Tommy Hunter AGAIN!

[EagleOriole]

I don't. I am quite happy with what Buck has brought to the table overall. But we are a good team now mostly because we have good players.

Yes of course, but I believe the culture of the clubhouse is good mainly because of Buck. I believe at his core Buck values loyalty. I believe this is why he trots Hunter (or JJ) out there. I give him credit for his loyalty nad for the culture. But of course your right, a great culture means little with bad players.

[Brooks The Great]

And yet, he has brought winning back to Baltimore.

He's been a big part of the turnaround. But that shouldn't be an excuse for how poorly he manages the bullpen.

Some Orioles fans have a sort of "battered fan" syndrome. 15 years of losing has gotten many of us used to mediocrity. And lots of fans too willingly overlook mistakes that Showalter habitually makes (Manny Machado is an awful #2 hitter, for example, but that's another argument for a different day and different thread). Buck shouldn't get a pass for poor managing just because he oversaw the turnaround. This team might well have made the playoffs last year with any other good manager that managed the bullpen better. At the end of the day, the players and their talent make a team a winning team. We have a team that can clearly win regardless of manager. If you believe a manager only decides 5 games a season, I think Buck cost the team at least that many games last season with his bullpen management. I don't like what I've seen thus far in 2014 with how he's handled Hunter.

Either way, Buck is our guy and he's not going anywhere this season. I just hope he improves his decision-making.

It's a great, great thing that Hunter's poor performance hasn't directly cost us any games yet. Hopefully Buck is quick to make a change with Hunter if Tommy doesn't turn things around immediately. Much quicker and more decisive than last season.

[Rene88]

I don't. I am quite happy with what Buck has brought to the table overall. But we are a good team now mostly because we have good players.

Let me guess. You are one of those that believe a manager only accounts for 2-3 wins a year:)

Moderation people.

Buck is great. One of the best.

Being one of the best doesn't make you god-like. We all make mistakes.

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[Rich Mac]

I wonder if Tommy tips his pitches?

I've been wondering the exact same thing.

[blid]

Buck basically said Hunter needs to improve. That's promising. At least he isn't wearing the JJ blinders, maybe he learned from last year.

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I dunno, I didn't get that impression from Buck's comments. I don't remember exactly any more, but I think one of the press brought up the question of Tommy's pitch count, and is he worried about Tommy, and as usual Buck went to bat for the player. Saying basically they could have got more runs for him, that Tommy was good, before turning around to bring up Lough's catch that ended the innings. I think that's a positive of Buck's, something that keeps morale high, but I do hope he realizes Tommy needs to be replaced as closer. Britton and O'Day are our two lockdown, reliable relievers.

[cacavolante]

Let me guess. You are one of those that believe a manager only accounts for 2-3 wins a year:)

Moderation people.

Buck is great. One of the best.

Being one of the best doesn't make you god-like. We all make mistakes.

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Some of us learn from them:)

[MrOrange82]

One outing? Bad luck.

Two outings? Bad luck.

Three outings? Bad luck.

Did he run over a Gypsy's cat or something?

(Bad luck is such a cop out answer. Fact is if you are throwing hittable pitches your BABIP is going to be high and tonight the dude threw three absolute meatball "spank me" curves/sliders. If anything he was lucky the first wasn't deposited out onto Eutaw Street.)

This.

Yes, Tommy's BABIP is absurdly high. But a big reason for that is that he's getting hit extremely hard. His LD% is 29.3%. He's not being victimized by small handfuls of dying quails...he's simply getting knocked around. Moreover, he's not even getting knocked around by "bad luck" in the sense that good pitches are being hit hard. The hit that put the Orioles behind tonight was an ugly, hanging breaking ball.

Of course he has the stuff to strike a lot of people out, but when he's missing his spots (badly) with that "stuff," or when it's simply not breaking sharply, he's getting tattooed.

[callahan09]

He has to pitch a 1-2-3 inning eventually, right?

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[blid]

Say you spend Britton/O'Day in the 8th and 9th in a lot of games going forward. Can the rest of our relievers hold down all the other innings we need help on? Gausman may need to fill the role Britton filled early in the season.

[Barnaby Graves]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Orioles&src=hash">#Orioles</a> are 15-1 in games Tommy Hunter pitches. Only loss was a 10-4 game when he came in to get one out. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OriolesTalk&src=hash">#OriolesTalk</a></p>— Rich Dubroff (@RichDubroffCSN) <a href="

">May 11, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

More Hunter?

Thank god Tommy hit the walkoff double.

Rich Dubroff: A Lifetime of Dumb is on bookshelves nationwide May 26th.

[Roll Tide]

Per Hunter

"They got a couple hits, they got me tonight," he said. "I'm going to come back out and give them hell tomorrow. It's the only thing I can do."

[Aristotelian]

I am all for playing matchups regardless of situation. For example, Game 1 of this series was really set up for a lefty to start the 9th against Fowler, their best lefthanded hitter.

That said, last night was set up for Tommy. Two righty batters and a weak lefty (although Krauss has hit in the minors). Perfect situation for Tommy. I don't think you can argue against using him there.

Should have been a perfect situation for him. Also, for people begging to replace him, what was the bad pitch that he made? Carter fought off a tough pitch, Krauss got to 3-2 and somebody made a horrible call to go slider again, and then Altuve (their best hitter) fought off a tough pitch for a base hit. I don't remember Tommy making any real mistakes.

I am a little worried that his slider/cutter doesn't seem to be phasing righties this year. Can't explain it.

[mdbdotcom]

Yes, the matchups were made to order. However, Hunter was pitching for the 3rd day in a row. That's the first thing. Second thing is that he made two awful pitches to Krauss. Kraus pulled the first hanger way foul down the line. Hunter called Clevenger out to the mound when they couldn't get together on a sign and the next pitch was the slider/slurve so it was clearly Hunter who wanted to keep going to it. He had Carter 0-2. The pitch wasn't terrible in a vacuum but it was a poor pitch on an 0-2 count on a hitter who will chase out of the zone. The pitch to Altuve was a breaking pitch, waist high, over the middle of the plate. I would not call that a tough pitch.

Hunter didn't pitch Thursday. O'Day closed. Hunter never warmed up.

[jaege]

Dude, he is leading the AL in Saves. What more do you want?

I would like him to actually earn one of those saves himself. He cannot give up 2 and 3 hits an inning and expect the defense to come to his rescue. We saw the result of that pipe dream last night. Fortunately, the rest of the team rallied and covered for him. Again. I shudder whenever they bring the guy up.

[PA724_Oriole]

I would like him to actually earn one of those saves himself. He cannot give up 2 and 3 hits an inning and expect the defense to come to his rescue. We saw the result of that pipe dream last night. Fortunately, the rest of the team rallied and covered for him. Again. I shudder whenever they bring the guy up.

Well teammates don't rally to pick someone up that they don't like or if they don't think are helping them in return. A team game.

If Hunter didnt blow that save AJ wouldn't have got his 4th dinger last night.

So mad. Me and my buddy went fishing. Got back in time for the bottom of the ninth but then was to tired to wait for the delay. So pissed yet so happy.

Keep it rolling Os!

Btw,ppl say Hunter needs to start earning saves on his own abs not rely on the defense so much. Well, was Hunter ever a strikeout guy? I kno he is a hard thrower but I don't remember him ever being dominant when it comes to striking guys out. That's not his makeup.