TT: The Orioles are a mediocre team

[25 Nuggets]

KC, Texas.

Not really. Especially Texas.

[Rene88]

Fangraphs does not think our defense is very good. But as I said in another thread, it's too soon to draw conclusions from that.

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2016&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

Also, Hader looks like a potential ace while Gunkel looks like a fringe major leaguer. Gaining Gunkel doesn't make me feel better about losing Hader.

Spot on. Gunkel is underwhelming from what I have seen.

The two trades that get me are that one (Krod) and the Parra deal last year.

Trading Erod was a good risk. If the Royals weren't so hot and we weren't so dinged up, we could have made it.

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[Moshagge3]

Perspective: On the morning of June 1, 2014 the Orioles were 27-27. The Blue Jays were in the middle of what would eventually be an 18-3 run.

[ArtVanDelay]

Not really. Especially Texas.

How is Texas mediocre?

They have the best defense in baseball, 2 aces, and a very talented lineup. Their bullpen sucks but they have plenty of pieces on the farm to address that. That still works out to much better than mediocre.

[osfanfrom70]

Gausman has to get better. Alvarez too. Hardy's return should help. They are still playoff bound. After that anything can happen.

Are you calling them playoff bound just because they currently own a wild card spot? Because it is not trending in that direction. Toronto is getting hot which is not good for Baltimore not good at all.

[osfanfrom70]

How is Texas mediocre?

They have the best defense in baseball, 2 aces, and a very talented lineup. Their bullpen sucks but they have plenty of pieces on the farm to address that. That still works out to much better than mediocre.

Texas isn't in anyway mediocre. To say otherwise is either trolling or hes showing his lack of baseball knowledge.

[SeaBird]

The Orioles are 14-13 for the month of May for a .518 wpct. Sorry, but that's "mediocre" and it's not a small sample size.

[Redskins Rick]

The Orioles are 14-13 for the month of May for a .518 wpct. Sorry, but that's "mediocre" and it's not a small sample size.

27 games out of 162 game season is SSS.

[wildcard]

I understand the desire to stay positive, but tell me why our rotation makes you think we are a World Series caliber team? Could we sneek into the playoffs as a wild card? It's possible, so in that regard you are right, we shouldn't give up on this team. Saying that though, we have 43 games of mediocrity to go off of. Other than Jones and Alvarez (who may not be able to make the adjustments to the AL), I don't see a lot of guys way under performing offensively. Davis should get hot at some point like he usually does, but Trumbo is playing over his historical norms so it's safe to say he might cool off more.

The rotation is what we thought it would be, mediocre to bad. Tillman is our only starter you feel good about when he starts, although Wilson has been able to keep us in games more times than not. I'm honestly done with Ubaldo. They could DFA tomorrow and I wouldn't care. The guy is brutal to watch pitch. Slow, 3-2 on what seems like every batter, and just ugly to watch pitch. Wright is a reliever playing starter, but he doesn't have the stuff to go through a lineup three times (Wilson either for that matter but he limits the damage more than Wright before he gets to that 3rd time thru the order). Gausman has potential and he'll flash you the stuff that makes you think he'll one day put it all together, but he's been in a slump. At the end of the day, the last two years he's 4-10 with a 4.11 ERA which matches his 4.22 FIP. He's a 4th starter on a good team, but I think we're past the point of thinking he's going to become a TOR.

How do we compete with that rotation? Well, we need to hit a lot of home runs and outscore our opponents. If the O's offense can start getting hot we can win some games.

The season is not over, and the Orioles should stay competitive because this team will get hot again offensively, but these cold spells will also come back and that will bring us back to the .500 team they are.

I am not close to thinking Gausman will become a TOR starter.

Tillman is 28 and has played with the O's for all or part of 8 seasons. That's how long it took him to get where he is now.

Gausman is 25 and this is his 4th season he has played some games for the O's. Using Tillman as a gauge, Gausman still has development time.

[Frobby]

I understand the desire to stay positive, but tell me why our rotation makes you think we are a World Series caliber team? Could we sneek into the playoffs as a wild card? It's possible, so in that regard you are right, we shouldn't give up on this team. Saying that though, we have 43 games of mediocrity to go off of. Other than Jones and Alvarez (who may not be able to make the adjustments to the AL), I don't see a lot of guys way under performing offensively. Davis should get hot at some point like he usually does, but Trumbo is playing over his historical norms so it's safe to say he might cool off more.

The rotation is what we thought it would be, mediocre to bad. Tillman is our only starter you feel good about when he starts, although Wilson has been able to keep us in games more times than not. I'm honestly done with Ubaldo. They could DFA tomorrow and I wouldn't care. The guy is brutal to watch pitch. Slow, 3-2 on what seems like every batter, and just ugly to watch pitch. Wright is a reliever playing starter, but he doesn't have the stuff to go through a lineup three times (Wilson either for that matter but he limits the damage more than Wright before he gets to that 3rd time thru the order). Gausman has potential and he'll flash you the stuff that makes you think he'll one day put it all together, but he's been in a slump. At the end of the day, the last two years he's 4-10 with a 4.11 ERA which matches his 4.22 FIP. He's a 4th starter on a good team, but I think we're past the point of thinking he's going to become a TOR.

How do we compete with that rotation? Well, we need to hit a lot of home runs and outscore our opponents. If the O's offense can start getting hot we can win some games.

The season is not over, and the Orioles should stay competitive because this team will get hot again offensively, but these cold spells will also come back and that will bring us back to the .500 team they are.

I don't really disagree with anything you say here. We knew the rotation would be mediocre at best before the year started, and the only question would be whether it was closer to average or closer to bottom of the heap. I think that question is still unanswered. Looking at the league, the average starter ERA is 4.37, the median is 4.50, we are at 4.63 and the bottom is 5.33. So right now, we are closer to the middle than to the bottom. I think if we stay in that position, we probably win 85-88 games based on an above average offense (I still think that's what we have, despite the recent slump) and a superb bullpen. But we could move up or down a little from where we are right now, and at the end of the day, that's what decides if we are a playoff team or not.

Tillman looks as good or better than he has ever looked. Gausman has been inconsistent of late, but has shown flashes and I think what he does this year probably goes a long way to deciding our fate. Wilson has been pretty solid and I have some optimism that he can just keep doing about what he's done so far. Wright, I agree, is very mediocre. Ubaldo has been awful and the best I can say about that is that he has nowhere to go but up. I'm very interested to see what if anything Gallardo is able to bring to the table following his rehab -- he could be part of the solution, or continue to be part of the problem.

I always thought our fate hinged on whether the starting pitching could be half-decent, and that is still what I think. I'm not that optimistic about it, but stranger things have happened.

[Tony-OH]

Perspective: On the morning of June 1, 2014 the Orioles were 27-27. The Blue Jays were in the middle of what would eventually be an 18-3 run.

None of that though means anything for this year's squad. You just can't say, "Well, this one year we were here at this time and ended up there!" This team is different, the teams they are going against are different. If you can give us legitimate reasons why this team should compete for a World Series this year I'm all ears!

[PaulFolk]

They said that on the telecast tonight and last night, .500 team indeed.

Wait, what? The MASN telecast called the Orioles a .500 team? That seems out of character for MASN.

[El Gordo]

I think I'd rather be the O's than the BJ's, TB, or the MFY. If we could just have Price and Betts, I wouldn't want to be BOS either. I'm looking forward to a better June.

[sportsfan8703]

I don't get this thread. Aren't there several baseball cliches about playing .500 ball and going on streaks? Like the whole play .500 ball on the road and then kill it at home. That's saying you're playing .500 ball for 81 games. Then kill it at home.

Orioles

Home: 17-10

Away: 11-12

That's what we're doing. Keep in mind that BOS is about to play a real tough schedule in June as well.

2 @ Bal

3 v TOR

2 @ SF

3 @ MIN

3 v BAL

3 v SEA

4 CWS

3 @ TEX

3 @ TB

Split these next two with BOS and survive through the next two weeks and we're looking good. We aight.

[TouchemAll]

I am not close to thinking Gausman will before a TOR start.

Tillman is 28 and has play with the O's for all or part of 8 seasons. That's how long it took him to get were he is now.

Gausman is 25 and this is his 4th season he has play some games for the O's. Using Tillman as a gauge, Gausman till has development time.

Unless Gausman finally finds a good breaking ball he can throw for strikes he's as good as we can expect right now.