My overall feelings about this team (May 2 edition)

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, waroriole said:

I’ll say they’re slightly more watchable. The offense is just so bad, it’s maddening. But, with runs rapidly declining, you still think you’re in the game. 

It's amazing how 0.6 runs/game and about half a homer makes games feel so much less out of hand on a regular basis.  A few years ago when they allowed 300 homers it felt like every game was on the verge of disintegration at any moment.  When you're playing four run a game baseball with less than a homer a game you don't have that same constant "I'm in one of those dystopian drug movies where you know the main character is always about to relapse and OD" feeling.

[foxfield]

Nice OP Frobby.

Yes, I think we have reached the bottom and are beginning the climb.  The first part...that the O's are more competitive and watchable is easily recognizable.  The next item, is that overall, it's still a pretty bad team.

The replacements should keep coming.  And I continue to hope for 67 or so wins (not at the current pace).  The real questions will be answered in late summer.  Hopefully by then the Orioles look pretty competitive.  While pitching will always be a need, it seems this summer the O's need to find infielders who can both hit and field.

For me, the idea is to focus on overall performance and not so much on the individuals.  Many of whom should be left in the dust bin by this time next year.  

[Sports Guy]

Just get the damn kids up here who may actually have an impact.  Can’t wait for that to happen.

[Just Regular]

8 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

The pitching has been terrific. May not be sustainable but I am hopeful we at least get a couple of keepers out of this group. That is a huge win that was not anticipated after the string of failures last year. 

This is the interesting bit for me entering Month2.   I've certainly seen Brach burned out six weeks into the year, and that plus a book going around on what Lopez-Tate-Bautista-Akin-Baker-Perez are doing will make May tougher.

I am sure the rest will be managed scientifically and Paul Fry will pitch in 2-1 games sometimes.   Anyone still effective in July will have the 2023 keeper or trade chip question.

To the extent Bradish is the personification of Matt Blood's guy and a reflection of the organization's tastes for what it likes pitchers to do, his first trip around the league will be a test of concept.

[Just Regular]

49 minutes ago, foxfield said:

For me, the idea is to focus on overall performance and not so much on the individuals.  Many of whom should be left in the dust bin by this time next year.  

I kind of see this one the other around, with wins at the major league level not yet being prioritized.

About a third of the roster is mostly a weighted donut on an on-deck circle bat.

Come August if Henderson and Westburg sustain upper minors success, it'll be interesting to see if they get a taste as I feel their Opening Day 2023 effectiveness would be enhanced by seeing some MLB pitching this season.    I don't know if maximizing Opening Day 2023 effectiveness for the MLB Orioles is going to be a concern.    To some extent how Bradish-Adley-Grayson-Hall perform in May-June-July could bear on that.

You can visualize a pretty August 1, 2023 roster with a little money and trading Druw Jones for Justin Verlander*.

*not an actual trade recommendation

[jamalshw]

I am impressed by the pitching. There are still some guys that are just filling spots (Lakins, Fry), but Lopez, Tate, Akin and Perez have all been better than I thought. Krehbiel, Bautista, and Baker are doing well enough, too. The pen looks to have some good options with some others maybe on the way (Vespi, Uvila). I'm feeling much better about the future of the pen given what we've seen this year so far. The rotation has been better than I expected as well. I still expect Watkins to regress and think Lyles with a 4.50 ERA is about what we can expect at best, but Zimmermann has really impressed me and Wells has shown some flashes here and there. Add in Bradish's strong debut and there's some positive signs there, though the end of the year I stil hope to see a rotation of Zimmermann, Bradish, Rodriguez, and Hall with Wells in there if he can prove himself or Lyles if he's not dealt. 

After last year when seemingly every pitcher fell flat on his face, it's nice to see some solid pitching early even if some regression has started and more is likely to come. 

As for the offense, it's been a real disappointment. I get offense is down across the league, but our OF are the only three players with an OPS+ north of 90. Mullins is starting to heat up a bit which is good. Hays has been solid. Santander is hitting reasonably well all considering the offensive landscape as a whole. So far, Urias has been the biggest disappointment and I really need to see more from Mountcastle and Mancini (when he's healthy again). The infield, of course, is dismal. I'd like to see Urias at 2B, Mateo at SS, and Nevin at 3B the vast majority of the games between now and mid-June to see if any of them can get something going as those are the guys I think have the best chances to be something given there aren't many better options in the minors right now. Martin, Bannon and Jones are all not doing well at AAA right now and Vavra is still out. 

[Tony-OH]

Bradish's arrival and success in his first start does make it a little more interesting, but this roster still has too many replacement level or worse players on the roster. The bullpen for the most part has been very good and I really like what I've seen from Akin in the long roll as well as the new additions like Perez, Bautista and Krehbiel. Even Baker has not been too bad although he's been a bit unlucky. Still, as long as you guys like Fry, Lakins, Owings, Odor, and really Nevin on the roster, this team is going to be limited.

When Bemboom is your best pinch runner late in game, you may not have the best roster allocation.

I agree that this team has the potential to get better with the arrival of Rutschman and hopefully Rodriguez and maybe Stowers (if he can get out his funk), but we will need the pitching to find a way to keep itself decent while hoping the offense rights itself.

[Moose Milligan]

9 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Bradish's arrival and success in his first start does make it a little more interesting, but this roster still has too many replacement level or worse players on the roster. The bullpen for the most part has been very good and I really like what I've seen from Akin in the long roll as well as the new additions like Perez, Bautista and Krehbiel. Even Baker has not been too bad although he's been a bit unlucky. Still, as long as you guys like Fry, Lakins, Owings, Odor, and really Nevin on the roster, this team is going to be limited.

When Bemboom is your best pinch runner late in game, you may not have the best roster allocation.

I agree that this team has the potential to get better with the arrival of Rutschman and hopefully Rodriguez and maybe Stowers (if he can get out his funk), but we will need the pitching to find a way to keep itself decent while hoping the offense rights itself.

Nevin is 6 for his last 8!  Come on, Tony, we might have something here!

[spiritof66]

So far, I'm finding this season more enjoyable than last. But that's a low hurdle. And two facts are, I think, hard to argue with: (a) this team stinks, among the four or five worst in MLB, and may turn out to be the very worst once agiain, and (b) the Orioles knew -- hell, everybody knew, even I knew -- that the team was likely to be very weak at 2B, SS and 3B, and they did virtually nothing, and spent virtually nothing, to improve that. They have the lowest payroll in MLB, and only Oakland is close. 

In a lower-scoring environment, games will be closer, and a bad team will still lose a lot of games, but by fewer runs. So you'll see more close games. I think that effect has played a significant role in making this team more watchable, having fewer games seem out of reach of a comeback, and causing me for one to watch the full nine innings of Oriole losses instead of checking out in the middle of a game as an overworked bullpen imploded once again. I'm glad to see that, but I'm not sure how much it means in terms of building a winning team. I think that's what the plan is, right?

[Tony-OH]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Nevin is 6 for his last 8!  Come on, Tony, we might have something here!

Nevin is a replacement level placeholder. He's a line drive hitter without the plus power that you want from your corner infielders. He's made himself into an effective third baseman who can make the routine play, but don't ask him to do much else. Sayin that, I'd have no problem with giveing him regular PAs for awhile to see how he hits up in the big leagues.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

Nevin is a replacement level placeholder. He's a line drive hitter without the plus power that you want from your corner infielders. He's made himself into an effective third baseman who can make the routine play, but don't ask him to do much else. Sayin that, I'd have no problem with giveing him regular PAs for awhile to see how he hits up in the big leagues.

We agree.  I was hoping the sarcasm on my last post came through.

I'm assuming he should hit better than Gutierrez which isn't saying much.

[waroriole]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

We agree.  I was hoping the sarcasm on my last post came through.

I'm assuming he should hit better than Gutierrez which isn't saying much.

So far he has an OPS of .421. Why Hyder is hitting him 5th is baffling to me. 

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, waroriole said:

So far he has an OPS of .421. Why Hyder is hitting him 5th is baffling to me. 

Maybe he's confusing him with his dad (.814 career OPS).

[waroriole]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Maybe he's confusing him with his dad (.814 career OPS).

I think that’s the only reason he’s getting such attention. He’s never hit above A ball, and only had a 2 week hot stretch this year before getting called up. Watching him bat is not impressive either. 
 

Who the hell is he to bat higher than Urias, Mateo, and Odor?

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, waroriole said:

I think that’s the only reason he’s getting such attention. He’s never hit above A ball, and only had a 2 week hot stretch this year before getting called up. Watching him bat is not impressive either. 
 

Who the hell is he to bat higher than Urias, Mateo, and Odor?

Urias has been disappointing so far.  Mateo and Odor are about what I thought they'd be.

Batting Nevin higher than them is really a nothingburger, IMO.