Baltimore Orioles

Heading into the 2012 season there are very few reasons to be excited if you’re an Orioles fan. But to be clear, there are still things to be excited about. 

Lineup

In the middle game of a three game set between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards earlier this week, a rubber match was taking place between Boston's Josh Beckett and Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie.

The Orioles kicked off their 2011 campaign in style, sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays, and then taking two of three games from the projected 2011 A.L. Central champion Tigers.

The Baltimore Orioles will play the New York Yankees 17 times this season. 

If the Orioles are to continue their strong early-season play and finish the year with a winning record, they will need their young pitchers to keep the Yankees' strong lineup in check. 

The powerhouse that is the American League East division is known for big bats and the big budgets of the Yankees and Red Sox, but this year, a new crop of talented pitchers have entered the big leagues and look to make some serious noise.

All of the rotations in the division, except the Red Sox, feature one promising rookie and then there is a solid, young lefty sitting in the Rays pen.

Here are the best arms of the future that have crept their way into the big leagues in the early goings of 2011.

I took a look at starting pitchers available in at least half of Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues. Most guys in that range are either hurt or unproven, but there are some viable options in case the back end of your rotation is still shaky. Here are five guys I would consider.

Begin Slideshow

Double-headers abounded today for the Orioles organization.

Not only was the big-league squad involved, but the team's Low-A affiliate Delmarva played twice.

Unfortunately for O's prospect-watchers and minor league fans, they were subjected to two more rain-outs, this time affecting Triple-A Norfolk and High-A Frederick.

Let's get to the recaps from the night.

Bowie 2, Harrisburg 0

Orioles rookie Zach Britton made his second start this afternoon and earned rave reviews for his performance, shutting down the high-octane Texas Rangers offense that exploded for 13 runs in the night-cap of the double-header.

Not much going on on the minor league front for the Orioles.

Three of the organization's four games were postponed due to rain, and will be made up at a later date. The only game that took place was the second game of Norfolk's series with Charlotte.

Charlotte 5, Norfolk 0.

The Tides looked like they would have preferred a rain-out as well, notching only three hits all night off of the Knights. 

The Orioles minor league affiliates (three of them, anyways) kicked off the 2011 season on Thursday night, and while Low-A Delmarva was the only team to emerge from the opening day slate, that's not to say that there weren't plenty of positive signs for the most surprising big-league squads' minor league system.

Delmarva 2, Greensboro 1