At the quarter mark...

[Frobby]

Good column by Joe Trezza here:  https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/here-s-where-orioles-stand-at-the-quarter-pole

Overall, the season is going about as I expected.   Things I didn’t expect:

1.   John Means 

2.   Dwight Smith (obviously)

3.   Cashner has been much better than I expected.  

4.   Davis has been better than I expected.   

5.   The bullpen has been worse than I expected, though Givens has been very good.    

6.   Mullins was very disappointing offensively.    I still believe there’s better to come from him.   

7.   Mancini’s performance has been at the top end of what I might have expected.    

8.   Cobb’s unavailability and poor performance when available is an obvious disappointment.

Overall, pluses outweigh the minuses in the context of what I expected in the first place.   

[Cumberbundy]

If we had lost a guy like Dwight Smith the board would be in meltdown - to be on this side of a move like that changes the season a bit for me, the games are definitely more entertaining with him playing as he is right now. Phenomenal move.

Seeing what’s going on in the minors is exciting with Sisco, Mountcastle, SongGuez, Hall, and even Stewie mashing a bit recently. Others have shown improvement missing bats - Baumann in particular. 

The top prospect in the draft is separating himself from the pack, which is always nice when your team has the number 1 pick.

It’s been a far more enjoyable first q of the baseball season than I anticipated. Hays & Diaz returning soon I believe. 

[wildcard]

19 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Good column by Joe Trezza here:  https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/here-s-where-orioles-stand-at-the-quarter-pole

Overall, the season is going about as I expected.   Things I didn’t expect:

1.   John Means 

2.   Dwight Smith (obviously)

3.   Cashner has been much better than I expected.  

4.   Davis has been better than I expected.   

5.   The bullpen has been worse than I expected, though Givens has been very good.    

6.   Mullins was very disappointing offensively.    I still believe there’s better to come from him.   

7.   Mancini’s performance has been at the top end of what I might have expected.    

8.   Cobb’s unavailability and poor performance when available is an obvious disappointment.

Overall, pluses outweigh the minuses in the context of what I expected in the first place.   

The weirdest thing so far is Wilkerson as a starter in CF and hitting for a 930 OPS vs righties.

[HowAboutThat]

Disappointed overall. Maybe my optimism was foolish but I assumed there would be a quicker hook, both during a game and overall. Give a guy a chance. You know what to expect because you know the player, if he’s better than expected, lengthen the leash. If not, send him down and next man up.

For instance, wright should never have started the season, Scott was up way too long, and TBH I would have put Davis in a platoon and batted him ninth.

Ive second guessed several Hyde game decisions, and I wish we’d kept Jackson.

Minor quibbles, though: when your available tools aren’t good, there’s not much you can do.

I was hoping we’d be better, is all( toe in dirt)

Happy surprises:

Means, Smith, Wilkerson, Mancini, Villar( playin’ for that ticket outta town!) Severino( and from the Nats, too!) Fry, and Last BN Least, Armstrong! We dumped Wright and got Armstrong, and even if he never throws another pitch for us after tonight, I’m calling that a win!

I don’t think we’re gonna hit the mid-60s, though.

[LocoChris]

#4 is astounding considering where we were with him after the first two - three weeks. I expected Cashner to bounce back though, he’s much better than what he showed last year. 

[atomic]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

Good column by Joe Trezza here:  https://www.mlb.com/orioles/news/here-s-where-orioles-stand-at-the-quarter-pole

Overall, the season is going about as I expected.   Things I didn’t expect:

1.   John Means 

2.   Dwight Smith (obviously)

3.   Cashner has been much better than I expected.  

4.   Davis has been better than I expected.   

5.   The bullpen has been worse than I expected, though Givens has been very good.    

6.   Mullins was very disappointing offensively.    I still believe there’s better to come from him.   

7.   Mancini’s performance has been at the top end of what I might have expected.    

8.   Cobb’s unavailability and poor performance when available is an obvious disappointment.

Overall, pluses outweigh the minuses in the context of what I expected in the first place.   

They are doing better than I expected as well. I never expected a .350 winning percentage.  I would think Cashner and Means being better than expected is what accounts for that.

[islebreeze]

At the quarter mark, at lease14-26 is two games ahead of where they were at this point last year.

[JR Oriole]

3 hours ago, islebreeze said:

At the quarter mark, at lease14-26 is two games ahead of where they were at this point last year.

The fact that this is true is amazing, given the talent on last year's team through 40 games versus this year's team.  Of course, the Yankees are 24-16 with injuries forcing a lineup of mostly indistinguishable spare parts, so you never know.

[Frobby]

10 hours ago, wildcard said:

The weirdest thing so far is Wilkerson as a starter in CF and hitting for a 930 OPS vs righties.

We are looking at 40-game trends, which is still a small sample, and you chose to pick out a platoon split from a guy who has played 17 games?     In less than 50 PA?    

[Going Underground]

10 hours ago, LocoChris said:

#4 is astounding considering where we were with him after the first two - three weeks. I expected Cashner to bounce back though, he’s much better than what he showed last year. 

If you bet someone three weeks ago that Davis would have more RBI'S then Mancini with 50 less at bats at the quarter pole you would have been rich.The two veterans picked up to start have been bad and or injured.Karns and Strally.Dwight Smith Jr.has been really good so far but still less then two months.I remember a few years back the Orioles had a player who was leading the AL in hitting for two months and faded badly.He then went to the Phillies. Cant remember his name.Ruiz has been decent.Alberto will be what he is,not good.Still think a 62 or so win team. Because more bad teams this year and some might make more trades and get even worse.

[Going Underground]

4 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

If you bet someone three weeks ago that Davis would have more RBI'S then Mancini with 50 less at bats at the quarter pole you would have been rich.The two veterans picked up to start have been bad and or injured.Karns and Strally.Dwight Smith Jr.has been really good so far but still less then two months.I remember a few years back the Orioles had a player who was leading the AL in hitting for two months and faded badly.He then went to the Phillies. Cant remember his name.Ruiz has been decent.Alberto will be what he is,not good.Still think a 62 or so win team. Because more bad teams this year and some might make more trades and get even worse.

Jimmy Parades was the player.But I think Smith is a better all around hitter and fielder.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

If you bet someone three weeks ago that Davis would have more RBI'S then Mancini with 50 less at bats at the quarter pole you would have been rich.

Mancini has not hit well in RISP situations.   He’s only had 4 RBI in his last 25 games.    Hopefully that will pick up. 

Since getting off the schneid, Davis has really made his hits count, 15 RBI in 18 hits.    

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

We are looking at 40-game trends, which is still a small sample, and you chose to pick out a platoon split from a guy who has played 17 games?     In less than 50 PA?    

I didn't say it was going to last.  I just think its unusual that a 27 year old infielder is starting in CF, playing pretty well and hitting at a 900 OPS clip vs righties.   That will probably keep Mullins and Williams in the minors for as long as it lasts.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I didn't say it was going to last.  I just think its unusual that a 27 year old infielder is starting in CF, playing pretty well and hitting at a 900 OPS clip vs righties.   That is probably keep Mullins and Williams in the minors for as long as it lasts.

I see your point, but players get hot for half a month all the time.   I do agree the O’s will be in no hurry to replace Wilkinson while he’s hitting well.   

I may be in the minority, but I’m not impressed with his defense in CF.   Yesterday he went back to the fence for a ball, jumped and the ball was like 3 feet to the right of where he was jumping.   On the whole, he’s not embarrassing himself out there, but his routes are, shall we say, circuitous.    Which isn’t really a surprise since he never played there until 2 weeks ago.    

[LookinUp]

38 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

.Still think a 62 or so win team. 

Is this better than or the same as you expected? I expected a bit worse.