SilentJames

yeah Bobby Witt has been - well not great. And they have nothing in their system, we are talking turn of the 21st Baltimore barren.

What is sad is that the Royals, to the best of my knowledge, aren't actually trying to be the worst - rebuilding yes, but the A's were engineered to be this bad, the Royals were not?

I mean they said it was a grade 2 strain, but it was not as bad as they feared and it will be weeks instead of months. There really isn't anything else to say? We probably won't hear anything until Mullins starts working out again which.

No slander, I just think he is a guy that nets us a very good return where we have, at least, equal production ready to take his place.

I always thought Urias should have been a prime trade candidate over the offseason. Even though his value is low as it can be right now, I would still let him go for some bullpen support. The Orioles have better options right now and I don't think Urias is "on the next great Orioles team," if you will. I think Mateo and Mounty, with their struggles, still bring stuff to the table. Mounty's OBP is bad, his walk rate is bad, but he has been supremely unlucky so far this year. There is a 60 point difference between his WOBA and XWOBA, and a 100 point difference between his SLG and XSLG. for reference: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/ryan-mountcastle-663624?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

The Orioles have opened June, and closed May, with arguably their first rough patch of the season. Dropping back-to-back series against the Rangers and Indians; taking two of three from the Giants only to blow a save and lose in extras to the Brewers. Mullins is out, multiple players are scuffling at the plate, as has the bullpen. We are in the middle third of the season now, the slog. The novelty of the new year has worn off, hot streaks have begun to cool and the reality of what the season means is beginning to sink in. I think Mullins going down has had a bit of a larger mental impact on the team than we realized, since then they seem to be playing stiffer, pressing. They don't look like the loose relaxed group we saw in May. The good news: This happens to every team, all the time, forever and ever, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. So what the Orioles are going through right now isn't major calls for alarm. There are ebbs and flows to every season and this first rough patch has still seen them avoiding losing streaks and at least treading water with the large amount of wins they have in the bank. The starting pitching has remained its consistent self. That right there will prevent a lot of losing streaks Hicks has decided to be more than serviceable, and that is a pleasant surprise. Honestly, McKenna has to be looking over his shoulder more than ever right now. The bad news: Mateo is still struggling, though he looks like he is on an ever-so-slight upward projection. He was likely never going to sustain his torrid April, but getting him back to respectability will be important. Urias and Mountcastle are bigger problems. Mounty is at least still destroying left-handed pitching, so he has that value going for him, but Urias has not shown a lot and looks like he could be playing his way out of the lineup. How the team plays and responds over the next two weeks is going to be key. They have a string of middling at-best opponents (before a 2- game short series against the Rays) but baseball has a sneaky way of finding ways for those teams to win games too. Winning the next two before coming home for a big weekend series (as schools are letting out) would be real nice and ameliorate a lot of concerns.

Yeah, even looking more human Cano's human is still very good.

Yeah, I mean it was just his 4th walk issued all year. That one gets chalked up to "it happens."

I mean, I said I don't really care? So there it is? I've never listened to her on the radio and thought "i don't know what is going on," apparently you have so there we go? Is she the best PBP person I have ever heard? No. Am I starting multiple internet conversations over it? No.

I really don't care that much. I honestly don't. On the radio she is fine, on TV I think she is fine. Joe and Fred were the best, John Miller has been gone for so long I just don't care anymore. Gary Thorne was great but he had his problems too. The teams we have right now, all permutations, are various levels of meh. I don't care that she said "blank player out to center field," I mean, I know what she means because I understand context. Ben MacDonald is an edible away from sounding like Boomhauer up there, and that is fine.

She is fine. It just isn't that big of a deal.

Hicks has been fine, but he is a bandaid and all signs point to this being his ceiling, not his floor. He is not meant to be a longterm solution, or even a midterm solution so I am fine with it. The fact he is contributing in this way is gravy. See: Carpenter, Matthew

yeah, the Orioles looked good in the two wins, solid pitching, just good play all around. Cobb is having some kind of renaissance right now he's been doing what he did to us all over so sometimes you just get beat. Really nice to see the team jump on a pitcher that is struggling early, seems like they let them off the hook too much.

Those orange giants jerseys are fantastic.

I have the teal version of this. They should just make this the permanent name.

I bought my Mullins jersey today. Thanks for the heads up

Getting Means back WOULD'VE have been the equivalent of a trade, now that is not an option so you are right - the Orioles will definitely be on the hunt for SP.

I honestly think its more about getting Urias ABs and showcasing him for a trade.

yeah they have grown on me enough that Im doing it. Mullins, Henderson, Rutshcman - that is the choice.

Oh I missed this

Agreed, Means it the wild card here. If Means comes back and is himself from the jump then there is your stopper arm that slots in the middle of the rotation. Wells is probably the odd man out in that respect, maybe even Grayson simply because he has options (if he doesn't become more consistent).

I initially read Stowers as Cowser. But yeah I would trade Stowers for this.

I initially read Stowers as Cowser. But yeah I would trade Stowers for this.

I initially read Stowers as Cowser. But yeah I would trade Stowers for this.

Erod has three years left on his contract, he can opt out next year, but maybe he wouldn't on the Orioles? Okay, maybe Ortiz, McKenna, and say Watkins gets him because of the threat of an opt out?