The Orioles staged such a dramatic turnaround over the final two months of the 2010 season that it's still hard to believe, but it's not hard to explain. The proof was in the pitching stats. The club had a league-worst 5.18 ERA when Buck Showalter managed his first game as an Oriole on Aug. 3. The staff ERA was just 3.54 the rest of the way, and the starting rotation was even better than that (3.16). Obviously, something changed dramatically upon Showalter's arrival. Maybe it was the attitude of the team as a whole.

Rick Kranitz cultivated his reputation as a pitching coach the past two seasons by nurturing the young arms on the Florida Marlins' staff. He placed as much importance on learning about their personalities as he did their tendencies on the mound, got the most out of them and became a hot commodity when he resigned last month. Kranitz will be given the same opportunities with the Orioles, whose appeal over at least two other teams enabled them to hire him yesterday as Leo Mazzone's replacement.

Rick Kranitz, who spent the past three years as the Orioles' pitching coach, has taken a minor league job with the Houston Astros the day after his Orioles contract expired. Kranitz, 52, was announced Monday as the Astros' minor league pitching coordinator, joining an organization that includes one of his closest friends, Houston manager Brad Mills. "First and foremost, I know the people at the top there very well … and it's an organization on the rise," Kranitz said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- He started at one of the far corners of the Orioles' spring training complex. His hands behind his back and clutching a blue binder that detailed the day's itinerary, Rick Kranitz observed four of his new students throwing side by side, balls popping into catchers' mitts in unison. Satisfied with what he saw, Kranitz walked briskly to an adjacent field, settling behind a batting cage to get a view of Jamie Walker delivering the last of his practice pitches. When Walker was done, Kranitz met him outside the third base line and patted the pitcher on his left shoulder.

BOSTON -- His workday usually starts about 11 a.m., eight hours before an Orioles starter will throw his first meaningful pitch. In a mostly empty clubhouse, Rick Kranitz reviews tape of the previous day's game, watching it twice to make sure he doesn't miss minute details. He then studies more tape of opposing hitters and reviews scouting reports. If there is time, the first-year Orioles pitching coach walks to the bullpen and sits quietly while puffing on a cigar. It will be the only moment until long after the game when Kranitz will allow his thoughts to drift from his mission to build and mentor a young pitching staff.

Two years ago, Rick Kranitz was a little-known baseball lifer getting his first big break with the Florida Marlins. Today he's the hottest pitching coach commodity in baseball - and he is on the Orioles' short list to replace Leo Mazzone, who was fired yesterday. Kranitz did not return phone calls, but a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed last night that Kranitz, 49, has been contacted by the Orioles to gauge his interest in the opening. The source said Kranitz seemed intrigued about the possibility of reconnecting with Orioles manager Dave Trembley and president Andy MacPhail.

BOSTON -- Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz is attributing Daniel Cabrera's struggles the past two outings to problems with his delivery, which has affected the movement on his two-seam fastball. In his past two outings, Cabrera has allowed 12 earned runs and 15 hits spanning 11 innings, squandering three-run leads in each outing. After allowing six earned runs to the Boston Red Sox in the series opener Tuesday, Cabrera said he's having problems getting his two-seam fastball down in the zone.

About 70 people, including many newly divorced or in the process of separating, gathered recently to find ways of helping the youngest and most innocent victims of broken marriages -- children.A couple of school guidance counselors, some grandparents, and an attorney from the Legal Aid Bureau were just a few of the people who attended Wednesday's seminar at Anne Arundel Medical Center's medical park in Annapolis.Parents said they attended because their children were displaying out-of-character behavior, from anger to rebelliousness to depression.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -All Rick Kranitz needed to see were three pitches from Rich Hill before he picked up the bullpen phone to call Chicago Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild. "I saw a couple of pitches, and I said, 'Whoa.' I called down to the dugout and said, 'Hey, Larry, you might want to come down and see this, because this is unbelievable,' " said Kranitz, then the Cubs' Triple-A pitching coach. "After the game, Larry came over and watched him. And he was like, 'Oh my gosh, we don't have a guy that throws that kind of breaking ball on our team right now.' " Hill, a fourth-round draft pick out of the University of Michigan a couple of years earlier, had been summoned to the major league club that day to serve as an emergency backup for a spring training game.

Orioles right-hander Kevin Millwood pitched into the seventh inning in his first outing in more than two weeks, outlasting his first baseman, his manager and his pitching coach. Heading into the bottom of the seventh in Thursday night's 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins, the Orioles had as many hits as ejections: Three. On a steamy, muggy Baltimore evening, the spirited crowd of an announced 20,108 witnessed Earl Weaver -like rants from interim manager Juan Samuel and first baseman Ty Wigginton, ignited by a questionable call that the umpire later acknowledged he missed.

Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz met with starter Jeremy Guthrie behind closed doors before Thursday night's game, urging the pitcher to relax and "control only what he can control." The meeting came a day after Guthrie was hammered for seven runs (six earned) in just 42/3 innings against the New York Yankees. After the outing, a visibly shaken Guthrie apologized to teammates and Orioles fans, saying he was embarrassed by his performance. Guthrie declined to comment Thursday.

Long before a save situation presented itself in the eighth inning of the Orioles' 8-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, manager Dave Trembley and pitching coach Rick Kranitz had decided that Jim Johnson was going to get the ball. It didn't matter what the inning was, or what was the situation. If there were key outs to get after starter Brian Matusz departed, they wanted Johnson, who blew a save and took the loss a day earlier, to get them. "I thought you had to go with the guy with the best stuff," Trembley said.

CHICAGO -- It wasn't a surprise for Rich Hill, and it wasn't supposed to be a glimpse into the future either. Hill was informed before Friday's game that he might be used for an inning so he could face live hitters before his first start of the second half Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. When the Orioles fell behind the Chicago White Sox, 10-5, after Friday's sixth inning, Hill got the call to enter in the seventh - his first big league relief appearance since Aug. 15, 2006, when he was with the Chicago Cubs.

The Orioles optioned reliever Bob McCrory back to Triple-A Norfolk and will recall outfielder Nolan Reimold in the wake of injuries to outfielder Adam Jones and designated hitter Luke Scott. Reimold, who is batting .394 with nine homers and 27 RBIs in 31 games, will join the Orioles in Kansas City on Thursday. Manager Dave Trembley said after the Orioles' 8-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night that he had not had time to consider just how Reimold will be used. "I haven't thought that far ahead," Trembley said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -The Orioles enjoyed something Tuesday that has been in short supply during the first five weeks of spring training. Some positive results from the starting rotation. Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara pitched a solid 3 2/3 innings against the Washington Nationals in his first competitive appearance since he strained his left hamstring covering first base in an exhibition game against the New York Mets on March 9. The Orioles lost for the seventh time in a row, 3-1, but nobody's going to remember their Grapefruit League record a month from now if Uehara settles in as the No. 2 starter.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -The Orioles enjoyed something Tuesday that has been in short supply during the first five weeks of spring training. Some positive results from the starting rotation. Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara pitched a solid 3 2/3 innings against the Washington Nationals in his first competitive appearance since he strained his left hamstring covering first base in an exhibition game against the New York Mets on March 9. The Orioles lost for the seventh time in a row, 3-1, but nobody's going to remember their Grapefruit League record a month from now if Uehara settles in as the No. 2 starter.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -No one should be surprised, but when the Orioles dispatched their three top pitching prospects to the organization's minor league camp in Sarasota over the weekend, the whole optimism-of-spring thing sort of went along for the ride across Alligator Alley. Brian Matusz could light up Fort Lauderdale Stadium with his curveball. Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta could make the future appear as if it's just around the corner. The three of them created so much buzz during the early weeks of spring training that it was easy not to notice that the major league pitching staff they will someday lead was quietly coming unraveled.

JUPITER, Fla. - Orioles owner Peter Angelos confirmed the Orioles are planning to make a significant free-agent push when the team gets within range of contending for a playoff berth next winter or in advance of the 2011 season. Angelos, who attended yesterday's game at Roger Dean Stadium and spoke briefly with reporters, also applauded the job Andy MacPhail has done since MacPhail took over as president of baseball operations. "I think Andy has done a great job," Angelos said. "If we can maintain that impetus, things can be pretty good.