Overall 3-3 in the first away road trip not too bad

[Tony-OH]

When looked at holistically, you can't be too upset with going 3-3 (Yes, we all knw we should be 4-2) on the road road trip of the season against two pretty decent teams. 

Can't really draw too many conclusions after six games, but the one thing that I was worried about coming into the season and has not been good was the bullpen. Outside of Bautista and maybe Perez, not sure there's another guy out there that you feel good about on the mound. More like if they make it through an inning unscathed I'm happy. Baker had a nice inning today finally but it was low leverage. Raise your hand if you want any right-hander not named Bautista in the bullpen pitching in high leverage late in games.

Offensively the Orioles were inconsistent, hitting poorly in two of three games against Texas but well in all three games in Boston where EVERYONE hit well.

Only Adam Frazier seemed pretty consistent a the plate when he played. After going 6-for-6 to start off the year, Rutschman has gone cold going 2-for his last-21. Gunnar finally got his only two hits of the season in the 2nd game of the series against the Rangers, but overall has struck out 8 times in 21 PAs and has only been saved by his 6 walks drawn. 

Santander and Vavra haven't hit much so far, but that hasn't meant any more playing time for Kyle Stowers, who has as many starts this year as Anthony Bemboom. As I said in the other thread, they should send him down to play everyday bring up a guy like Josh Lester or O Hearn to be the 26th man on this team. Stowers gains no value and brings no value being your 26th man/5th outfielder.

The rotation was bad in Boston but really good in Texas (I'll count Wells as a "starter" after coming in after the Bradish injury). Grayson had a tough 1st inning of his major league career but settled down to up allowing just those two runs over five innings. 

Now back home for the home opener Friday against the Yankees. The bullpen should be fresh and the weather looks good overall so hopefully they can put some good games together. 

I expect Kremer to be better than he was in Boston, though the Yankees have a pretty good damn lineup and have traditionally played well in Camden Yards. If the Orioles can find a way to pull off 2 of 3 against the Yankees this weekend, they'll officially be off to a good start for the season.

 

[Bahama O's Fan]

The difference this season is that I expect us to win. That is major. 

[Going Underground]

Way too early to make any judgements.Piratea are 4-2 ,also all away games.  Swept the Red Sox at Fenway and held them to one run in each of their last two games  The Orioles schedule after the Yankees is easier on paper.

The Rays are 6-0 .They have played the Tigers, Nationals and next up the amazing A's.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Going Underground

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

When looked at holistically, you can't be too upset with going 3-3 (Yes, we all knw we should be 4-2) on the road road trip of the season against two pretty decent teams. 

Can't really draw too many conclusions after six games, but the one thing that I was worried about coming into the season and has not been good was the bullpen. Outside of Bautista and maybe Perez, not sure there's another guy out there that you feel good about on the mound. More like if they make it through an inning unscathed I'm happy. Baker had a nice inning today finally but it was low leverage. Raise your hand if you want any right-hander not named Bautista in the bullpen pitching in high leverage late in games.

Offensively the Orioles were inconsistent, hitting poorly in two of three games against Texas but well in all three games in Boston where EVERYONE hit well.

Only Adam Frazier seemed pretty consistent a the plate when he played. After going 6-for-6 to start off the year, Rutschman has gone cold going 2-for his last-21. Gunnar finally got his only two hits of the season in the 2nd game of the series against the Rangers, but overall has struck out 8 times in 21 PAs and has only been saved by his 6 walks drawn. 

Santander and Vavra haven't hit much so far, but that hasn't meant any more playing time for Kyle Stowers, who has as many starts this year as Anthony Bemboom. As I said in the other thread, they should send him down to play everyday bring up a guy like Josh Lester or O Hearn to be the 26th man on this team. Stowers gains no value and brings no value being your 26th man/5th outfielder.

The rotation was bad in Boston but really good in Texas (I'll count Wells as a "starter" after coming in after the Bradish injury). Grayson had a tough 1st inning of his major league career but settled down to up allowing just those two runs over five innings. 

Now back home for the home opener Friday against the Yankees. The bullpen should be fresh and the weather looks good overall so hopefully they can put some good games together. 

I expect Kremer to be better than he was in Boston, though the Yankees have a pretty good damn lineup and have traditionally played well in Camden Yards. If the Orioles can find a way to pull off 2 of 3 against the Yankees this weekend, they'll officially be off to a good start for the season.

 

You forgot Slugger Mateo who also is tied for the lead in steals.

And now the O's have 6 starters.   So every 15 days they have to take turns going on the IL.

Going to be interesting to see how 3rd base turns out.   Gunnar has a great arm but it does not appear to be near as accurate as Urias.   Both hit a little but need to do more.

All those posters that said Frazier would get off to a great start were right.

Hyde should stop bringing Akin in with runners on.    He will let them score but keep is ERA at 0.00.

Edited April 5, 2023 by wildcard

[spleen1015]

26 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Way too early to make any judgements.Piratea are 4-2 ,also all away games.  Swept the Red Sox at Fenway and held them to one run in each of their last two games  The Orioles schedule after the Yankees is easier on paper.

The Rays are 6-0 .They have played the Tigers, Nationals and next up the amazing A's.

They do have Jesus Aguilar who went deep today. They are in trouble.

[jdwilde1]

My early take away is that Cedric’s off-season adjustments to facing LHP paid off.  

[AlbNYfan]

Gunnar has to learn to eat the ball on plays he has no chance.  He has a great arm but has to learn when not to use it. Who gave Adley the steal sign in the fifth on Santander's 3-2 pitch?? I don't want him injured on the base paths. That play had little chance of succeeding (close to zero IMO) and just adds wear and tear to his body.

[sportsfan8703]

What is Givens and Tate’s expected return date?  We’re in serious trouble in MR/SU until then. 

[Going Underground]

12 hours ago, spleen1015 said:

They do have Jesus Aguilar who went deep today. They are in trouble.

Attendance wise in trouble also. 4,930 for the day game yesterday. 

[btdart20]

3-3 is realistic but feels like a consolation prize.  We've faced middle tier teams with low playoff probability.  If we're a playoff team, then we need to be beating them more times than not.

IFs need to clean up their transitions, decisions, and throws.  29th in team errors and fielding %.  I know those aren't perfect stats, but they say enough about our defensive issues on the more routine plays.  I expect that's a fluky thing and we'll move toward the top half over time.

If our ERA was closer to our FIP, I suspect we would have been 4-2 or 5-1 on the road trip.  24th in team ERA doesn't cut it.  But 17th in team FIP gives hope for better games ahead.  11th in WHIP.  19th in K9 and 3rd in BB9.  The highwater mark for total BBs is a tie between Irvin and Baumann with 2 each.  Irvin especially was extremely unlucky with the soft hits too.  All of their games have been played in hitters' parks.  I think the rotation will be ok.  Bullpen still needs someone to step up.  

Will the real players please stand up?  We've got an unexpected bat (Mateo) doing some heavy lifting now.  A few expected bats doing some good things too (Mullins, Mountcastle).  A few who straddle the line having great at bats (Hays, Frazier).  But we've got some MOO bats who've been pretty quiet (Santander, Gunnar) with 1 RBI each.  Feels like there's enough upside to counter any down turns from others.

[Aristotelian]

Solid trip for sure. A bit of a letdown since we were one dropped pop up from a series win in Boston, and we got to the Texas bullpen tied against Degrom. The odds of losing both those games has to be under 1% but we did. 

Hard to tell from small samples. The biggest eye test takeaways are Mateo swinging a hot bat and Grayson having a successful debut. Frazier looks like a solid pickup. 

Voth may be in trouble. Poor spring and two shaky appearances to start. Was DFA'd by one organization so the track record is marginal. Looks like the regression could be even more than we hoped. Baker also looks shaky after a shaky spring. A lot of us were hoping he might take a Big Leap this year but looks like that's not gonna happen. 

[Frobby]

I was happy with how the team bounced back in Texas.  The sting of game 2 in Boston still lingers for me, but the team quickly moved past it and it didn’t cause a tailspin.  I’d rather be 4-2,  but 3-3 on the road is never too bad.

The team hasn’t been completely consistent in any phase of the game, but overall I’d say more bright spots than dark ones.   I feel like the approach at the plate has been better, even if the bats did cool a little in Texas.   

[oriole]

It’s always fun when comparing expectations to what actually ends up happening. Mateo and Frazier the hot bats, Henderson and Santander cold? I’d have never thought I’d be saying that.  

[MarCakes21]

2 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

What is Givens and Tate’s expected return date?  We’re in serious trouble in MR/SU until then. 

This is key, might need it's own thread if anyone knows anything.

[SteveA]

2 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

What is Givens and Tate’s expected return date?  We’re in serious trouble in MR/SU until then. 

I have a feeling we don't see Tate in 2023.  The injury occurred in November and was kept quiet all winter and there hasn't been a single update since the first day of camp.  And it's forearm soreness, which unfortunately is often a precursor to Tommy John surgery if rest doesn't work.

As for Givens, I wouldn't expect it to be too long.  It's a knee injury, and they thought it had healed well enough for him to try to pitch last Sunday (26th).  Turns out it hadn't, it hurt too much and he had to give up after ten pitches and threw his glove down in frustration.  But the fact that they thought it was healed enough to give it a try 11 days ago means that he is probably very close by now.  I'd be surprised if we don't hear good news such as starting a minor league rehab assignment in the next few days.