O's need a better offense.

[wildcard]

Pretty simple statement, right.    But with Hays coming off the IL, what does it mean?   To me it means "If you hit, you play."

That means players that are hitting don't sit at this point.   Maybe later when its hot or they are tired but not now.   So Mullins CF (928 OPS), Urias 2B (816 OPS)  Franco 3B (757 OPS),  Stewart LF/DH (756 OPS), Galvis SS (725 OPS) should play every  games, as long as they keep hitting.  

Hyde says he will use a rotation with Hays returning.  Who should be in the position player rotation?   My answer is those that normally hit well but are not hitting well now.  Mancini 1B/DH , Mountcastle 1B/DH, Santander RF and Hays OF should be in the rotation until they start hitting well.  That means they play 3 games out of every 4 games.

(Mountcastle looked good at 1B the passed few games.  He doesn't need to play LF with Hays and Stewart available.)

The leaves  Severino/Sisco sharing catcher where neither is hitting. And Ruiz who should be a bench player for now at 2B/3B.   

That is the way I would try to improve the offense.   When someone hits better they play more.  When the don't hit they sit more.   Seems simple to me.  

What is your take on who should be in Hyde's position player rotation?

[Beef Supreme]

Galvis will play just about every day regardless of how he is hitting. Who else are you going to give semi-regular playing time to at SS when his bat is cold?

[wildcard]

9 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

Galvis will play just about every day regardless of how he is hitting. Who else are you going to give semi-regular playing time to at SS when his bat is cold?

As the team is configured now, Urias is the backup at SS.   Probably very limited use there.  We may see Martin promoted sometime this summer if needed.   I consider Valaika a better backup SS than Urias.

[UMDTerrapins]

That all looks good, but it’s really about our best hitters all slumping simultaneously. Getting Hays back will help. I’m curious if the league is pitching Mountcastle/Santander differently or if they’re just in a short term rut. 

[wildcard]

6 minutes ago, UMDTerrapins said:

That all looks good, but it’s really about our best hitters all slumping simultaneously. Getting Hays back will help. I’m curious if the league is pitching Mountcastle/Santander differently or if they’re just in a short term rut. 

My guess its both.   Hyde has been saying that the league would adjust to Mountcastle and he has to adjust back.  Same is probably true for Santander who is not going to see many fastballs in the strike zone and will probably walk more from not seeing pitches to hit.  Mancini is just trying to find his stroke and putting too much pressure on himself in the process.   They are all good hitters and will probably adjust their game.

How long that takes is anyone's guess.

[Sports Guy]

They need better everything.

The offense will be fine when Mountcastle, Santander and Mancini are hitting..it will suck when they don’t.

Any offense they get from C, 2nd and SS is a bonus and we will wait to see if you can say the same thing about Mullins.

Its  all about the corner spots and DH.  If they hit, we are fine..if they don’t, they will suck.  

[Aristotelian]

Seems like offense is down all around. The Cubs are hitting .192 as a team. Last year the #15 team hit .245/.743, vs this year .235/.692. Could be getting rid of the juiced ball? The O's are lower-middle of the pack but not the worst, 19th in AVG, 20th in R (admittedly 28th in OPS and 22nd in HR). 

I don't see much to do other than get Hays back and see if Mancini, Mountcastle, and Santander get hot. Probably going to be a while before we call up Bannon. I doubt he is the answer anyway. 

[jabba72]

3 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Seems like offense is down all around. The Cubs are hitting .192 as a team. Last year the #15 team hit .245/.743, vs this year .235/.692. Could be getting rid of the juiced ball? The O's are lower-middle of the pack but not the worst, 19th in AVG, 20th in R (admittedly 28th in OPS and 22nd in HR). 

I don't see much to do other than get Hays back and see if Mancini, Mountcastle, and Santander get hot. Probably going to be a while before we call up Bannon. I doubt he is the answer anyway. 

This year HR's are at 1.2 per team, last year 1.3 and 2019, 1.4. So there's still lots of time for warmer weather to make an impact. So that number will likely rise in the coming months. 

[wildcard]

40 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Seems like offense is down all around. The Cubs are hitting .192 as a team. Last year the #15 team hit .245/.743, vs this year .235/.692. Could be getting rid of the juiced ball? The O's are lower-middle of the pack but not the worst, 19th in AVG, 20th in R (admittedly 28th in OPS and 22nd in HR). 

I don't see much to do other than get Hays back and see if Mancini, Mountcastle, and Santander get hot. Probably going to be a while before we call up Bannon. I doubt he is the answer anyway. 

But do they play Mancini, Mountcastle, Hays and Santander every game?   Does that mean they sit Stewart who is hitting fairly well?

[Frobby]

Yes, they need a better offense.  And better pitching.   And a better defense.    

They are currently averaging 4.00 runs per game, 11th in the AL.  They are allowing 4.31 runs per game, 9th in the AL.   

If you go back a season, the O’s averaged 4.57 runs/game, 8th in the AL, and allowed 4.90 runs/game, 9th in the AL.    As a whole, the AL scored 4.58 runs a game last year, compared to 4.33 this year.    That may be the result of deadening the ball, or it could be April SSS stuff.  

Just on a quick look at our team, 
we have five regulars OPSing .636 or less, including our middle of the lineup guys in Mancini, Santander and Mountcastle.   I do not expect that to continue, so eventually I think the lineup will hit better without doubt any major surgery to  it.    But make no mistake, it’s a below average offense.   

 

[Aristotelian]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

But do they play Mancini, Mountcastle, Hays and Santander every game?   Does that mean they sit Stewart who is hitting fairly well.

Good point. Before I would have thought Mullins would be the odd man out but he is the only one of them who is hitting! Anyway, wait and see if we can actually get them all healthy.

If that problem actually arises, I can't see benching any of the above for DJ any time soon but he will get plenty of AB's as pinch hitter and next man up for the inevitable injury. 

 

[Tony-OH]

24 minutes ago, wildcard said:

But do they play Mancini, Mountcastle, Hays and Santander every game?   Does that mean they sit Stewart who is hitting fairly well.

I think those five as well as Mullins will rotate between the three outfield spots, 1B and DH.  That's six guys for five spots so good playing time for everyone still.

Hays will rotate between all three outfield spots spelling Stewart, Mullins and Santander. Mountcastle will split 1B and DH duties with Mancini with Stewart also seeing occasional time there. 

Mountcastle will get a long leash, but if he's still not hitting by the time the AAA season starts, he could be optioned. 

[survivedc]

Stewart is hitting well and I think he can continue to hit close to this level, but it’s no secret that Hays and Santander have higher ceilings so should be playing more.

[Aglets]

I have some good news and some bad news.  See if you can spot it.  Yes we could use a better offense.  Along with every other facet of an MLB team.

Worst 5 MLB team offenses by OPS:

26. Brewers - .650

27. Tigers - .647

28. Orioles - .643

29. Rangers - .642

30. Yankees - .642

 

Also kinda noteworthy that the Rockies are 25th despite playing a bunch of games up in the mountains.

[Il BuonO]

1 minute ago, Aglets said:

I have some good news and some bad news.  See if you can spot it.  Yes we could use a better offense.  Along with every other facet of an MLB team.

Worst 5 MLB team offenses by OPS:

26. Brewers - .650

27. Tigers - .647

28. Orioles - .643

29. Rangers - .642

30. Yankees - .642

 

Also kinda noteworthy that the Rockies are 25th despite playing a bunch of games up in the mountains.

Ha ha! The Yankees are last??? Love it.