Rebuilding the Orioles - Albers' Early Days

In this article from MLB.com in April 2008, as the Orioles turn to Matt Albers to start the next game and keep the team in first place, Dave Trembley talks about the advice he gives to young pitchers like Albers and Garrett Olson. Basically, he tells them, keep it simple and just pitch. Don't try to figure everything out.

BALTIMORE -- If his current managerial gig doesn't pan out, Baltimore skipper Dave Trembley might have a career as a self-help guru. Whether he's espousing the power of positive thinking or the notion that a player controls his own destiny, Trembley's folksy ruminations seem to resonate with the Orioles.
Garrett Olson listened Tuesday, as Trembley implored him to pitch within himself in his 2008 debut against the Tampa Bay Rays.

"Just keep it simple -- just get on the mound and pitch," Trembley said of his pregame instructions to the 24-year-old Olson, a notorious nibbler during seven unspectacular starts in 2007. "Quit trying to figure it all out. Quit trying to analyze things. Quit trying to do too much. Quit trying to be perfect."

Olson listened and prospered, but Trembley could have been talking about any of the Orioles' young pitchers, including Matt Albers, one of the four pitchers acquired from Houston in the Miguel Tejada trade in December and Wednesday's spot starter.

Albers spent Spring Training telling observers that he wasn't viewing each outing as a make-or-break opportunity to impress. He's carried that philosophy into the regular season, where he's emerged as a reliable option out of the bullpen and a swingman capable of starting when he's needed. Suddenly, the Orioles -- in first place in the American League East by percentage points over Boston -- are turning to him to keep them atop the division.

"I don't think they're looking for me to do anything different than I have been doing," Albers said. "They want me to go out there and battle and compete, and that's what I'm going to do."

"Probably the easy thing to do is doubt yourself," Trembley said. "The hard thing to do is you have to trust who you are and what you have. It's a different ballgame when they turn those lights on out there and you're facing Major League hitters. A lot of it just comes back to experience. We saw guys come up last year and obviously the ability was there but they weren't polished."

Trembley's down-home philosophy extends past the mound. He thinks the departure of infielder Brandon Fahey -- who was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk in a roster shakeup Tuesday after splitting time at shortstop with Luis Hernandez -- might give Hernandez some much-needed breathing room.

It's one thing to tell a struggling player not to press; it's another to remove seemingly all obstacles to his success and let him grow into a position.

Hernandez was practically handed the starting shortstop job in Spring Training, only to find himself in a dogfight with Fahey, who the organization viewed as a utility man. Hernandez struggled at the plate and was shaky in the field. But Trembley has seen recent improvement in the 23-year-old, whose two hits on Tuesday pulled his average up to .245.

Said Trembley: "If anything, this will give Luis Hernandez, for the next 12 days or so, who he is. ... I've seen him get somewhat better. ... If Luis Hernandez gets a shot, maybe we'll see the Luis Hernandez we saw last year. I've seen glimpses of it."