Malike

If it happened in the bottom of the 3rd instead of ending the game it's not a big deal. It's a terrible way to end a game when the White Sox had a ton of momentum in that inning and should never have been called even though it's technically the correct call.

No, I articulated what I wanted to say poorly. He saw the ball was a popup and where it was hit and the IF fly rule was called and was very nonchalant in getting back to the bag. The whole rule is stupid and I doubt the players even knew about it. Like I said I'd have rather they lost the game fair and square than have it end on a call like that. Vaughn was watching the popup as he went back to the base, lesson learned for everyone in baseball I guess.

Valentine? I bet he would lol.

It looked like nobody on the field knew the rule but the ump.

I get it, watch where the ball is hit and get back to the base. IF fly rule has been in effect forever, I've never seen a player make contact with a fielder in 45 years. It may have happened before, but nobody has ever seen it. You can read a popup off the bat while on 2B, the fielder is looking up in the air to make the catch, they can't move out of the way of the runner. It's a stupid rule, but to say that an IF fly rule called when a runner on 2B is a lose-lose situation isn't correct. It was a terrible call, I'm not defending it, what I said was that some people here for certain would have blamed the runner on base and not the ump.

It's pretty easy, when the IF fly rule is called don't get 15 feet off the base. They clearly weren't advancing even if Gunnar let the ball fall. It's a stupid rule and I feel like it should only be called if it actually interferes with the catch, but the ump called it before Gunnar even got into position to camp under it. The player could see it was a pop up to SS, why even leave the bag?

Thanks for the clarification. I remember him recently saying he is trying to get some easy outs, but he has the strikeout if he wants it. I suspect he will be around his career average when all is said and done, though he has trended down slightly each year.

If Hays or Mullins or McKenna (when he was here) ran into the guy this board would be blaming the player and not the ump. I have very little doubt about that.

It was a stupid call and I also don't care if it's a violation by the letter of the law. I do think Kimbrel would have gotten us out of the mess that Heasley created and Cano threw some gas on the fire. I would have rather have lost the game than have it end like that. I would have preferred seeing the team actually get the final out.

I think we were pretty fortunate to catch the Yankees when they had 1 guy in the lineup hitting.

I'm confused, are you saying that Burnes has been boom or bust this season? He's had 10 or more K's twice this year. I'm honestly not sure how to read your posts, so I might be missing something and Google translate is terrible.

He threw 10 innings as a RP last year. In 2021 when he was a RP he threw 57 innings to a 4.11 ERA with 9 HR. He had a 7.2 K/9 as a RP last year for us.

Collectively, BBRef has them at -1.0. If you're going to add the positive WAR guys you have to add the negative WAR guys, fair is fair. If you use fWAR they have Cano at -0.2 and the FIP is close to 4.60. Just look down the RP column for the team at number 20. Hover over BAL and you'll see every player who has pitched in relief this season on the list. 2024 MLB Team Position Performance by Wins Above Average | Baseball-Reference.com

We all hear Burnes doesn't throw enough innings, if he goes 7 tonight he'll have matched Glasnow at 67 IP and good for 2nd in IP overall through 11 starts behind Wheeler who is at 67.2.

He doesn't walk many people, but he doesn't strike people out either and is HR prone. We have enough middling stuff in the pen right now, if he's the big move, it won't be enough.

The Oriole bullpen combined has been worth -1.0 bWAR. Kimbrel and Cano 0.1, Webb 0.2, Danny Coulombe 0.3. Those are our leverage guys. We're 20th in the league in bWAR. They clearly need some upgrades, other than Coulombe who do you really trust at the back end in a tight game? We have no strikeout pitchers other than Kimbrel.

There would be, but they'd probably be blaming the player for bumping into the SS and not the ump.

Was tonight the first with the bases loaded this year?

He's a starting pitcher.

They've been very lucky. Both Webb and Cano have xERA's close to 4. Cano does two things well he gets some chase and he throws groundballs. Unfortunately, he gets no strikeouts and his HH and Avg Exit Velocity are bottom of the shelf. Groundball pitchers are great, but when your average exit velo is a hard hit ball, bad things often happen. Webb is in the bottom 1% in Chase, middling K %, Bottom of the barrel in BB% and Barrel %, and is a flyball pitcher. They are not as good as the ERA.

Aiken has been excellent, but the guys who are supposed to be "the guys" are not good. I suspect that by the deadline the bullpen will have blown enough games for them to start shipping out guys from AAA for some elite arms with control for the pen.

The problem is we have a bunch of middle relievers pushed into the back end of the bullpen and they are being exposed. When Keegan Aiken is your most valuable reliever and a guy like Cano, who is supposed to be the backend All-Star is rocking replacement-level value, your team will have issues.

Hopefully, they use them. Our bullpen combined is probably worth about 1 win above replacement.

Keegan Akin is our best reliever by fWAR and it's not even close. He's the only O's pitcher in the top 60. The bullpen is not good.

5 straight? I can't take someone seriously if they don't even do some research.