April

[wildcard]

We watched Trey Mancini struggle through April with the bat.   However he is on track for 30 homers and 102 RBI.

Franco joins Mancini on a 102 RBI pace.

Cedric Mullins is 8th in the AL with a 387 OBP.   Also notable, he is on a 24 homer pace.

John Means is on pace for 18 wins.  He is tie of 9th in the MLB is wins. 8th in IP on a pace for 222. 10th in ERA with a 1.70.  9th in WHIP with a 0.84.

Cesar Valdez is tie for 4th in Saves in the MLB with 6.  On a pace for 36.

O's relievers are 5th in the MLB in ERA with a 2.81.  6th in IP with 102.2.  6th in Average with .204.  8th in WHIP with 1.17. Tied for 9th in saves with 7.

[wildcard]

The other side of April is who has not played well and what it means for the guys in Norfolk.

1B/DH Mountcastle  515 OPS,  OF Stewart 560 OPS

Leaves a huge opening for Diaz and McKenna.  And of course Santander's return around May 20th.

IF Ruiz 513 OPS,  IF Urias 495 OPS,  IF Valaika 212 OPS

If Martin and Jones get off to good starts at AAA they could be in the majors.

Lowther will need 3 or 4  starts to prove he is ready for the majors.

I give this about 3 weeks for the current guys to improve, and the AAA guys to show they are ready.  Then is will be time to make moves.

[HowAboutThat]

We have choices!

make them now, please. I’ve seen enough of half the infield already. Hmmmm I’d just as soon replace the entire infield.

Mountcastle as permanent 1B and Mancini as Permanent DH is good, given how much better Trey hits as a DH.

Stewart is hitting worse but still defends ok so the OF alignment is best available for now.

Id like to see Some starter come up, annoying that Lowther isn’t here instead of Lopez.

Hyde’s managing has cost a couple wins, including almost last night, and that’s annoying. Overall, though, I think everyone would be happy with a 12-14 April that included splitting 6 with Boston and winning 3 against Satan’s Team.

[Frobby]

It really feels like we’ve had to scratch and claw for our 12 wins.   
4 1-run wins (2 by walk-off)

3 2-run wins

2 3-run wins

3 wins of 5+ runs

Of our three wins of 5+ runs, only one, the 11-3 win in Boston, was a true laugher.   The others were (1) a 6-1 win in Texas where we were losing 1-0 entering the 7th inning but scored 1, 2 and 3 runs in the final three frames, and (2) the 8-1 win last Sunday against Oakland where we scored 5 runs in the 8th to turn a taut 3-1 game into a comfortable finish.    But there was plenty of tension in those two games.   

The bullpen has blown 5 saves in 12 chances, but only 2 of those resulted in losses.  And one of those two was a 6th inning blown save by Paul Fry, not the kind that causes the rending of garments.    
Armstrong, Plutko and Valdez each got away with one blown save where the team came back and won, and Valdez lost the one true gut wrencher, blowing a 4-3 lead in the 9th in a game the Red Sox won in extra innings 6-4.

 

[maybenxtyr]

22 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It really feels like we’ve had to scratch and claw for our 12 wins.   
4 1-run wins (2 by walk-off)

3 2-run wins

2 3-run wins

3 wins of 5+ runs

Of our three wins of 5+ runs, only one, the 11-3 win in Boston, was a true laugher.   The others were (1) a 6-1 win in Texas where we were losing 1-0 entering the 7th inning but scored 1, 2 and 3 runs in the final three frames, and (2) the 8-1 win last Sunday against Oakland where we scored 5 runs in the 8th to turn a taut 3-1 game into a comfortable finish.    But there was plenty of tension in those two games.   

The bullpen has blown 5 saves in 12 chances, but only 2 of those resulted in losses.  And one of those two was a 6th inning blown save by Paul Fry, not the kind that causes the rending of garments.    
Armstrong, Plutko and Valdez each got away with one blown save where the team came back and won, and Valdez lost the one true gut wrencher, blowing a 4-3 lead in the 9th in a game the Red Sox won in extra innings 6-4.

 

It still feels like they team is right about where they should be record wise, but they've been lucky to get there. 

 

I expect the offense to pick up some moving forward. They pitching could as well. They biggest caveat is who will they potentially trade this season.

[HowAboutThat]

The pitching has been good!

Hyde has been curious. If we go game by game, almost every one has a headscratcher move, several of which cost  us the game.