Are we the worst team in the A.L. East?

[OldNewGuy]

The O's begin an interesting four team series against the same teams (A's, Senators, & Tigers) with the WSox thrown in between. The Rays went 9-0 against them. Is 8-1 or 7-2 enough to hang with the Rays? So much for the balanced schedule if one doesn't beat up on the bad teams.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, OldNewGuy said:

The O's begin an interesting four team series against the same teams (A's, Senators, & Tigers) with the WSox thrown in between. The Rays went 9-0 against them. Is 8-1 or 7-2 enough to hang with the Rays? So much for the balanced schedule if one doesn't beat up on the bad teams.

I think expecting 8-1 or 7-2 against these teams is probably setting one up for disappointment.  We can’t control what the Rays do, but I’m sure they’ll have stretches of not playing well this year, as all teams eventually do.

My personal bogey is 90 wins.  Do that, and you almost certainly make the playoffs in the current format.  You might get there with 86 wins like Tampa did last year, but I wouldn’t bank on that.  Under 90 and you’re at risk.  So when I follow the O’s, I’m shooting for a 90-win pace and not worrying about other teams until late in the season.  

[ledzepp8]

Who really knows? We certainly didn’t hit well against the Yankees but it’s not like we got destroyed as in years past. 

[Frobby]

Babe Ruth, er, I mean Adam Duvall broke his wrist and is out for several months.  So, we won’t have to figure out whether and how to pitch him when the Red Sox visit in two weeks.  But after that, our remaining 7 games with the Sox are all in September, by which time he should be back.  

[Going Underground]

19 hours ago, Frobby said:

I think expecting 8-1 or 7-2 against these teams is probably setting one up for disappointment.  We can’t control what the Rays do, but I’m sure they’ll have stretches of not playing well this year, as all teams eventually do.

My personal bogey is 90 wins.  Do that, and you almost certainly make the playoffs in the current format.  You might get there with 86 wins like Tampa did last year, but I wouldn’t bank on that.  Under 90 and you’re at risk.  So when I follow the O’s, I’m shooting for a 90-win pace and not worrying about other teams until late in the season.  

12 games still left against the Tigers,A's and Nationals this month.Tim Anderson out when we play the White Sox. Then beginning of the month of May the Royals.Should have a decent record by then but the schedule gets harder.

[Bahama O's Fan]

I am really hoping that we improve as the season progresses. The young players (Adley, Henderson and maybe others) get more playing time and adjust better. Grayson develops more and perhaps stays up. Means comes back and is at least serviceable at the end of the year. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Too early to say and I expect this team to improve over the course of the season. Even if the Orioles end up being the worst team in the AL East they could still finish above .500 thanks to the balanced schedule coming back this season.

[glenn__davis]

12 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Too early to say and I expect this team to improve over the course of the season. Even if the Orioles end up being the worst team in the AL East they could still finish above .500 thanks to the balanced schedule coming back this season.

Not a balanced schedule.  This seems to be a repeated misunderstanding.  It is "less unbalanced" but we still the play our division rivals more than we play everyone else.

[NCRaven]

I lean toward the standard Fangraphs answers to almost any question at this point in the season:

1.  April

2.  Only 10 games

[maybenxtyr]

3 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

I lean toward the standard Fangraphs answers to almost any question at this point in the season:

1.  April

2.  Only 10 games

I agree. Let's wait until Memorial day before we make to many proclamations.

[JR Oriole]

2 hours ago, glenn__davis said:

Not a balanced schedule.  This seems to be a repeated misunderstanding.  It is "less unbalanced" but we still the play our division rivals more than we play everyone else.

Very true. The fact that we only have to play them each I think 13 times instead of 19 is so great, it feels balanced. I love knowing we still have 152 games left and only have to go to Fenway for one more trip this year and only have to see the Yankees own us in our own park one more time.  

[sportsfan8703]

Best team in AL East*