TommyPickles

Baby Face Watkins painting those corners...

Bumping this thread to say, I think Urias is underrated. The 27-year old now has the: 2nd best OPS on the team: .789 2nd best OBP on the team: .352 (love to see that) Baseball Reference rates him as a plus defender and already has him at 1.0 WAR through 39 games. Still a relatively short sample size (110 AB), but seems like he deserves a bit more credit and consideration going forward...

I don't know enough about these players to vote, but it seems odd that 4 of our top 5 picks were outfielders... Seems like pitching and middle infield are far more pressing needs for this organization.

As others have already mentioned, Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer have been major disapointments. I feel like Akin's best start this year was the one he missed because he injured himself making breakfast... I think Bruce Zimmerman deserves some modest credit for looking like an actual #4-#5 starter. I think he could stick around the back end of this rotation for a few years. With the other setbacks/regressions/injuries from players like Kjerstad, Lowther, Diaz, Mountcastle, Santander, H. Harvey... It feels like the hopes of this rebuild are resting more and more on Aldey/Grayson/DL all becoming All Star major leaguers. Fingers crossed.

This is what I'm thinking too. If they get a great offer, take it. If not, give him the JJ Hardy deal (3 years, 39-40 million or so) and plug him in as team captain and a middle of the order bat for the playoff years. I know a lot of people here want him traded, but I think that would be a good extension. It wouldn't break the bank, you wouldn't be paying him past age 33, he's a fan favorite, and, like Hardy, he would offer a lot of intangible benefits as a mentor to the younger guys.

Matt Harvey's ERA against the Mets this season- 17.18 Matt Harvey's ERA against everyone else- 5.89

Why not try Mountcastle out at third? Franco has a .592 OPS and is rating as one of the worst defensive thirdbasemen in the league. Hays is coming back and Stewart is heating up.

I think building around Means makes a lot of sense. He'll be an excellent mentor and leader of the roation once Hall and Rodriquez come up. I think its perfectly reasonable for this team to plan (hope) to be competitive by 2023. Means could be a major part of any playoff runs in 23' and 24'. Trey is a little more complicated, as others have mentioned, but he seems to love playing in Baltimore, he just turned 29, and he's got a 130 OPS+. It depends what other teams offer and how ammendable he would be to taking a team-friendly deal, but I woudn't be shocked to see him stay with the O's. Maybe something like the 3 years/40 million we gave Hardy.

Anthony Santander is red hot since returning to the big league club. He's 8-17, with 4 doubles, a homer, and a walk. That's good for a 1.382 OPS during this short span. Just to give us a tiny bit of good news.

I'd like them to build around Means. He's not a free agent until 2025. He could be a huge part of this team's 2023-2024 success.

It feels like the whole bullpen has been getting lit up.

So you agree? They'll probably win a couple more games than the 69 they're on pace to win.

I could still see this team winning 70-73 games this season. There have been some pleasant surprises. Some of the best pitching we've seen over the past few years. (3.44 Bullpen ERA is 4th best in the AL, even after a bit of a shaky week for the pen') Could really use a decent catcher and 2nd baseman, though.

Yea I've been to two games this season, the win on Sunday (awesome game) and a loss a couple weeks back. During the first game the mask requirement was very strict. They had people walking around telling you to mask up in your seats if you weren't eating or drinking. This Sunday no one seemed to care. Some people had them on, some didn't, but I didn't see any ushers telling people to put them on in their seats. I suppose with the new CDC guidelines they may have opted for a more "we recommend it but don't require it" approach. I'm fully vaccinated and still wore my mask when walking around the stadium, but I was happy to take it off for the entire time I was in my seat this time around. And I think one thing we can all agree on, Nats Park kinda sucks. Hope you have fun though, @RVAOsFan!

I'm pretty happy with Zimmerman's 4.79 ERA through 35.2 IP. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him, Akin, Lowther, Kremer, and Means getting starts this season. I'd be fine with Plutko and Lopez pitching out of the pen exclusively.

Really fun game. Got to see it in person. I'm ready to see Baltimore Bruce back in this rotation...

Wait, so Akin got fat?

Armstrong definitely has a longer track record in the majors, but he's been worse this season and is older and more expensive. Age: Lakins Sr: 26 Armstrong: 30 Career ERA: Lakins Sr: 3.59 Armstrong: 4.46 2021 ERA: Lakins Sr: 5.19 Armstrong: 10.80 WAR from 2019-2021: Lakins Sr: 1.1 Armstrong: 0.1 HR/9: Lakins Sr: 0.6 Armstrong: 1.3 Salary: Lakins Sr: $530,591 Armstrong: $825,000

Ah yeah, I remember watching that game now. That was a tough one... That whole starting-a-runner-on-2nd-in-extra-innings really makes for some wacky pitching stats. As usual, I agree with all of your points. He has looked shaky these last couple outings. That said, I still feel like he's a useful bullpen piece. He can go multiple innings, he doesn't allow many home runs (career 0.6 HR/9), he's young, and he's cheap. I'm not saying he should be our closer or something, but I think his job should be safer than Armstrong's right now.

According to baseball reference, he's only allowed earned runs in two of his outings this season (the last two appearances). He also did not allow an earned run in his final three appearances in 2020. I should have specified "earned run" because I see he did allow an unearned run one other time this season.

Travis Lakins Sr. has not allowed a run to score in 12 of his last 14 appearances for the O's. In March/April of this season he had a 0.00 ERA over 9 outings. He's also only 26 (Armstrong is 30). I don't think they're in the same boat at all. Lakins is just coming off his worst outing. Go easy on the guy. He's a solid middle reliever for this team.

Baseball Reference just updated the stats to reflect yesterday's games. Enjoy: The Case for John Means' 2021 AL Cy Young Award: WAR for pitchers- 2.3 (1st) WHIP- 0.674 (1st) ERA- 1.37 (2nd) Hits per 9 IP- 4.109 (1st) Win-Probability Added- 1.8 (1st) Innings Pitched- 46 (2nd) Games Started- 7 (1st) Wins- 4 (1st) Complete Games- 1 (1st) Strikeouts- 50 (4th) Ace.

So now are we allowed to call John Means an “ace”?

I agree with you. I think an even more compelling argument is that Ruiz is 11 for his last 70 (.157 avg/.519 OPS) and Urias is 7 for his last 44 (.159 avg/.518 OPS)

Are they using this rule in the postseason? I'm not a big fan of it. I agree with @Can_of_corn that it should kick in for the 11th inning, not the 10th.