Uli2001

Gamecast says ball 3 and 4 were strikes.

Taking 3 out of 4 would be yuge.

This is like saying the batter who is 0 for his last 20 is "due" for a hit. It's not quite how it works.

Shhhhhhhh...

Gunnar is tied with Mike Trout for the lead in HRs. Damn, Gunnar may be the next Mike Trout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjHkQB43oDU

This is not good hitting though.

If the Orioles lose, everyone will blame the bullpen. But the offense is turning out another ridiculous effort with a lead, everyone swinging for the fences instead of making their pitchers work.

This is a feast or famine offense right now. You get one or the other.

According to Gamecast, Santander flailed at four consecutive pitches out of the strike zone. No patience with a tired pitcher who just walked the previous hitter.

Sadly, zero confidence that this bullpen can hold a one-run lead in any game, much less this game.

The issue is, will the cavalry arrive in time? Because these last two blown games at home against a bad team are never coming back and the NYY are coming to town.

Someone else = Chris Davis.

They are also in a lot of close games, just as last year. This offense doesn't play well with a lead, which is weird since that's when you aren't getting the opposition's best relievers.

Objectively, this was one of the worst, if not the worst, three-game series of the last two years. Please find another series where the Orioles were ahead in the ninth-inning of all three games and lost two of three. People have gotten used to winning, it's natural that they are angry and concerned.

Cano can't be trusted as a closer either. We saw that last year. The Orioles are going to lose a lot of close heartbreakers this year, that is all. I think they are still good enough to win 88-90 games if everything else goes right.

The Orioles will still win a lot of games this year, probably around 89-90 wins and possibly a WC. But you can't expect to win 100+ games like last year, it will never happen. Last year they were involved in a lot of close games too, and had bullpen meltdowns too. But they had Bautista for most of the year and they were lucky in close games. It's not just the bullpen either, the offense plays well from behind or tied, but they go into sleep mode as soon as they get a lead.

Guys never threw 103-mph balls either. Medical technology has its limits.

Kimbrel may be injured/overused. Fine. But I never thought he was a big-time closer. He had some good seasons. I just never thought this guy was really the deal. Perhaps it had to with that annoying stance he has.

He's a by-the-book manager. He's a shop keeper. He's liked by the players, but no one will confuse him with a great manager. But a great manager is needed to win the WS. Just go back and check WS-winning managers.

Maybe they will have a good bullpen in 2025 when Bautista is back and then they can make a run. This season they might still be able to make one of the wildcards, but that's it. You can't win without a solid bullpen (or with a feast and famine offense such as this).

There should be someone else pitching right now. But this offense is allergic to add-on runs and this will screw any bullpen. This is an OLD problem with this offense, by the way.

Why is O'Hearn out of the game?

This game is beginning to look like Friday's. Hopefully, a different outcome this time.

The 2024 NYY could be an April phenomenon. We will see.