The April Gauntlet: Do the O's survive?

[interloper]

Twins (likely playoff team)@ Astros (World Series champs)

@ Yankees (likely division leaders)

Jays (always tough, but at least not their park)

@ Sox (division champs last year)

@ Tigers (meh but not exactly a cake walk either)

Indians (division champs last year)

Rays (be careful of relaxing too much and getting jumped here)

Tigers

 

 

[interloper]

If the O's can get through at something like 5 under .500, I'll be THRILLED. If not, they could be trying to battle out of a insurmountable hole all year.

[Brion McClanahan]

Wrong question. It should be, "The April Gauntlet: Do the Yanks, Twins, Sox, Astros, and Indians Survive the Os?"

The Orioles are going to be better than everyone on this site thinks. They are going to score runs, even against these teams, and I think the pitching will be MUCH better than last year.

[Tony-OH]

The hope is that some of these teams may not hit their strides right off the bat. We've seen a lot of good teams kinda middle through April so the hope is that even though this looks like a gauntlet, maybe its actually an opportunity to play these guys early and it's one less time they have to play them when all cylinders are firing. 

Just a thought, but it is the hardest schedule in baseball in April.

[interloper]

Just now, Brion McClanahan said:

Wrong question. It should be, "The April Gauntlet: Do the Yanks, Twins, Sox, Astros, and Indians Survive the Os?"

The Orioles are going to be better than everyone on this site thinks. They are going to score runs, even against these teams, and I think the pitching will be MUCH better than last year.

Well alright! I like it. And I do think they will be better than folks think. However, the April schedule cannot really be denied. It's absolutely brutal. Hopefully we jump on teams who are laying back and counting on being really good, as Tony says.

[Frobby]

Sometimes, it’s best to play the good teams in April, before they get on a roll.     I remember how thrilled I was last year when we got off to such a good start against a heavy dose of AL East competition.   Alas, it was a mirage.   But we did go 3-3 against NY, 5-1 against Toronto, 3-2 against Boston and 2-1 against Tampa last April.   

[jamalshw]

I think the Tigers should be a cake walk. The team sometimes plays down to the competition, but Detroit will be bad again this year. Basically, the way I see it (based on what you listed out), the Orioles have four series against teams that they are at least as-good-as in the Tigers, Rays and Jays and four against teams that are much better on paper: Sox, Yankees, Astros and Indians. Then, there is the Twins.

I'm not sure what to make of Minnesota. I like some of the pieces and think they can be a good team. This is the same team that was a Wild Card team last year plus Lynn and Odorizzi, but Odorizzi wasn't great last year and Ervin Santana is injured so Lynn essentially replaces him (at least for this series). This is also a very similar roster to the one that was awful in 2016. I think the Twins are a pretty good team and better than the O's, but I don't see the margin as that big.

If I had to guess, I think the O's end April a couple games under-.500.

[interloper]

Just now, Frobby said:

Sometimes, it’s best to play the good teams in April, before they get on a roll.     I remember how thrilled I was last year when we got off to such a good start against a heavy dose of AL East competition.   Alas, it was a mirage.   But we did go 3-3 against NY, 5-1 against Toronto, 3-2 against Boston and 2-1 against Tampa last April.   

Agreed, I just hope we get through it in tact. The last thing we need is a team and fanbase that feels defeated before May. It would be a long summer...

I'm looking to just survive - floating around .500 or just under, and building from there through May and June. 

[FanSince88]

It's worth pointing out that even if we sign Cobb (or Feldman), they probably won't be available to start until mid-April at the earliest.

[pastorfan]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

If the O's can get through at something like 5 under .500, I'll be THRILLED. If not, they could be trying to battle out of a insurmountable hole all year.

They will stumble out of the gate terribly and then from May 1 on we will hear, "well, our April schedule was brutal, but we are improving."

[Il BuonO]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

Sometimes, it’s best to play the good teams in April, before they get on a roll.     I remember how thrilled I was last year when we got off to such a good start against a heavy dose of AL East competition.   Alas, it was a mirage.   But we did go 3-3 against NY, 5-1 against Toronto, 3-2 against Boston and 2-1 against Tampa last April.   

The Yankees were a surprise to me last year. I doubt many people pegged Judge for the season he had. I also thought their pitching was suspect. I’d be happy to break even with them, but of course I want ‘em all.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Il BuonO said:

The Yankees were a surprise to me last year. I doubt many people pegged Judge for the season he had. I also thought their pitching was suspect. I’d be happy to break even with them, but of course I want ‘em all.

I'm guessing the number of folks that figured he would put up an eight win season with over 50 dongs is close to zero.

I'm fully expecting that to be the high water mark of his career.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm guessing the number of folks that figured he would put up an eight win season with over 50 dongs is close to zero.

I'm fully expecting that to be the high water mark of his career.

.422 OBP.

.422!

[Il BuonO]

10 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm guessing the number of folks that figured he would put up an eight win season with over 50 dongs is close to zero.

I'm fully expecting that to be the high water mark of his career.

Agreed 

[Il BuonO]

8 minutes ago, interloper said:

.422 OBP.

.422!

That, too, will come down.