How long will Buck stick with Jim Presley?

[weams]

How many injuries did the 3rd place team have?

To premium offensive players? Not as many.

[wildcard]

Do you think Jim Pressley and Buck Showatler want their hitters trying to pull everything like Adam Jones tends to do? I don't think so. I think they realize that hitters need to hit the ball the other way when the pitcher continues to pitch them away. Chris Davis hit the ball to LF a lot more in 2013. Do you think Pressley told him to stop doing that? I think it's much less about a philosophy of the hitting coach and more about the abilities of the hitters. Or the unwillingness of some of the hitters to alter their approach. I saw Nelson Cruz beat the shift quite a few times by grounding hits to the right of the opposing 2B, particularly with a man on 3B. He also drove the ball to RF on occasion. Adam Jones does it for a week or two and then goes back to pull mode. It's about the hitters, not the coach. The philosophy is just like every other hitting coach. Get a good pitch to hit.

No one tells Jon Schoop to swing at pitches a foot inside or outside. No one tells Adam Jones to swing at a slider in the dirt on a 2-0 pitch.

I believe that O's team philosophy supports hitters being aggressive. Working the count is not the high priority has it is on other teams. Hitting the ball the way the shift allows in not as high a priority has it is on other teams. I have read where players have said that the shift took a lot of hits away for Davis this year.

The O's are going to have to adjust to the shifts if they want to be offensively successful. Its a change in the philosophy that will happen across the league IMO. I think teams that are successful in changing will have offenses the score more runs. Teams that take advantage of having a third of the field uncovered will be better hitting teams.

[weams]

I believe that O's team philosophy supports hitters being aggressive. Working the count is not the high priority has it is on other teams. Hitting the ball the way the shift allows in not as high a priority has it is on other teams. I have read where players have said that the shift took a lot of hits away for Davis this year.

The O's are going to have to adjust to the shifts if they want to be offensively successful. Its a change in the philosophy that will happen across the league IMO. I think teams that are successful in changing will have offenses the score more runs. Teams that take advantage of having a third of the field uncovered will be better hitting teams.

I really don't think so. I think the Orioles are a team that has taken advantage of the fact that most other teams can not hit for power. And that is why our fly ball pitchers have fared better.

[Frobby]

Its a good point if the team is ok with being 68 runs behind the Angels and 11th in OBP. Does a year of Wieters and and a half year of Manny make up for that?

Total runs is all that matters. OBP is just a means to an end. If two teams are about equal in runs, I really don't care which team has the higher OBP. That said, having a better OBP usually is correlated with more runs. This year's rank in OBP and runs:

DET 1, 2

MIN 2, 5

TOR 3, 4

LAA 4, 1

OAK 5, 3

CLE 6, 7

TBR 7, 15

BOS 8, 11

KCR 9, 9

TEX 10, 10

BAL 11, 6

CHW 12, 8

HOU 13, 14

NYY 14, 13

SEA 15, 12

I'm not particularly interested in trading offenses with Tampa, Boston, Kansas City or Texas, all of whom were ahead of us in OBP. (Though KC is making its case at the moment.)

[wildcard]

I really don't think so. I think the Orioles are a team that has taken advantage of the fact that most other teams can not hit for power. And that is why our fly ball pitchers have fared better.

It does little good to rely on power if it doesn't score the team more runs.

[Frobby]

It does little good to rely on power if it doesn't score the team more runs.

But we do score an above average number of runs, and in 2014, our OPS+, which is park-adjusted, was 106. So where's the issue?

[wildcard]

Total runs is all that matters. OBP is just a means to an end. If two teams are about equal in runs, I really don't care which team has the higher OBP. That said, having a better OBP usually is correlated with more runs. This year's rank in OBP and runs:

DET 1, 2

MIN 2, 5

TOR 3, 4

LAA 4, 1

OAK 5, 3

CLE 6, 7

TBR 7, 15

BOS 8, 11

KCR 9, 9

TEX 10, 10

BAL 11, 6

CHW 12, 8

HOU 13, 14

NYY 14, 13

SEA 15, 12

I'm not particularly interested in trading offenses with Tampa, Boston, Kansas City or Texas, all of whom were ahead of us in OBP. (Though KC is making its case at the moment.)

Kind of a confusing post. OBP is just a means to end. But having a better OBP equates to more runs. What is you point here?

[weams]

But we do score an above average number of runs, and in 2014, our OPS+, which is park-adjusted, was 106. So where's the issue?

Someone told us that we are made up all wrong. WRONG I tell you!

[weams]

(Though KC is making its case at the moment.)

KC has made a very strong point that it is very important to get lucky with your hitting and defense at just the right time.

[weams]

Besides, sticking with status quo is never the right move. Especially if you are in the top four teams in the league. And you did not win the World Series.

[Redskins Rick]

Besides, sticking with status quo is never the right move. Especially if you are in the top four teams in the league. And you did not win the World Series.

Too much tinkering, can cause the opposite effect.

Note what happened with Oakland and their roster, this season.

[Reboulet'sStache]

I really don't think so. I think the Orioles are a team that has taken advantage of the fact that most other teams can not hit for power. And that is why our fly ball pitchers have fared better.

Wouldn't that speak to more of the O's pitching/defense taking advantage of the current environment? What other teams are capable or not capable of doing offensively doesn't really say anything about our offensive upside.

[weams]

Wouldn't that speak to more of the O's pitching/defense taking advantage of the current environment? What other teams are capable or not capable of doing offensively doesn't really say anything about our offensive upside.

I think our approach takes advantage of good swings. Yes. I think we ambush some pitching. And that without PEDs, there is less power out there.

[Reboulet'sStache]

I think our approach takes advantage of good swings. Yes. I think we ambush some pitching. And that without PEDs, there is less power out there.

Our approach is going to have its advantages and disadvantages, and in the end all you can hope is the good outweighs the bad. It did for us this year because we ended up with a better than average offense.

And I get the point about our pitchers taking advantage of other teams' offenses. But I still don't understand how our offense is taking advantage of somebody else' offense? The lack of power from the Rangers doesn't allow our offense to hit more homers. Our offense, and our offensive approach, exists independently of their offense.

[Going Underground]

Didn't Buck quit his job with the Yankees when the Boss told him to fire one of his coaches?

Bruce Springsteen wanted one of the Yankee coaches fired? BucK does not like Bruce?