We Are Who We Are - a .500 team

[Jonesy10]

This is a .500 team...

With Davis, Jones, and Machado all severely under performing. With Hardy not having a HR two months into the season. With Wieters missing over half the season. With Davis, Hardy, Machado, and Hunter all missing a significant number of games. With little to no production from Lough, Flaherty, and Schoop. With our top 4 starters all having significantly higher ERA's than their 2013 marks.

So yeah, this is a .500 team when pretty much everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Once this team gets going, and they will, they'll be fun to watch in September and beyond...

[brianod]

This is a .500 team...

With Davis, Jones, and Machado all severely under performing. With Hardy not having a HR two months into the season. With Wieters missing over half the season. With Davis, Hardy, Machado, and Hunter all missing a significant number of games. With little to no production from Lough, Flaherty, and Schoop. With our top 4 starters all having significantly higher ERA's than their 2013 marks.

So yeah, this is a .500 team when pretty much everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Once this team gets going, and they will, they'll be fun to watch in September and beyond...

Your post is simply pie in the sky hope. The assumptions are many and a lot unfounded. Manny has had one great half season followed by major knee surgery. Are we expected to accept the fact that Manny is offensive force based on a few good months, despite his downturn before the knee surgery? I love Chris Davis but he's playing like the CD of 2012, not 2013. Maybe the 2013 version was a fluke. The 2012 version is damn good but not dominant. Wieters may miss the whole season so, how is Wieters missing a lot of time proof that we will improve? Expecting Flaherty, Lough and Schoop to do more then they have? Where is the logic to that? None of them have a track record. Hardy will hit a few homeruns if he can stay healthy. Jones is a good but not great player. He simply can't be depended on as long as he swings at pitchers pitches consistently. We have played .500 ball for a season and a half. Expecting things to turn around without changes is fools gold.

[Jonesy10]

Your post is simply pie in the sky hope. The assumptions are many and a lot unfounded. Manny has had one great half season followed by major knee surgery. Are we expected to accept the fact that Manny is offensive force based on a few good months, despite his downturn before the knee surgery? I love Chris Davis but he's playing like the CD of 2012, not 2013. Maybe the 2013 version was a fluke. The 2012 version is damn good but not dominant. Wieters may miss the whole season so, how is Wieters missing a lot of time proof that we will improve? Expecting Flaherty, Lough and Schoop to do more then they have? Where is the logic to that? None of them have a track record. Hardy will hit a few homeruns if he can stay healthy. Jones is a good but not great player. He simply can't be depended on as long as he swings at pitchers pitches consistently. We have played .500 ball for a season and a half. Expecting things to turn around without changes is fools gold.

Pretty negative outlook right there. Manny isn't a .500's OPS player is he? Davis is even worse than 2012 right now. The offense isn't as big of a concern as the pitching. My point is that Cruz is the only starter having a good season and yet the offense isn't too bad. It will only get better too.

I don't think there's many teams that could be .500 with vast under performances from their projected 2 best players (Davis and Machado), ~.70 point OPS drop from your 3rd best player (Jones), 4th best player and starting catcher missing over half the season so far and possibly more, 5th best player and perennial 25 homer guy not having a single HR 2 months into the season, and the top 4 starters all having significantly higher ERA's than their 2013 numbers.

So once again, how many teams could take on such bad starts from their best projected players and still be over .500? I don't think many could. I know for a fact that if there was a poll in the offseason of what our record would be this far into the season with all those factors, the answers would be well below .500. I mean, out of our best 6 projected position players, and 4 best SP's, only our 6th best position player (by WAR) hasn't performed poorly.

Things can only get better, and they will. Sorry if you don't want me to believe that.

[DrungoHazewood]

This series is more proof. As things get fixed, others break. DD needs to blow it up or add talent. Either is fine with me. Clinging to the base with the possibility of losing our core other then Jones is unacceptable.

Why in the world would you blow it up? Don't you enjoy baseball?

[24fps]

Why in the world would you blow it up? Don't you enjoy baseball?

I am firmly convinced that there are a handful of posters who are unable of process the notion that an individual baseball game is something that can be enjoyed on its own merits, or that the experience of that game is enhanced by the knowledge that the team you're rooting for has reasonable chance of winning that day.

[LA2]

I am firmly convinced that there are a handful of posters who are unable of process the notion that an individual baseball game is something that can be enjoyed on its own merits, or that the experience of that game is enhanced by the knowledge that the team you're rooting for has reasonable chance of winning that day.

I pity such people and the general perspective on life that this attitude probably reveals.

[DrungoHazewood]

I am firmly convinced that there are a handful of posters who are unable of process the notion that an individual baseball game is something that can be enjoyed on its own merits, or that the experience of that game is enhanced by the knowledge that the team you're rooting for has reasonable chance of winning that day.

1998-2011 taught me that I never want to be in the situation of tearing it down and hoping that if everything works out right in 2018 we'll be five games a year better than we were before we blew it up and won 60 games a year for four years.

[brianod]

Pretty negative outlook right there. Manny isn't a .500's OPS player is he? Davis is even worse than 2012 right now. The offense isn't as big of a concern as the pitching. My point is that Cruz is the only starter having a good season and yet the offense isn't too bad. It will only get better too.

I don't think there's many teams that could be .500 with vast under performances from their projected 2 best players (Davis and Machado), ~.70 point OPS drop from your 3rd best player (Jones), 4th best player and starting catcher missing over half the season so far and possibly more, 5th best player and perennial 25 homer guy not having a single HR 2 months into the season, and the top 4 starters all having significantly higher ERA's than their 2013 numbers.

So once again, how many teams could take on such bad starts from their best projected players and still be over .500? I don't think many could. I know for a fact that if there was a poll in the offseason of what our record would be this far into the season with all those factors, the answers would be well below .500. I mean, out of our best 6 projected position players, and 4 best SP's, only our 6th best position player (by WAR) hasn't performed poorly.

Things can only get better, and they will. Sorry if you don't want me to believe that.

First, I don't care what you believe. We disagree, no biggie to me. I really hope you are right and I'm wrong. But everything you expect to happen this year (guys regressing to their usual performance) happened last year. And where did we end up?

Second, those guys that extrapolate criticism of the Orioles with a negative atttitude towards life (not you, other post) need to get a grip. This is a message board where opinions are supposed to fly. Please disagree when you think I'm wrong but those comments are absolute horse sh@t

[DrungoHazewood]

But everything you expect to happen this year (guys regressing to their usual performance) happened last year. And where did we end up?

Ummm... with 85 wins, contention into late in the season, and a pretty solid foundation to build on and compete in the coming years?

[brianod]

Ummm... with 85 wins, contention into late in the season, and a pretty solid foundation to build on and compete in the coming years?

And we added Jimenez and Cruz and kept everyone. Also, Schoop, despite some struggles seems to be better then what we had last year. It is possible that we win 85-90 again after everyone regresses to the norm. I'm rooting hard for that. There are also troubling signs. Manny was dropping off a shelf offensively before he got hurt. He might be a great offensive player eventually, but expecting anything this year, is asking too much. Wieters could be out for the season. If we expected him back any time soon, I doubt DD would have traded for another catcher. Adam Jones continues to swing at unhittable balls in clutch situations. Chris Davis seems to have been in a funk all season. Nick is Nick. No improvement that I can see. We have a failed closer replaced by an unproven closer. Our bullpen has been consistent at the top but the guys that have been on the revolving door have been awful. I really think we miss Steve Johnson, but that's another post. So, all in all, if everything breaks right, we'll be in the playoffs. If half the things break right and half the things break wrong, we'll win 81-85 games.

[DrungoHazewood]

And we added Jimenez and Cruz and kept everyone. Also, Schoop, despite some struggles seems to be better then what we had last year. It is possible that we win 85-90 again after everyone regresses to the norm. I'm rooting hard for that. There are also troubling signs. Manny was dropping off a shelf offensively before he got hurt. He might be a great offensive player eventually, but expecting anything this year, is asking too much. Wieters could be out for the season. If we expected him back any time soon, I doubt DD would have traded for another catcher. Adam Jones continues to swing at unhittable balls in clutch situations. Chris Davis seems to have been in a funk all season. Nick is Nick. No improvement that I can see. We have a failed closer replaced by an unproven closer. Our bullpen has been consistent at the top but the guys that have been on the revolving door have been awful. I really think we miss Steve Johnson, but that's another post. So, all in all, if everything breaks right, we'll be in the playoffs. If half the things break right and half the things break wrong, we'll win 81-85 games.

I'm good with that. My long term goal has always been to field a 80-something win team and have that team win 95 once in a while. That's all I can expect out of a team that's annually outspent by 100%.

[brianod]

I'm good with that. My long term goal has always been to field a 80-something win team and have that team win 95 once in a while. That's all I can expect out of a team that's annually outspent by 100%.

good point

[Rene88]

Wow....we suck again!

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[LookitsPuck]

It's pretty evident...when Chris Davis isn't hitting, this club isn't winning. This club can not sustain a poor pitching Tillman, Chen and a poor hitting Davis with a bottom of the order which is largely ineffective (Flaherty, Schoop, Hundley, Joseph are all automatic outs at this point).

[clapdiddy]

It's pretty evident...when Chris Davis isn't hitting, this club isn't winning. This club can not sustain a poor pitching Tillman, Chen and a poor hitting Davis with a bottom of the order which is largely ineffective (Flaherty, Schoop, Hundley, Joseph are all automatic outs at this point).

The problem with this team is that pitchers know they don't have to throw these guys strikes to get them out. You could also throw Machado into that "automatic out" list at this point.