Tony-OH

That's not surprising at all and it's ashamed MASN didn't show that more. Players, especially in the heat of battle, teammates are always going to have each other's back. I have zero issues with O'Hearn or even Verdugo yelling stuff. Let them yell. It's good drama and entertainment.

Yeah, Judge is usually better than that. He knows deep down he was not hit on purpose, but I'm sure he was still pissed because of the pain and because he missed the rest of that game and probably knew at least one more. These guys are human and anger is a human emotion. I'm sure when Judge and Gunnar are teammates at the All-Star game they will have a good laugh about it, but when the games count again, they'll be back hating the other team! That's good for baseball.

Fans are fans. I've seen Orioles fans cheering when the other team's players were hit or even injured at times. While I'm not fan of Yankees fans, I don't think they act much different than any other fan group other than they feel more entitled because of their payroll and overall success over the last what, 30 plus years now? Getting hit by the pitch is still part of the game and as long as players are not head hunting or aiming towards the hands, I don't have a significant problem with it but i don't want to see it continue. We hit Judge and knocked him out of game. It was not purposeful, but it happened. I doubt Gunnar was surprised he was hit in retaliation, but in Gunnar's fashion, he didn't wine or cry or mean mug, he went down and stole 2nd base and scored an important run because of it. That it what baseball is all about. The Yankees retaliated in a bad spot and it may have cost them a game. That's just plain dumb. The Orioles are smarter than that.

Stuff like that doesn't bother me really. Just two guys in the moment of competition in a meaningful series. Cowser was acting in the moment, but I don't think anyone thought he was hit on purpose. Trevino did the same with his reaction. In the end, if just adds some drama to the upcoming games and that's fun to watch. As Emperor Palpatine would say, "Good! Use your aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you! Your hate has made you powerful!"

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2024-playoff-odds.shtml Basically, according to their formula, which can be explained here in more detail, the Orioles have 19.4% chance to win the World Series, 34.5% chance to win the AL Pennant, and a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs. Basically their formula is: Basically they are the best team in baseball by their account. Fangraphs uses a different system and has the Orioles as the second most favored team to win the World Series (8.3%) in the AL behind, you guessed it, the Yankees (14.6%). They have the Dodgers at 17%, Phillies 12.9%, and Braves 9.7% ahead of the Orioles. So in their calculations, the Orioles are the 5th best team. Now, this means nothing in the big game of things, but just something interesting to see.

Baumann is guy with a good arm who can flash plus stuff, but has never been able to find consistency. He was DFA'd because he was out of options and the team needs flexibility with that last reliever spot. The Orioles have found Perez and basically Coulombe because of the same situation. Saying that, the system is fair to the player because it gives them an opportunity to pitch in the big league vice having to be a spare part in AAA. Now that the Orioles are good, they are going to start losing players like Baumann. Next year, Akin could be the next Baumann who will have to be DFA'd because he's out of option and is a bit similar to Baumann in quality and reliability, though I'd give Akin a little bit better grade. When Baumann was DFA'd, I said that I would not be surprised if hes not DFA'd again. I also would not be surprised if he doesn't pitch well for awhile. He's going to probably have a nice long career as that 6th inning, mop up guy on teams. But that's ok, because there are a lot of Baumann's in AAA ready to come up and do similar stuff. I mean, look at what Baker has been doing since coming back? Can he keep it up? Eh, we've seen good Baker and and bad Baker so who knows? In the end, the Baumann's of the world are basically replacement level relievers. You lose some, you find some, and occasionally they figure it out in a new place and fulfill their ceilings.

It was in my opinion as well. And considering they lost Judge for a day, it was not surprising that Gunnar got drilled. Luckily he got it in the meaty part and not off a hand. It's just the way the game is played. Gunnar knew it, the Orioles knew it, and there was no more after that, even as the Orioles were destroying them. Wheter this is over or not depends on a lot of factors, but it's good to have some good 'ol Yankees hate amongst the team now. They never had a rivalry at the big league level really. Now they do. Let's get it on!!!

This made me literally laugh out loud!

Agreed. I guess they are trying to suggest it might be worse than just bone chips. But, the Orioles/Elias have been pretty forth coming on the timetables to return. I'm just hoping to have a healthy Coulombe by September and into October.

Where did you hear that Elias may dangle Basallo in trade? I have a hard time believing that. He's got to be an untouchable.

Such an easy kid to root for besides being such an amazing prospect. The Orioles production team really does an outstanding job on these shorts.

You had a lot of good info in this post then kind of went off the rails a bit for me. Of course the team is going to protect a prospect like Basallo so I'm not sure how you can access that he lacks toughness. Do you think he's asking out? I doubt that. everything I've ever heard about the kid is that he's hungry, baseball smart, and has an incredible work ethic. As for calling a game, it's really hard to tell but I haven't noticed anything that stood out to me as terrible. He seems to mix it up well and know what type of pitches to call in what counts to work batters depending on the pitcher's strengths. Also, you have to remember that there will be times that the pitcher and catcher will be instructed to work a pitch more in an inning. I've seen nothing that suggests Basallo can not stay behind the plate and in fact, I could see him and Rutschman sharing catching duties sooner than later (2025 maybe) allowing both to stay rested. I can only imagine that duo splitting C/DH duties.

I still think Perez is a doing a great job. The whole process can be a bit of a crapshoot and while there have certainly been big misses like Hernandez, finding a Basallo is a pretty big feather in the cap. DeLeon has looked good on the mound and was a low figure signee, and now Leandro Arias is starting to emerge. We're starting to see some more guys hitting better in the DSL which is good, but we know it really doesn't mean a ton until they can do it at Delmarva. That jump to Low-A has been an issue for many of the Latin American players that even hit well in DSL and FCL. Thomas Sosa has been up and down but has talent and Aron Estrada, though not sure where he ends up playing, is starting to get it going at Delmarva. Having the academy built should only help attract more players that want to get into the system. I still think the situation is looking up even knowing there are going to be many "high profile" misses like Hernandez.

The Orioles are very mum on these situations so it's hard to know. Doesn't seem that Steve Melewski (MASN) is asking many questions more about Orioles minor leaguers health, probably because he wasn't getting many answers. I've noticed several pitches and hitters who disappear for a long time and are never listed as on the IL. I think with the rosters being so big, unless a player is truly hurt, they can just keep them working on things and out of games. With Baumler's drop in velocity this year (he was mostly 91-92) when I saw him earlier in the year, maybe they are trying a strengthening program with him? I've kind of of written him off but will keep an eye on him if he returns to see how he looks. He did bring prospect stuff to the mound when I saw him earlier this year.

He changes speeds well and throws to all quadrants of the zone with five pitches. He may not get them in the strike zone as much as we'd like, but he keeps batters clearly off balanced.

Yeah, I don't understand that at all. I get most of it, but not sure I understand the grade for "physics". Plus, what's the difference between one luck clover and three?

This is how I looked at this performance. He pitched on the biggest stage of his career and without his best command, found a way to keep his team in the game and almost get through 5 innings. I felt it was a gutty performance.

That is pretty crazy. It was such an extreme game for him with only 4 whifs, 5 BBs, 1 hit and i earned run allowed in 4 2/3 innings. He has a 93% zcontact rate and only allowed one hit. That's pretty nuts. The good news is Povich found a way to navigate the Yankees (minus Judge thankfully) lineup with very little command of anything. It's clear batters don't pick him up well and when he's able to command, he's going to have some great days on the mound.

You know, I never really looked at the differences in views/posts between home vs away. Typically it's the close games like this where lots of dramatic things keep happening that get the most. I know some Hangouters are on here while at the game, but they post less than when they're home.

In my defense, he swung at three of these pitches, including that last one. That is not a veteran at bat with the bases loaded. That is a choke at bat. That was an unprepared at bat. That was one craphead at bat! It was like he lost his mind when Misiewicz threw the perfect strike in the first pitch. That is just not the kind of at bat a veteran should have in that situation.

Even SG can't keep that up!

Ha, you're right. I was typing quickly and got my words mixed up. I'll correct.

Stuff is a bit middling and he's 26 at AAA. He probably needs a promotion to AAA because he's certainly dominating AA hitters. I'd like to see his statcast numbers so hopefully he'll get a promotion soon.

He was our #19 prospect coming into this season. Here's his scouting report from last year.