Who has exceeded or fallen short of expectations so far?

[24fps]

Chris Davis has greatly exceeded my expectations.

[LookitsPuck]

Pearce fallen short. Norris fallen short. Tillman fallen short. Hunter fallen short. Hardy fallen short.

[Nevermore]

Ubaldo is a great pitcher.

He pitched great tonight -- and all he had to show for it was a big "ND" by his name. At least it wasn't a big "L".

The Grand Poobah of the Ubaldo Jimenez Fan Club :smile11:

[UpstateNYfan]

Buck has fallen short of expectations IMO. A couple recent decisions, not to bunt Paredes last Friday when the lead off hitter got on (yes, the O's won on Hardy's walk off). Keeping Tillman in, needing one out against Houston the other game that resulted in a big inning and last night's decision to pull UJ in the 7th when the lead off batter got on. I realize he is scrambling for wins and injuries have made it difficult, but still some of his decisions have been questionable.

[Frobby]

I thought Buck made the right decision on Ubaldo, who was showing signs of beginning to struggle in the previous inning. Brach and Hunter just didn't do the job. It happens. Our bullpen has generally done a good job of protecting leads (only 4 blown saves on the year, which is one of the best in the league). It was a solid decision that didn't work out, IMO.

[UpstateNYfan]

If you use that logic, he keeps a truly struggling Tillman in the other day (I think Buck thinks he is the number 1) and pulls a maybe tiring UJ last night (who Buck put through a long hard ST, succeeded and still doesn't trust IMO). It may be the lousy offense that is causing some of these decisions, but Buck has his favorites.

[duffaphonic]

If Pearce is going to play he should be batting 8th. His pitiful strikeout with men on 2nd and 3rd was embarrassing. Cabrera can't bunt? Just horrible. Pearce not connecting and Cabrera's ineptitude cost the Os two runs. Ubaldo would have continued in the 7th if he had the supprt

[Dipper9]

Buck has fallen short of expectations IMO. A couple recent decisions, not to bunt Paredes last Friday when the lead off hitter got on (yes, the O's won on Hardy's walk off). Keeping Tillman in, needing one out against Houston the other game that resulted in a big inning and last night's decision to pull UJ in the 7th when the lead off batter got on. I realize he is scrambling for wins and injuries have made it difficult, but still some of his decisions have been questionable.

Ubaldo's look on his face as he watched Brach destroy all he had done for 6+ last night was heartbreaking. You could just see Ubaldo's pain.

That said, after last year, he doesn't have much to complain about. He is doing his job, which is all we can expect from him. If the bullpen and offense can't help him out, that's not Ubaldo's fault.

And I just want to add, even with his miserable 2014 season, Ubaldo is easily one of the most likable guys on this team.

[Frobby]

If you use that logic, he keeps a truly struggling Tillman in the other day (I think Buck thinks he is the number 1) and pulls a maybe tiring UJ last night (who Buck put through a long hard ST, succeeded and still doesn't trust IMO). It may be the lousy offense that is causing some of these decisions, but Buck has his favorites.

Tillman struck out the last two batters in the fourth inning and then the first two batters in the 5th inning. Then he allows a walk, an infield single and a bloop hit that should have been caught for the third out. Are you really going to pull Tillman there and ask your bullpen to cover 4.1 innings?

I agree Buck gives more rope to Tillman than his other pitchers. That's mostly because he earned it the last two years by being effective in the later innings. He hasn't been as effective in the later innings this year, as I pointed out in another thread a week or two ago, but it's a little early not to give him that amount of rope. I really don't have a problem with his decision.

As to his decision on Ubaldo, I thought it was justifiable in its own right, but Buck may have been a bit quicker to pull the trigger because of how he got burned a couple of days before by sticking with Tillman. And maybe you missed it, but in Ubaldo's last start before this one, he left Ubaldo in to pitch the 7th with a 4-1 lead, and Ubaldo allowed three runs to tie the game.

[sportsfan8703]

Tillman struck out the last two batters in the fourth inning and then the first two batters in the 5th inning. Then he allows a walk, an infield single and a bloop hit that should have been caught for the third out. Are you really going to pull Tillman there and ask your bullpen to cover 4.1 innings?

I agree Buck gives more rope to Tillman than his other pitchers. That's mostly because he earned it the last two years by being effective in the later innings. He hasn't been as effective in the later innings this year, as I pointed out in another thread a week or two ago, but it's a little early not to give him that amount of rope. I really don't have a problem with his decision.

As to his decision on Ubaldo, I thought it was justifiable in its own right, but Buck may have been a bit quicker to pull the trigger because of how he got burned a couple of days before by sticking with Tillman. And maybe you missed it, but in Ubaldo's last start before this one, he left Ubaldo in to pitch the 7th with a 4-1 lead, and Ubaldo allowed three runs to tie the game.

Nice thread. You should do one like this for the Minors section.

[tntoriole]

Here's how I see it:

Exceeded expectations:

Jimmy Paredes

Caleb Joseph

Ubaldo Jimenez

Fallen short of expectations:

Chris Tillman

Bud Norris

Steve Pearce

Alejandro De Aza

I think everyone else is either in the general ballpark of what I expected, or hasn't played enough for me to be ready to say that they are exceeding or falling short of what I expected. This time of year, you have to be like 100+ OPS points above or below what's expected, or 1.50 runs per game above or below expected ERA, for me to consider it anything but a small-sample blip, and I'm not ready to weigh in on Schoop, Hardy or even Flaherty.

Injury doesn't keep me from putting people on the "not meeting expectation" list, because my expectations are the only ones that count.

Exceeding expectations

Jimmy Paredes (though this ship is sinking fast in last 20 at bats or so)

Mike Wright

Ubaldo Jiminez

Chaz Roe

Tyler Wilson

Oliver Drake

Meeting expectations

Wei Yin Chen

Miguel Gonzalez

Zach Britton

Brad Brach

Darren O'Day

Adam Jones

Delmon Young

Caleb Joseph

Ryan Flaherty

Failing to meet expectations

Matt Wieters

JJ Hardy

Jonathan Schoop

Chris Davis

David Lough

Everth Cabrera

Tommy Hunter

Brian Matusz

Jason Garcia

Ryan Lavarnway

Chris Tillman

Bud Norris

Travis Snider

Steve Pearce

[JayThomas]

Injury doesn't keep me from putting people on the "not meeting expectation" list, because my expectations are the only ones that count.

Exceeding expectations

Jimmy Paredes (though this ship is sinking fast in last 20 at bats or so)

Mike Wright

Ubaldo Jiminez

Chaz Roe

Tyler Wilson

Oliver Drake

Meeting expectations

Wei Yin Chen

Miguel Gonzalez

Zach Britton

Brad Brach

Darren O'Day

Adam Jones

Delmon Young

Caleb Joseph

Ryan Flaherty

Failing to meet expectations

Matt Wieters

JJ Hardy

Jonathan Schoop

Chris Davis

David Lough

Everth Cabrera

Tommy Hunter

Brian Matusz

Jason Garcia

Ryan Lavarnway

Chris Tillman

Bud Norris

Travis Snider

Steve Pearce

Manny missed the team bus in Saratoga? I'd have him exceeding expectations, and I'd have Snider meeting expectations (he hasn't played regularly enough to ding his counting numbers). Otherwise I'm with you.

[JayThomas]

And I just want to add, even with his miserable 2014 season, Ubaldo is easily one of the most likable guys on this team.

Thanks for point that out. Ubaldo really set an example last year for all professional athletes. He manned up, went to the pen, put in the work, and is back this year in spades. I really hope that we get to the playoffs this year (of course) - but particularly for Jimenez' sake.

[spiritof66]

On a small scale, I like what I've seen recently from Flaherty and Clevenger. I've wondered before whether Flaherty can be a full-time SS, bridging from Hardy to whoever comes along later. Stay tuned.

[Nevermore]

Even thought Mike Wright didn't do that well tonight, he is still exceeding expectations. He recovered pretty well, after that big inning. Especially for a rookie pitcher.