now

Thanks for the tip, hadn't thought of manually synchronizing (via pause). I was resorting to watching the Rangers feed. Anything but torture-by-Melanie!

Daniel Cabrera, Matt Riley, Ubaldo... the list goes on.

Interesting. Can you remind us which of those trades you were in favor of? And can you elaborate more on what you say about Irvin?

Strange to see Irvin only mentioned in passing in one post here, when he was acquired as a rotation upgrade/insurance and began the season as a "lock." Irvin aside, looking forward and back... Trading Hernaiz might be no biggie, but how do you traders feel now about Hader and ERod for Norris and A. Miller?

I'm on board with all the Adley love in this thread. That said, I'm curious what a more dispassionate look at the roster change will reveal. And since Adley arrived early last season, it means essentially comparing 2021 to 2023. Without going too deep into it, here's a quick glance at some of the player turnover: Severino / Rutschman 2B: Valaika / Frazier SS: Galvis / Ortiz 3B: Franco / Henderson DH: Mancini / (various) SP: Means / Gibson SP: Harvey / Bradish SP: Lopez / Rodriguez RP: Sulser / Bautista RP: Scott / Cano RP: Fry / Baumann RP: Plutko / Baker RP: Valdez / Perez RP: A. Wells / Coulombe That's a lot of improvement to spread around... especially in the bullpen. We've come a long way--with Adley, of course, as the headliner, poster boy, MVO.

2005 was quite the roller coaster, for sure. Starting with ex-MFY Lee Mazzilli managing (fired at the 2/3 mark). There was the whole Raffygate/Tejada drama at midseason. Clubhouse chemistry also tainted by 36-yr-old Sammy Sosa (78 OPS+). Pitching was shaky with #5 starter Ponson at 6.21 ERA, and bullpen was similar with #5 guy Julio at 5.90, and three of the next tier of relievers (Maine, Penn, and Reed) also over 6.30 ERA. All in all, no contest next to this year (so far!). https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BAL/2004.shtml

Since we're talking Hays and batting order... the problem with Hays batting after Frazier is that often Frazier walks or singles, setting up a predictable DP with Hays' obsessive hard grounders to the left side. Nice when the guy is actually hitting, but it's a mixed bag with runners on, due to that severe grounder habit. (Disclaimer: I don't have the stats on hand to back up this perception, just eye test).

Yes, but I was just teasing since Buster seems to have plagiarized our own @Just Regular

Source?

Thanks for putting that together. That chart trend is impressive.

Just jumping in here to wonder about this logic. I'm don't necessarily buy it at face value, since the playoffs are such a short sample and seem to depend so much on "who's hot" at the moment. Now, if you frame it as how to build a 90-game winner (playoff contender) as opposed to a 100-game winner (playoff lock), that may have more merit. Then again, isn't it more likely that you "build to win" or not, and the record ends up plus or minus 5-10 games from any number you may have projected anyway? And going deeper in the playoffs is just icing on the cake.

Maybe not endless, but just really long cycles... Seems like there were a few decades where we could never develop any hitters. Glad that's turning around (I hope--not proven yet!)

The way this rotation is shaping up, I think it's worth reconsidering the value of a so-called ace even in playoffs mode. Maybe it's more about group effort and "higher floor," even in the playoffs. Looking back to the Oriole Way of years past might suggest a more balanced staff is just fine. Not to mention, being dealt a hand of four aces (1971)! While Palmer was the undisputed ace over the long term, in any given year his contribution wasn't necessarily much better than that of the other starters. 1966: McNally, Palmer, Bunker, Barber 1969: Cuellar, McNally, Phoebus, Palmer 1970: Palmer, Cuellar, McNally 1971: Cuellar, Palmer, Dobson, McNally 1973: Palmer, Cuellar, McNally, Alexander 1974: Grimsley, Cuellar, McNally, Palmer 1979: Martinez, Flanagan, Stone, McGregor, Palmer 1983: McGregor, Davis, Boddicker, Martinez, Flanagan 1996: Mussina (ace at 4.81; Wells, Erickson & Coppinger all over 5) 1997: Mussina, Erickson, Key 2012: Chen, Hunter, Hammel, Gonzalez, Tillman 2014: Tillman, Chen, Norris, Gonzalez, Gausman 2016: Gausman, Tillman (with Jimenez, Gallardo, Wilson, and Wright all at 5.27 ERA or above!)

Yes, it's the unknown and the mixed results so far that make this a tough one to call with any certainty. A pretty close race among the first five horses, so far! Which is why I'm curious what others predict.

With some fairly jagged results so far in terms of consistency, our starters have still mostly fared well. Each has shone with outings of brilliance and promise. By season's end, with playoff tickets printed (!), who is YOUR ace (best on starting staff) going into October?

like Andrew Miller time

Those long balls from Henderson and Rutschman were a sight for sore eyes. Plus a clutch start by Rodriguez. Good timing for a breakout (like Santander's recently).

FRL... LOL!

Yup. They're called "replacement level" players for a reason.

Just to clarify, IIRC the stat about least bullpen innings referred to 2022, not "historically." I mean, maybe it holds anyway, since the other part of the equation, most starter IP, probably is a good reflection of starter quality. But historically maybe not as ironclad as it was last year. In a way it seems so obvious. On the other hand, there's plenty of history of World Series winners with superior offenses too, not just champs with superior rotations. PS - Where's Bill James when you need him?

True, but wonder how they did it night after night. We have Coulombe, Cano and Bautista, but they all need rest.

Interesting you bring up Machado... who didn't seem to suffer at all from "messing" with his position. Turned it into Platinum in fact.

I don't get why Cano's finish is called a "pose." His face certainly looks innocent enough, no hostility there.

Good comp with Ripken. I've been thinking also of Mike Schmidt's first full year, age 23, hitting .196/.324/.373; or Barry Bonds, age 21, hitting .223/.330/.416

A bit surprised to see what a sacred cow Gunnar has become around here. People who are usually ready to roast anyone and everyone for the slightest lapses, for some reason give Henderson immunity. I'm not saying he's a bum, by any stretch; but no prospect however highly touted gets a blank check in this game. A demotion at a young age isn't all about skills or pedigree. It can also be a breather from the pressure, a reset to restore confidence in those skills playing up for a change. As for helping the team, I'll just chip in on that double, for Urias it's a piece of cake. BTW our golden boy of the month Mateo is looking pretty sad right now too. Meanwhile Norfolk is loaded: Westburg and Ortiz, for starters. I haven't been on the Westburg bandwagon yet but the dude is raking. Gotta think he deserves his shot soon.