Connolly: 5 ways this team will be worse, 3 ways it will be better

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Eric-OH said:

I don’t get the fawning over Villar at all.  Or Bundy, who I’ve followed since Frederick and seen probably 40-50 times in person.  They helped the O’s to underperform and underachieve.  

I like both players very much, but you can finish 5th out of 5 just as easily with them as without them.  There’s proof. Why hold on?  

As for the reasons for optimism I’m totally with them-especially the defense which I expect Iglesias to help if not spearhead. 

I liked Villar, thought he was a solid player.  Bundy, I think we see eye to eye.  I was never really enamored with him.  A great start would surely be followed up with a disaster.  I agree that you finish 5th with them or without them, though.  Connolly was more looking at overall win totals, not climbing the standings.

[HowAboutThat]

This doesn’t seem very revealing. Anybody with any knowledge of baseball asked the five worst things about this team, would be able to figure it out.

The basics: losing Villar removes meaningful offense, But his replacement will probably offer better defense. It’s probably not an even trade, but it’s difficult to really explain how bad the defense was last year, and how much difference improvement will make.

The rotation is in such a state of flux that we don’t even know for sure who  four of our starters will be. There is every reason to hope that some of the guys Mike has picked up this off-season will see some of their problems fixed and some of their potential reached. That is not a definite, so we can’t take it to the bank, but it is a legitimate possibility.

The pen will be bad, that Requires no clairvoyance. But again we have no idea who’s going to be in the bullpen, and the scenario mentioned with the starters is even more likely with the relievers. Again, not a definite, but a genuine possibility.

Every year is a year of evaluation.

Unless Mike deliberately seeks to lose more games then last year, I fully expect us to be improved from last year. Not because the players we have are different, But because evaluation is improved and we are able to get more out of the players we have.

[Enjoy Terror]

I'm in the minority but I don't agree the loss of Villar will sting. I think Iglesias is a better defender and Villar was hitting above what I think is normal for him. I might be in agreement that Iglesias doesn't replace the production that we'd get from Villar, but "sting" isn't how I'd describe it. It's a step down but that's it.

[sportsfan8703]

This whole losing Villar isn't bothering me at all.  By June 1st we'll be seeing a lineup of,

Hays, Mancini, Santander, Mountcastle, Nunez, Ruiz, Alberto, Severino, Iglesias

[TheOtherRipken]

Glass half empty - how could the bullpen be better? 

[HowAboutThat]

Someone called this article “January fluff” and they were correct.

instead, how about ways the team will be better?

organizational internal communication: various departments coordinating with each other to share needs and information. That’s very important. 

analytics and evaluation: fixing problems in our current players identifying low-value players with problems that can be fixed, and getting better players. All of that is happening.

so, the players we have will improve and the players we get will be better. A detailed article about these subjects would be welcome.

[Enjoy Terror]

9 minutes ago, TheOtherRipken said:

Glass half empty - how could the bullpen be better? 

I was prepared to defend against this, but I don't know if you really can. The idea that "the bullpen can’t be as bad as it was" was written by someone who hasn't watched Orioles baseball for very long. For example... 2007's bullpen and 2008's bullpen.

They haven't meaningfully improved the bullpen; they've added some Rule 5 guys and Wade LeBlanc, but those additions are bad to nebulous at best. We have no idea what to expect.

[HowAboutThat]

2 minutes ago, Enjoy Terror said:

We have no idea what to expect.

Improvement!

[TommyPickles]

I mean, I think there's a pretty reasonable chance Givens improves from 2019.  

In 2019 he had:

6.39 ERA in May

and then 

3.68 ERA in June

2.79 ERA in July

2.70 ERA in August

(Couple rough outings in Sept, but I'm expecting he beats his overall 2019 ERA of 4.57 in 2020.)

[mdbdotcom]

There will be opportunity galore! Whether that turns out to be a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. 

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

2 hours ago, UpstateNYfan said:

Looks like a last day of January fluff piece. Have no problems with 1-3 on worse list. Evaluations?? Trades??? Seems to me that is a consistent part of the game, for all teams. I only see number 1 as a pretty sure thing under better.  Number 2, look at number 1 from worse list. 3 Leap, last year's surprises?? Hays and Means?? Grabbing at straws here IMO. We may look longingly at 2019.

 

I find it pretty laughable that teams are saying they need fewer minor league teams because machine learning and analytics can basically already tell them everything. But, they need to evaluate players at the big league level with an eye test.

It's almost like all the decisions are about money.

[sportsfan8703]

40 minutes ago, TommyPickles said:

I mean, I think there's a pretty reasonable chance Givens improves from 2019.  

In 2019 he had:

6.39 ERA in May

and then 

3.68 ERA in June

2.79 ERA in July

2.70 ERA in August

(Couple rough outings in Sept, but I'm expecting he beats his overall 2019 ERA of 4.57 in 2020.)

Hyde ran Givens into the ground early on.  I don't think we see that usage in 2020.  

[Redskins Rick]

21 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Hyde ran Givens into the ground early on.  I don't think we see that usage in 2020.  

Hyde didnt have a lot of options at his disposal.

I was never sold on Givens being more than a decent arm in the pen.

 

[jerios55]

2 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

One thing I’ve learned with the Orioles is never say it can’t be as bad as last year. 

Yeah, the "bullpen can't be as bad as last year" made me cringe a little.  Are we sure it'll be better?

[jerios55]

2 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yankees got Cole.  We'll have to see him a couple times, at least.  

Well we were 2-15 against them last year without Cole.  Even if terrible, hopefully we can accidentally find 2 wins against them.