Sessh

That pitch Bundy just threw at the CareFirst sign would have hit Tony Wolters.

I think we've found the player who will get the next 300M contract. Should we give it to him now?

I'm gonna go with fourth inning with two on.

Umpire's mask had a malfunction.

He did that stuff all the time when he was here. Palmer routinely lambasted him for not running out ground balls he had a chance of beating out or going into a home run trot when it wasn't a home run and being stuck on first base instead of second or third. It's not viewed the same without the orange glasses, that's all. He ran hard sometimes and sometimes, it was like the video.

Yup, nail on the head.

I don't think he put him in knowing he would fail, but he has failed to understand his player and what he needs. I am shocked that he put Givens in there again tonight and he waited until there were two guys on base to bring him in to get two outs. He brought him in to a situation with more pressure than he would have just starting the inning himself. I just think he is mismanaging Givens right now. He needs some chances to build his confidence back up. I'm not against using him at all, but use him in the seventh for awhile or something and try Kline in the ninth. Givens looked like a broken man tonight after blowing the game. Hyde simply can not keep sending him out to close at this point or he's going to break him. Givens can be good, but he needs to get out of the kitchen for awhile until he feels confident again. Hyde set Givens up to fail tonight by not reading the situation properly. JMO. Hopefully, he can read it better now. Let's see what Kline can do.

Did you see when they showed his face after the run scored? He looked broken.. like he was about to cry. Hyde is going to ruin him if he keeps doing this to him. Use him in the 7th or in non-leverage situations late to build him back up. His confidence is shot right now. I'm not sure what Hyde is thinking here, but Givens is not in a good place mentally right now and Hyde isn't helping him much.

Givens looks like a broken man. Stop putting him out there in these situations.

I don't remember ever seeing a guy standing that far over timing pitches. I'd throw at him if the count was favorable.

lol Wolters.

I brought this up several times before and VaTech echoed it which is the effect that bad mechanics has on this situation. He referred to it as "stretching the rubber band" where the rubber band is the UCL until it breaks. Bad mechanics give you increased velocity in exchange for increased injury risk and until this is addressed, I doubt the issue will be going away. You can work up to lifting heavy weights in training regimens, but doing so with bad form guarantees injury eventually if not immediately. I don't see pitching to be any different. Verlander throws hard and his mechanics are great which is why he doesn't have arm injuries, but most pitchers in the game today have timing issues which causes stretching of the rubber band and a slingshot effect that increases pitch velocity, but rubber bands wear down or break eventually and the shoulder takes a lot of abuse as well. Teenagers are having more and more TJ surgeries as well. Velocity is definitely "injuring" the game all the way down to high school. Personally, I think baseball was better overall decades ago and has been slowly going in the wrong direction ever since. With the looming rule changes, it seems as if it may be about to fall off a cliff and I don't think it will do anything to address the injury problem. Proper pitching mechanics are better for health, but not so good for velocity. Guys like Verlander and Nolan Ryan among others show that you can throw real hard with good mechanics and avoid arm injuries, but it's easier to just do it wrong. Meh.. this article didn't seem to mention this at all and until the focus gets shifted onto the root of the problem, I don't imagine it will get much better anytime soon.

So, bases loaded and no outs. How many will score?

Adding insult to injury, a close up of the umpire's ass while he's dusting the plate.

It's odd that Broxton strikes out a lot. He's not a free swinger... at least, he hasn't shown any sign of that at all yet. He's patient. I think there's a realistic chance of him being a late bloomer. I expected to see a guy who chases and swings a lot. SSS, I know, but I expected different.

You mean he's still here?

Maybe. I like a 5-3 score over a 6-6 score.

Nice route by Wilkerson there. That wasn't erratic at all. He must be hanging out with Trumbo a lot.

Just don't expect him to hit for average. He's all power and can use all fields, but he's unlikely to hit .250. I hope he can get back to taking walks as well, but he certainly has the power.

Probably correct, but when they make bad in-game decisions, it can be disastrous especially in games that mean something. There's a lot of testosterone in that locker room and a lot of ego which all has to be managed and held together so that it all works and doesn't go off the rails. When the manager fails at this, we get 2018. So, maybe the least important, but still pretty important. Managers do their best work behind the scenes and it is very important to have leadership there. They may not be as hands-on as, say, an NHL coach who is constantly calling plays, line changes and strategy changes on the fly, but that doesn't mean MLB managers are not extremely important parts of teams. It's just not as obvious.

Manage egos, determine overall team strategies, clubhouse chemistry and atmosphere.. most of what a manager does is off the field between games. I know we're used to having our managers and fitness trainers making personnel decisions, but that's not how it's supposed to be.

I know I am butting in here, but the reason I watch is because I want to see this team going in the right direction for once. After the 14 years and the chaos that ensued here after the Toronto/DD thing, I am satisfied just seeing this team going in the right direction even if it's a slow process. I can handle this kind of play if the organization is taking a "big picture" approach moving forward. This organization has to be rebuilt from the ground up in many ways. I am satisfied with the new direction on paper and my expectations are that there's now some credibility in the words laying out that direction. I did not expect a competitive team this year in any way, shape or form nor do I really expect one next year. These next few years are about building a new foundation for this organization and then building a solid, competitive franchise on top of that foundation that is sustainable over many seasons. That satisfaction won't last forever. Eventually, I need to see the end result. For right now, I think it's reasonable to think there's some sanity running things now and we're on the right track. I don't mind watching that progress. Trying to be competitive right now when it's not really possible is the same losing formula that got us 14 years. What you speak of is a fairweather fan who's only around for the good times, but turns their backs during the bad times. That's probably fine for casual fans, but I wouldn't consider most of the people on OH to be "casual fans" at all. I'm losing interest in baseball generally, but as long as I have interest, I'll always care about the team. If I didn't, coming here at all would be a waste of time.

So, great defender. Home run power to all fields and uses all fields. Showed the ability to take walks in the minors and was decent in that area in 2016. If 2016-type production is the best he can do plus the glove, we could do worse. Lottta K's though. Just unscientifically estimating if the 2016 production were extended to a full season, he'd have around 25 doubles, 25 home runs, 80 walks, 200+ K's, 45 steals and maybe 3 triples and the 107 OPS+ is fine too. Nothing spectacular, but if he can maintain that, it would be a great addition. Can he? Seems unlikely, but we'll see. It would be nice, though. I hope he gets an extended look in the lineup and he's elite defensively in center. Let's see what happens.

I don't mind giving Broxton a chance. Nothing to lose at all and I like that we are focusing more on speed generally. As for Cobb, not surprised at all. He's been extremely fragile his whole career and has not been the same pitcher since missing all of 2015 and most of 2016 due to injury. He's had good stretches, but has never been able to stay healthy ever. If he was elite, he wouldn't be in Baltimore right now because another team would have signed him long before he fell to us. We're seeing why. It was just another bad decision from the previous regime and I don't expect we'll be getting much if anything for him. We're likely stuck with him for the duration of the contract like we are with Davis.

Sure, but Roberts doesn't sound like a homer. Palmer certainly isn't and neither is Thorne. I haven't heard McDonald or Olson, so I can't comment on them. We can certainly choose people who are not homers and are willing to be objective about their own team and not insult the intelligence of the fan base for nine innings every time they are on the air. I want to be better than other teams. They can keep their homers, but I'd rather not have them here and it seems we could pull that off. Hunter and Bordick are easily the worst, I agree. Thorne, Palmer and Roberts are exactly what I want to hear every game for the Orioles. No BS, just straight real talk that the fans can learn something from. It's so refreshing listening to the Capitals announcers who will rip the team hard if they deserve it and praise them highly if they deserve it all while being informative about the game. I know that's hockey, but we can have that kind of objectivity in our booth, too. Hunter and Bordick make me want to puke sometimes and they don't even have to be together. Just one is sufficient. I know it's hard for some to be objective about their own team, but it can be done. We have three such guys already. We're really lucky to have Thorne. He was also one of my favorite NHL announcers. Just a great play by play guy anywhere he is.