Shortstop

The Orioles know very well the level of prep baseball talent that comes out of South Florida. Two years ago, the team tabbed shortstop Manny Machado out of Brito Miami Private with the third overall pick. And on Tuesday, the Orioles used their third-round pick (99th overall) on another talented Miami shortstop, Adrian Marin of Miami Gulliver Prep. Marin, who has signed to play at the University of Miami, projects to be a top-of-the-lineup bat given his well above-average speed.

Behind the black metal doors leading into the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, Orioles players bobbed their heads to the bass-thumping music that filled the room Thursday afternoon. Travel bags in front of each player's locker, the Orioles were ready to barnstorm out of Kansas City, having completed a road series just 40 hours after arriving here. Their stay was brief, but they swept through the Midwest with a pair of more-than-meaningful comeback wins at Kauffman Stadium -- wins that came within less than 24 hours of each other.

Hereford shortstop Jay Patti has been named the Baltimore County Player of the Year by the county's baseball coaches. "He's a hard worker and probably the most humble, skilled player we've ever had," Hereford coach Todd Hartshorn said. "He respects the game, the players on the field and he's easy to coach. If my daughter was 18, she'd be dating him. " Patti, a junior, batted .574 with 8 doubles, 3 triples 2 home runs and 22 RBIs. He also had 8 stolen bases, a .907 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .625.

Calvert Hall grad Pat Blair, now a junior at Wake Forest University, has been named to the first 2012 Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year watch list, as announced by the College Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday. The Wallace Award, sponsored by Mizuno, recognizes the nation's top shortstop and will be presented on June 30 in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the College Baseball Hall of Fame's Night of Champions. The Parkville native is one of 50 shortstops in the nation to be selected to the watch list and one of just four shortstops from the Atlantic Coast Conference to be tabbed.

J.J. Hardy has done plenty to help the Orioles this season with his glove, but it wasn't until Sunday when he felt his bat was catching up. In the Orioles' 17-inning 9-6 win over the Red Sox, Hardy had a career-high five hits, including two solo homers and a double, with two RBIs and three runs. Following a 5-for-8 day, Hardy lifted his average 30 points. Now hitting .217, it was the first time he's had a batting average above .200 since April 17. "Maybe today was the first day I felt OK," Hardy said.

The return of former Oriole Miguel Tejada still has several steps to overcome before coming to fruition, according to Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette. Tejada will report to the team's spring training facility on Monday to meet with Chris Correnti, who oversees the organization's rehab and conditioning. The 37-year-old former AL MVP will have a physical there and if he passes will then be signed to a contract to play in extended spring training, Duquette said.

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy received some scary news when the team's charter flight touched down in Chicago Sunday evening. That's when Hardy got word that a storm system that terrorized many parts of the midwestern U.S. and spawned numerous tornadoes leveled the condominium of his grandmother, Carol Shinn, in the town of Creston, Iowa on Saturday evening.  Shin was uninjured, but her home was destroyed. “I wasn't really following the weather so I didn't even know about the tornadoes going on,” Hardy said.

Carrying a .667 batting average into this week, it's clear senior shortstop Melanie Slowinski has had her share of big games for No. 1 Glen Burnie. When asked to pick the best of her four years playing for the Gophers, she took time to consider before coming up with a two-homer game in a win against Arundel during her sophomore year. Another question that had her stumped was what she would be doing if not playing softball. She started playing catch with her father every night in the backyard when she was little, started T-ball when she was 5 and then played travel softball when she was 8. "Sometimes I'll get sick of it and just don't feel like doing it," Slowinski said.

The Orioles' top position prospects, infielders Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop, will start the season together at Double-A Bowie because, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said, he believes that's where they both belong. "I think that both these kids are qualified major league infielders, and I think they are both ready for Double-A,” Duquette said. Machado will play shortstop, and Schoop, who also is a shortstop, likely will play primarily second base.

With a wide smile and a hint of bravado, Manny Machado says mostly all the right things about his baseball-playing future. The Orioles' 19-year-old phenom doesn't have a timetable for when he'll make the majors, though he'd like it to be sooner rather than later. He says he's not concerned with whether he'll return to the Carolina League champion Frederick Keys for a second season or start one step closer to the majors at Double-A Bowie this year - that's a decision made by management, not a player, Machado says adeptly.