Are the O's turning a corner?

[Jammer7]

Maybe, one corner turned with several more to go. There are several reasons to be optimistic, sure, even if it is only a month. Starting with recognizing Roughned Odor. He has had a great recent stretch of games. If he keeps this up through September, I will order a double helping of crow.

Now, as wrong as I was about Odor (and Gutierrez), I hoped Mateo would be the player at SS he has been. He has been really fun to watch. The defense up the middle has been really good. Mateo and Odor have been a great tandem turning double plays. As Wildcard said, the infield will make some errors. They will also turn in some magnificent plays. Both are hitting the ball hard as well, and recently starting to fall or get over the wall.

Hays, Mullins and Santander have been great in the OF. Hays’ throw to nail Larnach at the plate, just wow! The offensive output from these three has also been fun to see. Santander and Hays have made better swing decisions and it has been paying off. I still do not like how much Hays dives in and tries to pull the ball, but so far he is thriving.

The pen and the rotation have been much better than anyone expected, especially with the loss of Means, and the trades of Scott and Sulser. Some great posts already covered that in this thread.

So, now what do we expect the remainder of the season? Adley soon, Grayson a little later, DL Hall by the end of June? Maybe Stowers somewhere around mid-summer. Maybe a few others if injuries happen. 

What about things like injuries, trades? I know most of us are waiting for the usual injury bug to bite the usual victims. Are guys like Santander, Hays and Mateo going to stay healthy? Can the rotation stay healthy? Those are big questions, and only time will tell. It would be nice if the above group stays healthy and is able to establish themselves completely as the players they have shown glimpses of. 

As far as trades go, I would suspect there will be some. Mancini, Santander, Odor, Lyles and Fry seem like the probable candidates. My hope is that the trades are made with the present and future in mind. Acquire some players that will help us win in the remainder of 2022 and beyond. 

[Sports Guy]

Let’s not forget that after the no no last year, the Os were 15-16.  

There is no need to try and talk yourself into anything that’s not there.

There were positive signs last year too and things to potentially build on but at the end of the day, the team was still bad.  I didn’t feel last years team was as bad as their record and I feel this team wins 65ish games, so in that way I guess you can argue the corner is being turned but I don’t think that’s a good argument.

 

[VICIOUS]

On 5/6/2022 at 8:13 PM, OriolesMagic83 said:

You and I might, but would Elias.  Kershaw would be perfect if he could be persuaded to leave the Dodgers.  The Dodgers are paying him a mere $17 million.  Obviously he could have gotten much more on the open market.  Would he even be tempted by the O's offering say $25 million vs. his Dodger legacy and $17 million?

No

 

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

Odor doing his best to make sure we don’t turn the corner. Astute signing Elias. Great job with Owings too. We could have signed Chris Archer? Zach Greinke. Anyone with some value. 

[Moose Milligan]

Maybe.

I wonder how much of the pitching success we're seeing is due to having a dead ball now.  Granted, everyone else has a dead ball, too, so it's a level playing field.  

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't encouraged by how they've played so far.  

Gotta get Adley and G-Rod up.  See how this team is doing in July and then we'll see.  

[Jagwar]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Maybe.

I wonder how much of the pitching success we're seeing is due to having a dead ball now.  Granted, everyone else has a dead ball, too, so it's a level playing field.  

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't encouraged by how they've played so far.  

Gotta get Adley and G-Rod up.  See how this team is doing in July and then we'll see.  

The 7-8-9 spots in the order seem to be a black hole to me. Perhaps that gets mitigated when Rutschman arrives.

Honestly, I just want good reasons to watch the team until true competitiveness arrives.   

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

12 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Maybe.

I wonder how much of the pitching success we're seeing is due to having a dead ball now.  Granted, everyone else has a dead ball, too, so it's a level playing field.  

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't encouraged by how they've played so far.  

Gotta get Adley and G-Rod up.  See how this team is doing in July and then we'll see.  

Deadball combined with the new cavernous left field at OPACY. I do think the pitching is improved, but it'a got an assist from a deader ball and larger home left field. 

[seak05]

I think the Orioles are turning a corner in that we're starting to see more of the young players show their talent. It's also a good reminder that young players, even talented ones. generally need an adjustment period before they start having big league success. 

I hope the Orioles spend some more money next offseason, but I don't expect the payroll to suddenly jump to 150 million, so you prioritize needs. I would prefer money spent on infielders, and maybe a secondary SP, rather then trying to throw 25m at one aging SP

[Just Regular]

The AL's run differential Bottom Five a month along:

OAK -17, BAL -21, BOS -23, DET -32, KC -39

OAK fading since hot start.   Who gets to wear the chain for best terrible team in the League?   

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Jagwar said:

The 7-8-9 spots in the order seem to be a black hole to me. Perhaps that gets mitigated when Rutschman arrives.

Honestly, I just want good reasons to watch the team until true competitiveness arrives.   

Maybe you should watch or you could miss it.   OPS in May:

Mountcastle   1022

Mullins 989

Hays 971

Odor 840

Mancini 829

Mateo 807

Nevin 800

Urias 780 

That black hole may not be as bad as you think.

 

 

 

 

[bpilktree]

4 hours ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

Odor doing his best to make sure we don’t turn the corner. Astute signing Elias. Great job with Owings too. We could have signed Chris Archer? Zach Greinke. Anyone with some value. 

What would Archer, Greinke done besides cost us millions of dollars more this season.  This team doesn’t care about record they just want to see improvements from the core guys that are the future which for most part we are seeing.  The offense is being led by Hays, Mullins, Mountcastle, Mateo, Santander, and Mancini.  Those are all important guys for our future either as a player down the road or a guy we can move sometime in the next 18 months.  If we were 16-12 and were being carried by guys like Odor, Chirinos, Gutierrez and whoever else has no future here or trade value, meanwhile the guys we hope our the future struggle we would be in a worse position then we are now at 11-17.   Right now we are winning games because of a strong young core however we still have some major holes with guys that won’t be here next season and why our record isn’t better because you have those automatic outs in a lineup.  

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

30 minutes ago, bpilktree said:

What would Archer, Greinke done besides cost us millions of dollars more this season.  This team doesn’t care about record they just want to see improvements from the core guys that are the future which for most part we are seeing.  The offense is being led by Hays, Mullins, Mountcastle, Mateo, Santander, and Mancini.  Those are all important guys for our future either as a player down the road or a guy we can move sometime in the next 18 months.  If we were 16-12 and were being carried by guys like Odor, Chirinos, Gutierrez and whoever else has no future here or trade value, meanwhile the guys we hope our the future struggle we would be in a worse position then we are now at 11-17.   Right now we are winning games because of a strong young core however we still have some major holes with guys that won’t be here next season and why our record isn’t better because you have those automatic outs in a lineup.  

Becausing winning & trying are important in sports. Fans feel disrespected. He gave Lyles 7 million! To eat innings! Archer & similar much less. Cueto signed a mil deal. Both would have helped mentor our staff instead of a guy sharing pain killers. If money is so important, why is Odor here? He stinks and will never have trade value. I’d rather Have a solid defensive infield with Gutierrez, Mateo & Urias. Odor has how many errors? He does t even play every day! The decisions being made make little sense. As we witnessed from Bucks, setting a winning culture is important, that’s why.

[Moshagge3]

12 minutes ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

Becausing winning & trying are important in sports. Fans feel disrespected. He gave Lyles 7 million! To eat innings! Archer & similar much less. Cueto signed a mil deal. Both would have helped mentor our staff instead of a guy sharing pain killers. If money is so important, why is Odor here? He stinks and will never have trade value. I’d rather Have a solid defensive infield with Gutierrez, Mateo & Urias. Odor has how many errors? He does t even play every day! The decisions being made make little sense. As we witnessed from Bucks, setting a winning culture is important, that’s why.

Johnny Cueto has a 6.00 ERA at AAA. Archer's been all right, but he has a 5.77 FIP and is averaging four innings a start. 

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

34 minutes ago, Moshagge3 said:

Johnny Cueto has a 6.00 ERA at AAA. Archer's been all right, but he has a 5.77 FIP and is averaging four innings a start. 

Hindsight. But both were worthwhile low risk gambles. Many more like this that would va e helped move us forward, albeit incrementally. 

[Sports Guy]

7 hours ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

Hindsight. But both were worthwhile low risk gambles. Many more like this that would va e helped move us forward, albeit incrementally. 

Hindsight?  When was the last time either were effective MLers iver a full season?

I know Cueto was ok last year in part of a season, pitching in a great pitchers park but I’m talking about over a full seasons worth of starts.  It’s a been a while for both, as they have battled injuries and ineffectiveness.