The 2021 Bullpen

[sportsfan8703]

When are Armstrong and Fry expected back?

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

When are Armstrong and Fry expected back?

Fry is on the roster already.    Per Roch, he was warming in the bullpen yesterday but didn’t get called into the game.  

[Bahama O's Fan]

So...no ER so far. Noice

[TommyPickles]

I like Valdez as the closer. 

[Il BuonO]

5 hours ago, TommyPickles said:

I like Valdez as the closer. 

Hmm....

[OFFNY]

5 hours ago, TommyPickles said:

 

I like Valdez as the closer. 

 

o

 

Regardless of whether or not Valdez winds up being (at least) a serviceable closer for the Orioles in 2021, I like the fact that you are willing to go out on a limb this early in the season and stake a claim to it.

 

o

[Frobby]

5 hours ago, TommyPickles said:

I like Valdez as the closer. 

I’d like more flexibility with Valdez than just confining him to one inning appearances in the 9th.   I’m fine using him to close games sometimes but I’d rather not have him exclusively in that role.   

[Il BuonO]

On 4/4/2021 at 4:39 PM, sportsfan8703 said:

When are Armstrong and Fry expected back?

Too soon as it turns out.

[OFFNY]

o

 

The loss of control in the fateful and disastrous 5th inning began with the starting pitcher, and continued with the bullpen ......

 

In Critical Inning, Control Eluded Orioles Hurlers in New York

(By Steve Melewski)

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2021/04/in-critical-inning-the-control-eluded-os-hurlers-in-new-york.html

 

o

[sportsfan8703]

With Armstrong and Fry struggling it looks real bad now. I thought we could have an above average pen. We really need 2 more classic type reliever types out there. We’re carrying two rule 5s and Leblanc. That means you have to pitch whoever is struggling in high leverage situations no matter if they’re struggling or not. 

[Sports Guy]

57 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

With Armstrong and Fry struggling it looks real bad now. I thought we could have an above average pen. We really need 2 more classic type reliever types out there. We’re carrying two rule 5s and Leblanc. That means you have to pitch whoever is struggling in high leverage situations no matter if they’re struggling or not. 

Well, Harvey being out hurts.

Armstrong has a lot of upside as a solid reliever but he also could fizzle out..same with Fry and others.  Relievers are just so fickle.

Scott and Valdez look to be relatively reliable as of right now.  Not really sure who else we can mark down as reliable right now.

[Sports Guy]

I like Dillon Tate as well but not sure how much I like him.

In the very small sample size of his career, he doesn’t throw enough strikes and doesn’t miss enough bats.  He did an ok job of missing bats last year and he is throwing a lot of strikes so far this year but in the combined 40.2 IP of his career, he is below average in both categories.  As a reliever, they need to be better.

The good news is that he gets a lot of ground balls and even though he could throw more strikes, his walk rate isn’t that bad.  He has also only given up 4 career homers and 3 of them were in back to back outings back in 2019.  
 

Lefties also hit him well early on.
 

It’s definitely a mixed bag for him early on. I want to see them keep running him out there but I would fall short right now of putting him in high leverage situations on a consistent basis until he shows he can miss more bats and be better vs lefties.

[HowAboutThat]

We’ve got several warm bodies waiting to come up, how long before we start cycling them up to get a chance?

[wildcard]

16 minutes ago, Philip said:

We’ve got several warm bodies waiting to come up, how long before we start cycling them up to get a chance?

Depends on injuries and non performance.  We should know more by the end of the month.

[HowAboutThat]

4 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Depends on injuries and non performance.  We should know more by the end of the month.

Won’t that be too late? How about today? Fry has to be on thin ice, even though he’s a lefty, Armstrong is safe for now because he hasn’t any options.