What does "depth" mean to you?

[Moose Milligan]

Seems to be a lot of hand wringing, consternation, panic, jumpiness, stress and worry around these parts about the DEPTH of the pitching staff lately.

Is depth another word for some of you in regards to "OMG, who's going to start next?  I don't care if they've got a 4 ERA or a 6 ERA, we need guys to eat innings?  How are we going to get through the season???  Help!!!"

Or does depth mean that you've got 6 or 7 guys that could step in and give QUALITY (not necessarily quality starts) innings?  You've got 5 guys that are established, can start every 5th day, keep your team in the game...and if one goes down, you've got two more in Norfolk/Bowie that can come up and be respectable.  

An example from another sport would be basketball.  The Golden State Warriors are a deep team.  They have an incredible starting 5 and an incredible bench.  

IMO, depth when it comes to pitching is certainly NOT having guys like Hess and Ramirez in the rotation.  Guys that lead the league in giving up homers, have ERAs in the 5.00 and 6.00 range isn't "depth".  Those are bodies that can take a beating.  

[Camden_yardbird]

Depth is quality in reserve.  Depth is about item #47 of priorities I think the Orioles need to think about right now.  I think a lot of people know what depth is but disagree on what importance it should be given.

[wildcard]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Seems to be a lot of hand wringing, consternation, panic, jumpiness, stress and worry around these parts about the DEPTH of the pitching staff lately.

Is depth another word for some of you in regards to "OMG, who's going to start next?  I don't care if they've got a 4 ERA or a 6 ERA, we need guys to eat innings?  How are we going to get through the season???  Help!!!"

Or does depth mean that you've got 6 or 7 guys that could step in and give QUALITY (not necessarily quality starts) innings?  You've got 5 guys that are established, can start every 5th day, keep your team in the game...and if one goes down, you've got two more in Norfolk/Bowie that can come up and be respectable.  

An example from another sport would be basketball.  The Golden State Warriors are a deep team.  They have an incredible starting 5 and an incredible bench.  

IMO, depth when it comes to pitching is certainly NOT having guys like Hess and Ramirez in the rotation.  Guys that lead the league in giving up homers, have ERAs in the 5.00 and 6.00 range isn't "depth".  Those are bodies that can take a beating.  

Hess had a good 2nd half as a starter.  He has not been as good this spring.  He needs to get out of the rotation for a while.  The O's shouldn't give up on him.  Just give him a break and a chance to work on his command for a  while outside the rotation.

Ramirez as 15-3 with a 3.47 ERA.  He has a 3.40 ERA in 18 starts at AAA.   He didn't have a good pitching coach last year in the majors.   And he hasn't been give much of a chance to start in the majors his season.

Starting depth is having pitchers that can step in and have a chance to be good.  It will not always work. But something it does.

Having Hyde say that Hess and Straily is all he has in the rotation because there is no one else and then DFAing Ramirez is a head scratcher for me.

 

[Cumberbundy]

Orioles starters, Yankees minors.

 

[DrungoHazewood]

42 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Seems to be a lot of hand wringing, consternation, panic, jumpiness, stress and worry around these parts about the DEPTH of the pitching staff lately.

Is depth another word for some of you in regards to "OMG, who's going to start next?  I don't care if they've got a 4 ERA or a 6 ERA, we need guys to eat innings?  How are we going to get through the season???  Help!!!"

Or does depth mean that you've got 6 or 7 guys that could step in and give QUALITY (not necessarily quality starts) innings?  You've got 5 guys that are established, can start every 5th day, keep your team in the game...and if one goes down, you've got two more in Norfolk/Bowie that can come up and be respectable.  

An example from another sport would be basketball.  The Golden State Warriors are a deep team.  They have an incredible starting 5 and an incredible bench.  

IMO, depth when it comes to pitching is certainly NOT having guys like Hess and Ramirez in the rotation.  Guys that lead the league in giving up homers, have ERAs in the 5.00 and 6.00 range isn't "depth".  Those are bodies that can take a beating.  

The Orioles' problem isn't depth, it's quality.  They have an almost endless reserve of players who could be contributors to a 55-win team.  And they could get more by monitoring the waiver wire.

[Moose Milligan]

43 minutes ago, wildcard said:

 

Having Hyde say that Hess and Straily is all he has in the rotation because there is no one else and then DFAing Ramirez is a head scratcher for me.

 

Sounds like the reality of the situation to me.

[Dr. Unk]

Something we do not have now...

[Cumberbundy]

3 minutes ago, Dr. Unk said:

Something we do not have now...

I think we have the depth, we lack the starters.

[Dr. Unk]

13 minutes ago, Cy Bundy said:

I think we have the depth, we lack the starters.

Good point.

[TGO]

1 hour ago, Cy Bundy said:

I think we have the depth, we lack the starters.

I was thinking something along these lines. Depth, to me, is the 5th starter, the 6th and 7th guys in the pen, the backup catcher, the utility infielder, the 4th outfielder who could maybe be a platoon starter on a worse team, maybe the one or two pitchers in AAA you could call up for a spot start. We have a whole lot of those guys. Our entire rotation and bullpen other than arguably Givens are "depth" players. They're not front line pieces.

I think people actually are worried about who's going to pitch the innings, as Moose suggested.

[SteveA]

Depth is a luxury that good teams try to have.

When your front line players aren't good, it's hard to have depth.

[mdbdotcom]

For a team like the Orioles, depth means having enough pitchers that most games can end in less than four hours. Efforts to improve this roster are about minimizing embarrassment, nothing more. Just trying to keep the guys playing hard every game.

[clapdiddy]

I would describe depth in terms of the 60's/70's Orioles.   

Those teams were deep because the farm system was deep.   It took Bobby Grich and Don Baylor probably a year longer than it should have to make it to Baltimore because of depth.  They groomed their pitchers for longer periods because of depth.

We need to be THAT team again.   One that builds a DEEP farm system and has that problem.

On a side note...I've been re-reading John Eisenberg's book on the O's (From 33rd Street to Camden Yards) for the umpteenth time and ran across this little tidbit.    Over 12 years, starting in 1962, the Orioles farm system had a winning percentage of .538.    They became accustomed to winning...and I think that shows when you get to the Majors.

[Camden_yardbird]

3 hours ago, Cy Bundy said:

Orioles starters, Yankees minors.

 

I keep seeing this and yet the players who have a majority of their HRs against us are Torres, Sanchez and Frazier.  All MLB starters.  

The fact that Frazier started the year in the minors isnt a freaking testament to the Yankees depth and ability to plan, it's because they went out and took on the biggest contract in baseball because they could, had Hicks who they signed to a huge deal, and Gardner who is on his own $40+ million dollar deal.  

Depth can be acquired bottom up through great drafting and development, but it can also be a top down thing where you just sign enough big contracts that you push MLB talent down.  Unfortunately the Orioles have done niether.

[waroriole]

Warriors don’t have depth this year. They’re pretty top heavy.