The second guessing Hyde thread.

[spiritof66]

2 hours ago, eddie83 said:

People amuse me. What was the purpose of adding Aguilar? 
 

If they wanted him to rot on the bench why did they add him in the first place? He has had 42 PA’s. The right side of the lineup except for Mateo in August struggled. Adley and Mullins haven’t hit LHP all year. Last night an inning after Santander went over the monster they hit Aguilar. It’s Fenway Park. Elias made the decision to add him. If he didn’t want him to play at all then why not keep Nevin? Heck some people thought it was to push Mountcastle. 

Here's my best guess on Aguilar. Around the trading deadline, and then when the Orioles moved into WC contention, there were comments in the national press (and here in New York) about how the Orioles had decided not to try to improve by being opportunistic buyers of talent at the trade deadline -- unless you count Brett Phillips' signing and brief interlude -- even trading two productive players for prospects. Going from memory here, I think most of those comments were  pretty neutral, to the effect that the Orioles had stayed with their plan, but some of it noted that the team could have used some help, especially infield help, in its fight for a WC spot but hadn't gotten it.

In August, as the team moved into WC contention, Elias wanted to do something to help, both to improve the team's prospects and to add a little to his reputation if the Orioles stayed in the race. (Elias said in August that he had made an effort to bring in some helpful ML talent before the deadline, but that's hard for me to believe.) When Phillips flopped (17 ABs, 8 Ks, a .353 OPS), he promoted Stowers and tried to find some helpful free-agent talent -- a very tough assignment. Trying, in effect, to catch lightning in a shot glass, he came up with Aguilar, a one-season slugger who at least looked like he might hit a couple of game-affecting, heroic homers (and could serve as a back-up first baseman). That could happen only if Aguilar played. Either because he was told to or because he understood Elias' interest in coming up with something in Aguilar, Hyde has given Aguilar 40 ABs, and has gotten back 1 HR, 2 RBs and a .495 OPS. And the push to use him because it's barely possible that he'll connect on a few of his uppercuts has continued for much longer than it should have. Presumably he'll be in his rightful spot -- gone or spectating -- once the Orioles are eliminated.

[I had not known until I looked up Phillips' numbers on Baseball Reference that his full name is Brett Maverick Phillips. I wonder whether he has siblings named Cheyenne Bodie Phillips, Bronco Layne Phillips, Sugarfoot Brewster Phillips, or Christopher Colt Phillips.]

 

[ShoelesJoe]

9th inning, tying run up at the plate against Boston RH closer Matt Barnes. Do you send up...

Austin Hays who is 0-5 against Barnes in his career, with three K's?

Or

Cedric Mullins who is 3-8 against Barnes, and has two homers, a triple, a double, and nine RBI in his last seven games? 

 

Hyde sends Hays up to bat and he grounds into a double play, pretty much sticking a fork in our slim chances of tying the game. 

 

[ScGO's]

I feel like Elias has decided recently that they are out of it, and now its about securing better odds for the draft lottery by putting out lineups like today's.

 

[Three Run Homer]

9 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

I feel like Elias has decided recently that they are out of it, and now its about securing better odds for the draft lottery by putting out lineups like today's.

 

Well, Chirinos did hit a homer!  

[dtk9119]

1 hour ago, ShoelesJoe said:

9th inning, tying run up at the plate against Boston RH closer Matt Barnes. Do you send up...

Austin Hays who is 0-5 against Barnes in his career, with three K's?

Or

Cedric Mullins who is 3-8 against Barnes, and has two homers, a triple, a double, and nine RBI in his last seven games? 

 

Hyde sends Hays up to bat and he grounds into a double play, pretty much sticking a fork in our slim chances of tying the game. 

 

Not to mention this was AFTER Hays ruined the chances last night by GIDP against Barnes and like clockwork he repeats the feat.

So yea Mullins just might have been a better option there.

[SilverRocket]

16 hours ago, eddie83 said:

People amuse me. What was the purpose of adding Aguilar? 

I think it's pretty simple... they like him more than Tyler Nevin as a backup 1B, and they don't trust anyone else on the team to play first base. There were reports of Santander and Gunnar taking reps at first but nothing saying that the results were passable. I'm guessing they didn't like what they saw.

[eddie83]

3 hours ago, SilverRocket said:

I think it's pretty simple... they like him more than Tyler Nevin as a backup 1B, and they don't trust anyone else on the team to play first base. There were reports of Santander and Gunnar taking reps at first but nothing saying that the results were passable. I'm guessing they didn't like what they saw.

They do like him better. 

 

They can’t hit LHP 

[Frobby]

7 hours ago, dtk9119 said:

Not to mention this was AFTER Hays ruined the chances last night by GIDP against Barnes and like clockwork he repeats the feat.

So yea Mullins just might have been a better option there.

Barnes really had a nice pitch sequence to Hays last night.  The night before, I think I recall Hays missing one hittable pitch.  But last night, there’s not much he could have done.  Could Mullins, as a LHB, done better?   Maybe.  

[spiritof66]

10 hours ago, ShoelesJoe said:

9th inning, tying run up at the plate against Boston RH closer Matt Barnes. Do you send up...

Austin Hays who is 0-5 against Barnes in his career, with three K's?

Or

Cedric Mullins who is 3-8 against Barnes, and has two homers, a triple, a double, and nine RBI in his last seven games? 

 

Hyde sends Hays up to bat and he grounds into a double play, pretty much sticking a fork in our slim chances of tying the game. 

 

I thought at the time that Hyde likely was saving Mullins for pinch-running in case he needed some speed for the tying run. 

[Chelsea_Phil]

I am pretty sure I can hit rich hill better than most of the Os.

[Chelsea_Phil]

1 hour ago, spiritof66 said:

I thought at the time that Hyde likely was saving Mullins for pinch-running in case he needed some speed for the tying run. 

Then that is pure stupidity

[Frobby]

Just now, Chelsea_Phil said:

I am pretty sure I can hit rich hill better than most of the Os.

Or, perhaps there’s a reason this guy has lasted 18 years in the major leagues.  

Honestly, he pitched really well last night.  His fastball isn’t overwhelming but he was putting it whatever he wanted.  And his curve always has been among the best in the game.

I’ll say this — Mountcastle was completely bamboozled by the guy.  Three K’s without so much as a solidly hit foul ball.  He had no clue what to do.  
 

[ShoelesJoe]

59 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Or, perhaps there’s a reason this guy has lasted 18 years in the major leagues.  

 

He's lasted 18 years by eating our lunch. No matter what team he pitched for all Rich Hill had to do was throw his glove on the mound and our guys couldn't hit him with a shovel. 

[Tony-OH]

7 minutes ago, ShoelesJoe said:

He's lasted 18 years by eating our lunch. No matter what team he pitched for all Rich Hill had to do was throw his glove on the mound and our guys couldn't hit him with a shovel. 

And then to throw salt on the wounds, when he pitched for us he sucked. Rich Hill hates Baltimore. lol 

 

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, ShoelesJoe said:

He's lasted 18 years by eating our lunch. No matter what team he pitched for all Rich Hill had to do was throw his glove on the mound and our guys couldn't hit him with a shovel. 

No question he’s done that.  He has a career 2.47 ERA against us in 51 IP.   Honestly, we haven’t seen him a ton — 19 appearances and 9 starts in 18 years. The team he’s really bamboozled is the Giants, 2.34 ERA in 96 IP.

In any event, the guy has a career ERA+ of 110 and a winning percentage of .582.   He’s a good pitcher, and he pitched a good game last night.