Wall Street Journal: Slowest MLB team in 50 years

[Aristotelian]

You forgot Flaherty. .

Flaherty--slow end of the average range

[MDtransplant757]

[video=youtube_share;RAA1xgTTw9w]

[ChuckS]

We are a really slow team. There is not one player on our current roster that I would classify as having plus speed and about half the team is solidly below average in the speed category.

Reimold and Jones used to have plus speed, but they are average at this point in their careers. Kim gets up the line faster than Jones now....that's how much speed that guy has lost.

Built for power. Live and die by it.

[Frobby]

By the way, BB-ref has us at +1 in Baserunning Runs, 7th in the AL. That's not necessarily a measure of speed, but it does indicate that lack of speed really hasn't cost us much offensively. The White Sox, who have 51 stolen bases, are last in the league in Baserunning Runs, at -11.

[weams]

By the way, BB-ref has us at +1 in Baserunning Runs, 7th in the AL. That's not necessarily a measure of speed, but it does indicate that lack of speed really hasn't cost us much offensively. The White Sox, who have 51 stolen bases, are last in the league in Baserunning Runs, at -11.

Those pesky fleas.

[LA2]

Why does Wall Street Journal need fluff again?

The Murdoch effect. Used to be an outstanding paper.

[Moose Milligan]

Standings, motherf%*#ers.

[Larry18]

By the way, BB-ref has us at +1 in Baserunning Runs, 7th in the AL. That's not necessarily a measure of speed, but it does indicate that lack of speed really hasn't cost us much offensively. The White Sox, who have 51 stolen bases, are last in the league in Baserunning Runs, at -11.

Just to add on to this:

Fangraphs has the Orioles as the tenth best team in their baserunning (BsR) component. They may be slow but at least they aren't stupid.

[bluedog]

I think O's go from Home plate to Home plate faster than any other team in the majors!

[evenparthrough9]

If triples and stolen bases aren't an indication of speed, what's stats ARE an indication of speed?

[evenparthrough9]

Lamb, Eaton, Harrison, Hernandez, Andrus, and Bradley are leading baseball in triples. Notice that they all can run. It's not a coincidence

[Lt Melmo]

If triples and stolen bases aren't an indication of speed, what's stats ARE an indication of speed?

Picking up two bases on singles, three bases on doubles. Stretching singles into doubles. Getting to first fast enough to prevent double plays. The Orioles are in fact so good at these things that both B-R and Fangraphs considers them an above average running team. Just because the O's don't have a few players who've deluded themselves and their managers into thinking they're Olympic sprinters (they mention triples but what about outs made stretching a double that couldn't be stretched? they mention bags but what about times getting caught?) that doesn't mean they're "the slowest team in 50 years". They have a few real slow guys and a bunch of average guys who run hard and don't try to get fancy. Nothing noteworthy about it.

Funny thing is we now have all this StatCast data that literally quantifies how fast players run and WSJ completely ignores it. But those numbers are probably too boring to get a sensationalist clickbait title so why would they.

Who reads WSJ for baseball analysis anyway?

[evenparthrough9]

Picking up two bases on singles, three bases on doubles. Stretching singles into doubles. Getting to first fast enough to prevent double plays. The Orioles are in fact so good at these things that both B-R and Fangraphs considers them an above average running team. Just because the O's don't have a few players who've deluded themselves and their managers into thinking they're Olympic sprinters (they mention triples but what about outs made stretching a double that couldn't be stretched? they mention bags but what about times getting caught?) that doesn't mean they're "the slowest team in 50 years". They have a few real slow guys and a bunch of average guys who run hard and don't try to get fancy. Nothing noteworthy about it.

Funny thing is we now have all this StatCast data that literally quantifies how fast players run and WSJ completely ignores it. But those numbers are probably too boring to get a sensationalist clickbait title so why would they.

Who reads WSJ for baseball analysis anyway?

So going first to third on a single is a sign of speed and so is scoring from first on a double but going from home to third on a ball in the gap or rattling around in the corner isn't?

[Creamsicle]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-baltimore-orioles-are-baseballs-slowest-team-in-decades-1470261727

Even ignoring the whole rest of MLB, I would say the 2016 Oze are not as slow as the 1996-7-8 Oze.

[Ohfan67]

Everyone seems to be arguing that the Orioles are not the slowest team, but I think it's more fun if they are the slowest team. I think we should root for no stolen bases and no triples the rest of the year and lobby for 40 yard dashes before every new series. I think the Orioles may be the slowest team in the majors.