TT: The other shoe has dropped

[esmd]

Good lord....smh.  Two bad weeks as Buck desperately shuffles the roster around due to injuries and the like, and people are losing their f-ing minds.  They're not a team that is "below average in literally every facet of the game."  Give me a break.  They're struggling.  Probably as bad as I've seen them struggle for the last several years.  But this team has too much talent not to get things turned around. 

[Ripken]

It's two bad weeks... but it's because all of the flaws we worry about are out in full force.  I find this team unwatchable.

[dovera]

On 5/24/2017 at 4:11 PM, Tony-OH said:

The O's are 3-10 in last 13 games just five games above .500. The AL central teams are bullying them and treating them with zero respect. Why should they?

Big leads blown, poor starting pitching, errors, base running errors, batters who watch three straight strikes and walk back to the bench, and a manager who refuses to pinch hit at the bottom of his lineup. If that's for you, then you've enjoyed this team over this stretch.

This could be a slump, or it could be that the other shoe has dropped on a team that looked like it was winning on smoke and mirrors earlier in the year rather than being good.

This might be a bit of a rant, but there are bad at bats, then there are embarrassing at bats and Chris Davis in the 8th inning today had what can only be described as an embarrassing at bat with the tie run at 2nd. After getting to 3-0, he watched two straight fastballs in the middle of the plate and then a curve ball, never moving the bat from his shoulder. Not that his choke job should come as a surprise, after all, he was slashing .148/.289/.262/.552 when runners are on base this year coming into the game. Eight of his 10 homers have been solo jobs.

 That's not what you want from your $21 million a year first baseman. 

That wasn't the only embarrassing at bat. How about JJ Hardy watching three straight fastballs for strikes to end the game? I know he homered earlier in the game when the pitcher accidentally hit his bat, but how does he get to bat with Hyun Soo Kim or even Wellington Castillo on the bench? I guess his veteranosity outweighs his .524 OPS he was sporting coming into the game or his .196/.234/.265/.498 slash line against RHP.

The problem with this season is we spent the first part trying to figure out how in the hell the Orioles were winning so many games? Now, we are seeing their true colors come out. This team is slumping, and they are never as bad as they look when slumping, but this is not a good team. This is a team that is still threatening to send out one of the worse starting pitchers in MLB on Sunday in Ubaldo while picking up a waiver wire utility guy like that is going to change their fortunes.

Whether the bad losses and blown leads have affected the hitters or not, this offense is in one of it's cold spells, the kind of cold spells that teams constructed of one dimensional power hitters go into. Then again, they really haven't been all that good most of the year. 

The shoe has dropped and unless some guys turn it around big time this team is going to be near the bottom of the Division by the All-Star break.

I understand slumps - What I can't deal with are players who jog after a foul ball and try to catch it over their shoulder or swing at pitches that bounce in front of the plate and away from the catcher for a third strike and then just walk away without running to first to end a game. I don't care how much they are paying Machado - he should have been set down.

 

[TouchemAll]

On 5/25/2017 at 9:19 AM, Tony-OH said:

Buck said his next start is Sunday. I guess there is a chance he doesn't start, but at this point, the only thing I can think of is that Angelos won't let them get rid of his contract even though it's money spent. Then again Buck is pretty stubborn and Jimenez is a good guy which makes him a Buck guy. 

I guess we'll see.

I almost would be willing to bet they trot him out there praying good Ubaldo shows up.

[Yardball85]

23 minutes ago, dovera said:

I understand slumps - What I can't deal with are players who jog after a foul ball and try to catch it over their shoulder or swing at pitches that bounce in front of the plate and away from the catcher for a third strike and then just walk away without running to first to end a game. I don't care how much they are paying Machado - he should have been set down.

 

Manny is the least of my concerns right now. I am more concerned about what they will do with him over the next 18 months than his play right now. He's fine.

[Shabadoo25]

The Orioles are 5-over-.500 vs. the lowly Blue Jays and .500 vs. everyone else.

[Fuzzball22]

12 hours ago, Emory Eagle said:

This is a bad team because it is below average in literally every facet of the game. 

Below average in all facets except wins and losses. Go figure.

[Cumberbundy]

13 minutes ago, Fuzzball22 said:

Below average in all facets except wins and losses. Go figure.

And number of guys on the field at once who would be best at first base. 

[Emory Eagle]

1 hour ago, Fuzzball22 said:

Below average in all facets except wins and losses. Go figure.

I was being hyperbolic because I do not enjoy watching bad baseball.  Listen, I hope the O's can right this ship, but I think it's reasonable to be concerned at the moment.  

[Fuzzball22]

1 minute ago, Emory Eagle said:

I was being hyperbolic because I do not enjoy watching bad baseball.  Listen, I hope the O's can right this ship, but I think it's reasonable to be concerned at the moment.  

I agree. Our starters are not good, relievers are not good, our hitters are not good and the fielding is not good. How did we win those games, "it's a miracle"

[Emory Eagle]

Just now, Fuzzball22 said:

I agree. Our starters are not good, relievers are not good, our hitters are not good and the fielding is not good. How did we win those games, "it's a miracle"

Arguably it is random luck (there is debate about whether typical predictive stats can be unreliable in predicting the success of a team with a great bullpen - see recent Fangraphs and FiveThirtyEight articles regarding the Orioles).  Our RS versus RA should average out to be an about .500 team.  That's part of why I'm so concerned - I think the bullpen is key to our success, especially given our less than sterling starting pitching & offense, and it's been a weakness lately.  

[Nevermore]

My own take: I have seen worse team's than this. A LOT worse. I  remember those gawdawlful team's during the Syd Thrift years , during that stretch of 14 straight losing years. It's quite possible that the main reason for Os fan pessimism is that stretch of 14 straight losing seasons. Now that we've had a few winning seasons, we talk about "windows closing" and thus are we afraid of heading toward another 14 years of losing. 

Specific players: If the Angelos family wants Manny long term, they will find a way to sign him long term; they will dig up whatever money is needed. I believe that there will be fan backlash if Manny is allowed to walk.  That's why Angelos ponied up the cash to bring Chris Davis back long term.  Davis  may not be that popular among the experts who post here, but he is very popular among ordinary fans, the type that come to OPACY to watch games and spend money and even the fans who watch the team on TV who will be a large sector of the advertising market.

Matt Wieters was another popular Orioles player, though not as popular as Davis. So Os management decided that he was expendable once Castillo was signed. As it turns out, it doesn't seem that Wieters is missed that much by fans now that Castillo has come into his own as the Os starting catcher.

Then why is Ubaldo still here? Most fans have shown that they hate his guts and they want him GONE as soon as possible. I can understand fan disappointment in his performance but I do not understand the vehemence of the fans' reactions. He is a struggling, underperforming pitcher,  he is not a rapist or serial murderer.  So why is he still an Oriole? It might be that Angelos doesn't want to eat that much salary. Or DD doesn't want to admit that he made a huge mistake in signing him. As for Ubaldo's immediate future. It is quite clear that he is no longer succeeding as a starting pitcher.  So Alan Millls should do all that he can to convert him to a long reliever, sort of how coaches converted Zach Britton into a reliever after he failed as a starter. Ubaldo should not be "demoted" as such, he should be taught the most effective ways to pitch out of the pen. At first, he would come in for low leverage or mop up situations. Later on, as he (hopefully) succeeds, he would be used in higher leverage situations.  That way, he can be useful to the team for the rest of the year.  He should be used as a long reliever.  I have serious doubts that he can be effective as a closer or in set- up. He'll never get the type of salary  that he did as a starter and he might have to settle for minor league contracts for future years until he has proven himself as a long reliever. But at least he can continue his career.

There are questions, decisions about  other players and I  could write a book about all of them. Maybe later. 

 

 

[Yardball85]

I agree with the majority of this post whole-heartedly. But I wouldn't say fans hate Ubaldo's guts, he's just ridiculously frustrating to watch.

[SteveA]

20 minutes ago, Nevermore said:

Matt Wieters was another popular Orioles player, though not as popular as Davis. So Os management decided that he was expendable once Castillo was signed. As it turns out, it doesn't seem that Wieters is missed that much by fans now that Castillo has come into his own as the Os starting catcher.

 

Honestly, I think they decided he was expendable (or not worth what he would likely get on the market) way before signing Castillo.   They made the QO in Nov 2015 and at that point only one or two players had ever accepted it and certainly no Boras players.   They pretty much thought he was gone then and were OK with it, and the return of a first round pick.

Then this past offseason I don't think they ever intended to bring him back.   It wasn't a CONSEQUENCE of signing Castillo, the decision to let Matt go was the reason they signed Castillo.

And I would have done everything the team did with regards to Wieters in 2015 and 2016, exactly as they did.   Can't say that about a lot of other decisions the front office has made!

[Frobby]

25 minutes ago, Yardball85 said:

I agree with the majority of this post whole-heartedly. But I wouldn't say fans hate Ubaldo's guts, he's just ridiculously frustrating to watch.

To the contrary, it's hard not to like Ubaldo's personality.    Every time he pitches a really poor game, he stands in front of the media and patiently answers their questions without getting snippy or defensive.    I just wish he didn't have to do that so often.