Orioles batters lead the AL in strikeouts.

[Going Underground]

53 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Beckham: .745 career OPS

Flaherty: .649 career OPS

I’ll take Beckham offensively, thanks.    11 games of data means almost nothing.    

But he was 15th in the majors in K's last year. That is what he does. Sometimes gets homer happy  and this is what happens. Rays wanted him to just hit the ball and use his speed ,etc. 

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, TommyPickles said:

But hey, Flaherty has a .974 OPS now and is third in the NL with his .375 BA.

Markakis is playing great too.  He's going for four years in a row in Atlanta with a higher OPS than he had either of his last two years with the O's.

Seems like our guys move to the NL and start killing it.   Arrieta's Cy Young, etc.

 

But all that aside, I agree that Beckham will have a higher OPS than Flaherty when the season ends.  

Re Markakis, yeah his raw OPS with Atlanta has been slightly higher than in 2014, but by OPS+ he's been about the same.

2014 - 104

2015 - 109

2016 - 100

2017 - 96

The offensive environment in baseball has changed over the years since Nick left.    Average OPS in the AL was .706 in 2014, .753 last year (.748 in the NL).

As to Flash, my guess is he's been a Flash-in-the-pan over the last two weeks.  (See what I did there?)

[Enjoy Terror]

1B - 6th
BsR - 7th
HR - 8th
H - 9th
SB - 11th (!!!)
3B - 14th
GIDP - 17th
R - 18th
ISO - 19th
BB% - 21st
2B - 21st
wRC+ - 22nd
BABIP - 24th
SLG - 24th
OBP - 26th
AVG - 28th
K% - 30th

[mdbdotcom]

We're #1!

[Ohfan67]

My pappy always said if you are going to do something, then it's worth doing well. Go O's!!!! 

[pastorfan]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

Re Markakis, yeah his raw OPS with Atlanta has been slightly higher than in 2014, but by OPS+ he's been about the same.

2014 - 104

2015 - 109

2016 - 100

2017 - 96

The offensive environment in baseball has changed over the years since Nick left.    Average OPS in the AL was .706 in 2014, .753 last year (.748 in the NL).

As to Flash, my guess is he's been a Flash-in-the-pan over the last two weeks.  (See what I did there?)

Flash also had a great spring. I'm sure he will come down to earth. Still no power.

[Frobby]

I got to thinking about the fact that in addition to having strikeouts increased dramatically so far, the team also is walking a lot more than usual.    Currently the offense ranks 3rd in the AL in walks.    Last year the team walked in 6.4% of plate appearances; this year it’s 9.1%.     Maybe the team is making a conscious effort to be more patient, leading to more two strike counts, leading to more strikeouts as well as more walks?

It was a good theory, until I looked at the stats on swing% on pitches outside the strike zone.   Last year we were 28th in MLB at 33.3%; this year we’re dead last at 34.1%.   Caleb Joseph is at 41.4%; Tim Beckham is at 40.5%; Jonathan Schoop is at 39.5%; Adam Jones at 36.8%.     Jones is actually down from last year; the other three are up, especially Beckham (30.9% with Baltimore last year).    

The most disciplined hitter on the team by far is Chance Sisco, 22.0%.