2023 Ongoing Lineup Thread

[Os4days]

20 minutes ago, Alasdaire said:

How does Cowser look overmatched? He's just watching the ball mostly. It's extremely similar to what Gunnar, his best friend, did to start the year. The same .200+ difference between his BA and OBP. It's not an optimal outcome, but it beats being swinging and missing every time because you're fooled by big league pitchers. And like Gunnar, I expect he'll take the bat off of his shoulder when he gets a better feel.

I said he looks overmatched RIGHT NOW. I didn’t know that being BBFs with Gunnar automatically will make him a big league hitter. 

Take the blinders off and look at his second at bat where Hicks was on third with less than 2 outs. All he needed was to just put the ball in play. He was very late on mid 90 fastballs, swung at a couple 2 strike pitches that were completely out of the zone and then “the bat on his shoulder on a pitch that caught the inside strike zone. You can’t take a close pitch for a called 3rd strike in that situation. 

[Alasdaire]

2 minutes ago, Os4days said:

I said he looks overmatched RIGHT NOW. I didn’t know that being BBFs with Gunnar automatically will make him a big league hitter. 

Take the blinders off and look at his second at bat where Hicks was on third with less than 2 outs. All he needed was to just put the ball in play. He was very late on mid 90 fastballs, swung at a couple 2 strike pitches that were completely out of the zone and then “the bat on his shoulder on a pitch that caught the inside strike zone. You can’t take a close pitch for a called 3rd strike in that situation. 

And all I did was ask you WHY.

Color me unsurprised that a rookie doesn't look evenly matched against MLB pitchers on the Yankees, Marlins, and Dodgers. If your expectations are otherwise, then maybe you should recalibrate your expectations.

Given that the Colton seems to be following the model that has worked out quite well for Gunnar and that the alternative is to swing and miss wildly, there's not much to be done or concerned about RIGHT NOW.

[Os4days]

 

16 minutes ago, Alasdaire said:

And all I did was ask you WHY.

Color me unsurprised that a rookie doesn't look evenly matched against MLB pitchers on the Yankees, Marlins, and Dodgers. If your expectations are otherwise, then maybe you should recalibrate your expectations.

Given that the Colton seems to be following the model that has worked out quite well for Gunnar and that the alternative is to swing and miss wildly, there's not much to be done or concerned about RIGHT NOW.

You’re assumption is that Cowser will follow in the footsteps of Gunnar but he easily could follow in the footsteps of Stowers. I’m just saying there’s no assurance he will succeed at this level. I hope he does as an Orioles fan. 
 

I simply pointed out my opinion. My expectations for both Cowser and Westburg are fairly low given they are getting their first experience in the majors. However it doesn’t match up with us trying to get into the playoffs and beyond this year. 
 

Look I’m fairly disappointed with the last 2 games especially tonight being on national television (baseball fans could see us as a real contender) and since a couple wins could have put us in first place!

Edited July 19, 2023 by Os4days

[banks703]

8 minutes ago, Os4days said:

 

You’re assumption is that Cowser will follow in the footsteps of Gunnar but he easily could follow in the footsteps of Stowers. I’m just saying there’s no assurance he will succeed at this level. I hope he does as an Orioles fan. 
 

I simply pointed out my opinion. My expectations for both Cowser and Westburg are fairly low given they are getting their first experience in the majors. However it doesn’t match up with us trying to get into the playoffs and beyond this year. 
 

Look I’m fairly disappointed with the last 2 games especially tonight being on national television (baseball fans could see us as a real contender) and since a couple wins could have put us in first place!

Cowser has taken time to adjust to new levels. That’s been pretty well documented. It took Adley 15 games or so to get it going last year. It took Gunnar two months or so this year. You want Cowser’s bat for the stretch. Management felt like the time was right to acclimate him. Let’s look at where he is in three weeks or a month and worry then if he’s not adjusting. It’s easy to forget that he is in fact a rookie with less than ten games to his major league career. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by banks703

[maybenxtyr]

9 minutes ago, Os4days said:

 

You’re assumption is that Cowser will follow in the footsteps of Gunnar but he easily could follow in the footsteps of Stowers. I’m just saying there’s no assurance he will succeed at this level. I hope he does as an Orioles fan. 
 

I simply pointed out my opinion. My expectations for both Cowser and Westburg are fairly low given they are getting their first experience in the majors. However it doesn’t match up with us trying to get into the playoffs and beyond this year. 
 

Look I’m fairly disappointed with the last 2 games especially tonight being on national television (baseball fans could see us as a real contender) and since a couple wins could have put us in first place!

They're 20 games over .500 after 94 games. 8-2 in their last 10. 3 weeks ago everyone thought they were falling apart, and here they are 20 games over. 

 

Cowser, Westburg and all of the other rookies and young guys are going to take some lumps. It's just baseball. The odds are that a few of them will never achieve what the expectations are for them. I thought they would be somewhere around the record from last season and so far they're proving me quite wrong. 2023 is important, but what they're doing goes beyond just this year. That's my thoughts anyways. 

[Alasdaire]

29 minutes ago, Os4days said:

 

You’re assumption is that Cowser will follow in the footsteps of Gunnar but he easily could follow in the footsteps of Stowers. I’m just saying there’s no assurance he will succeed at this level. I hope he does as an Orioles fan. 
 

I simply pointed out my opinion. My expectations for both Cowser and Westburg are fairly low given they are getting their first experience in the majors. However it doesn’t match up with us trying to get into the playoffs and beyond this year. 
 

Look I’m fairly disappointed with the last 2 games especially tonight being on national television (baseball fans could see us as a real contender) and since a couple wins could have put us in first place!

I understand being frustrated after a loss. But that doesn't meany anything has to be done or anyone has to be blamed. This is just the pace of things. Rome wasn't built in a day.

From my perspective, we've been winning far more games than we've lost for over a year now, we have an embarrassment of riches to still look forward to calling up, and the team is likable and well-liked. Not sure how much more I can reasonably ask for as a sports fan without setting myself up for perennial frustration.

[Billy F-Face3]

For this afternoon's game, I think it's time to shake things up and try a different infield with a different batting order. I think we should give Adley and total day off and let James McCann catch today. We get to face a LHP in Urias so I would start Mountcastle at 1st base and maybe even let Mateo play shortstop to try and fix the defensive problems we have experienced the past 2 games. Mateo is better against lefties than he is righties. 

[Billy F-Face3]

I like it...

 

1HaysLF	.308	9	36	2
2SantanderRF	.273	17	54	3
3Mountcastle1B	.234	11	41	2
4Hicks, ACF	.235	7	24	3
5Westburg2B	.259	0	6	0
6HendersonDH	.246	14	40	5
7Urías, R3B	.257	4	30	3
8McCannC	.189	3	8	1
9MateoSS	.216	6	29	22

[Billy F-Face3]

I'll try to clean that up for better viewing...   1Hays               LF
2Santander      RF
3Mountcastle  1B
4Hicks, A         CF
5Westburg      2B
6Henderson    DH
7Urías, R          3B
8McCann         C
9Mateo            SS

[LA2]

Management has seemed to come around to the idea that Adley needs complete days off, rather than just DH days. Handy to have a switch-hitter like him to come off the bench for a crucial pinch-hit though.

[forphase1]

1 hour ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

I like it...

 

1HaysLF	.308	9	36	2
2SantanderRF	.273	17	54	3
3Mountcastle1B	.234	11	41	2
4Hicks, ACF	.235	7	24	3
5Westburg2B	.259	0	6	0
6HendersonDH	.246	14	40	5
7Urías, R3B	.257	4	30	3
8McCannC	.189	3	8	1
9MateoSS	.216	6	29	22

Mountcastle, McCann and Mateo?  PUKE!

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Just now, forphase1 said:

Mountcastle, McCann and Mateo?  PUKE!

 

Yeah pretty yikes.

It's a lefty on the mound, at least. 

[banks703]

3 minutes ago, forphase1 said:

Mountcastle, McCann and Mateo?  PUKE!

 

If they chase Urias (this is his 5th start since coming back from the IL) then they have O'Hearn, Adley, Cowser and Frazier as LH options for pinch hit situations, though I would imagine that Adley is probably only called upon in an extreme situation. 

 

KC and STL got to Urias in his first two starts back from the IL with their righties doing almost all of the damage in both games (6 ER to STL and 5 ER to KC). 

 

The overall Average Against and OBPA is slightly higher for righties. Slugging is higher for lefties, which is surprising. The big thing is that he's thrown to more righty batters on the road (more than three times as many) and the average against, OBP, slugging and wOBA are all SIGNIFICANTLY higher on the road. All of this to say that on the road, righties have had a lot of success against him so far this year. 

 

The righty heavy lineup is the right lineup today.

 

[forphase1]

12 minutes ago, banks703 said:

If they chase Urias (this is his 5th start since coming back from the IL) then they have O'Hearn, Adley, Cowser and Frazier as LH options for pinch hit situations, though I would imagine that Adley is probably only called upon in an extreme situation. 

 

KC and STL got to Urias in his first two starts back from the IL with their righties doing almost all of the damage in both games (6 ER to STL and 5 ER to KC). 

 

The overall Average Against and OBPA is slightly higher for righties. Slugging is higher for lefties, which is surprising. The big thing is that he's thrown to more righty batters on the road (more than three times as many) and the average against, OBP, slugging and wOBA are all SIGNIFICANTLY higher on the road. All of this to say that on the road, righties have had a lot of success against him so far this year. 

 

The righty heavy lineup is the right lineup today.

 

I'm not sure that EVER having both Mateo and McCann in the same lineup is the 'right lineup', regardless of the pitchers splits.  On the days when Adley needs a break don't also have Mateo in the lineup.  That's 2 pretty much automatic outs back to back.  

[banks703]

8 minutes ago, forphase1 said:

I'm not sure that EVER having both Mateo and McCann in the same lineup is the 'right lineup', regardless of the pitchers splits.  On the days when Adley needs a break don't also have Mateo in the lineup.  That's 2 pretty much automatic outs back to back.  

I agree with this but Adley needs days off and they weren't going to start Mateo yesterday against a righty. Could they have done a better job managing the days off for Adley so that they aren't forced to put out the B lineup in game 3 of this series? Yes, of course but historically McCann hits lefties better than righties and his defense this year has been really good behind the plate. I would go as far as saying that it (at least his throwing out runners) has been on par/better than has Adley's of late. 

They're going righty heavy to start the game against a lefty pitcher who has really struggled on the road against righty batters. I can live with McCann in the lineup for a day game before they need Adley for all four games at Tampa this weekend.