What's Up With Lough?

[El Gordo]

His swing just sucks. It doesn't allow him to do much other than crank a ball to RF or pop it up. For a speed guy, he doesn't have a very good line drive swing.

He did last season. 22.6 LD %, this year 14.3 %. Where did it go?

[atomic]

Brady holds the all-time Oriole record for games played in left. With 674, or 4.1 full seasons. No Oriole, going back to '54, has ever led the team in games played in left for more than four straight seasons.

If I had to vote on best Oriole LFer of all time I might throw my lot in with Joe Kelley.

On a side note, Nick has played almost 400 more games in RF than any other Oriole (or St. Louis Brown, for that matter). This year Nick should double the number of games Frank played in RF for the O's.

I would give Gary Roenicke/Jon Lowenstein platoon as the best left fielder of all time for Orioles. Got them to two World Series.

[Guest]

Lough is now 15th in outfield voting for all star game.

[mdbdotcom]

.817 OPS over his last 18 games (10 starts, 45 PA) covering the last four weeks.

[Roll Tide]

Lough is now 15th in outfield voting for all star game.

I could care less about the allstar voting. I am happy he's starting to hit.

[weams]

Yeah. This.

.817 OPS over his last 18 games (10 starts, 45 PA) covering the last four weeks.

I'm happy.

[Can_of_corn]

Yeah. This.

I'm happy.

That is plenty of bat when you factor in his glove.

[Guest]

He plays a nasty LF. Buck please play him more.

[SteveO]

He plays a nasty LF. Buck please play him more.

Pearce has returned to earth. Lough should see more playing time IMO.

[25 Nuggets]

Brady holds the all-time Oriole record for games played in left. With 674, or 4.1 full seasons. No Oriole, going back to '54, has ever led the team in games played in left for more than four straight seasons.

That's... pretty amazing to me, actually. Every other position's got at least seven (Dempsey, Powell, Roberts, Ripken, B. Robinson, Blair, Markakis).

I've said it before, but LF has been the black hole of this team for a long, long time. I'm really struggling to think of who was the last very good everyday left fielder. I would guess it was probably BJ Surhoff.

If you go just by one season, I'd say the last "very good everyday left fielder" would Luke Scott, 2008. 100 games started in LF, 23 HRs, 111 OPS+, 2.6 WAR player.

Prior to that you are in fact looking at B.J. Surhoff, 1999 (his only All-Star year).

[mdbdotcom]

Lough is a great example of how a bad start is worse than a slump in the middle of the season, because if you get off to a good start a manager is likely to give you a long leash to break out of a slump later on. Here are his plate appearances and OPS by month this season.

April - 63 PA, .457 OPS

May - 35 PA, .369 OPS

June - 33 PA, .943 OPS

July - 11 PA, 1.155 OPS

It would be tempting to see how he would do now if he got the starts in LF against RP. Even if he put up a .710 OPS, his defense and speed on the bases would add a lot of value.

[EagleOriole]

Lough is a great example of how a bad start is worse than a slump in the middle of the season, because if you get off to a good start a manager is likely to give you a long leash to break out of a slump later on. Here are his plate appearances and OPS by month this season.

April - 63 PA, .457 OPS

May - 35 PA, .369 OPS

June - 33 PA, .943 OPS

July - 11 PA, 1.155 OPS

It would be tempting to see how he would do now if he got the starts in LF against RP. Even if he put up a .710 OPS, his defense and speed on the bases would add a lot of value.

Given Pearce and Cruz's fall back to earth this is a good idea, though it won't happen. Delmon Young deserves to get ABs.

I would be in favor of these platoons:

LF Lough/Cruz

DH Cruz/Young

1B Davis/Pearce

2B Flaherty/Schoop

[mdbdotcom]

Given Pearce and Cruz's fall back to earth this is a good idea, though it won't happen. Delmon Young deserves to get ABs.

I would be in favor of these platoons:

LF Lough/Cruz

DH Cruz/Young

1B Davis/Pearce

2B Flaherty/Schoop

That seems reasonable, with the possible exception of giving all the ABs at 1B to Davis as long as Pearce is slumping. Don't want to miss an opportunity for him to figure it out, and the payoff of Davis getting back on track far outweighs the benefit if Pearce gets back on track.

[Ohfan67]

Lough is a great example of how a bad start is worse than a slump in the middle of the season, because if you get off to a good start a manager is likely to give you a long leash to break out of a slump later on. Here are his plate appearances and OPS by month this season.

April - 63 PA, .457 OPS

May - 35 PA, .369 OPS

June - 33 PA, .943 OPS

July - 11 PA, 1.155 OPS

It would be tempting to see how he would do now if he got the starts in LF against RP. Even if he put up a .710 OPS, his defense and speed on the bases would add a lot of value.

But part of the reason for Lough's "resurgence" IS the small number of at bats. He is basically only getting at bats in the extreme optimal matchup.

That said, I hope Lough can contribute significantly in August and September. Lord knows the O's need several more productive hitters right now. I hope his "resurgence" is more than just "perfect" match ups.

[EagleOriole]

But part of the reason for Lough's "resurgence" IS the small number of at bats. He is basically only getting at bats in the extreme optimal matchup.

That said, I hope Lough can contribute significantly in August and September. Lord knows the O's need several more productive hitters right now. I hope his "resurgence" is more than just "perfect" match ups.

Lough's last two starts have gone against Garrett Richards and Jared Weaver - not "perfect" match ups.