bluedog

Great at bat by Mateo - too bad it wasn't rewarded.

Clutch at bat McKenna

Way to work the pitch count...

Excellent reverse jinx!

At least they worked him for elevated pitch count that inning. Getting him out of the game would be a win at this point.

Interesting comment that Elias flew out to Texas to talk to players face to face to reassure them about the team after the Mancini / Lopez trades.

Hits two home runs and then starts thinking the game is easy.

Three well struck at em balls

My appreciation for the O's defense has gone way up watching the Rangers boot balls around the field.

54 pitches - my strategy is working. At this rate if he can escape 2 more innings without giving up a run, the O's will have a chance.

You know its a bad start when you are rooting for starter to throw so many pitches that he's pulled from the game before the opponent can score enough runs that its out of reach...

Good point. I was trying to get Odor to hit a home run like the McKenna poster did, and didn't even realize he's not in.

Enjoy that we're rewarding Vavra's 4 for 4 on base night with bench time and Odor's complete lack of production with yet another start.

All world defensive player with good speed on the bases. Looks like they want him as a late inning defensive replacement who can pinch run. Elias sure loves defensive runs saved, so that might be the reasoning here. If that's his role and he doesn't suck up at bats from Stowers, etc., I'm fine with it.

Love the return. Love that Mancini goes to a contender (for his sake) Love that this opens up at bats for Vavra and Stowers Love that the Orioles helped a team that has a shot to knock off the Yankees. Love that Yankees fans were whining about Boston and Baltimore trying to sabotage their World Series hopes by sending good players to the Astros.

Depends on how its framed. Elias might say - "Journeyman pitcher with a 6.00 ERA before this year who's had 48 innings of success and still blown 17% of his saves and who is in line for a big increase in salary that could be better spent on positions where we don't have a replacement already available." Optics depend on perspective. The optics of this move for me is sell high to fill the organizations biggest area of need - pitching depth.

Agreed. A lot of people valuing Lopez based on a 48 inning sample size. Maybe he's turned the corner, but I would prefer to think that the front office that found Lopez as a waiver claim and developed him into an All-Star closer has better context for making this move than we do. What's amazing to me is how many journeymans the O's have turned into dependable relievers. Apparently their pitching coaches know what the heck they are doing.

You may be right - I haven't personally seen enough of him hitting to have a judgement. Will be really interesting to watch what Elias does. The O's seem to have multiple high quality prospects at almost every position. Is there an obvious hole on the team outside of starting pitching?

Great work Frobby. I would give Wells and Bautistia A+ if grading on a curve. All Star performances from players that no one could have expected this level of performance at the start of the year. Amazing.

How do you say "holy bajeezus" in Japanese?

100 MPH right down the pipe!

Wish Vavra, Westburg & Henderson were slotted into the bottom of the O's lineup right now...

I have seen reports from a lot of scouts I admire that they would grade Johnson as having an 80 hit tool (Tony Gwynn / Rod Carew territory). If that's true, he's a generational talent at the plate and I wouldn't be shocked at all for Elias to grab him, get what ends up being the best player in the draft and pocket the money.

If the O's don't protect McKenna, I wouldn't be surprised to see him picked up by another club. Every club can use a + Glove ++ Speed late inning outfield defensive replacement on the bench and teams will have an extra bench slot next year, so keeping Rule V picks will be less burdensome that ever before.

You know what blows my mind? There is a 167 run difference between the Yanks and the O's (Yanks +96, O's -71) and yet the teams are 3 games apart in the standings. How does that happen? Being just 3 games back in the WC may get Angelos to rescind DD's authorization to sell some key pieces of the team. We've seen that story unfold before.