Hang on just a little bit longer....

[SteveA]

It seems like the common opinion on here and among the fan base is that it's time to give up on the wild card and start thinking just about the future.

I get it, the offense is in a tremendous funk, and we have just had our worst week since May and fallen 5.5 games off the last wild card.   

We are rapidly running out of time and the odds are certainly  getting slim.   

But this team has provided us with a lot of fun this year, I for one am not ready to call it quits yet.   Offensive slumps DO come to an end.   We are still getting damn good pitching.

And the schedule for the next 10 days at least gives us a punchers chance:

   1) This week, we have just two games, against the Nats.   A bad team (though playing better lately) that we have pretty much owned for a long time.   They have only won the season series from us something like 5 of the 17 years they have been around.   Meanwhile, Tampa has to play FIVE games in 4 days vs the Rays, a team that has gone 38-24 since July 1.   Certainly us going 2-0 and Toronto going 2-3 is not out of the question, and that would pull us to within 4 games (3 in the loss column).

   2) This weekend, we play the Jays in Toronto.   If we lose that series, it's over.  But we are still 7-6 against them this year.   I look at that series as a chance to pick up another game, and maybe be within 3 games (2 in the loss column).   If we don't, the writing is on the wall.   But until then, the series is an opportunity.

  3) Next M-T-W, we play 3 with Detroit, while the Jays are on the road in Philly.   Another possibility to pick up at least half a game.   Maybe be within 2.5 games.

You've come this far, give this team one more week.   If we don't take advantage this part of the schedule and get within at least 3.5 games by next Wednesday night, I'll join the rest of you in throwing in the orange towel.    But I'm not going to do it just yet.

[Chelsea_Phil]

It’s over.

[Tony-OH]

I can appreciate the fandom of believing there is still a chance, but not only would the Orioles need to turn it back on like they did in August, but they need the Blue Jays or Rays to crash. 

Does that mean people should stop watching or there won't still be some good moments down the stretch, no way. It's just time for Stowers, Vavra and maybe even Ortiz to get PAs over Aguilar, Odor and perhaps less PAs for Mountcastle and Hays.

[Frobby]

I’m not ruling it out, but I’m not getting my hopes real high.  This last week greatly damaged our chances.  

[JR Oriole]

I definitely appreciate the sentiment. For me though, it is a question of a collective approach at the plate.  Are they going to continue to swing at garbage, try and pull everything, fall behind 0-2, then pop-up or strike out in every other at-bat?  Or are they going to be willing to take walks, advance runners into scoring position even with outs, and be smart about using all fields?  You do not win points for stubbornly sticking to a hitting philosophy that isn't working.  Baseball is a game of adjustments and it is not a sign of weakness if you try new things.  Whether these players are capable of making those adjustments remains to be seen, and maybe they just can't.  Maybe this is the best they can do, which for now is okay.  But it is very hard to get on base when you strike out and very hard to pressure the pitcher when the only guy he ever has to worry about is the man at the plate.  

[Just Regular]

Just like they did on the eve of the Baltimore series last week, they threw an opener on the weekend to get all three of Berrios-Manoah-Gausman into the Monday-Thursday part of the week, but it cost them yesterday and the bullpen had to pitch 8.2 innings in a loss before the big Tampa series.

It is very Tampa-Toronto that tonight in the opener the Rays are pitching a guy they claimed on waivers against Berrios.    Here's rooting for brains over money!

[Chelsea_Phil]

A game like yesterday just kills me. Watching McKenna just totally flopped his bunt attempt by popping it up on the first pitch with a man on first and second and no one out, that’s a gut punch. Then watching Aguilar swing as if he is an 80 year old player Makes you wonder what the heck is going on here. 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Chelsea_Phil

[Sports Guy]

Seems like that DHer against Tor really deflated the team.

 

[Moose Milligan]

I think our chances are on life support.  I mean, anything can happen but even when we were hot we still had a hard time gaining ground on the Jays and Rays.  

I really want to see the last few weeks here be more about playing the younger guys every day and getting to .500 on the season.  

[Gurgi]

Its over.   Elias probably did the right thing by dumping Mancini and Lopez but it hurt.  But what really hurt is he did nothing to improve the team after the trades.   Not bringing up propects just for clock reasons.  We way over played ourselves and looked for a moment like we could get a wild card spot.  But Elias never had that in the plans.  If we were going to get in it would be in spite of the front office.  

It was a fun ride but its over.   Funny thing is next year we could be worse than this year.  Much like the 90 Orioles were a big empty compared to 89.  All it would take is for several of our shock over performing starters to have a crap year.  Throw in some bullpen problems and its quite possible next year the Orioles will be worse.   You never know.  

[spiritof66]

1 hour ago, SteveA said:

It seems like the common opinion on here and among the fan base is that it's time to give up on the wild card and start thinking just about the future.

I get it, the offense is in a tremendous funk, and we have just had our worst week since May and fallen 5.5 games off the last wild card.   

We are rapidly running out of time and the odds are certainly  getting slim.   

But this team has provided us with a lot of fun this year, I for one am not ready to call it quits yet.   Offensive slumps DO come to an end.   We are still getting damn good pitching.

And the schedule for the next 10 days at least gives us a punchers chance:

   1) This week, we have just two games, against the Nats.   A bad team (though playing better lately) that we have pretty much owned for a long time.   They have only won the season series from us something like 5 of the 17 years they have been around.   Meanwhile, Tampa has to play FIVE games in 4 days vs the Rays, a team that has gone 38-24 since July 1.   Certainly us going 2-0 and Toronto going 2-3 is not out of the question, and that would pull us to within 4 games (3 in the loss column).

   2) This weekend, we play the Jays in Toronto.   If we lose that series, it's over.  But we are still 7-6 against them this year.   I look at that series as a chance to pick up another game, and maybe be within 3 games (2 in the loss column).   If we don't, the writing is on the wall.   But until then, the series is an opportunity.

  3) Next M-T-W, we play 3 with Detroit, while the Jays are on the road in Philly.   Another possibility to pick up at least half a game.   Maybe be within 2.5 games.

You've come this far, give this team one more week.   If we don't take advantage this part of the schedule and get within at least 3.5 games by next Wednesday night, I'll join the rest of you in throwing in the orange towel.    But I'm not going to do it just yet.

Thanks. I come out in pretty much the same place, but get there differently.

A few weeks ago I stopped looking at the WC contenders' remaining schedules in detail. I have been assuming that the Orioles still have a shot, and I will continue doing that for a while, because it makes watching the games more fun. Of course, it also means getting worked up over losses in games that seemed winnable like yesterday's, when a more rational analysis might lead to the conclusion that those losses don't matter much. 

[maybenxtyr]

38 minutes ago, Gurgi said:

Its over.   Elias probably did the right thing by dumping Mancini and Lopez but it hurt.  But what really hurt is he did nothing to improve the team after the trades.   Not bringing up propects just for clock reasons.  We way over played ourselves and looked for a moment like we could get a wild card spot.  But Elias never had that in the plans.  If we were going to get in it would be in spite of the front office.  

It was a fun ride but its over.   Funny thing is next year we could be worse than this year.  Much like the 90 Orioles were a big empty compared to 89.  All it would take is for several of our shock over performing starters to have a crap year.  Throw in some bullpen problems and its quite possible next year the Orioles will be worse.   You never know.  

Anything is possible as this season has shown, but I really expect them to not be as good next year. Obviously opinions can change depending on what moves are made this off season. 

 

I think they've played far better on the field this year than the on paper team looked. I hate using the word "luck" to describe them, but they've been very fortunate with some of the performances kinda out of nowhere. Either way it should be an interesting winter.

[JR Oriole]

A friend of mine said the same thing yesterday: "You know, the Os could be worse next year."  While that is certainly true, it will be sad if it ends up that way.  While we may have been "ahead of schedule" this year, it is somewhat amazing to think that a 4th place finish after these truly brutal years is considered ahead of schedule.  And to be worse next year would be pretty demoralizing not only for the fanbase but also for the young players who we think really will be a part of our next good team.

The Braves went through a rebuild in the mid 2010s.  They lost 95, 93, and 90 games from 2015 - 2017.  And they have been great ever since.  And while I am sure many of us feel that our starting point as an organization was much worse than theirs, there is no reason a rebuild has to take 6 - 8 years or must have over 100 losses a year or requires a bare minimum major league payroll.  

At some point, I have to think even the most patient fans in our base will get tired of saying that in (insert current year + 2), we can then expect to legitimately be competing for a playoff berth. Although it is on fumes, we are competing for one now. For me at least, it is okay to finally raise the bar of expectations for this organization to do something substantial to help the major league team in the offseason.  

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Seems like that DHer against Tor really deflated the team.

 

Or, they just had a bad week.   It happens. 

[RZNJ]

We might win more games looking to the future anyway.