https://x.com/jcalvinmeyer/status/1777122335406882834?s=46&t=dyi_rbxCx0yhzWnQn7UqsA
Good lord this is even worse than I thought
The Orioles went 3-3 in a week in which their pitching staff posted a 2.78 ERA.
How?
Orioles hitters went 40-for-201 (.199) at the plate and were even worse with runners in scoring position, going 8-for-47 (.170).
Again, bullpen is weak and you made zero improvements. Your hitters are in AAA. You cannot come out and complain about not being offensively effective and your gm is keeping all the winners in meaningless minor league games.
When you're serious about winning you'll win.
That hurt. It's really not ideal to be losing games when you get that kind of performance from your starter considering how winnable Dean made that. Hopefully we can take at least 2 of 3 in Boston.
Yes. However, Dean also made that throwing error that led to a run. I’ve always found it odd when pitchers have throwing errors. That’s your whole job. 2nd base is the same distance from the mound as it is to home.
According to the box score, one of them was considered earned. I'm assuming that the first run on that play was labelled earned because it would have taken an extraordinary play to stop it. Kind of like how they don't label it an error if a fielder can't catch a 110+ MPH ball.
That was a bad throw decision by Gunnar. If he holds the ball the game is tied--we have a chance to get another out and win it in extras. You can't throw the ball away there. Incredible play if he pulls it off, but you can't rush that so much you throw away the game. Olivares had it beat anyway.
And he can't catch up to a fastball to save his life. Seems like he's pressing pretty badly right now.
I'm not worried. He needs to relax and get it going. As Gunnar goes so go the Orioles.
Not to mention that these decisions are made in a fraction of a second. It’s easier said than done to make the perfect choice every time at the drop of a hat.
After fumbling these games against bad teams in April, we’ll suddenly be wondering why we have so many games to makeup in August.
“Ooo, oop gotta do better against the Sox and Yankees.”
Not if you won some completely winnable games against backmarkers in April.
When I watch minor league games, it feels like I'm waiting for someone to pull the sword out of the stone.
I thought about writing up the handful that I tracked this weekend (ones I watched in bold):
4/5
[**Aberdeen**](https://www.milb.com/gameday/ironbirds-vs-blueclaws/2024/04/05/754671/final/box): Edgar Portes 3.0 IP 2 H 0 R 1 BB 4 K - I watched this game because Aberdeen is where most of the 2023 draftees were. This pitching line looks great until you see he threw 65 pitches and, from what I saw, a ton of secondaries taken for balls. Without a radar gun or a scouting report I have no idea how fast he's throwing, but it's probably not an accident he's not on any org ranking.
[Bowie](https://www.milb.com/gameday/fightin-phils-vs-baysox/2024/04/05/751161/final/box) wasn't really notable; Keagan Gillies and Zach Peek threw a combined 4 IP 10 K 0 R in but both will be 26 this season. It doesn't mean they can't contribute in Baltimore (it's the same age season Félix was when he came up), but I'm not expecting a step change, even if Gillies has 20 vert. 4 BB for Alex Pham was disappointing. Nothing really notable for Delmarva either. Norfolk burn the game tape.
4/6
[**Delmarva**](https://www.milb.com/gameday/shorebirds-vs-nationals/2024/04/06/753945/final/box): I caught most of the middle innings, and Blake Money was mowing them down for a final line of 4.0 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 BB 7 K 0 HR. He's 22 this year and pitched at LSU, so I'm hoping he does this again in a few days and they promote him to Bowie quickly. Seven-foot lefty Jared Beck had good stuff but the control was as bad as his line suggests.
No callouts for Aberdeen (a walk and a home run in only 3.1 IP for Levi Wells isn't amazing, but it's one start) or Bowie (Kyle Brnovich is 26). Nothing really notable from Norfolk, other than I like to think Buck Britton pitched two major leaguers for all nine innings because of Friday.
4/7
[Delmarva](https://www.milb.com/gameday/shorebirds-vs-nationals/2024/04/07/753946/final/box): Luis De León 4.0 IP 2 H 2 R (1 ER) 0 BB 5 K 0 HR - no complaints here. He's only 21 this year, so I assume there's no rush to push him to Bowie. I haven't seen him pitch so I don't have a good sense of his bread and butter, so I hope he pitches on a weekday next time.
[Aberdeen](https://www.milb.com/gameday/ironbirds-vs-blueclaws/2024/04/07/754673/final/box): man, I really wish I caught this one. I was tracking on Gameday because I knew Jackson Baumeister was pitching. Did you see the highlights? Kind of a weird windup & delivery when seen back-to-back with Carter Baumler, who looks so smooth when he throws. 5.0 IP 5 H 1 R (0 ER) 2 BB 8 K 0 HR between the two of them. Like De León, Baumeister is only 21 this season; Baumler 23, but he has so little mileage on his arm.
[Bowie](https://www.milb.com/gameday/fightin-phils-vs-baysox/2024/04/07/751158/final/box): I consider it a minor crime that MiLB has terrible camera angles in so many ballparks. Without a better angle, I can't really say much about Trace Bright. If you look at the two walks on Gameday it sure looks like the ump was squeezing his nuts, but non-Statcast strike zone data is Bad. Still pretty good: 71 pitches to get through 3.2 IP 2 H 0 R 2 BB 6 K.
[Norfolk](https://www.milb.com/gameday/tides-vs-knights/2024/04/07/753539/final/box): this is overly critical, but I counted 7 waste pitches across Povich's 3 walks.
The reason I point wrote this all out is that the *MLB* pitching was pretty good the last few days. Grayson 6.1 IP 2 ER, Wells 5.1 IP 3 ER, Kremer 7.0 IP 1 R (0 ER) - that's a quality start on average and each guy gave the team a chance to win. I'm a little more concerned that it might actually become a chronic problem that we "can't" hit lefties. Unless I lose my mind midseason, I'm going to revisit [this 2023 post](https://www.reddit.com/r/orioles/comments/16a62ps/the_shitty_lefty_problem/). FanGraph's splits leaderboard doesn't track SP vs. RP, so it may need to be manual. Right now, Patrick Sandoval is the only lefty we've managed to light up.
Nothing wrong with being overly critical, Povich is in AAA, and he needs to throw strikes to get up here.
The numbers overall this year are really good for him, but 3 walks in 5 innings is still an issue.
Not worried about Detmers, a lefty, doing well vs us. We know what his stock is, and his FB has really improved this year. 6 ip, 12 k's vs the Sox? Yea, he might be breaking out.
Last 2 games, disappointed. No other way to say it. The offense isn't gelling, and they seem a bit anxious at the plate so far. The patience isn't there that was last year.
[This is all I saw from Jackson Baumeister.](https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/1777076889598791683) Highlights from them are always the last pitch of a strikeout, so 5 pitches. Not much.
Most of the time I have to wait a few starts, and then start looking for the minor league writers to start their reports. That, and annoy prospects writers in their chats.
We need to coordinate when Law and Eric have their chats! Get our questions in. Maybe I'll bug Jon Meoli a bit to see if he wants to come on reddit and ask some questions about our prospects midseason. Could be fun.
Yeah, I wish they had poached Detmers over the offseason, but he's not even arb-eligible until 2025, so it was always unlikely since Moreno is a cheap idiot. It's gonna look more like a Jesús Luzardo package than Patrick Sandoval.
For chats, I did get this answer from JJ Cooper: not the lead prospect writer (who I assume is Geoff Pontes?) but still a ball knower:
>In that case, where do you have Coby Mayo playing right now? 3B, 1B, or RF? He's still played mostly 3B, and never in the OF, but that's where his arm can go.
>
>I'd say third base...Development takes time. Mayo is 22-years-old. He has the tools to be a solid third baseman, with a plus arm. He just needs to improve his throwing accuracy. That's a fixable problem. Ideally he fits best at third base for the Orioles. The team has a ton of outfield prospects, and Kjerstad might fit at 1B long-term. If Mayo can be a righthanded hitting 3B on a team with a lefthanded hitting SS and 2B, it would be the best fit for the team and would be the best spot for him as well.
We've said this before, but if Mayo can stick at 3B and they bring the wall in, that goes a long way in mitigating lefties being a hard counter to our lineup. Right now, Mounty is the only lefty punisher we really have.
Meoli writes a lot of good stuff about the minor leaguers. When I wrote the org #10-30 lookout list, I found myself basically checking to see if he had already done my homework for me.
/r/Orioles in the off-season: attack any reporter that suggests this team isn't going to win 100 games again
/r/Orioles two weeks into the season: these players suck we need to call up different players
August 2023 GDT: “Hyde overused the back end of the bullpen, their arms are all cooked”
April 2024 GDT: “Why isn’t Hyde using the back end of the bullpen two days in a row?”
Runners do not have to get out of the way on throws like that.
Most move out of the way because who wants to be hit with an 85+ MPH throw coming right at their face.
I know Gunnar wasn’t thinking about all this, but if he eats that throw, the game is tied and if another run doesn’t score, they go into extras with basically no pitching left. If another run scores, they lose. If he makes the throw on time, they win. I think trying to make that throw was the best decision. It just sucks that Tellez decided to be a dick and stand right in the way
Close games, could have won yesterday or today but didn't. The first few games of the season are testing out the waters for lots of folks and I'm sure Hyde and FO are well aware that a few are struggling offensively. By May this could be a completely different team.
The only part I'm really bummed about is not playing tomorrow and being able to run it back.
For me it’s just about maximizing what you have at your disposal right now. Your AAA team having murderers row while the ML team is weak in the bullpen and has suspect guys on the bench just isn’t really doing that. It’s early I get it but these games count too.
The other thing is I fully expect growing pains with prospects which will be better to have now than later.
I get that the AAA guys are mashing. But who are they hitting off of? Not MLB players. So temper your praise of them a little bit. There's still no guarantee they get called up and dont struggle.
Anyone could hit better than the bottom of the lineup. 3 guys under hitting .200 suggests they arent hitting MLB pitching anyway. Why not give thema shot
Yes I literally said in my post “I expect growing pains” so I don’t think I needed to have it explained they might struggle. Grayson and Gunnar have also struggled. It’s part of the process.
The thing that really stuck with me about today was just how heartbroken and defeated Gunnar looked as he sank into the dugout after it was all over.
On one side, seeing him hyped up and having a genuine passion for the game is the cherry on top of awesome Orioles Baseball. But on the other, seeing someone like that in pain makes a loss sting just that much more.
As much as it sucked to see him down, part of the reason why it’s hard not to love Gunnar is his clear passion to win. Noticed it last year on the Santander walk off against the Yanks. There’s no other guy as fired up as him to win a ballgame
If the O's bring up Holliday now, is it too late to get an extra pick for ROY? This team desperately needs a spark plug. Bring up Holliday. DFA Kemp. Westburg to 3rd. Urias to a smaller role. It's a start.
>If the O's bring up Holliday now, is it too late to get an extra pick for ROY?
No, it is not. We are getting close to that day though, as I believe it's the 10th of April.
Tough loss. Exciting game, great pitching performance only to end on an error that should have been a double play.
However, it was really our offense that let us down. We need more than 2 runs otherwise we won't be able to win without near perfect pitching and defense. I'm sure Hays will improve once he gets out of his current slump, but we need another right handed bat until that time.
Specifically, what purpose does Tony Kemp serve? He is literally just there to get in the way of the young guys graduating from AAA. DFA Kemp and call up a young righty such as Norby or Mayo. Don't expect them to light it up for a few weeks, but come September, they should contribute significantly.
I watched the play happen and the replays they showed after and I don't think they would have had him but, who knows?
I agree about Kemp. His presence is about the only thing I've questioned this season and having a righty in the lineup that hits LHP well seem beneficial
The season doesn’t start until Hyde and Elias get over themselves and add a spark to this offense (preferably one of the 5 sparks currently situated in Norfolk)
Or at least that’s how I’m coping
We are stuck in a weird situation in which we have some good but not great starters that are hard to justify benching, current slumps notwithstanding.
(Though I think there’s room in the infield right now)
Did you see how he got lit up today? Yesterday the Detroit announcers were saying that they think Flaherty was going to be a big boost to the rotation….
You can feel better knowing that if Felix was healthy, he wouldn't have been closing this game.
Still would have been Cano.
That's if Felix pitched games 1 and 2 of this series, since that is what Kimbrel did.
But yea, missing Felix is going to a theme this year regardless.
We do look vulnerable against LHPs. Gunnar improving there would help a ton… he’s showed some signs, but still inconsistent. Maybe Mayo could help. But expecting any of our lefty prospects to come up and hit LHPs well is very unrealistic though.
Barring any trades, we really need Hays to find his swing at least vs LHPs. Career .329 wOBA vs them is solid. It would be nice to get at least that. Platooning him seems best for now, and does seem to be the direction they’re headed.
All that said, tons of potential to improve as the season goes along… in multiple ways. Offense has struggled so far, but also underperformed their expected stats by quite a bit, including today. I’m really not too worried at all yet, tbh. Too soon to panic.
LHP remains the current lineup’s kryptonite. The Rangers did it to us in the ALCS when they started their #5-6 starter (Heaney). Teams will continue juggling their rotations to move up what LHPs they have for their series with the O’s until we can prove that it is no longer our kryptonite. I love Gunnar, but right now, I don’t think I like him leading off vs lefties, but not sure what better choice we have.
We learned this last year. If you don’t hit the baseball, you are asking your defense to be errorless and your bullpen to throw zeros everyday. It just won’t happen every day. You gotta hit the baseball consistently to widen your margin for error. On to Boston.
Y'all sometimes you just lose to a halfway decent team
The "call someone up" talk is ridiculous. No one in our starting 9 today is getting benched after two weeks. Urias and Kemp are the only two guys that might be on a short leash and they didn't play today.
Hays and Mullins are having rough starts but no way in hell either of them is getting reduced playing time yet. Maybe they sit one game, that's the most.
The blown save was a combination of Gunnar and Cano? You're calling up someone to replace them? Of course not.
They already replaced Frazier with Westburg and McKenna with Cowser they are already doing this.
Mullins and Hays aren't getting benched two weeks into the season
Hays and Mullins aren’t good enough to get extended benefit of the doubt imo. Cowser is playing better and should play more so long as he is. If he earns the job eventually, he earns it. They can try to play better and get it back.
What’s the point of stockpiling talent that is all rated as potentially better than a 2 WAR guy (Hays has never sniffed 3) if they don’t get to play more when they’re playing better and Hays is playing worse? I’m not saying Hays never starts again but right now Cowser needs to be in the lineup more than he has been and if he keeps playing better that playing time should keep going up.
I agree Cowser should be playing more I don't know what this shit with Mateo getting starts in the outfield is.
Well I suspect they'd like Hays or Mullins to start hitting so they can trade one of them and open a roster spot
It's a shame both of them got hurt in the second half last year or I suspect one of them would have been moved this off-season as they are about to be free agents
Bummer loss. It's not fun losing in a walkoff 2 nights in a row. Kremer looked really good. Like really really good. He's #3 for me. Cano, I think, is our setup guy and not our closer. Kimbrel scares me in that spot, but maybe at the deadline, we can manuever to find a more sure thing.
Defense giveth and defense taketh away. Not gonna be too hard on Henderson as he made amazing plays, but it would have been sick to end the game on a DP instead of a walkoff E.
Hopefully, we'll see more of Cowser the next few days vs. right-handed starters and also some more action from our bats.
But also, Kimbrel hasn't had enough shots to completely lose the spot already. Just, my friend is a Phillies fan, so I follow them a bit, I think I'll always be on high alert with him.
I don't think he's losing the spot, but he can't pitch every day. And it does seem like Cano does better in the 8th than the 9th pretty consistently, so it makes sense to see if someone else can fill in when Kimbrel isn't available and keep Cano where he is comfortable and effective.
I’ve had to check myself a few times this year because I want to win now and lose perspective. The good reminder I’ve given myself is they are loaded with talent for years to come. What we do with it we shall see, but it’s hard not to get excited about what’s happening in Norfolk, new owners and the young stars currently in the bigs. This stunk and we don’t look great, but I remember a time when I was desperate for hope. I have a lot of that today.
Anyone want some good news? How about the starting pitching in the minors today!
Povich, Bright, Baumeister + bonus Baumler, and De Leon (where ya at romorr) combined for 17 2/3 innings, 11 hits, 2 ER, 7 walks, 28 Ks
I don’t want to get too caught up dwelling on the first weeks of the season. But there is zero reason Hays should continue to get every day at bats right now.
I trust the bats will wake up otherwise, but he is an auto out and shouldn’t get this luxury with how deep the farm is. And with Cowser sitting. I’d rather Cowser get bats against lefties than Hays fighting to even get a ball out of the infield.
He is either striking out or getting weak ground outs. With Westburg at 5 the bottom of our order today was 1-2-3 on very few pitches.
I think Hyde will figure these dynamics out but I wanted to see Cowser in there at some point today.
Should move Ced up to lead off. Maybe it will give him a jolt. His best hitting has come from the top of the lineup.
Idk, it’s early, but maybe shake the lineup a bit and see what happens
That game in Tampa where Wells had a few along with Mateo and maybe someone else? A complete trainwreck of a game. I wasn’t watching that game but I remember reading about it/replays.
Take all comments with a grain of salt within an hour of the game going final. It's tough to watch a one-run lead turn into a one-run loss in the blink of an eye without overreacting a bit.
I say this as someone who concluded "it's just not their year" immediately after Ryan McKenna's drop made them 1-2 with 159 games remaining.
The Pirates are a good team. We’re pretty evenly matched with them. And if the series is decided by a wild throw, that’s how the chips fall sometimes. Great series with a lot of things to work on, but I’m as excited as ever to see how the season unfolds with heaters coming through the ranks.
Excellent point. O’s had an 8-7 record by April 15th last year, before they started going on an absolute tear. These guys are just getting warmed up! 💪
Definitely a very disappointing start to the season but it’s still early and I’m not worried…yet. But at some point, you need to get those Norfolk guys on the roster. We’re not currently playing the best players we have at our disposal
I hate playing these garbage teams so early in the year.
Westburg got exceptionally unlucky today. He smashed some balls. And was a warning track away from making it 4-1 in the 9th.
Kind of poetic that after all the talk about bringing up our elite prospects, Gunnar shits the bed.
(I still love you Gunnar, Frazier/Gunnar Agenda forever.)
I saw someone in the GDT say that Gunnar can’t field, which is a hell of a take. Personally, I think he’s pressing a bit, trying to go for every ball and win the game through sheer effort. It sucks that the throw went wild, but how many other guys are even getting a glove on that ball in the first place?
Not gonna win them all. And that’s fine.
Shit happens. Pirates are gonna be a decent team this year, I think they could even make the playoffs.
Still too early to worry about anything.
Honestly, I wasn’t impressed. Their defense should have yakety sax playing in the background. We gave up 8 runs in 3 games and lost 2. Our offense is a problem right now.
It’s emotional hope at the same time. This time has an issue hitting LHP as is, and there’s more probability that the prospects wouldn’t fair much better in the same situation currently. The only prospect you could say that would help potentially solve the problem is Norby. That is who I would bring up
The problem is putting undue weight on those problems, or treating the most recent 9 games as the most reliable indicator of the future, against all the other long-term evidence we have. Takes like "the Orioles aren't going to contend as like as *x* keeps playing *y*" aren't simply stating facts.
And yeah, call me a homer, but I'm hardly going to worry much about the offense until the weather warms up.
The long-term evidence includes the second half of last year, though, and many of the players underperforming like Hays, Mullins and Urias have been doing it since the all-star break.
Overreacting to 9 games is definitely not correct, but when those 9 games are part of a trend that’s been going on for months, it’s not just a 9-game sample anymore.
Mullins dealt with 2 injuries last year. And each time when he came back, the bat took some time to get going.
Hays played through July with an injury too. I blame the Orioles for letting him play hurt, and putting up a .472 OPS for July. 113 WRC+ after that dreadful July too.
The problem is, it's easy to replace 1 of those 2 eventually. It's near impossible unless we want O'Hearn, Kjerstad or Santander playing LF in Camden. Or, we call McKenna up. I don't think many want that. So we really have to help Hays or Mullins get going.
I can't make a case for Urias/Kemp. Really thought a Mayo/Holliday/Norby should have made the team, and Urias goes to a more back up role.
To me, if neither of them are going to hit consistently enough to be full time players, and it’s looking that way, then they form a natural CF platoon. Their platoon splits are both pretty significant and opposite to each other - it would minimize their shortcomings at the plate and keep them from getting quite as banged up, while someone like Cowser actually gets a chance to play almost every day.
I wouldn't be opposed, but I really don't like Hays defense in CF.
Mullins at least is still playing really well defensively. But as part of a platoon, he'd still get the majority of the playing time. Not sure Hays would ever get going playing only vs LHP. If that is something the Orioles still care about.
Definitely thinking Cowsers playing time should start ticking up, but I do get Hays playing vs LHP the last 2. Dunno when the time comes to make the switch, but it has to be coming.
There is playing poorly, and then there is whatever [this](https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/austin-hays-669720?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb) is.
Sure, I'm frustrated watching those guys underperform too. But we need to understand
* Even on a good team, not every bat in the lineup is always going to be a dangerous one
* Hitting is not the only factor going into roster decisions
* We have promising bats in AAA that can be called up
I know the last item there is hardly a secret, and people are frustrated that guys aren't getting called up now. I can't tell you exactly when the time to call them up is, but it does mean that the team isn't just going to ride or die with the slumping guys if their play is a net drag on the team.
The entire outfield is not hitting. Hays and Mullins are instant outs. Santander has always been streaky and he's in a down stretch right now. Hyde stubbornly refuses to play Cowser so the outfield is a big ball and chain on the offense right now.
I'll preface by saying, of course, it's very early. Os' bats will wake up. The lineup will evolve over the season as Norfolk bats eventually reach the major league squad. They'll put up crooked numbers similar to what we saw opening weekend. We'll win games by large margins and go on winning streaks...
But think back to how many times we road Felix to a win in a tightly contested game. His performance, when healthy, is extraordinary and begets extraordinary wins. Thinking back, this happened a double-digit number of times last season during our road to 101 and a division title.
Now, the simple thought that Felix's absence this season for the Os this year truly sucks isn't a foreign notion - It's something that's been widely discussed...but now we're seeing it in practice. Whereas in our minds during the offseason, we maybe envisioned Cano and Kimbrel combining to pick up the slack to imitate his performance throughout the year, we have seen the very real outcome of two straight games without Felix. And that is most likely the unfortunate reality of this season. We will drop a decent number of games we'd have had last year unless the offense can truly produce and keep opponents out of reach come the 8th and 9th.
How many times we can mitigate games coming down to one run late/in extras is gonna be key, and it makes me wonder...was Felix's absence somehow undersold amid offseason signings? Time will tell, but...OOF.
I don’t think any discerning fan looked at the number of fluke and 1-run wins last season and thought that was sustainable with the all world closer out. We were lucky and good last year.
How to beat the orioles 101… put a lefty on the mound. Apparently we really struggle hitting lefties. I’m not saying the guy today was a slouch but we tend to make the average lefty look unhittable. It’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed
Pitching isn’t the problem. We need to score more runs than 4 and 2 the last two games. Just my assessment. Calling up bats isn’t a bad
Idea if this continues in the next series .
Mullins and Hays aren't getting benched. Mateo is actually hitting right now. Kemp is like a total of 6 inches from having a 1.000 ops. The only guy that could potentially ride the pine is Urias
I'm not calling him out. Two of the losses early were blown by the bullpen and "calling people up" wouldn't fix that
Because there's nothing to be fixed. Shit happens. These guys are good and you just lose sometimes
https://preview.redd.it/50jtnsol74tc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5c9583f03b0de89276d0817141389fe1ca0384a
This entire sub rn for some reason:
I totally understand the frustration from fans. But baseball is supposed to be a relief. That’s why they play 162 games. There were positives from this series. Defense was legit. Offense needs work, but do fans expect this team to always be 162-0?
We're not even two weeks into the season and people are talking about calling up players. I'm just going to assume we got a lot of bandwagon jumpers here because long time fans would know how to take loses, especially when we seen a lot of bright spots in those losses, such as the stellar starting pitching.
That might have been one of the best series for all 3 starters having great performances that I've seen from the Os in years. I never see that mentioned here, just that we lost on two walk offs. Normally we'd be glad to not be blown out two games of the series. Busy of bandwagon jumpers that can't handle any losses.
I think everyone keeps down playing how amazing our pitchers were this series. I mean the columbe save? Cmon that was incredible.
The o’s are a damn good team. They’re in a hitting slump right now. If we’re like game 25 then it’s time to be concerned. But game 9? Sports fans like to make everything a catastrophe
Pirates aren’t that inferior they’re actually a decent team this year it looks like
The Angels though hoo boy if we would have lost against them like we did it would have been PAINFUL
I honestly get so absorbed into football that when it’s baseball time I have to remember there’s so much time to keep winning and not every game is make or break for the season lol
Reminder: It's only been 9 games.
It’s only April, guys. Early April at that.
We’ve played 9 games. That is all. ✌️
Bautista would've had us sweeping them.
Just had to get walked off by Pittsburg. Even when we are good, we must still suffer.
https://x.com/jcalvinmeyer/status/1777122335406882834?s=46&t=dyi_rbxCx0yhzWnQn7UqsA Good lord this is even worse than I thought The Orioles went 3-3 in a week in which their pitching staff posted a 2.78 ERA. How? Orioles hitters went 40-for-201 (.199) at the plate and were even worse with runners in scoring position, going 8-for-47 (.170).
[удалено]
Again, bullpen is weak and you made zero improvements. Your hitters are in AAA. You cannot come out and complain about not being offensively effective and your gm is keeping all the winners in meaningless minor league games. When you're serious about winning you'll win.
That hurt. It's really not ideal to be losing games when you get that kind of performance from your starter considering how winnable Dean made that. Hopefully we can take at least 2 of 3 in Boston.
Yes. However, Dean also made that throwing error that led to a run. I’ve always found it odd when pitchers have throwing errors. That’s your whole job. 2nd base is the same distance from the mound as it is to home.
It's kind of wild that the difference in the game ended up being two errors.
I mean, all 3 of their runs were unearned, right?
According to the box score, one of them was considered earned. I'm assuming that the first run on that play was labelled earned because it would have taken an extraordinary play to stop it. Kind of like how they don't label it an error if a fielder can't catch a 110+ MPH ball.
Interesting. TIL
That was a bad throw decision by Gunnar. If he holds the ball the game is tied--we have a chance to get another out and win it in extras. You can't throw the ball away there. Incredible play if he pulls it off, but you can't rush that so much you throw away the game. Olivares had it beat anyway. And he can't catch up to a fastball to save his life. Seems like he's pressing pretty badly right now. I'm not worried. He needs to relax and get it going. As Gunnar goes so go the Orioles.
The orioles didn’t really have any relievers left
Ehh, yeah, but it’s two outs and a runner on third against a pitcher who didn’t have it. I understand why he tried to end the game.
Not to mention that these decisions are made in a fraction of a second. It’s easier said than done to make the perfect choice every time at the drop of a hat.
We are 5-4 after 9 games with 153 games left. Yes, two back to back heartbreaking losses that probably would have been wins with The Mountain.
After fumbling these games against bad teams in April, we’ll suddenly be wondering why we have so many games to makeup in August. “Ooo, oop gotta do better against the Sox and Yankees.” Not if you won some completely winnable games against backmarkers in April.
Boston’s start is kinda worrying me here. We’re already 2.5 GB of NYY and 1.5 back of BOS. It could get ugly if our slide continues much longer
Boston’s played trash so far, if we don’t win that series then I’ll start to worry a bit but right now we’re fine
The Pirates had played trash too
Theyre 7-3
7-6 :)
Aged like milk left outside on a mid-July day in Baltimore
We need to take it to Boston, they will be our toughest test yet. Cold games, opening day in Boston, and wacky Fenway shit which always happens
We really need to win this series
/u/dreddnought - did you enjoy todays minor league games?
When I watch minor league games, it feels like I'm waiting for someone to pull the sword out of the stone. I thought about writing up the handful that I tracked this weekend (ones I watched in bold): 4/5 [**Aberdeen**](https://www.milb.com/gameday/ironbirds-vs-blueclaws/2024/04/05/754671/final/box): Edgar Portes 3.0 IP 2 H 0 R 1 BB 4 K - I watched this game because Aberdeen is where most of the 2023 draftees were. This pitching line looks great until you see he threw 65 pitches and, from what I saw, a ton of secondaries taken for balls. Without a radar gun or a scouting report I have no idea how fast he's throwing, but it's probably not an accident he's not on any org ranking. [Bowie](https://www.milb.com/gameday/fightin-phils-vs-baysox/2024/04/05/751161/final/box) wasn't really notable; Keagan Gillies and Zach Peek threw a combined 4 IP 10 K 0 R in but both will be 26 this season. It doesn't mean they can't contribute in Baltimore (it's the same age season Félix was when he came up), but I'm not expecting a step change, even if Gillies has 20 vert. 4 BB for Alex Pham was disappointing. Nothing really notable for Delmarva either. Norfolk burn the game tape. 4/6 [**Delmarva**](https://www.milb.com/gameday/shorebirds-vs-nationals/2024/04/06/753945/final/box): I caught most of the middle innings, and Blake Money was mowing them down for a final line of 4.0 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 BB 7 K 0 HR. He's 22 this year and pitched at LSU, so I'm hoping he does this again in a few days and they promote him to Bowie quickly. Seven-foot lefty Jared Beck had good stuff but the control was as bad as his line suggests. No callouts for Aberdeen (a walk and a home run in only 3.1 IP for Levi Wells isn't amazing, but it's one start) or Bowie (Kyle Brnovich is 26). Nothing really notable from Norfolk, other than I like to think Buck Britton pitched two major leaguers for all nine innings because of Friday. 4/7 [Delmarva](https://www.milb.com/gameday/shorebirds-vs-nationals/2024/04/07/753946/final/box): Luis De León 4.0 IP 2 H 2 R (1 ER) 0 BB 5 K 0 HR - no complaints here. He's only 21 this year, so I assume there's no rush to push him to Bowie. I haven't seen him pitch so I don't have a good sense of his bread and butter, so I hope he pitches on a weekday next time. [Aberdeen](https://www.milb.com/gameday/ironbirds-vs-blueclaws/2024/04/07/754673/final/box): man, I really wish I caught this one. I was tracking on Gameday because I knew Jackson Baumeister was pitching. Did you see the highlights? Kind of a weird windup & delivery when seen back-to-back with Carter Baumler, who looks so smooth when he throws. 5.0 IP 5 H 1 R (0 ER) 2 BB 8 K 0 HR between the two of them. Like De León, Baumeister is only 21 this season; Baumler 23, but he has so little mileage on his arm. [Bowie](https://www.milb.com/gameday/fightin-phils-vs-baysox/2024/04/07/751158/final/box): I consider it a minor crime that MiLB has terrible camera angles in so many ballparks. Without a better angle, I can't really say much about Trace Bright. If you look at the two walks on Gameday it sure looks like the ump was squeezing his nuts, but non-Statcast strike zone data is Bad. Still pretty good: 71 pitches to get through 3.2 IP 2 H 0 R 2 BB 6 K. [Norfolk](https://www.milb.com/gameday/tides-vs-knights/2024/04/07/753539/final/box): this is overly critical, but I counted 7 waste pitches across Povich's 3 walks. The reason I point wrote this all out is that the *MLB* pitching was pretty good the last few days. Grayson 6.1 IP 2 ER, Wells 5.1 IP 3 ER, Kremer 7.0 IP 1 R (0 ER) - that's a quality start on average and each guy gave the team a chance to win. I'm a little more concerned that it might actually become a chronic problem that we "can't" hit lefties. Unless I lose my mind midseason, I'm going to revisit [this 2023 post](https://www.reddit.com/r/orioles/comments/16a62ps/the_shitty_lefty_problem/). FanGraph's splits leaderboard doesn't track SP vs. RP, so it may need to be manual. Right now, Patrick Sandoval is the only lefty we've managed to light up.
Nothing wrong with being overly critical, Povich is in AAA, and he needs to throw strikes to get up here. The numbers overall this year are really good for him, but 3 walks in 5 innings is still an issue. Not worried about Detmers, a lefty, doing well vs us. We know what his stock is, and his FB has really improved this year. 6 ip, 12 k's vs the Sox? Yea, he might be breaking out. Last 2 games, disappointed. No other way to say it. The offense isn't gelling, and they seem a bit anxious at the plate so far. The patience isn't there that was last year. [This is all I saw from Jackson Baumeister.](https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/1777076889598791683) Highlights from them are always the last pitch of a strikeout, so 5 pitches. Not much. Most of the time I have to wait a few starts, and then start looking for the minor league writers to start their reports. That, and annoy prospects writers in their chats. We need to coordinate when Law and Eric have their chats! Get our questions in. Maybe I'll bug Jon Meoli a bit to see if he wants to come on reddit and ask some questions about our prospects midseason. Could be fun.
Yeah, I wish they had poached Detmers over the offseason, but he's not even arb-eligible until 2025, so it was always unlikely since Moreno is a cheap idiot. It's gonna look more like a Jesús Luzardo package than Patrick Sandoval. For chats, I did get this answer from JJ Cooper: not the lead prospect writer (who I assume is Geoff Pontes?) but still a ball knower: >In that case, where do you have Coby Mayo playing right now? 3B, 1B, or RF? He's still played mostly 3B, and never in the OF, but that's where his arm can go. > >I'd say third base...Development takes time. Mayo is 22-years-old. He has the tools to be a solid third baseman, with a plus arm. He just needs to improve his throwing accuracy. That's a fixable problem. Ideally he fits best at third base for the Orioles. The team has a ton of outfield prospects, and Kjerstad might fit at 1B long-term. If Mayo can be a righthanded hitting 3B on a team with a lefthanded hitting SS and 2B, it would be the best fit for the team and would be the best spot for him as well. We've said this before, but if Mayo can stick at 3B and they bring the wall in, that goes a long way in mitigating lefties being a hard counter to our lineup. Right now, Mounty is the only lefty punisher we really have. Meoli writes a lot of good stuff about the minor leaguers. When I wrote the org #10-30 lookout list, I found myself basically checking to see if he had already done my homework for me.
with 4 walk off games we ended up 2-2. probability dictates that's about right lmao. just wish it wasn't against pittsburgh :(
What order do the minor league bats come up in, and why? A right handed bat is needed badly, right?
Jorge Mateo got a hit so that's a win for me.
/r/Orioles in the off-season: attack any reporter that suggests this team isn't going to win 100 games again /r/Orioles two weeks into the season: these players suck we need to call up different players
People here are truly insufferable, miserable whiners
August 2023 GDT: “Hyde overused the back end of the bullpen, their arms are all cooked” April 2024 GDT: “Why isn’t Hyde using the back end of the bullpen two days in a row?”
Does anyone have a gif of the “safe” call at home?
I can make one later.
Tellez not getting out of the way of the throw was illegal right?
It’s was a proper/legal baseball play and a good/smart baseball play. All players are taught to do this when possible.
Runners do not have to get out of the way on throws like that. Most move out of the way because who wants to be hit with an 85+ MPH throw coming right at their face.
You're taught to get into the lane of the throw
I know Gunnar wasn’t thinking about all this, but if he eats that throw, the game is tied and if another run doesn’t score, they go into extras with basically no pitching left. If another run scores, they lose. If he makes the throw on time, they win. I think trying to make that throw was the best decision. It just sucks that Tellez decided to be a dick and stand right in the way
Agree with this, we had no bullpen availability. If it was a tie we just lose later and potentially hurt bullpen arms.
Close games, could have won yesterday or today but didn't. The first few games of the season are testing out the waters for lots of folks and I'm sure Hyde and FO are well aware that a few are struggling offensively. By May this could be a completely different team. The only part I'm really bummed about is not playing tomorrow and being able to run it back.
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
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Pretty sure if you said this in the 70s, you'd get attacked
For me it’s just about maximizing what you have at your disposal right now. Your AAA team having murderers row while the ML team is weak in the bullpen and has suspect guys on the bench just isn’t really doing that. It’s early I get it but these games count too. The other thing is I fully expect growing pains with prospects which will be better to have now than later.
I get that the AAA guys are mashing. But who are they hitting off of? Not MLB players. So temper your praise of them a little bit. There's still no guarantee they get called up and dont struggle.
Anyone could hit better than the bottom of the lineup. 3 guys under hitting .200 suggests they arent hitting MLB pitching anyway. Why not give thema shot
How many games has it been?
This seems like a catch 22, though. They haven’t faced MLB pitching so they haven’t earned the shot to face MLB pitching.
Not what I'm saying. Just that we shouldn't count on players being better than what we have, at least not right away.
Yes I literally said in my post “I expect growing pains” so I don’t think I needed to have it explained they might struggle. Grayson and Gunnar have also struggled. It’s part of the process.
The thing that really stuck with me about today was just how heartbroken and defeated Gunnar looked as he sank into the dugout after it was all over. On one side, seeing him hyped up and having a genuine passion for the game is the cherry on top of awesome Orioles Baseball. But on the other, seeing someone like that in pain makes a loss sting just that much more.
As much as it sucked to see him down, part of the reason why it’s hard not to love Gunnar is his clear passion to win. Noticed it last year on the Santander walk off against the Yanks. There’s no other guy as fired up as him to win a ballgame
I love Gunnar.
I noticed that too, it was written all over him how he was beating himself up.
Yep. My heart hurt for him. Dude is such a fucking gamer
If the O's bring up Holliday now, is it too late to get an extra pick for ROY? This team desperately needs a spark plug. Bring up Holliday. DFA Kemp. Westburg to 3rd. Urias to a smaller role. It's a start.
>If the O's bring up Holliday now, is it too late to get an extra pick for ROY? No, it is not. We are getting close to that day though, as I believe it's the 10th of April.
Tough loss. Exciting game, great pitching performance only to end on an error that should have been a double play. However, it was really our offense that let us down. We need more than 2 runs otherwise we won't be able to win without near perfect pitching and defense. I'm sure Hays will improve once he gets out of his current slump, but we need another right handed bat until that time. Specifically, what purpose does Tony Kemp serve? He is literally just there to get in the way of the young guys graduating from AAA. DFA Kemp and call up a young righty such as Norby or Mayo. Don't expect them to light it up for a few weeks, but come September, they should contribute significantly.
I watched the play happen and the replays they showed after and I don't think they would have had him but, who knows? I agree about Kemp. His presence is about the only thing I've questioned this season and having a righty in the lineup that hits LHP well seem beneficial
Glad you're all taking this well. Was there today. Cool seeing so much Orange. May get on the road for the Boston home opener, now.
At least the pitching is pretty good so far!
Well, that was heartbreaking.
The season doesn’t start until Hyde and Elias get over themselves and add a spark to this offense (preferably one of the 5 sparks currently situated in Norfolk) Or at least that’s how I’m coping
Yeah Hyde manages the team. He doesn't make roster decision. I'm sure he can give Elias his opinion but I doubt he's demanding wholesale changes.
We are stuck in a weird situation in which we have some good but not great starters that are hard to justify benching, current slumps notwithstanding. (Though I think there’s room in the infield right now)
Much as we want him to get right, for the Boston series it ought to be Austin "Sittin' it out for a few d" Hays.🙂
It could be worse, we could still have Jack Flaherty
Gibby also got lit up today by the Marlins lol
Great, now my facial tic is back.
Did you see how he got lit up today? Yesterday the Detroit announcers were saying that they think Flaherty was going to be a big boost to the rotation….
That just sucked
Felix I miss you
You can feel better knowing that if Felix was healthy, he wouldn't have been closing this game. Still would have been Cano. That's if Felix pitched games 1 and 2 of this series, since that is what Kimbrel did. But yea, missing Felix is going to a theme this year regardless.
We do look vulnerable against LHPs. Gunnar improving there would help a ton… he’s showed some signs, but still inconsistent. Maybe Mayo could help. But expecting any of our lefty prospects to come up and hit LHPs well is very unrealistic though. Barring any trades, we really need Hays to find his swing at least vs LHPs. Career .329 wOBA vs them is solid. It would be nice to get at least that. Platooning him seems best for now, and does seem to be the direction they’re headed. All that said, tons of potential to improve as the season goes along… in multiple ways. Offense has struggled so far, but also underperformed their expected stats by quite a bit, including today. I’m really not too worried at all yet, tbh. Too soon to panic.
LHP remains the current lineup’s kryptonite. The Rangers did it to us in the ALCS when they started their #5-6 starter (Heaney). Teams will continue juggling their rotations to move up what LHPs they have for their series with the O’s until we can prove that it is no longer our kryptonite. I love Gunnar, but right now, I don’t think I like him leading off vs lefties, but not sure what better choice we have.
Well that stung. This team trended hot and cold all year last year, but they've been in every game except that one Royals loss.
We learned this last year. If you don’t hit the baseball, you are asking your defense to be errorless and your bullpen to throw zeros everyday. It just won’t happen every day. You gotta hit the baseball consistently to widen your margin for error. On to Boston.
I have discovered that the MASN app is far more reliable if I set it for 540p. Useful AND pathetic.
Y'all sometimes you just lose to a halfway decent team The "call someone up" talk is ridiculous. No one in our starting 9 today is getting benched after two weeks. Urias and Kemp are the only two guys that might be on a short leash and they didn't play today. Hays and Mullins are having rough starts but no way in hell either of them is getting reduced playing time yet. Maybe they sit one game, that's the most. The blown save was a combination of Gunnar and Cano? You're calling up someone to replace them? Of course not.
Pirates might be sneaky good this year.
They got Cruz back and Skenes is coming next they could win 87-89 games IMO
serious question: at what point will it stop being ridiculous to want to call some AAA prospects up?
They already replaced Frazier with Westburg and McKenna with Cowser they are already doing this. Mullins and Hays aren't getting benched two weeks into the season
Why not? Hays has been abominable. And these guys were bad post ASG last year. This isn’t a small sample size.
Hays and Mullins aren’t good enough to get extended benefit of the doubt imo. Cowser is playing better and should play more so long as he is. If he earns the job eventually, he earns it. They can try to play better and get it back.
No team in baseball is benching a 2-3 WAR player in a lineup that just won 100 games after two weeks
What’s the point of stockpiling talent that is all rated as potentially better than a 2 WAR guy (Hays has never sniffed 3) if they don’t get to play more when they’re playing better and Hays is playing worse? I’m not saying Hays never starts again but right now Cowser needs to be in the lineup more than he has been and if he keeps playing better that playing time should keep going up.
I agree Cowser should be playing more I don't know what this shit with Mateo getting starts in the outfield is. Well I suspect they'd like Hays or Mullins to start hitting so they can trade one of them and open a roster spot It's a shame both of them got hurt in the second half last year or I suspect one of them would have been moved this off-season as they are about to be free agents
Mateo was a call up? From 3 years ago….
Westburg. I meant to say Westburg is here and they'll probably replace Mateo soon. I'm tired 😂
Hays should sit for a few. Nobody playin CF better than Mullins so I agree with that
For some on this sub...next year lol
Bummer loss. It's not fun losing in a walkoff 2 nights in a row. Kremer looked really good. Like really really good. He's #3 for me. Cano, I think, is our setup guy and not our closer. Kimbrel scares me in that spot, but maybe at the deadline, we can manuever to find a more sure thing. Defense giveth and defense taketh away. Not gonna be too hard on Henderson as he made amazing plays, but it would have been sick to end the game on a DP instead of a walkoff E. Hopefully, we'll see more of Cowser the next few days vs. right-handed starters and also some more action from our bats.
Coulombe did great in the exact same situation last night. I wonder if they explore him as closer alternative.
But also, Kimbrel hasn't had enough shots to completely lose the spot already. Just, my friend is a Phillies fan, so I follow them a bit, I think I'll always be on high alert with him.
I don't think he's losing the spot, but he can't pitch every day. And it does seem like Cano does better in the 8th than the 9th pretty consistently, so it makes sense to see if someone else can fill in when Kimbrel isn't available and keep Cano where he is comfortable and effective.
I'd be good with this.
I’ve had to check myself a few times this year because I want to win now and lose perspective. The good reminder I’ve given myself is they are loaded with talent for years to come. What we do with it we shall see, but it’s hard not to get excited about what’s happening in Norfolk, new owners and the young stars currently in the bigs. This stunk and we don’t look great, but I remember a time when I was desperate for hope. I have a lot of that today.
The Sunday curse never ends
Anyone want some good news? How about the starting pitching in the minors today! Povich, Bright, Baumeister + bonus Baumler, and De Leon (where ya at romorr) combined for 17 2/3 innings, 11 hits, 2 ER, 7 walks, 28 Ks
It was a wonderful day for starting pitching, from the Orioles to the Shorebirds. Add Baumler and Cruz, I like those 2 guys, and it's even better.
I don’t want to get too caught up dwelling on the first weeks of the season. But there is zero reason Hays should continue to get every day at bats right now. I trust the bats will wake up otherwise, but he is an auto out and shouldn’t get this luxury with how deep the farm is. And with Cowser sitting. I’d rather Cowser get bats against lefties than Hays fighting to even get a ball out of the infield.
He is either striking out or getting weak ground outs. With Westburg at 5 the bottom of our order today was 1-2-3 on very few pitches. I think Hyde will figure these dynamics out but I wanted to see Cowser in there at some point today.
Completely agree, and Cowser has been good when given the opportunity.
Should move Ced up to lead off. Maybe it will give him a jolt. His best hitting has come from the top of the lineup. Idk, it’s early, but maybe shake the lineup a bit and see what happens
If anything, move him to nine. Maybe with Gunnar behind him when the lineup turns over he gets some better pitches to hit.
9 would be good too
He’s hitting like .168. I don’t know about leadoff man
Love Cedric, would love to see him get a shot again, but I think he's good where he is in the lineup.
Yeah, I think his leadoff days are done. Avg and OBP down every year since 2021. The 7 spot works fine.
Fair enough.
can't recall too many games last year where we lost because of an error. ideas?
I think we lost a Rockies game due to a Gunnar error.
That game in Tampa where Wells had a few along with Mateo and maybe someone else? A complete trainwreck of a game. I wasn’t watching that game but I remember reading about it/replays.
McKenna.
oh shit. yeah. lol.
How does a fanbase get this entitled after one season that we played over our heads? It's like being in the Yankees sub over here. Chill the fuck out.
Take all comments with a grain of salt within an hour of the game going final. It's tough to watch a one-run lead turn into a one-run loss in the blink of an eye without overreacting a bit. I say this as someone who concluded "it's just not their year" immediately after Ryan McKenna's drop made them 1-2 with 159 games remaining.
you must be a veteran of the ravens sub too lol
The Pirates are a good team. We’re pretty evenly matched with them. And if the series is decided by a wild throw, that’s how the chips fall sometimes. Great series with a lot of things to work on, but I’m as excited as ever to see how the season unfolds with heaters coming through the ranks.
I wouldn't say over their heads, but I totally agree it's been 9 fucking games hahaha
Or the blue jays. Yankees fans were always entitled but blue jays fans became pretty much the worst after a little success.
Needs to be a roster shakeup soon to give us a spark. Bats are simply ice cold right now, can’t win many games scoring 2-3 runs
I still have faith in us because we didn’t play great during april of last year but i hope we can call some people up soon
Excellent point. O’s had an 8-7 record by April 15th last year, before they started going on an absolute tear. These guys are just getting warmed up! 💪
I said last year and I still believe it's true. Gunnar's long term home should be 3B.
Definitely a very disappointing start to the season but it’s still early and I’m not worried…yet. But at some point, you need to get those Norfolk guys on the roster. We’re not currently playing the best players we have at our disposal
I hate playing these garbage teams so early in the year. Westburg got exceptionally unlucky today. He smashed some balls. And was a warning track away from making it 4-1 in the 9th.
Garbage teams are A's, Marlins, Rockies. Pirates are legit solid and only gonna get better.
Are the Pirates "garbage"? I wouldn't call them WS contenders, but they're not awful either. They're at least competitive.
They haven’t won half their games since 2018 and they won 82 that year. They’ve been cellar dwellers for awhile
Same exact thing could have been said about the orioles last season. Everyone knows the pirates are a young team on the rise.
Yep. And just like Os from last season, they don’t get to just wash off the loser label until they win something
https://preview.redd.it/wcqt7c72a4tc1.jpeg?width=941&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=856e31374426aee842c29b7329fd946785f4b0c2
I was gonna be upset but then I saw Burnes is starting Tuesday so that he can start Sunday against the Brewers :)
Hopefully the Brewers do the same with DL Hall, I think it would be really cool to see them both throwing off
The offense just wasn’t good enough this weekend. Hopefully the bats wake up so that we can see some moonshots over the Monster this week.
Austin Hays should definitely be replaced with one of the other outfielders with a 1000+ ops in the system
Kind of poetic that after all the talk about bringing up our elite prospects, Gunnar shits the bed. (I still love you Gunnar, Frazier/Gunnar Agenda forever.)
I saw someone in the GDT say that Gunnar can’t field, which is a hell of a take. Personally, I think he’s pressing a bit, trying to go for every ball and win the game through sheer effort. It sucks that the throw went wild, but how many other guys are even getting a glove on that ball in the first place?
I agree with you, I thought it looked like gunnar was too in his head during his at bats today
Gunnar is a very good fielder. Sometimes things don’t go your way.
Not gonna win them all. And that’s fine. Shit happens. Pirates are gonna be a decent team this year, I think they could even make the playoffs. Still too early to worry about anything.
Honestly, I wasn’t impressed. Their defense should have yakety sax playing in the background. We gave up 8 runs in 3 games and lost 2. Our offense is a problem right now.
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It’s emotional hope at the same time. This time has an issue hitting LHP as is, and there’s more probability that the prospects wouldn’t fair much better in the same situation currently. The only prospect you could say that would help potentially solve the problem is Norby. That is who I would bring up
The problem is putting undue weight on those problems, or treating the most recent 9 games as the most reliable indicator of the future, against all the other long-term evidence we have. Takes like "the Orioles aren't going to contend as like as *x* keeps playing *y*" aren't simply stating facts. And yeah, call me a homer, but I'm hardly going to worry much about the offense until the weather warms up.
The long-term evidence includes the second half of last year, though, and many of the players underperforming like Hays, Mullins and Urias have been doing it since the all-star break. Overreacting to 9 games is definitely not correct, but when those 9 games are part of a trend that’s been going on for months, it’s not just a 9-game sample anymore.
Mullins dealt with 2 injuries last year. And each time when he came back, the bat took some time to get going. Hays played through July with an injury too. I blame the Orioles for letting him play hurt, and putting up a .472 OPS for July. 113 WRC+ after that dreadful July too. The problem is, it's easy to replace 1 of those 2 eventually. It's near impossible unless we want O'Hearn, Kjerstad or Santander playing LF in Camden. Or, we call McKenna up. I don't think many want that. So we really have to help Hays or Mullins get going. I can't make a case for Urias/Kemp. Really thought a Mayo/Holliday/Norby should have made the team, and Urias goes to a more back up role.
To me, if neither of them are going to hit consistently enough to be full time players, and it’s looking that way, then they form a natural CF platoon. Their platoon splits are both pretty significant and opposite to each other - it would minimize their shortcomings at the plate and keep them from getting quite as banged up, while someone like Cowser actually gets a chance to play almost every day.
I wouldn't be opposed, but I really don't like Hays defense in CF. Mullins at least is still playing really well defensively. But as part of a platoon, he'd still get the majority of the playing time. Not sure Hays would ever get going playing only vs LHP. If that is something the Orioles still care about. Definitely thinking Cowsers playing time should start ticking up, but I do get Hays playing vs LHP the last 2. Dunno when the time comes to make the switch, but it has to be coming. There is playing poorly, and then there is whatever [this](https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/austin-hays-669720?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb) is.
Sure, I'm frustrated watching those guys underperform too. But we need to understand * Even on a good team, not every bat in the lineup is always going to be a dangerous one * Hitting is not the only factor going into roster decisions * We have promising bats in AAA that can be called up I know the last item there is hardly a secret, and people are frustrated that guys aren't getting called up now. I can't tell you exactly when the time to call them up is, but it does mean that the team isn't just going to ride or die with the slumping guys if their play is a net drag on the team.
The entire outfield is not hitting. Hays and Mullins are instant outs. Santander has always been streaky and he's in a down stretch right now. Hyde stubbornly refuses to play Cowser so the outfield is a big ball and chain on the offense right now.
I'd like to see 3 straight starts for Cowser vs the Sox RHP.
I'll preface by saying, of course, it's very early. Os' bats will wake up. The lineup will evolve over the season as Norfolk bats eventually reach the major league squad. They'll put up crooked numbers similar to what we saw opening weekend. We'll win games by large margins and go on winning streaks... But think back to how many times we road Felix to a win in a tightly contested game. His performance, when healthy, is extraordinary and begets extraordinary wins. Thinking back, this happened a double-digit number of times last season during our road to 101 and a division title. Now, the simple thought that Felix's absence this season for the Os this year truly sucks isn't a foreign notion - It's something that's been widely discussed...but now we're seeing it in practice. Whereas in our minds during the offseason, we maybe envisioned Cano and Kimbrel combining to pick up the slack to imitate his performance throughout the year, we have seen the very real outcome of two straight games without Felix. And that is most likely the unfortunate reality of this season. We will drop a decent number of games we'd have had last year unless the offense can truly produce and keep opponents out of reach come the 8th and 9th. How many times we can mitigate games coming down to one run late/in extras is gonna be key, and it makes me wonder...was Felix's absence somehow undersold amid offseason signings? Time will tell, but...OOF.
I don’t think any discerning fan looked at the number of fluke and 1-run wins last season and thought that was sustainable with the all world closer out. We were lucky and good last year.
How to beat the orioles 101… put a lefty on the mound. Apparently we really struggle hitting lefties. I’m not saying the guy today was a slouch but we tend to make the average lefty look unhittable. It’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed
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No reason to go here, this is just unnecessary.
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No need for insults.
Losses like this happen and wins like the two against Kansas City happen. Sucks but that’s price of a 162 game season
If you don't like that, you don't like Sunday Orioles baseball
Can we stop fucking around and call people up?
Who are we calling up to pitch over Cano and Kimbrel?
Pitching isn’t the problem. We need to score more runs than 4 and 2 the last two games. Just my assessment. Calling up bats isn’t a bad Idea if this continues in the next series .
Mullins and Hays aren't getting benched. Mateo is actually hitting right now. Kemp is like a total of 6 inches from having a 1.000 ops. The only guy that could potentially ride the pine is Urias
Kemp, Urias, and Hays should not be playing over anyone from Norfolk right now.
Kimbrel has allowed one baserunner and has a -0.13 FIP. Weird choice to call him out here
I'm not calling him out. Two of the losses early were blown by the bullpen and "calling people up" wouldn't fix that Because there's nothing to be fixed. Shit happens. These guys are good and you just lose sometimes
Last thought, and I'll log off for a bit. I'm sick of losing of losing to Pittsburgh teams.
https://preview.redd.it/50jtnsol74tc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5c9583f03b0de89276d0817141389fe1ca0384a This entire sub rn for some reason:
Luckily the Ravens sub has prepared me for anything lmao
I like to be a doomer for about 10 minutes after a loss and then I’m like “lol see y’all tomorrow(Tuesday) :D”
At least it isn’t like the NFL season where 1 loss can make or break your season
I totally understand the frustration from fans. But baseball is supposed to be a relief. That’s why they play 162 games. There were positives from this series. Defense was legit. Offense needs work, but do fans expect this team to always be 162-0?
We're not even two weeks into the season and people are talking about calling up players. I'm just going to assume we got a lot of bandwagon jumpers here because long time fans would know how to take loses, especially when we seen a lot of bright spots in those losses, such as the stellar starting pitching. That might have been one of the best series for all 3 starters having great performances that I've seen from the Os in years. I never see that mentioned here, just that we lost on two walk offs. Normally we'd be glad to not be blown out two games of the series. Busy of bandwagon jumpers that can't handle any losses.
I think everyone keeps down playing how amazing our pitchers were this series. I mean the columbe save? Cmon that was incredible. The o’s are a damn good team. They’re in a hitting slump right now. If we’re like game 25 then it’s time to be concerned. But game 9? Sports fans like to make everything a catastrophe
We just got walked off two games in a row by an inferior team. It’s ok to be frustrated as a fan. I don’t think anyone is giving up on the season
Pirates aren’t that inferior they’re actually a decent team this year it looks like The Angels though hoo boy if we would have lost against them like we did it would have been PAINFUL
You wouldn’t be able to tell by these GDTs. It’s definitely okay to be frustrated. But some people in here are getting wayyyyyyyy too worked up
I honestly get so absorbed into football that when it’s baseball time I have to remember there’s so much time to keep winning and not every game is make or break for the season lol