Offense Observations After Boston Series

[terpoh]

LOL...Are you seriously going to bring up one moment where Nick expands the strike zone(something he almost never does) to prove your point?

This is completely ridiculous.

Agreed completely. Especially to bring this at bat up as a point of argument when he was batting against one of the best closers in the game.

[TonySoprano]

Markakis and Huff are worlds apart...Nick is a much better hitter, last few weeks notwithstanding.

Overall, you're right. However, when setting the line-up, the manager needs to go with the current numbers.

[BRobinsonfan]

What was particularly telling about Markakis was he had already walked I believe three times and when he most needed to get on base and Papelbon handed him a free pass he choked and swung at a ball I doubt any of the better Orioles hitters would have even had anything close to a check swing on. That ball was around his eyes and 6 inches off the plate!!!

In "close and late" situations (defined as "results in the 7th inning or later with the batting team either ahead by one run, tied, or with the potential tying run at least on deck) Huff is hitting .238 and Markakis is hitting .290.

I'm curious about who you think are better hitters in the Orioles line-up than Markakis?

[tywright]

Actually, it's not.

Since June 1st, Markakis OPS is .996; Huff's is 1.037. In that span, Nick has 5 HR and 25 RBI, Huff has 9 HR, 29 RBI. Huff currently has the hotter bat.

Markakis' BA during that time is .353 and Huff's BA is .343

[BRobinsonfan]

He didn't get it done twice yesterday when he had the chance. .

Yep... you'll have that. The best hitters in the game fail more often than they succeed. Unless you can show me someone who hits more than .500 in those situations you're going to have an unsuccessful outcome - even with the very best hitters in the game - more often than you will a successful outcome. Do you disagree?

[Pedro Cerrano]

Overall, you're right. However, when setting the line-up, the manager needs to go with the current numbers.

Eh, not sure I agree with that. Especially when you consider previous track records. If Nick and Huff were similar hitters to begin with I'd be all for the switch, but it will take more than statistics since June 1 to convince me to move Nick down to 5th.

[TonySoprano]

Markakis' BA during that time is .353 and Huff's BA is .343

Once again we unlock the philosophical, debate, which statistic is a more reliable measure? In other words, subjectively decide which set of numbers we use to make an objective comparison. In the current example, I'll go with OPS.

[ChaosLex]

I don't see him as the "best" hitter. Huff is. He has hit more homers and drove in more runs with a lower B.A. I also don't think Markakis handles pressure well and thus must be eliminated from hitting third or fourth. A perfect example was the nail biter yesterday where Roberts, Jones and Huff all came through in the clutch and what does Nick do? Swings at ball four on a pitch that wasn't even close to being a strike. I also think that moving Scott to fourth might help him snap out of his funk (which he is due to do anyway) and when he does he will start knocking in a slew of runs. It will also get Scott better pitches to hit batting in front of Markakis. However, this is just a theory.

Well, you stick to your guns. I have to give you that.

[Fan4Life]

LOL...Are you seriously going to bring up one moment where Nick expands the strike zone(something he almost never does) to prove your point?

This is completely ridiculous.

I think there is some relevance to his comment. He certainly is the best hitter on our team (BRob is right there with him) but, Nick and most of the rest of this team do not have good atbats against some pitchers, Papplebon, Rivera etc... they seem overmatched mentally when facing these guys. Perhaps their reputation gives them the advantage.

[Burg]

In "close and late" situations (defined as "results in the 7th inning or later with the batting team either ahead by one run, tied, or with the potential tying run at least on deck) Huff is hitting .238 and Markakis is hitting .290.

I'm curious about who you think are better hitters in the Orioles line-up than Markakis?

What OldFan saw yesterday counts more than any stats you could possibly throw out.

Nick struck out, Huff singled, therefore Huff is the better hitter than Nick.

It makes my head hurt but that's the "logic" you're dealing with.

[Frobby]

I don't see him as the "best" hitter. Huff is. He has hit more homers and drove in more runs with a lower B.A. I also don't think Markakis handles pressure well and thus must be eliminated from hitting third or fourth. A perfect example was the nail biter yesterday where Roberts, Jones and Huff all came through in the clutch and what does Nick do? Swings at ball four on a pitch that wasn't even close to being a strike. I also think that moving Scott to fourth might help him snap out of his funk (which he is due to do anyway) and when he does he will start knocking in a slew of runs. It will also get Scott better pitches to hit batting in front of Markakis. However, this is just a theory.

While I agree that Nick shouldn't have swung at that last pitch, I wouldn't say that he doesn't handle pressure well. The man had 112 RBI last year batting in the #3 spot almost all season. After a very slow start in RISP situations, he's now hitting .295/.426/.500 in those situations. In "close and late" situations he's hitting .290/.387/.597.

[J.D.]

Here are a couple:

Melvin Mora needs a week off. No more, no less. His history has been he always goes on the DL and never plays a full season. He has not gone on the DL this year and he shows me that he has lost his stamina. Not only is his BA way low, now he cannot seem to hit with RISP like he was doing. Please, Trembley, see this and take him out for a week. I think he will come back stronger and maybe start producing again.

Lineup order. If Jones is going to bat second (which I do like) than Huff needs to hit third and Markakis dropped to fith. The problem is there is no cleanup hitter on the team. That is a problem. I suggest giving Scott a try and maybe he will break out of the funk he's been in. Markakis to me just doesn't seem to be as productive when he is hitting third, and if you can't produce as expected batting third there is no way you should hit fourth.

Why is Bynum ever in the lineup? Was Fahey sick or something. NOt only can't he hit, but his fielding is totally unreliable. Any ball hit his way I cringe, and that shouldn't be.

I almost spit out my coffee when I read this... but I actually completely agree with you. Mora needs to be the out of the lineup right now. Not forever, but not just for a day. I wouldn't even have a problem letting him come in to be a defensive sub for Huff late in games with a lead, but yeah... Mora needs to sit. He's hurt the line-up overall. But your point about him being fatigued is probably a valid one. Not only has he usually ended up on the DL, he's also getting old. Like really old, baseball-wise.

I'm actually okay with the line-up right now, order-wise. I like Jones hitting second. I think Markakis will turn things around batting 3rd. And I think Huff, right now, is the closest thing to a clean-up hitter that we have. You have your best hitter batting 3rd, in general. Huff may be the hotter bat, but Markakis, overall, is a better hitter (this is the only point in your posts I disagree with you on). If we're talking currently... Huff's been the hotter bat. If we're talking overall, Markakis brings more to the table. I'd like to see him hitting 3rd. My line-up would look like this:

Roberts 2B

Jones CF

Markakis RF

Huff 3B

Scott DH

Millar 1B

Hernandez C

Payton LF

Fahey SS

I think Bynum was in the line-up just to give Fahey a breather. Fahey's winning that job, though. Right now, I don't want Bynum anywhere near that spot.

[wildcard]

Here are a couple:

Melvin Mora needs a week off. No more, no less. His history has been he always goes on the DL and never plays a full season. He has not gone on the DL this year and he shows me that he has lost his stamina. Not only is his BA way low, now he cannot seem to hit with RISP like he was doing. Please, Trembley, see this and take him out for a week. I think he will come back stronger and maybe start producing again.

Lineup order. If Jones is going to bat second (which I do like) than Huff needs to hit third and Markakis dropped to fith. The problem is there is no cleanup hitter on the team. That is a problem. I suggest giving Scott a try and maybe he will break out of the funk he's been in. Markakis to me just doesn't seem to be as productive when he is hitting third, and if you can't produce as expected batting third there is no way you should hit fourth.

Why is Bynum ever in the lineup? Was Fahey sick or something. NOt only can't he hit, but his fielding is totally unreliable. Any ball hit his way I cringe, and that shouldn't be.

I can't agree with two of the three points.

Melvin has kind of blown your stamina argument out the window with a 303/390/424/814 July so far.

Huff is hitting like a cleanup hitter who is on pace for 31 HR, 102 RBI, 284/349/526/875. Its hard to argue with what Dave is doing 1-4 in the lineup.

Agree on Bynum. He has play his way off the team and the O's are just waiting for Cintron to get healthy. Until then Bynum should sit as much as possible.

[Old#5fan]

I think there is some relevance to his comment. He certainly is the best hitter on our team (BRob is right there with him) but, Nick and most of the rest of this team do not have good atbats against some pitchers, Papplebon, Rivera etc... they seem overmatched mentally when facing these guys. Perhaps their reputation gives them the advantage.

Spot on. Markakis after wailing at that pitch up around his eyes and 6 inches wide of the plate walked away like a whipped dog with his tail between his leges. He just looked utterly like he had zero confidence after that at bat. He's too good a hitter to hang his head or swing at pitches like that to begin with. Again, he just seems to put too much pressure on himself and fold like an accordian when he is hitting third for some reason. It is a legitimate problem though. I cannot stand Bobby Abreu but I wish Nick had a third of his confidence at taking pitches with the game on the line and two strikes!

[dtk9119]

Why is Bynum ever in the lineup? Was Fahey sick or something. NOt only can't he hit, but his fielding is totally unreliable. Any ball hit his way I cringe, and that shouldn't be.

BTW, I was wondering this too yesterday... Why was "boot the ball" Bynum in the lineup?? Wasn't he personally responsible for giving up the 2 runs? Fahey has actually been decent lately and I'm all for keeping him in the line up everyday at least until Cintron comes back and/or they acquire someone...

Thoughts?