banks703

I do fear that a little bit though I don’t think that either of Bradish, GrayRod, Gibson or even Kremer suffered from the layoff during the All-Star Break. The way that GrayRod, Bradish and Means (Hell even Gibson) are throwing right now I almost don’t want them to have a break but I can’t believe that they don’t need one. The post-season is not for the faint hearted.

I don’t put his return out of the realm of possibilities but in my eyes they need to go after a true, legit, #1 caliber, Ace of your staff quality pitcher to go with Bradish, GrayRod, Means and Kremer. I hope that is priority number 1 this off-season. I hope that signing aging vet starters is officially a thing of the past for them.

With the way the O’s have played Toronto this year I kinda hope that’s who they draw for the ALDS.

I think it’s possible that Flaherty and Irvin (maybe someone else) get the last three starts. It’s possible that the O’s could clinch the division on Wednesday. If that happens I don’t think we will see Bradish throw against Boston on 10/1 as the rotation and schedule currently align. I think it’s also at least conceivable that they skip Kremer’s turn on Thursday if they’ve clinched.

I’m with you but we know how much they prioritize the vets so you can pencil in Gibson for one of those starts, especially after today’s performance and even more so if they draw Toronto. The remaining games will go: 9/26 Was Bradish 9/27 Was Rodriguez 9/28 Bos Kremer 9/29 Bos Means 9/30 Bos Gibson 10/1 Bos Bradish The division round starts 10/7, which would give them plenty of time to set up their three starters for whatever order that they prefer. I agree with you that GrayRod should be one of the top 3 but if they draw Toronto I will not be surprised to see Kremer get the ball in one of the games because he flat-out dominated the Jays this year. Edit: If the O’s win their next two and Tampa loses one of their next two, that pushes the O’s lead in the division to four games in the loss column. Tampa could not beat them for the division title. Perhaps if that plays out they will skip some turns in the rotation to give extra rest.

Now we’re talking.

I really think it’ll depend on who they draw. If it’s the Jays, it’d be hard to argue with Gibson’s body of work this season against the Jays (2.14 ERA over 21 innings) although Bradish was equally impressive with his 2.57 ERA over 14 innings. Had he not ran into some trouble these last few starts a case could even be made for Kremer’s 1.56 ERA over 17 1/3 IP against the Jays this year. if it’s the Jays I imagine they’ll go Bradish, Gibson, Kremer though I could see a case for GrayRod because he’s been so good the second half. Hell, even Meansy could get a look.

I am satisfied by Gibson and Means throwing nearly 15 of the last 18 innings.

I am in no way disagreeing with any of this info or making any legitimate argument for guys with lower K-rates. I was only stating that I would take a 1-pitch pop-out over a 3-pitch strikeout.

I am not sure that I agree with a K being the best out, especially not when arm injuries continue to increase. There is a world of data behind the increased intensity of a pitcher hunting strike 3 in a two-strike count. To me, a 1-pitch pop-out is the perfect out. Not that it would ever happen but a pitcher could throw a perfect game with only 27 pitches if every out was recorded on a 1-pitch pop-out. It’d take 81 pitches to get there with strikeouts. Stakeouts are sexy but in today’s game, I want my pitchers pitching deepest into games, which almost always means throwing less pitches. Give me the guy that can get outs on the lowest number of pitches. I’ll take that guy all day everyday.

Without Felix, I just want them to match up. If the data suggests that Cano is the better option then go with Cano. If it suggests that Cionel, Danny, Fuji, etc is the better option then go with the data. What I don’t want them to do is to commit Cano to the ninth (or save situation) simply because he’s Cano and they have titled him The Closer. I love what Hyde did last night, matching up Cano before Cionel. That is what I would like to see going forward.

I still suggest that it should come down to the matchups. Cano has his place but I am not comfortable anointing him the 9th inning guy no matter what like it seems they attempted to do with him when Felix went down.

Probably depends on who they draw and whether or not they hold onto the division…which is why it makes holding onto the division so important (I know, Captain Obvious)

So much for needing that extra 1 mph on the heater

Sheesh Cionel looks good right now. Managing the pen this way (matching up yes but Cano back to the 7th/8th) is what I like to see. Meansy made this happen.

I don’t know how the rest of his year (or career for that matter) plays out but it’s awesome to see him throwing in ML games again… even though he’s a WV Mountaineer. Booooooo

I LOVE watching Meansy pitch. LOVE how fast he works.

This is the whole point I was making with my posts. Agree 100%

Right. At least one was the ghost runner and another was the McKenna drop. I have it in my head that there BS were not on Felix but I don’t remember exactly why for the third.

I don’t think that this is making the point that you think it is.

They did choose JF over Irvin when they went back to the 5-man rotation and put Irvin in the pen on 09/06. JF was still in the rotation and got two more starts before he was sent to the pen. If you want to call it semantics, sure but I am not sure how else putting Irvin in the pen while keeping JF in the rotation isn’t choosing one guy over the other. I mean the news was literally written in the Sun that Irvin was the ‘odd-man out’ of a five-man rotation of Bradish, GrayRod, Gibson, Kremer and Flaherty.

I would have preferred they allowed DLH to pitch to Giminez last night over Cano. 2 of the 3 batters in the 9th were lefties. Giminez’s splits on the season are actually better against a lefty but recently he’s struggled against them. To me, the right move was to match up DLH there. I realize that he threw Thursday night but he was throwing well last night. 17 pitches. Either Cakes or KB said it on the broadcast - get the first out - I’d take my chances with DLH against Gimenez there over matching up Cano with Gimenez.

Nope. That’s not what I’m suggesting. What I mean is that they could have moved him to the pen sooner. I like Flaherty. I’m on record as stating that I hope that he’s a candidate to return in 24 but he’s been largely ineffective as a starter for the O’s. I would rather have him in the pen right now with Irvin getting innings as a starter than to have optioned Cole.

Exactly. This is what I have been suggesting. I personally despise the set roles but it seems that the O’s subscribe to them. I am only suggesting that if there is a guy who they are penciling into the ‘closer’ I might prefer Cionel right now but I agree, the highest leverage situations when the matchups dictate should determine who throws the ninth. The problem right now though is that they have to get to the ninth to give anyone a chance to save a game.

@Tony-OH do you feel a sense of stubbornness from management with certain moves? What I mean is, we all have seen Flaherty wildly underperform. We’ve seen Jorge struggle. We’ve seen others struggle but management has been slow to respond/react even though we as spectators can clearly see that certain guys just aren’t doing enough. It seems to me that they are slow to move but also that it’s (in the case with Flaherty) almost like they refuse to concede a bad move. I am on record many times praising the Flaherty trade but I am the first to admit that he really has not worked out for the O’s. Essentially they chose Flaherty over Irvin (which I think was the wrong choice) so it almost feels like they will die on these hills, like ‘well, even though I absolutely despise this expensive vacuum, I’m not throwing it out to get a new one because I spent all this money on this one so I’ll just deal with it being terrible’