Cole Sulser and Paul Fry 2021

[HowAboutThat]

13 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Hyde doesn't speak highly of all his player.  Sometimes he does say much at all about them.   He didn't seem happy with his catchers (except Wynns), his 2B or his 3B.    Though he makes excuse after excuse for Matt Harvey he doesn't say he is doing well. Same for Lopez who he thinks tries hard without much good results.    Hyde will often say "we will see" about players that he is not convinced belong.

Oh don’t misunderstand me, I’m not anti-Sulser, and I’m happy we got him from the Rays. I just doubt that he has much trade value. Some team will give us something for him but it won’t be anything meaningful.

Regarding Hyde, he’s very careful about what he says, but I put no stock in anything he says. I pay more attention to what he does, But I understand that he is not necessarily in control over who plays or doesn’t or who is on the team or isn’t.

With that in mind, whether a player is good or bad is pretty obvious just by watching him play over time. And then the question becomes why does he continue to play? 
My feeling about Harvey is that Hyde is stuck with him, and is trying to put some positive spin on his performance.

I also think Hyde is stuck with Stewart, Franco, Valaika, and Severino at least, and with the possible exception of Stewart, those are all head scratchers.

Edited June 19, 2021 by Philip
Addendum

[bpilktree]

4 hours ago, wildcard said:

Earlier in the season I thought Lopez had a chance to be a good reliever.  But now he has a 5.14 ERA in the 1st inning.   Lopez is still on the team because the O's need him to start.    But it now seems like he is a non tender candidate if he makes it to the off season  as an Oriole.

I think some of Lopez’s recent struggles early on may have to do with the constant talk about his struggles in the 5th.  Early on he seemed to come blazing out to start the game but as it got later on his stuff decreased as it look like he was tired.  This can easily make a younger pitchers (Lopez more experience then age) to possibly throttle back some to get deeper in games as they would want to go in the 6th or 7th. There is no way I would let Lopez and his arm go without giving he bullpen opportunities first.  Andrew Miller was this type of pitcher as a starter, great fastball and stuff, but just was not a good starter.  When he went to the pen everything changed the same with Britton.  I think every team tries to keep certain guys in the rotation if they have 3 or 4 pitches and they just don’t succeed as a starter but wait to long to try them in the pen.  After about 200-300  or so inning in the majors and you not seeing improvements as a starter try him the the pen stop trying to put a circle into a square peg.

[wildcard]

5 minutes ago, bpilktree said:

I think some of Lopez’s recent struggles early on may have to do with the constant talk about his struggles in the 5th.  Early on he seemed to come blazing out to start the game but as it got later on his stuff decreased as it look like he was tired.  This can easily make a younger pitchers (Lopez more experience then age) to possibly throttle back some to get deeper in games as they would want to go in the 6th or 7th. There is no way I would let Lopez and his arm go without giving he bullpen opportunities first.  Andrew Miller was this type of pitcher as a starter, great fastball and stuff, but just was not a good starter.  When he went to the pen everything changed the same with Britton.  I think every team tries to keep certain guys in the rotation if they have 3 or 4 pitches and they just don’t succeed as a starter but wait to long to try them in the pen.  After about 200-300  or so inning in the majors and you not seeing improvements as a starter try him the the pen stop trying to put a circle into a square peg.

That seems like a good reason to try Lopez as a reliever this season.   When Means, Zimmermann, Kremer, Akin and Lowther are all healthy the O's could put Lopez in the pen and see  how he does.

With what we have seen so far I don't think the O's protect him this off season if he does not improve. Some pitchers improve when the game is on the line.  Lopez does not seem to raise to the occasion  as often as he needs to.

[Frobby]

8 hours ago, wildcard said:

But Sulser is cheap and has been pretty good this year.  Hyde loves the guy.

Should’ve used him instead of Wells today.  

[wildcard]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Should’ve used him instead of Wells today.  

Hyde is probably gun shy on using Sulser in the 9th after what happened last year.   Maybe they will give Hunter a shot at closing.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Hyde is probably gun shy on using Sulser in the 9th after what happened last year.   Maybe they will give Hunter a shot at closing.

What happens first, the O's have a lead to protect in the ninth or Hunter goes back on the IL?

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Hyde is probably gun shy on using Sulser in the 9th after what happened last year.   Maybe they will give Hunter a shot at closing.

I’m not that enamored of Sulser, but he was pitching hurt last year when things went south.   I wouldn’t hold that against him.

[Aristotelian]

54 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Should’ve used him instead of Wells today.  

Odd decision to bring in Wells for that crucial out after throwing 19 pitches yesterday. Got greedy trying to keep more guys fresh for tomorrow?

[sportsfan8703]

I knew this was going to be a jinx thread when I started it. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

18 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I knew this was going to be a jinx thread when I started it. 

Ok post now how Fry sucks as a pitcher. 

[sportsfan8703]

2 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Ok post now how Fry sucks as a pitcher. 

Years ago I would have.  Now there is no jinxing nor saving this squad. 

[ThomasTomasz]

54 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Odd decision to bring in Wells for that crucial out after throwing 19 pitches yesterday. Got greedy trying to keep more guys fresh for tomorrow?

Rule 5 kid, who up until recently was only used in low-leverage, multiple inning appearances…….yeah, we got greedy.  Not smart trying to mess up his routine and what he’s been doing.  Shouldn’t have been available today.  

[Sports Guy]

11 hours ago, Frobby said:

Should’ve used him instead of Wells today.  

I liked using Wells.  He should have gotten Bichette out.  
 

 

[HowAboutThat]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I liked using Wells.  He should have gotten Bichette out.  
 

 

Why? As has already been pointed out he had thrown 19 pitches about 14 hours earlier, and Sulser had already warmed up in the bullpen, so he was obviously considered as an option. He wasn’t “being saved for tomorrow.” Also, using him yesterday would’ve allowed Wells to have his day of rest and be available today. Sulser might have done badly, but at least he was fresh and there was a legitimate reason to use him.
 

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by Philip

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Philip said:

Why? As has already been pointed out he had thrown 19 pitches about 14 hours earlier. Sulser might have done badly, but at least he was fresh and there was a legitimate reason to use him.
 

 

Wells has gone multiple innings a lot this year and he has been pitching well and Hyde and the club want to see if he can handle high leverage situations.

Oh and Sulser blows.  He’s not some great alternative.