Low hanging fruit

[LookinUp]

On 1/18/2020 at 9:36 AM, Can_of_corn said:

The fruit that is Davis has been lying on the ground for a couple of years.

1. This shouldn't be forgotten. Davis could get cut in spring training or during this season.

2. I really don't see much of a reason that Cobb can't be at least as good as Bundy. It doesn't take that much.

3. The lowest hanging fruit might be MLBs crackdown on sign stealing. We probably have 3 of the worst offenders in our division alone.

18 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Like I said last year right around this same time.  It is really hard to lose that many games.  Especially when you have other teams actively tanking.

Not as many obvious tankers this year. We could be a little better and still end up #1. 

[Philip]

1 hour ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

I think the reason you don’t understand it is because his hitting wasn’t as bad as you make it out to be.  

Well he struck out a ton, so his eye isn’t very good, although his K rate improved to 30%, Which means he is no longer striking out every third at bat. His walk rate improved slightly which is also a mild step in the right direction. I haven’t checked on his discipline at swinging at pitches out of the zone, Nor did I check on his hard contact. But he only hit .210. You are correct that I do not know how WRC is calculated. Possibly the increased walk rate helped. But no, I don’t think he’s a good hitter.And if he doesn’t improve considerably on both sides of the ball, he is not a playable Major leaguer.

If you are happy with his offense remaining the same, and you have implied that you would be, That is indeed your choice.

 

edit:If he is an excellent defensive catcher, then yes I could live with his offense. And if his offense is excellent, I can live with poor defense, although I prefer good defense. But at the moment, he’s neither. He’s not good. His offense is less playable at any other position, So moving him to another position would only make the offensive demands greater.

Edited January 20, 2020 by Philip

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

Completely agree with your point here. I was responding specifically to the surprise at a 96 WRC, specifically that his total season numbers weren’t as putrid as that poster is portraying them relative to league and position. 

96 wRC is above average for a catcher.   

[Frobby]

On 1/18/2020 at 9:23 AM, Frobby said:

When I look at how the O’s might pick up some more wins this year, I see two areas that should represent low-hanging fruit.   

First, the bullpen.    They literally had a 50% save rate last year, in 54 chances.    That’s really pathetic.    Even the really crappy teams we had from 1998-2011 always managed 55-60%; league average is 67%.    The bullpen ERA of 5.79 was .72 runs worse than the next worse team and 1.35 runs worse than league average.    Givens, Castro and Bleier were all far worse than their career norms and nobody else stepped up.   I think our bullpen this year can still be lousy and yet be considerably better than last year.   We could pick up 3-6 wins with relatively modest improvement there.  

Steve Melewski makes more or less the same points in today’s blog entry:   https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2020/01/a-look-at-how-the-orioles-bullpen-might-improve-in-2020.html

[Philip]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

96 wRC is above average for a catcher.   

I honestly cannot understand why Sisco grades out  as well as he does, even though he remains below average and below replacement level. Maybe it’s his walk rate? Maybe it’s his slugging percentage, or his .333OBP?

Regardless, if what he is doing now is considered acceptable for a starting catcher, then I’m shaking my head. His offense is not enough to compensate for his defense, and for a back up catcher you want somebody who with good defense, And there’s no argument that his is unacceptable.

Again, however, I’m perfectly willing to give him some more big league time to try and improve.

[NCRaven]

8 hours ago, Philip said:

...and for a back up catcher you want somebody who with good defense...

Why?  Why not a left handed hitting catcher with good offense?  Especially if your starting catcher - Rutschman - is right handed with good defense.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

7 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

Why?  Why not a left handed hitting catcher with good offense?  Especially if your starting catcher - Rutschman - is right handed with good defense.

Joe Nolan fit that bill, he was good for backup catcher offensively with an OPS+ of 116 in 1983-84 seasons. 

[sportsfan8703]

I expect the pen to be better. We have more arms that can go multiple innings. We get to add Harvey to the mix which will help. I think Hyde learned his lesson about running Givens into the ground. 

I expect Hays/Mason Willams to be an upgrade in CF for us all year. The rest of the starting lineup will be a bit more settle defensively. I expect a good season from Harvey and bounce back years from Givens and Bleier.