Halfway to Hell: My Mid-Season Grades

[Frobby]

We’re halfway to a 46-116 season, one game worse than last year.  334 runs scored, 512 runs allowed. 165 home runs yielded.    Here are my individual grades, which are on a curve against what I expected from that player.   I’m using 100 PA as a cutoff for the hitters.

Chris Davis, .151/.256/.276, 5 HR, 18 RBI, -1.1 rWAR: F.    Yeah, I’m grading on a curve, and frankly I wasn’t expecting much improvement over last year.   But some performances are so bad you have to give them an F.    Cut him!

Jonathan Villar, .252/.319/.414, 10 HR, 33 RBI, 16 SB, 0.9 rWAR: C+.   Pretty much exactly what I expected.  

Rio Ruiz, .229/.305/.312, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 0.1 rWAR: C-.    Started off pretty well, has fallen off lately and is losing playing time.

Richie Martin, .178/.232/.302, 4 HR, 8 RBI, -1.3 rWAR: D.    He’s a Rule 5 guy, so expectations were low, but he’s been below them on both sides of the ball.    I could justify a lower grade.   

Hanser Alberto, .317/.336/.403, 3 HR, 23 RBI, 1.1 rWAR: B+.    My expectations for him offensively were quite low, and he’s exceeded them by a lot, even if he never walks and rarely gets extra base hit.   Defensively he hasn’t really lived up to his reputation.   But, no complaints.

Dwight Smith, .255/.307/.457, 11 HR, 44 RBI, 0.1 rWAR: C+.    He was acquired late in spring training and I didn’t expect much.    His offense has tailed off lately but has been stronger than expected.    He has poor fundamentals defensively and that detracts a lot from his offensive value.  

Stevie Wilkerson, .212/.261/.376, 6 HR, 19 RBI, -0.7 rWAR: D+.    He’s really miscast as an outfielder, especially when in CF.    But mostly I’m disappointed that his BA and OBP are so low.    

Trey Mancini, .296/.354/.542, 17 HR, 37 RBI, 1.1 rWAR: A-.     Almost gave him an A, but he’s slipped a bit in recent days, going sub-.900 OPS for the first time in a long time.    Still, I’m very happy with Trey, we just need to get him out of the outfield!

Renato Núñez, .231/.292/.458, 16 HR, 40 RBI, 0.3 rWAR: C.    His numbers have fluctuated a lot over the year, but this is about who he is — low OBP, good power, no defense whatsoever.

Pedro Severino, .278/.348/.494, 9 HR, 23 RBI, 1.0 rWAR: A.    A heretofore powerless hitter has found a power stroke, and is getting on base at a nice clip too.   My big question with him is why the pitchers have a 6.20 ERA when he’s behind the plate and 5.48 when anyone else catches.    But that may just be noise, so I didn’t penalize him.   

I’m not bothering to grade Rickard, who’s gone, or all the other players under 100 PA.    But overall, I’d give the offense a C compared to what I expected, and the defense a D+.    So call it C- for the position players.   That may seem generous, but remember, it’s all against what I expected.

Pitchers later.    

 

 

[JMU_Birdfan]

I understand he has less than 100 PA, but Anthony Santander has been a bright spot to finish out this first half of the year. 

[Chito]

Smith's SLG is actually .457.

And yes, it's well past time to cut Davis. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

Any point in trying to grade the pitchers?

[Enjoy Terror]

I don’t disagree with anything said here.

[wildcard]

Kind of surprising that on a team this bad that the O's have:

Two guys on pace to score 100 runs -  Mancini 52,  Villar 50

Two guys on pace for 30 homers - Mancini  17, Nunez 16

and two guys on pace to win 14 games - Cashner and Means with 7

[Tx Oriole]

15 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

Any point in trying to grade the pitchers?

Grade D

[Frobby]

Now the pitchers.   20 IP minimum.

Dylan Bundy, 16 starts, 84.1 IP, 4.91 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 1.1 rWAR:  C.   It’s all about the 19 homers.   He misses bats, mixes pitches, but those gopher balls have relegated him to no. 4 starter quality.    

Andrew Cashner, 15 starts, 82.1 IP, 4.37 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 6.1 K/9, 1.8 rWAR: B.    Much more solid than I expected, and he seems to have taken a leadership role in the clubhouse.

John Means: 17 games, 13 starts, 75.2 IP, 2.50 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 3.2 rWAR: A+.    Sure, I’d love it if he got deeper into games, but I expected nothing from this guy and we’ve gotten excellence.

David Hess: 15 games,13 starts, 66 IP, 7.36 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, -0.9 rWAR: F.    I wasn’t expecting a lot here, but he’s pitched poorly enough to be sent to the minors and relegated to relief there.    Thought he was capable of more.

Dan Straily, 14 games, 8 starts, 47.2 IP, 9.82 ERA, 1.99 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, -1.3 rWAR: F-.    Makes Bundy and Hess look homer-stingy.

Gabriel Ynoa, 15 games, 6 starts, 45.1 IP, 6.75 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, -0.5 rWAR: D.    Didn’t expect much here, and despite his overall poor numbers, he’s had some good outings.

Miguel Castro, 34 games, 42.0 IP, 5.36 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 0.1 rWAR: D-.    He’s had some days, but way too inconsistent for a guy who was probably expected to be our 2nd or 3rd best reliever this season. 

Mychal Givens, 28 games, 32.0 IP, 5.06 ERA, 1.31WHIP, 12.9 K/9, 0.0 rWAR: D-.   He’s missing plenty of bats, but homers have killed him.    Very disappointing first half has probably killed his trade value.

Paul Fry, 33 games, 31.1 IP, 4.60 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 6.9 K/9, 0.2 rWAR: C.    He’s been serviceable and I didn’t expect more.

Jimmy Yacabonis: 16 games, 2 starts, 25.2 IP, 5.96 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 6.3 K/9, 0.1 rWAR: D.    I probably have a higher opinion of his potential than most people, and expected more from him.

Branden Kline: 19 games, 25.1 IP, 5.68 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, -0.1 rWAR: C-.   He hasn’t been very good, but then, I hadn’t expected him to be here at all.    He’s had his moments and has some potential.

Shawn Armstrong, 20 games, 23.0 IP, 3.91 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 11.3 K/9, 0.4 rWAR: B+.   Picked up on waivers and I really expected nothing.    He’s been good more often than he’s been bad.

Richard Bleier: 20 games, 22.1 IP, 6.85 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 4.0 K/9, -0.3 rWAR: F.    He has always seemed a bit fluky good with his low K rate, but now he looks extremely hittable.

Overall, I give the rotation (5.65 ERA vs. 5.49 last year) a D+, and the bullpen (6.25 vs. 4.76) an F.  Call it D- for the pitching staff as a whole, and a D for the team overall.   I thought we’d be more like a 52 win team, not on pace for 46 wins.

 

 

 

[UpstateNYfan]

Halfway to Hell or Halfway through Hell??

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Chito said:

Smith's SLG is actually .457.

Typo - fixed.   

[Chito]

Straily. Oof. I actually thought he was gonna help. He earned that F-minus for sure.

[mdbdotcom]

So, you're suggesting the pitching needs improvement?

[OsEatAlEast]

I've been very pleased with Severino. The only real problem I see with his game is setting up right down the middle on 0-2 and 1-2 pitches. Got to put them off of the plate more often then not.

[Moose Milligan]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

 

Pitchers later.    

 

 

I'll save you the time.

 

Means:  A

Cashner:  B

Bundy:  C

Everyone else:  F

 

Nevermind, I'm too late to the game.

[TonySoprano]

Chris Davis to the Orioles