Not a Bad Idea? Lopez as closer

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

4 minutes ago, BRobinsonfan said:

While a quick glance at his history in relief seems to indicate he's better as a reliever, he still gives up more than a hit per inning in that role.  At 29 years of age, with more than 350 major league innings behind him and a 1.558 WHIP I'm not sure what we're waiting for. 

 

Looking at Lopez's career splits he's a slightly better pitcher in relief, but still not at a level where you would use him in high leverage situations or as a closer.

Lopez had better splits as a reliever in 2021, but it was only 8.1 innings pitched with a 2.16 ERA and 0.960 WHIP.

For his career Lopez as starter has a 6.36 ERA and 1.579 WHIP. As a reliever Lopez has a 4.99 ERA and 1.487 WHIP. There's the opportunity to experiment with Lopez this season, but he's likely a long relief or mop up pitcher if he sticks as MLB player. 

[spiritof66]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Compared to last year I expect Santander to do between than a .719 OPS.  Urias will get more than 262 at bats and should match his 773 OPS. We may see him stick at 3B.   An healthy Mancini should be better than a 758 OPS.

Your caveat  of unless or until better hitters are promoted is an important caveat because Adley most certainly will be between the Severino.   There should be a competition be Jones, Vavra and Odor that combines for a better than the  608 OPS that Franco had.  (Comparing Franco with  2B because of Urias moving to 3B.)

Mateo replaces a combination of Galvis' 720 OPS and Valaika's 540 OPS which combined is about a 630 OPS.   Mateo should be over 700 OPS is my guess.

So if 6 for the 9 positions have better OPS I would expect the team would do much better than last year offensively.

Sure, if all the hitters improve or are upgrades, and if there aren't major injuries, and if Mancini remains an Oriole, and if guys are promoted and provide upgrades, the offense will improve. But I think that's optimistic. 

I agree with you about Santander's improvement over last year (if he's not injured). I'm not sure about Mancini, and expect his improvement to be modest. I don't think Urias has established himself as a .774 OPS guy. I hope he repeats or exceeds that, but I can't say that he's likely to. I didn't include Adley because I don't know when he'll come off the IL, whether or when he'll be promoted, or how well he'll hit right big-league pitching right out of the chute. 

The nature of the IF competition as I see it is that all the competitors will get time, including the guys who don't hit a lick. While we have a good idea what Odor is likely to do (somewhere between bad and Franco), the others are unproven and have not been very impressive offensively in the ML, especially Jones, or have never been there. I am  hopeful about Vavra, but when will see him? And you didn't mention the likelihood that Mullins will regress from his monster 2021, and the distinct possibility that Mountcastle and Hays won't improve or repeat their seasons. 

I expect the offense to do better than last year's next-to-last-in-runs-scored disaster. But unless we see a bunch of new, more talented guys, not by a lot. 

[yeoledugger]

Two perfect innings from Lopez today. Easy 97/98 mph heat with lots of movement and decent control.

[Pickles]

Just now, yeoledugger said:

Two perfect innings from Lopez today. Easy 97/98 mph heat with lots of movement and decent control.

It's eerie but everyone coming out of the pen for the O's this year has looked real good.

[wildcard]

8 minutes ago, yeoledugger said:

Two perfect innings from Lopez today. Easy 97/98 mph heat with lots of movement and decent control.

I really like Lopez in the 9th with a 5 run lead.

[yark14]

14 minutes ago, Pickles said:

It's eerie but everyone coming out of the pen for the O's this year has looked real good.

Chirinos is a big reason why.

[Pickles]

Just now, yark14 said:

Chirinos is a big reason why.

You've said that several times, correct?

I started a thread about the guy after game two and called him a breath of fresh air.

He's helped.  

I can't quantify it, but he's been such a massive upgrade.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 minute ago, Pickles said:

You've said that several times, correct?

I started a thread about the guy after game two and called him a breath of fresh air.

He's helped.  

I can't quantify it, but he's been such a massive upgrade.

Because Chirinos is not Pedro Severino. Severino was not a good catcher and there's no sugarcoating it. 

[SilverRocket]

I don't know that it's Chirinos or a new team philosophy, but he puts his glove near the middle of the plate a lot. Naturally Lopez doesn't hit the target much, but the ball ends up at a solid spot.

[Aristotelian]

18 minutes ago, yeoledugger said:

Two perfect innings from Lopez today. Easy 97/98 mph heat with lots of movement and decent control.

Topped out at 99. Great command with both FB and slider too. He proved me wrong today, hope he maintains it. Great job today. 

I would still be more comfortable with him in a committee or setup role where he can be matched up vs RHB (that .912 OPS vs LHB is pretty terrifying). 

[yark14]

4 minutes ago, Pickles said:

You've said that several times, correct?

I started a thread about the guy after game two and called him a breath of fresh air.

He's helped.  

I can't quantify it, but he's been such a massive upgrade.

Yes I have, and I totally agree with you.  I keep mentioning it because of the Debby Downers that don't seem to appreciate how well he calls a game.

[Aristotelian]

22 minutes ago, Pickles said:

It's eerie but everyone coming out of the pen for the O's this year has looked real good.

Lol Lakins says hi! You are right though, the bullpen has been outstanding. Tate had unhittable stuff today and Bautista was excellent as well. 

[BRobinsonfan]

On 4/15/2022 at 12:54 PM, BRobinsonfan said:

While a quick glance at his history in relief seems to indicate he's better as a reliever, he still gives up more than a hit per inning in that role.  At 29 years of age, with more than 350 major league innings behind him and a 1.558 WHIP I'm not sure what we're waiting for. 

 

Like I've said all along... we should have tried Lopez in relief a long time ago!  

[eddie83]

Bump. 
 

Sorry WC. All in good fun. 

[Pushmonkey]

He is setting into the role.