Matt Wieters needs to be benched for a few days

[24fps]

I know there is an unwritten rule that Orioles fans and Baltimore sports writers/reporters are not allowed to criticize Matt Wieters, but I have rarely seen anything more painful in baseball than watching Wieters at the plate right now. Psychologically he is a mess and needs more than just one day off to turn things around. I am concerned that this is more than just a slump with his average possibly falling below .200 on this road trip. Yes, his defense is great, although the impact of his plate struggles are beginning to impact his overall performance.

You must have missed "Orioles shortstops on parade" in 2008. In comparison root canals looked positively cheery.

[Il BuonO]

Seriously, we are about to go play a 3 game series with the team we are tied for 1st with and people want to bench Wieters for 2 of the games. For defensive hack Ronny Paulino against the best running team in the league.

Oh BTW.... Wieters numbers against Price, pretty good. The best with of the projected starters tomorrow with at least 5 ABs. I mean do people actually think before they post.

Ok, alright. He can play vs Price. But after that he's benched! I:rolleyes: MEAN IT!

[Malike]

Seriously, we are about to go play a 3 game series with the team we are tied for 1st with and people want to bench Wieters for 2 of the games. For defensive hack Ronny Paulino against the best running team in the league.

Oh BTW.... Wieters numbers against Price, pretty good. The best with of the projected starters tomorrow with at least 5 ABs. I mean do people actually think before they post.

Do you honestly believe because he's batting a whopping .333 against Price, over the course of 18 AB's with 2 XBH (Both 2B hits) and 6 strikeouts that it would be a detriment to the team if his bat wasn't in the lineup? The Rays running is more contingent on the pitcher not being able to hold the runners than it is the catcher throwing them out.

This is Matt's line for the past month .167 .260 .274 .534 and thats 96 PA. I'm sure David Price is quivering in fear because Matt has 6 career hits off of him in 18 AB's.

[ccbird]

Do you honestly believe because he's batting a whopping .333 against Price, over the course of 18 AB's with 2 XBH (Both 2B hits) and 6 strikeouts that it would be a detriment to the team if his bat wasn't in the lineup? The Rays running is more contingent on the pitcher not being able to hold the runners than it is the catcher throwing them out.

This is Matt's line for the past month .167 .260 .274 .534 and thats 96 PA. I'm sure David Price is quivering in fear because Matt has 6 career hits off of him in 18 AB's.

He's struggling badly but I can't see how anyone can justify removing him from the lineup in favor of a clearly inferior option in Paulino. You're crazy if you don't want Wieters behind the plate for this series. And you can talk holding runners or time to the plate all you want but Wieters is far and away our best weapon against the running game.

[Va Beach O's fan]

How about we just move him down in the order? Is anyone honestly against that right now? Benching him isn't the solution but taking some of the pressure off of him by hitting him down in the lineup seems like a good place to start.

[24fps]

How about we just move him down in the order? Is anyone honestly against that right now? Benching him isn't the solution but taking some of the pressure off of him by hitting him down in the lineup seems like a good place to start.

What sort of pressure do you suppose he's feeling?

[Slappy]

I don't know if he needs to be "benched", sending him down is silliness, but he is definitely in a major, major slump. After going .279/.364/.574/.937 in April, his May line was .188/.282/.323/.605 (110 PA). And if you take out the first 5 games of May, the line is .127/.232/.197/.429 (82 PA).

[Va Beach O's fan]

What sort of pressure do you suppose he's feeling?

The pressure to break a horrible slump? The pressure to help the O's end their slide? The pressure to try and stay atop the toughest division in baseball? The pressure to earn a big new contract?

And that's not even mentioning the undue pressure o's fans put on him as the savior of the franchise when he first came up.

Nah, I'm sure none of that bothers him or even weighs on him at all. Keep batting him in the heart of the order and maybe he'll run into one eventually. Or just advance a freaking runner every now and then.

[Going Underground]

This is Matt Wieters. Everyone talks about how he is slumping. He looks like he is going to be around a .250 hitter with 20 homers and 75 RBI's. He has long prolonged slumps. In 2011,he had one homer and six RBI's in June and three homers and four RBI's in July. That is four homers and 10 RBI's in two months. What he is doing now is actually his norm. The question is does he need to bat fifth. The problem is now Markakis and Reimold are hurt and no one else is hitting besides Jones and Davis and sometimes Hardy.

How many years and how much would you give Wieters for a new contract? What happens when he can no longer play catcher? His stats for DH and 1B would not be good.

[Can_of_corn]

I know there is an unwritten rule that Orioles fans and Baltimore sports writers/reporters are not allowed to criticize Matt Wieters, but I have rarely seen anything more painful in baseball than watching Wieters at the plate right now. Psychologically he is a mess and needs more than just one day off to turn things around. I am concerned that this is more than just a slump with his average possibly falling below .200 on this road trip. Yes, his defense is great, although the impact of his plate struggles are beginning to impact his overall performance.

Please support the above bolded statement.

Thank you.

[Going Underground]

So Wieters is messed up mentally. He has too much pressure. He catches too many innings. He did not eat his Wheaties at breakfast.His dog is too much work and takes away from baseball activities. The reasons why he does not hit goes on every year. Perhaps ,he is a really good catcher and not a great hitter. I bet Arencibia has better stats then Wieters for his career.

[fish113d]

We should have benched Cal Ripken also every time he hit a bad slump as well then. That would have worked out AWESOME, eh? Who's with me? {crickets crickets} :cussing:

[glenn__davis]

What he is doing now is actually his norm.

This is not remotely true.

His May OPS was .605. His career OPS is .743, and his worst year was .695. His did put up one similarly bad month in June of 2010. What he is doing now is nowhere near his norm, even for his slumps.

[russ snyder]

I was surprised that Wieters caught all three games against KC last weekend. He looks like he's swinging a tired bat. He should catch two of the three games against Tampa this weekend. I think you hurt the overall team defense by sitting him two games in a row.

[Going Underground]

This is not remotely true.

His May OPS was .605. His career OPS is .743, and his worst year was .695. What he is doing now is nowhere near his norm.

I meant he goes into long slumps and does not drive in runs and hit homers during that time. His slumps seem to last more then weeks. I know he will hit around ,255 with 20 homers and 75 RBI's and have prolonged slumps.