We Are Who We Are - a .500 team

[bpilktree]

On the one hand, I agree with everything said by the OP. You have honed in on the teams flaws. (One point I would add: our players who overachieved the first half of last year - notably Chris and Manny - have regressed this year, to the point that their second half 2013 may be their ceiling rather than their norm). Overall, this is a good but flawed team.

On the other hand, we are a .500 team -- viewed with the glass half full, at least we are not a below .500 team. Also, I like the fact that offense is our weakness. I feel it is easier for an offense to get hot than it is for a pitching staff. Our pitching is there, our defense is there. We had a top 5 offense last year with most of the same players so I don't think it's unreasonable to think that our offense may improve.

It's disappointing to end up with a 2-2 split after taking the first two games, but KC is a tough team with great pitching, exactly what we don't want to see when our offense is struggling. The one team that totally dominated us - DET - just swept Boston too for what it's worth.

Looking ahead, this section of our schedule has some winnable series. Two vs. PIT, four vs CLE, three vs MIL, four vs HOU. This should be a good test for us. If we are still at .500 or below after this stretch, I would say yes, we are in deep trouble. I think 8-5 is a realistic goal, which would put us at 5 games over .500 going into june. Not great but could be a whole lot worse.

I don't get how you can say Manny's second half maybe his ceiling. Manny is 22 years old you have to expect him to get better as he makes adjustments and gets stronger. This season he had very little off season and even no spring training. The last 10 games he is hitting over .300 and as he said his timing is coming back.

[SeaBird]

I think you are totally missing what is special about 2014 Orioles. Its can be described in two words. Pitching and Defense.

The O's are third in ERA in the AL in May.

Tigers - 2.19 ERA

A's - 3.17 ERA

O's - 3.32 ERA

And its is likely to continue throughout the summer and into the fall. The O's pitching is better that anyone in the AL East. Why? Two things:

1) Dave Wallace and Dom Chiti seem to have the ability to fix the mechanics of their pitchers in the majors. That is something the Adair rarely did. He is would send struggling pitchers to the minors for Griffin to the fix. But he didn't seem to have the ability to keep them in sync in the majors if their mechanics went bad.

2) Pitching Depth - The O's have or will soon have 6 major league starters. They had trouble keeping 5 the past two years. Look at the May stats for the starters:

Jimenez - 2.19 ERA

Chen - 2.60 ERA

Norris - 2.77 ERA

Tillman - 3.28 ERA

Gonzalez - 3.95 ERA

And yet with all that, they are only 10-8 in May; 2 games over .500. A point the OP was trying to make.

[wildcard]

And yet with all that, they are only 10-8 in May; 2 games over .500. A point the OP was trying to make.

Yes, they had to fix their closer problem which I think they did. It cost them a few wins. When the homers increase (and they will) the wins will also.

[BMann]

I'm not ready to declare "they are who we thought they were!" just yet, as thus far the offense has not been who I thought they'd be this season. If the year ended right now, we'd be in the playoffs, so to declare that you've "given up on this being a special season" seems a bit premature. If, despite all their problems, they are still good enough right now to get into the dance... well, anything can happen!

[bpilktree]

And yet with all that, they are only 10-8 in May; 2 games over .500. A point the OP was trying to make.

If you play 2 games over .500 each month you finish with around 87-88 wins and 12 games over .500. The pitching will have times they struggle and the offense will pick it up people just have to remember it is a long race. If we can play two games over .500 each month it will make for a fun August and September. I think the advantage we have then most of the other teams have is we have more bullets down the stretch with guys like Gausman, Bundy and Santana.

[srock]

At the moment, Detroit and Oakland look like very good teams and everyone else looks mediocre. But a couple of other teams will emerge as being pretty good eventually, and we just have to hope we're one of them. I know this should be a better offensive team than it has shown so far, and still believe the offense will heat up at some point and then people will feel better. I think the pitching pretty much "is what it is," as you say.

I'm freaking ecstatic this team is over .500 right now. They say you can't win the pennant in April (or May for that matter) but you can lose it. Being over .500 is a perfectly acceptable launching pad for a 2nd half playoff run.

The offense is playing below ts talent level.

Manny and Davis should find there timing at some point.

Hardy will start hitting homers at some point and Jones will go on a tear as well.

There is enough pitching depth in the system to maintain a solid if unspectacular staff and when the bats start rolling, that's all we need.

If the bats don't come around, well yeah, this is the team we have but we knew that coming into the year, this team is built to score lots of runs.

[brianod]

I sincerely hope I'm wrong. Someone made a great point about this isn't .500 for just this season, it's .500 for over a season after a magical 2012. So, yes, my post was out of frustration. But, it wasn't frustration for this year it is frustration since the Yankee playoff series in 2012. Since that time, we have muddled along slightly over .500 and it dawned on me that maybe we all overrate the talent in front of us. .500 is .500 despite all of our desire to see our guys improve and reach their full potential. Maybe, they are reaching their full potential and it's just not good enough?

[wildcard]

I sincerely hope I'm wrong. Someone made a great point about this isn't .500 for just this season, it's .500 for over a season after a magical 2012. So, yes, my post was out of frustration. But, it wasn't frustration for this year it is frustration since the Yankee playoff series in 2012. Since that time, we have muddled along slightly over .500 and it dawned on me that maybe we all overrate the talent in front of us. .500 is .500 despite all of our desire to see our guys improve and reach their full potential. Maybe, they are reaching their full potential and it's just not good enough?

I guess you can find a way to make a glass half empty if you want to.

O's added two All-Stars to a team that won 85 last year. I've rather think this is a playoff team.

[PaulFolk]

Yes, they had to fix their closer problem which I think they did. It cost them a few wins. When the homers increase (and they will) the wins will also.

The closer problem cost them exactly one win. One. And it came in a game in which the O's scored only 1 run, so the offense was as much to blame as anyone.

Just as anyone can make the glass look half empty, anyone can make it look half full, especially if they misrepresent the facts.

[Aristotelian]

I don't get how you can say Manny's second half maybe his ceiling. Manny is 22 years old you have to expect him to get better as he makes adjustments and gets stronger. This season he had very little off season and even no spring training. The last 10 games he is hitting over .300 and as he said his timing is coming back.

I hope it is true. When I look at Manny I see a defensive stud with some bad habits and some holes in his swing. Maybe I am just extending my frustration with AJ to Manny and that isn't fair. However, I am worried that plate discipline is one of those things that just can't be taught and there is only so much room for Manny to improve.

[wildcard]

The closer problem cost them exactly one win. One. And it came in a game in which the O's scored only 1 run, so the offense was as much to blame as anyone.

Just as anyone can make the glass look half empty, anyone can make it look half full, especially if they misrepresent the facts.

OK, I stand corrected. One win. which would have made them 3 games over .500 for May. Times 5 months of the season could make them 15 above .500 for the season.

And yes the closer role for Hunter had to be addressed. Unless you are standing up as the chair of the Hunter for Closer campaign.

[Ohfan67]

They have been extremely mediocre so far. They are lucky that the AL East is a real mess right now. The division belongs to the first team to right their ship. None of the O's left field options are really any good. I think DD could make the biggest impact by trading for a quality LF'er. Forget Lough, Peguero and the like. A LF that can hit and field would make the biggest difference in the lineup right now.

[foxfield]

They have been extremely mediocre so far. They are lucky that the AL East is a real mess right now. The division belongs to the first team to right their ship. None of the O's left field options are really any good. I think DD could make the biggest impact by trading for a quality LF'er. Forget Lough, Peguero and the like. A LF that can hit and field would make the biggest difference in the lineup right now.

Call for Mr. Reimold. Paging Nolan Reimold.

I kid...I kid.

[joeyc]

Ah more of the same, some people looking for any excuse to proclaim the team dead. It seemed to happen every other day last season. How about we actually wait until August and September to say what this team is or isn't?

Because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that they are not a very good baseball team. And if we don't make a trade or something drastic, we are going to be around a .500 club., plain and simple.

[OFFNY]

ShaneDawg85 said:

 

Ah, more of the same ........ some people looking for any excuse to proclaim the team dead.

 

o

 

I can understand it, though.

We were just booted out of first place by the surging Yankees, who went 4-3 in their last 7 games against the Mets and the Pirates.

 

o