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TommyPickles

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Posts posted by TommyPickles

  1. In his last year with the Athletics, Irvin last 6 or more innings 19 out of 30 times.

    This was him getting back to what he does best. Throwing a little softer, inducing soft contact, working that curveball, and eating innings.

    Swervin' Irvin 

  2. The Orioles are favorites to win the AL this season. It is their best shot to win a WS they've had this century.

    I'm excited Holliday is getting a shot. I think they should stick with it. But if he needs to be sent back down after another month, then so be it. He's 20 years old. It's not the end of the world.

     

  3. In fairness to my boy, Urias, he's only had 24 at-bats.

    He's now on a 4-game hit streak, during which he has a .780 OPS. 

    Not saying it's going well, or even that he should be playing more, but I think it's a super small sample size.

  4. Cedric Mullins is only 29 years old. 

    He's been an All-Star, a Silver Slugger, a 30-30 player, and has received MVP votes.

    Out of all players who have played at least 1500 innings in CF since the start of 2022, he ranks 4th in DRS (13) according to Fielding Bible.

    Out of all players in baseball who played at least 125 games in CF each season, he was 2nd in OPS in 2021 (.878), 7th in OPS in 2022 (.721), and is currently 3rd in OPS this season for everyday CF'ers (.872), behind Trout and Merrill.

    He's been worth 13.5 rWAR over the past 3 seasons and change.

    He's a consensus Top 10 center fielder.

    • Upvote 1
  5. 1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

    I'll be honest, the more I watch the statcast catch probabilities the more I think they need to tweak some things. Unless Mullins got a bad jump, which it doesn't appear so, I don't see how that is a 65% catch probability. Sure, there are some other great CFers out there, but damn, that looked every bit of a 5-star catch to me.

    Yea, 65% catch probability is laughable. 

  6. I didn't hear it, but generally speaking, I like the occasional banter that wanders away from baseball. 

    I like Kevin and Ben in the booth. 

    • Upvote 1
  7. The players certainly believe the pitch clock is part of the problem. 

    https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/04/mlb-mlbpa-in-dispute-over-pitch-clocks-impact-on-injuries.html

    Despite unanimous player opposition and significant concerns regarding health and safety, the commissioner’s office reduced the length of the pitch clock last December, just one season removed from imposing the most significant rule change in decades,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said. “Since then, our concerns about the health impacts of reduced recovery time have only intensified. The league’s unwillingness thus far to acknowledge or study the effects of these profound changes is an unprecedented threat to our game and its most valuable asset — the players.

  8. I went to PNC Park on Saturday. My first time there. I've been to about a dozen MLB stadiums, and man! PNC might be the nicest of them all. Gorgeous park.

    One thing I noticed though, Orioles fans are starting to get cocky. I was born in 90', so a lot of my childhood was spent going to O's games in the early 2000's. Years and years of Red Sox and Yankees fans taking over Camden Yards with their chants and cheers. It sucked. So hearing O's fans start screaming an unprovoked "LET'S GO O'S! LETS GO OS!" in the middle of a sports bar before the game was kind of cringe-inducing. You could hear Pittsburgh fans groan and eventually start a counter cheer of "Go Home O's!"

    As the O's get better and better, let's not become the Yankees and Red Sox fans from the 2000's. Don't be a jerk when you're in someone else's park.

    • Upvote 1
  9. 1 hour ago, DirtyBird said:

    You have to go back to "over the past two seasons" because he was not a good fielder last year. Fielding Bible had him as the #82 3B.

    He has been sub .750 OPS vs RHP each of the past two seasons.

    You are really stretching to find what he brings to the table.

    In fairness, Fielding Bible also said he was our best defensive second baseman last season (better than Westburg). And a better first baseman than O'Hearn.

    And the point about him having the second-highest OBP on the team last season still stands.

    But I understand your point, and like I originally said, I understand this is a tough argument to make as things currently stand in Norfolk. I just still see Urias as a valuable bench piece.

     

    • Upvote 1
  10. 31 minutes ago, Malike said:

    The Royals are going to be good this year. We were a 100-loss team that was a joke and suddenly won 83 games. The Royals have a lot of talent and I think we see that kind of jump from them this year.

    Burnes battled when it mattered and the Royals seem to make a lot of contact in general.

    Yea they're a fun team. Lots of speed and good mix of vets and promising young guys.

  11. 13 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

    Part time players should have at least one plus tool.  What is his?

    His defense. By Fielding Bible's metric, been our best defensive player besides Adley over the past two seasons. 

    His versatility. He rated as an above average defender at 3B, 2B, and 1B. 

    His OBP and ability to hit righties. .750 OPS against righties in his career. Not bad for glove-y utility infielder.

    • Upvote 3
  12. It's a hard time to be a Urias defender, but I'd much rather see them move on from Kemp first.

    Clearly, it has been a rough start for Ramon, but he was hitting great in spring training. 

    He had the second highest OBP on the team last season, out of players who are still here. Only Adley's OBP was higher.

    Since the start of 2022, he has the second highest DRS on the team, behind only Adley.

     

    Give my boy a couple weeks. He makes a ton of sense as a part time player on this 2024 team. 

  13. I thought this was interesting. Through five games, here are the Orioles' ranks compared to the rest of MLB:

    Team OPS: .717 (15th in MLB)

    Rotation ERA: 3.81 (12th in MLB)

    Bullpen ERA: 2.70 (11th in MLB)

     

    Relatively speaking, our bullpen has been the best part of our team so far this season.

  14. I think the Os should keep him for all of 2024. You need that 30-homer type veteran in the postseason. Santander has played on some big stages and will be an asset.

    After this year? He probably walks and signs a decent 3 year deal somewhere. 

  15. 28 minutes ago, Sanity Check said:

    You need bench players on the team that are versatile, so Mateo fits the bill.  Yes, there is better talent in the organization, but you do need players that will only get 250-300 at bats here and there, and won't burden you defensively when he's playing.  That's the reason.  There are way too many guys that need everyday at bats.....Mateo isn't one of them, because getting those doesn't make him any better of a hitter.  But he does fill an important role.  And, he's more versatile than McKenna or Urias.

    This debate has been beaten to death, but I think Urias is more valuable than Mateo. 

    Over a very similar number of ABs:

    A career .738 OPS/7.3 rWAR vs a career .633 OPS/4.5 rWAR

     

    Urias compliments Westburg well, since they can both play 2B or 3B and they have reverse splits from one another. Urias also graded as a plus defender last season at 1B. 

    According to Fielding Bible, Urias has been worth 18 DRS over the past two years. Mateo has been worth 16 DRS over that time.

    I'd like to see the O's (eventually this year) move on from Mateo. Then make Urias the versatile veteran bench guy who makes some starts against righties. Urias has also shown he can hit well enough playing part time, whereas Mateo hasn't. 

    • Upvote 1
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