This Team Will Be Just Fine

[OFFNY]

o

The Tigers have lost 7 games in a row, and 10 out of their last 12.

They have gone from 26-17 to 28-27:

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/147514-2015-Detroit-Tigers?p=3815728#post3815728

The Pirates have won 11 out of their last 13 games.

They have gone from 18-22 to 29-24.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/148326-2015-Pittsburgh-Pirates

It ain't over until Dick Motta says it's over.

[OFFNY]

o

The Tigers have lost 7 games in a row, and 10 out of their last 12.

They have gone from 26-17 to 28-27:

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/147514-2015-Detroit-Tigers?p=3815728#post3815728

The Pirates have won 11 out of their last 13 games.

They have gone from 18-22 to 29-24.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/148326-2015-Pittsburgh-Pirates

It ain't over until Dick Motta says it's over.

The Bucs continue to roll and stay alive in the most competitive division in baseball (the N.L. Central), as they have gone 18-5 over their last 23 games.

In that span, they have improved their record from 18-22 to 36-27.

And the Orioles themselves appear to be rising from the ranks of mediocrity, as they have gone 9-2 over their last 11 games after an average-at-best 23-29 start to the season.

Stay tuned (as if you wouldn't.) There's more than half of the season still left to be played, as jonesy10 hopes that he will have a very prophetic thread for the 2nd year in a row.

[OFFNY]

Things have been pretty ugly lately, but this team is going to be just fine. The offense has been as bad as anyone could expect, Wieters hasn't played a game, Hardy has barely played and hasn't played well when he has, Tillman and Norris have been awful, Gausman has been hurt and was bad when healthy, Schoop has been hurt almost the whole year as well as Flaherty, the corner outfielders have been down right terrible, Jones ISO is down .50 points from what it's been the past 3 years, and yet after all of this the Orioles are just 3 games back of the first place Yankees who are playing as well as they absolutely can and are still just 2 games over .500 (sorry for the long sentence ).

The pitching has been really good the past month and will only get better once Norris/Tillman figure it out or Wright and/or Gausman solidify rotation spots.

The real problem has been the offense. Machado has been good and will only get better (lowest BABIP of career although he's hitting the ball harder than ever). Davis has been pretty good. Jones has been his usual self but better in that his strikeouts have gone way down and his walk rate has increased but worse in that his power has gone way down. If his power goes back up, which it should, he could have a super star season. Beyond these three it's not as clear as to what we have. Pearce and Snider should be playing every day. They are both pretty good hitters who have struggled so far due to reasons that should work themselves out. Snider's power has completely disappeared. With a career average ISO, his line this season would be .262/.342/.418. That's a solid hitter with a nice OBP. Pearce on the other hand has been hurt by a TERRIBLE BABIP. Almost .100 points lower than his career average, .130 points lower than last season, and .108 points lower than in 2013. His power is still there. He's clearly pressing though and a little change in fortune would help him relax at the plate and most likely bring his walk rate back up a little and strike out rate down a little to his career norms. We are fine at the Catcher position and 2B with Wieters/Joseph and Flaherty/Schoop. Hardy is fine at SS and Flaherty can take over for him if he's hurt. Young can DH against LHP's and Paredes can DH against RHP's for the moment. These are the lineups I'd like to see in a few weeks when Wieters and Schoop get back:

Vs. RHP's

3B Machado

RF Snider

CF Jones

1B Davis

LF Pearce

C Wieters

SS Hardy

DH Paredes

2B Schoop/Flaherty

Vs LHP's

3B Machado

LF Pearce

CF Jones

1B Davis

RF Young

DH Wieters

SS Hardy

C Joseph

2B Schoop

As Gordo has said, Josh Reddick would be a great addition. In that case you get rid of Paredes (unless he turns it around) and have Snider DH against RHP's.

But really things have gone pretty much as bad as they could thus far and the Orioles are just 3 games back. The teams in front of us, NYY and TB, have played as good as they can so far and are still barely better than the O's.

This team is going to turn it around and win the division again. Things looked this bad just this time last year too (26-27 with a -14 run differential after losing first two games in Houston). They just found ways to lose. But they got it together and won 96 games. This team is going to do the same thing. They have Wieters, Schoop, Norris, and Gausman coming back soon. They have a number of guys who had terrible offensive months and are only going to get better. This is a good team. Don't be fooled by one bad month. Lets have some faith.

Last year when the team was at 35-34 after 69 games, Jonesy10 called it:

A Bad Stretch Doesn't Mean You're not a Good Team

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/141398-A-Bad-Stretch-Doesn-t-Mean-You-re-Not-a-Good-Team

There is still a loooooong way to go this season, but after having gone 18-5 in their last 23 games, this team does appear to be just fine for the time being.

[Palmoripken]

Last year when the team was at 35-34 after 69 games, Jonesy10 called it:

A Bad Stretch Doesn't Mean You're not a Good Team

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/141398-A-Bad-Stretch-Doesn-t-Mean-You-re-Not-a-Good-Team

There is still a loooooong way to go this season, but after having gone 18-5 in their last 23 games, this team does appear to be just fine for the time being.

Jonesy is a prophet. He had that post about series last summer too. A father of my brother's friend said we needed a 8 game streak. Well we got 6 but we're in this thing to stay now.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Barnaby Graves]

It's less that Jonesy is a prophet and more that most of the board is reactionary. It takes like one loss for "who do we sell at the deadline" threads to pop up.

[OFFNY]

o

I WAS WRONG !!!

Jonesy10 made an excellent call last year, as you can see in my previous post.

And (Jonesy10) he had the cojones to assert it again this year, so this is not on him.

This is on me ...... bad call, OFFNY. The 2015 team WAS NOT just fine.