Bullpen

[Basketeer]

Our relievers have been pitching quite well thus far. Lindstrom, Ayala, and Johnson have yet to allow an earned run and O'Day's only allowed 1. Even with Gregg's atrocious numbers, the pen has a combined 2.25 ERA, good enough for 4th in MLB. Johnson's 6 saves are 2nd in MLB.

Just trying to see some positives. This is a unit that has traditionally been crap for us in the past.

[Malike]

Similar to last year, I have the feeling that due to the starting pitching not getting deep into games, the bullpen is going to be taxed and those numbers will go way up. Starters need to do a better job all around or the bullpen will suffer the consequences.

[Can_of_corn]

Our relievers have been pitching quite well thus far. Lindstrom, Ayala, and Johnson have yet to allow an earned run and O'Day's only allowed 1. Even with Gregg's atrocious numbers, the pen has a combined 2.25 ERA, good enough for 4th in MLB. Johnson's 6 saves are 2nd in MLB.

Just trying to see some positives. This is a unit that has traditionally been crap for us in the past.

They have been pitching well.

Shame its unsustainable. They are being overtaxed and the effects will soon be apparent. The O's need a reliever that can reliably go more then one inning and they need the starters to go deeper.

[waroriole]

They've done a good job of preventing their OWN runners from scoring, but they haven't done a good job of keeping the previous guy's runners from scoring, except for Lindstrom. 46% of Inherited Runners have scored. Without including Lindstrom, the number is 58%. League average is 30%. Last year we were at 33%.

As far as Inherited Runners Scoring to Inherited Runners, here's the stats:

Patton: 3-6
O'Day: 3-6
Strop: 2-3
Gregg: 2-3
Ayala: 1-1
Lindstrom: 0-5
JJ: 0-0

As a group they are 11-24.

[waroriole]

They have been pitching well.

Shame its unsustainable. They are being overtaxed and the effects will soon be apparent. The O's need a reliever that can reliably go more then one inning and they need the starters to go deeper.

So far, they're league average at 5.9 IP per start. Of course, that's being held up because of the 3 games against MIN. Still, much better than last year when we got 5.4 IP per start, which was at least .4 IP per start worse than every other AL team.

[waroriole]

11-26 as O'Day strands two of Chen's.

[SteveA]

So far, they're league average at 5.9 IP per start. Of course, that's being held up because of the 3 games against MIN. Still, much better than last year when we got 5.4 IP per start, which was at least .4 IP per start worse than every other AL team.

So 5.9 is league average this year, but last year 13 of the 14 teams were 5.8 or better? What was the league average last year, over 6??? And why is it down this year? Maybe normal early season as pitchers work their way up to going deeper into games?

[waroriole]

So 5.9 is league average this year, but last year 13 of the 14 teams were 5.8 or better? What was the league average last year, over 6??? And why is it down this year? Maybe normal early season as pitchers work their way up to going deeper into games?

Yep, it was 6.1 I think. I'm sure it goes up as SP stretch out.

[atomic]

Bullpen has been amazing this year. Good group of guys. Jim Johnson, Strop, Oday, and Lindstrom all look outstanding.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Here's some combined stats on JJ, Strop, Lindstrom, Ayala, and O'Day thus far:

39 innings, 5 ER, 37 K's, 28 H, and 14 BB. That's good for a 1.15 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 2.64 K/BB, if my math is correct.

But, that also puts them on pace for an average of 79 IP each over the course of a 162 game season. Strop already has 10 IP. We've played a lot of extra inning games and a lot of close games, but we can't keep using them at this pace if we want them to stay healthy and effective over the course of the whole season.

All just another reason that we need our starters going deeper into games and a long reliever in the pen instead of Gregg. If the first 16 games are any indication, we're going to play a lot of tight games and will have a lot of 6th and 7th inning exits by our starters, so we can't afford to use our top 5 relievers too frequently in games that are not particularly close.

[TheBee]

Strop was 96-98 with movement, O'day got the job done, and good to see JJ firing on all cylinders! Great performance...

[MarylandAaron]

Here's some combined stats on JJ, Strop, Lindstrom, Ayala, and O'Day thus far:

39 innings, 5 ER, 37 K's, 28 H, and 14 BB. That's good for a 1.15 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 2.64 K/BB, if my math is correct.

But, that also puts them on pace for an average of 79 IP each over the course of a 162 game season. Strop already has 10 IP. We've played a lot of extra inning games and a lot of close games, but we can't keep using them at this pace if we want them to stay healthy and effective over the course of the whole season.

All just another reason that we need our starters going deeper into games and a long reliever in the pen instead of Gregg. If the first 16 games are any indication, we're going to play a lot of tight games and will have a lot of 6th and 7th inning exits by our starters, so we can't afford to use our top 5 relievers too frequently in games that are not particularly close.

Yeah, with Gregg on the roster, it's basically like having a six-man pen full of one-inning guys. I know this is beating a dead horse, but we need to get rid of him ASAP.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Yeah, with Gregg on the roster, it's basically like having a six-man pen full of one-inning guys. I know this is beating a dead horse, but we need to get rid of him ASAP.

Exactly. We're really handicapped by the fact that our only reliever who can comfortably go more than 2 innings is also our only lefty (Patton). Even if we replace Gregg with a short reliever who is a second lefty, like Phillips, the bullpen composition will be much more flexible and take the strain off of the 5 aforementioned relievers.

Even then, Patton may not be well suited for that long relief role. Ideally, we'd have a lefty who can also be a long reliever. Preferably this would be Wada, but he doesn't look like an option with his injuries. Eveland is probably the best fit, but a righty long reliever (Berken) or a lefty short reliever (Phillips) would still be a big improvement over having Gregg in the pen.

[MarylandAaron]

Exactly. We're really handicapped by the fact that our only reliever who can comfortably go more than 2 innings is also our only lefty (Patton). Even if we replace Gregg with a short reliever who is a second lefty, like Phillips, the bullpen composition will be much more flexible and take the strain off of the 5 aforementioned relievers.

Even then, Patton may not be well suited for that long relief role. Ideally, we'd have a lefty who can also be a long reliever. Preferably this would be Wada, but he doesn't look like an option with his injuries. Eveland is probably the best fit, but a righty long reliever (Berken) or a lefty short reliever (Phillips) would still be a big improvement over having Gregg in the pen.

Yup, Eveland would be my first choice as well. But as you said, anything but Gregg would be an improvement lol.

[RZNJ]

Most of our guys have gotten into the 6th inning in close games. I doubt very much, that you would have wanted your long man (probably your worst reliever next to Gregg) coming into those games. I don't think a long man would have changed much of anything so far. Eveland for Gregg makes sense on a few different levels though.