Moose Milligan

From the grave!

I was talking about the Orioles.

Right, it was a mirage....to what degree still needs to be found out. And it's not a 100 win team.

I don't want to send him down, no. I don't think anyone is going to get any joy out of sending Gunnar Henderson down to AAA. But I don't think we should ignore the reality that he's struggling to get hits, even if we want to prop up his OBP all day. Like I said, if this continues for a few more weeks, it's a choice that needs to be looked at and considered.

Fair enough.

Pretty sure he is and the results haven't been fantastic. I believe he'll come around at some point but I also don't think being sent down is out of the question, especially if he continues this way for 2-3 more weeks.

I agree. Nowhere in my post did I say that I thought (or that people thought) that this was a 105 win team. Or to @Sports Guy who quoted me, saying of course this isn't a 100 win team...well, I never said it was. And I never claimed that people here were expecting 100-105 wins. Rising expectations are huge, you are correct. And that's the whole point of it all.

Like .346 or so. I agree his OBP is great, I've been touting that for awhile. But at some point he's gotta come through with some actual hits.

I'm with you. We went toe to toe with the Braves and gave them all they could handle. That doesn't count in the W/L column but it's still a good sign.

It was a frustrating weekend. I think what's not being talked about here is the fear that this start is a mirage...that it's a little too good to be true. That we're more like a 75 win team and not a 90 win team. The fear that we're going to miss the playoffs while the Sox and Yankees are gonna get right and pass us in the standings. So every little blip on the radar, like losing two to the Braves that we could have won, is going to bet met with a little bitof freaking out. We're not used to this. We're not used to being contenders year in, year out. If we'd won 90+ games every year for the past 3 years and had deep playoff runs, this would be no big deal. But I think a lot of people here are waiting for the other shoe to drop. I think we all recognize that this team played way above its head last year and we're probably not as good as our start has indicated.

Maybe they're trending up but I still don't trust Kremer and to a lesser degree, Bradish.

Well this was the wakeup call I needed. Thanks for setting me straight.

I think we are. Especially with the starters ERA going the way they are.

Agree with your first point, don't agree with your second. My confidence in him isn't near what it was last year. Solid chance, IMO, Cano is the closer at years end.

0-5 and striking out in a clutch situation wouldn't be so noticable if he weren't hitting .176.

I don't think they're going to win 80% of their games all year. You can point to their schedule being easy so far, that's fine. But they're beating the absolute piss out of teams, you can't deny that. Their expected W/L record is off by a game. This isn't a team that's getting lucky or constantly winning miracle games in the 9th inning. Their run differential is +30 better than the next best team in the game with the second largest run differential (Rangers). So you can point to an easy schedule, like I said, that's fine....but when you do that, you have to acknowledge that they're doing what a great team should do against bad teams which is beat them...and beat them by a good amount.

MLB.com has the Orioles third this week. https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-power-rankings-for-2023-week-6 3. Orioles, 22-12 (last week: 5) While their brethren in the "fun early season stories" department, the Pirates, have fallen on hard times, the Orioles have continued to maintain their status in the powerful AL East after going 3-3 last week despite dropping two of three against the Braves in Atlanta. Next on the schedule? A return to Camden Yards to face the best team in baseball in a big early-season series against the Rays

I don’t necessarily think he does. He’s got good enough stuff without it. Maybe show it every so often when it’s not working just to keep batters honest. And certainly don’t throw it when there’s a runner on third that can make it home on a wild pitch…if, of course, it’s not working. He hasn’t had the splitter for weeks now, yet some people want him to keep throwing it often. I’m not sure why.

I just think he needs a clean inning. Those issues that you brought up can be mitigated if there aren't runners on. He's still striking out batters at an absurd rate, even higher than last year. There's a lot to like. I just think he needs to figure out the splitter in some bullpen sessions (if he does those, who knows)...or in an appearance where we're up 3 runs and it's the leadoff hitter. And if he bounces one or two, just abandon it for that outing and concentrate on throwing gas. I don't know why he or Adley would run the risk of continuing to call for that pitch in situations where it could burn them like it did today. It's still relatively early in the season but his BB/9 rate is 5.5 per 9 and his WHIP is 1.295. Those are too high for him to continue to slam the door consistently. Those rates are up from last year where he was 0.929 WHIP and a 3.2 BB/9. In certain respects, he's getting worse, not better...or even maintaining. It's fine for now, but if it continues I think it's going to blow up in our faces.

One reason for hope is that the Rays are *only* 9-4 on the road. They're 18-3 at home. I feel a little better that we get to play this series at Camden Yards instead of that depressing empty mausoleum, The Trop.

This is an important point and shouldn't be discredited. At some point, it's hard to watch the guy keep flailing away...you know, when he decides to swing. And while I understand @Sports Guy's KEEP HIM UP FOREVER stance, I also don't think it makes sense to keep running him out there if he's struggling this much for an extended period. It's not helping him and it's not helping the team. I think if he's still looking this bad in a couple weeks, they really need to consider sending him down. He'd be around 150 PAs at that time....and while that's a small sample size across someone's entire career, that's a good chunk of a season where he's been awful and something needs to change for him.

I'd feel somewhat better about this series and the way we played against a really good team if we didn't have 3 against the Rays starting tomorrow. We're looking at 5 losses in a row, or at least dropping another series for a 2nd series in a row. 2-23 with RISP is what happens when you're going up against really good pitching. We were able to knock Fried around but Strider and Elder were a different story. I don't think their bullpen is awful, either. Our offense is significantly better than what it used to be, although hackers like Mountcastle and Hays still remain. But good pitching can do that to even a good offense like ours.

I think he's probably a pretty good closer, but he needs a fresh inning to do it. Bringing him in the extra innings with a runner on 2nd isn't optimal. It's a shame that he's credited with a blown save in the Boston series when McKenna dropped that ball. That's not right.

I agree, he should be hitting 8th or 9th. Batting him and Mountcastle back to back is criminal.

I don't mind using him in the 10th necessarily because he can always strike guys out. But for me, it's the fact that he's liable to air one over the catcher or bounce one like he did today. Like I said, if he can't figure out his splitter, that wasn't the time to try one. Try one at the start of a clean inning without a runner in scoring position. Don't try one with the tying run 90 feet away when it could easily be a wild pitch and allow a run to score.