Some things that will make this season interesting

[VaBird1]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm curious how you mean that.  Do you mean folks like Mountcastle and Diaz and are you talking going all out and bringing up Hall, Rodriguez and Adley?

I meant the upper level players like Mountcastle, Diaz, etc.  BTW I don’t have a huge problem with the beginning roster not having those guys if that makes the team better long term, just pointing out that there are some players intentionally being left of the active roster.

[Moose Milligan]

13 hours ago, Frobby said:

You’re going to eat those words.    

Pile em up nice and high, Frob.  Get some hot sauce, too.

[Moose Milligan]

11 hours ago, Roll Tide said:

I disagree with this ... Dylan was a disappointment based on the outer rim projections and expectations based on his draft status. 
 

He was an under 5 ERA pitcher 2 of the last 3 years. 
 

We had much worse food including 2 slots that were constantly in flux.

Don't know what food has to do with anything.

ERA+ of 78 and 99 the past two years.  Increased walk rate for three years in a row.  If I'm going to eat my words as @Frobbysaid I would, it'll be because he's out of the AL East.  Look at his results against the division for the past 3 years...by and large, it's not pretty.  

He serves up dingers at a really good rate if you're the opposition.  I dunno, sometimes he throws a gem but it's quickly offset by a complete disaster.  2018 was forgettable for many reasons, one of which was the game he started against KC and didn't get anyone out but gave up 4 homers in a row.  

Other than the fact that he was homegrown and we had high hopes for him, I am not sure why his (lack of) production will be missed as I think it can be replaced.  I think the board generally tends to favor guys that come up through our ranks, especially ones with lofty projections.  I don't care that Bundy didn't live up to his hype, most draft picks don't.  I just don't think he was very good and not all of that blame rests on his shoulders, btw.

[Frobby]

10 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Don't know what food has to do with anything.

ERA+ of 78 and 99 the past two years.  Increased walk rate for three years in a row.  If I'm going to eat my words as @Frobbysaid I would, it'll be because he's out of the AL East.  Look at his results against the division for the past 3 years...by and large, it's not pretty.  

He serves up dingers at a really good rate if you're the opposition.  I dunno, sometimes he throws a gem but it's quickly offset by a complete disaster.  2018 was forgettable for many reasons, one of which was the game he started against KC and didn't get anyone out but gave up 4 homers in a row.  

Other than the fact that he was homegrown and we had high hopes for him, I am not sure why his (lack of) production will be missed as I think it can be replaced.  I think the board generally tends to favor guys that come up through our ranks, especially ones with lofty projections.  I don't care that Bundy didn't live up to his hype, most draft picks don't.  I just don't think he was very good and not all of that blame rests on his shoulders, btw.

The Bundy of 2018 probably wouldn’t be missed.    But if you look at his career, that year is the outlier so far.    I’m not saying he’s an above average starter, but he’s about average and the last time I checked, we did didn’t have a ton of those.   Whoever we replace him with is likely to be considerably worse.   

[Just Regular]

23 hours ago, makoman said:

I don’t see how losing a league averagish pitcher from the worst staff in the league makes it better. 

No love for league average!   Half the performances in the show are worse than that.

I do find IRL I have to manage my own bias - lifelong baseball fans like me probably have better developed sense of probabilistic thinking than the, ummm, average person, to whom a label like League Average performance seems at best like damning with faint praise.

I see that label, and think we just need a bunch of those around a couple of spikes from six 1st round picks to make most of the rest of the decade pretty nice.

[Roll Tide]

On 7/4/2020 at 11:20 AM, Can_of_corn said:

For the life of me I can't remember who he got back.  Looking it up now.

A return that I wasn’t impressed with.

[murph]

On 7/4/2020 at 11:20 AM, Can_of_corn said:

For the life of me I can't remember who he got back.  Looking it up now.

I couldn't remember a single name either and I am sure you have already looked it up, but for anyone else who was wondering:

Right-hander Dylan Bundy, one of the longest-tenured Orioles, was dealt Wednesday to the Los Angeles Angels for four pitching prospects — right-handers Isaac Mattson, Kyle Bradish, Zach Peek and Kyle Brnovich.

Bundy was my favorite pitcher to watch the last couple of years (when he wasn't being tee'd off and pitching reasonably well) and he was having a fantastic spring (yea I know...SSS), so I will be rooting for him this year.   And hopefully catch a start if it all possible. 

[Ruzious]

On 7/4/2020 at 8:23 AM, UpstateNYfan said:

I would prefer they play a normal 10th  or 11th. Then go to the new rule. For those of you who are diehard fans, I suppose this change is blasphemy, but other sports have changed their rules and it makes it more exciting. 4 on 4 hockey is more exciting than 5 on 5. Shoot outs are exciting. I don't like 4 hour games. I imagine players and managers hate long games. Your observation is like a kid seeing a food and says he doesn't like it before he tastes it. This is the non-season to try it, basically a 60 game exhibition schedule, where all stats are basically meaningless. Even the eventual WS winner have an asterisk. It will nice to see them play. In fact the O's may benefit more than normal...give the kids a chance and long look.

Right on with the shoot outs.  I'm not a hockey guy, but on the occasions I've watched, they're very exciting.  And I've suggested using that kind of idea - with a mini homerun derby.  I think it's a MUCH better idea than starting out with a runner on 2nd base.  

[VaBird1]

They could take all the fielders off one side on the field and then all you have to do is hit it to that side.  Oh, wait.

[Just Regular]

I think one PA sudden death could be fun.  Forget outs and runs - bases decide.

Top of the 10th - whoever is up (or a pinch hitter) takes their PA, resulting in 0/1/2/3/4 TB.  That's it.

Bottom of the 10th - same deal.  If Top 10 is an out, you could have a walkoff HBP, BB, etc.  Balls in play could be especially thrilling - if someone is trying to stretch a tweener into a double or triple for a 2-1 or 3-2 win.  There could be game ending plays at the, ummm, second base.

The league could even run another 2:20 of commercials after literally every PA while drama builds!

If you wanted to make is super crazy, you could throw out the lineups but make an Ohtani friendly rule that the same player has to pitch and hit the round of sudden death.

 

[SteveA]

Schedule will be released tonight at 6PM on MLB Network.

[DrungoHazewood]

On 7/5/2020 at 10:28 AM, OrioleDog said:

No love for league average!   Half the performances in the show are worse than that.

I do find IRL I have to manage my own bias - lifelong baseball fans like me probably have better developed sense of probabilistic thinking than the, ummm, average person, to whom a label like League Average performance seems at best like damning with faint praise.

I see that label, and think we just need a bunch of those around a couple of spikes from six 1st round picks to make most of the rest of the decade pretty nice.

The whole reason we have the concept of replacement level and WAR is that there is a huge amount of value in the distance from Willie Bloomquist to an average MLBer.  Just to get to the majors you've run the gauntlet a hundred times.  

And if you're an average regular for 15 years that's a heck of a career. That's 30 WAR.  There are only about 500 of those in history.

If you're someone who thinks in numbers it can be helpful to remember that talent in the majors is the far, far right hand tail of a distribution curve.  That average MLBer is the guy who was the best player on his 11U team, the best player on his 15U team, the best player on his select travel team, the best player on his high school team, the guy they named his local community park field after, the guy who hit .314 with 27 homers in AA at 22... 

Average Major Leaguer usually gets you $10s of millions in career earnings.

[Moose Milligan]

Pretty close to completing a 180 on the runner on second to start the extra innings gimmick.  

It puts pressure on the pitcher/defense right away.  Tonight, we saw some pretty rare double plays because of it.  It brings small-ball back into the picture.  Didn't ever think I'd see Pedro Severino drop a bunt in extra innings to get a runner over to third.  

I do like tight games that can last into the 13th, 14th+ innings too, though and this will probably eliminate that.  I admit I thought I would hate the runner on 2nd rule but after seeing it tonight I don't think it's all that bad, as gimmicky as it is.

 

[OFFNY]

o

 

The last Orioles sweep ........

 

Jones Slam Helps Orioles Sweep Blue Jays for 10-5 Sweep

(Associated Press)

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/jones-slam-helps-orioles-beat-blue-jays-10-5-for-sweep

 

 

 

o