Thoughts on the Last Two Games

[Sports Guy]

This team is built on the idea that the young guys become studs. GRod and Henderson have largely been disappointments and Adley isn’t hitting for enough power. 
 

Yes the years for Hays and Mullins are great and the pen has been stellar but if those 3 guys aren’t playing at high levels (Adley is in some ways of course), this team is hurt by it.

Now, they have been able to play really well so far in spite of those things but the margin for error is thin right now and without our high level guys playing at a superstar level, the margin for error will be thinner and the ceiling won’t be as high.

Getting better players this past offseason was as much about increasing the margin for error more than anything else.

[joelala]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

This team is built on the idea that the young guys become studs. GRod and Henderson have largely been disappointments and Adley isn’t hitting for enough power. 
 

Yes the years for Hays and Mullins are great and the pen has been stellar but if those 3 guys aren’t playing at high levels (Adley is in some ways of course), this team is hurt by it.

Now, they have been able to play really well so far in spite of those things but the margin for error is thin right now and without our high level guys playing at a superstar level, the margin for error will be thinner and the ceiling won’t be as high.

Getting better players this past offseason was as much about increasing the margin for error more than anything else.

Agreed. And while I didn’t like the Frazier signing at the time, it looks like it was a the right call. 

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, joelala said:

Agreed. And while I didn’t like the Frazier signing at the time, it looks like it was a the right call. 

Why does it look like that?  Because he has had a good 2 weeks?

Did it look that way when his OpS was under 700, which it has been for most of the season?

 

[wildcard]

I agree the pitching and hitting needs to improve to be at a playoff level.  Elias has two months to tinker before the deadline.  So tinker.

I think Kremer showed he is part of the answer.   Baker left that 3rd run score.   6.1 inning pitched and 2 run scored is pretty good vs that lineup.

In the first game GRod was not up to the task and  now we get to see what Irvin and maybe Voth can do in the rotation.   Voth did pretty well last season as a starter after he got stretched out.   He had a 2.88 ERA in 12 starts in the 2nd half.

Offense?  If the O's are playing the best teams they need their best lineup in the  game.   Adley catching not McCann and Santander in right opening up DH for another good hitter.    I know Adley can't catch every game but don't expect McCann to hit much.  The offense takes a hit when McCann is catching.

Westburg may be the bat they need.   He can DH and move around the infield and may be even the corner outfield to let others DH.   There are at bats for him if that is what Elias/Hyde want to do.   There may be an adjustment period and there may not be.  Each player is different.  But if there is an adjustment period lets get on with it.   They have two months before the deadline to tinker.

This team with the players they already have may be a 5 run offense and 3 runs allowed even against the best teams.   Lets find out.

Edited May 28, 2023 by wildcard

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Why does it look like that?  Because he has had a good 2 weeks?

Did it look that way when his OpS was under 700, which it has been for most of the season?

 

I don’t want to reargue Frazier, but it’s incorrect that he’s been under .700 most of the season.  He’s been over that for 29 of the 51 games played.  I’ll just leave it there.  I’m not trying to argue a bigger point right now.  

[Sports Guy]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I don’t want to reargue Frazier, but it’s incorrect that he’s been under .700 most of the season.  He’s been over that for 29 of the 51 games played.  I’ll just leave it there.  I’m not trying to argue a bigger point right now.  

Fair enough.  When I last looked, that wasn’t the case 

I’d gladly wager that he ends up under 700 for the season.

[Can_of_corn]

26 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Well played, Sirs. Well played.

Thanks, stuff like that comes with a cost, now I'm going to be getting Supertramp in my youtube suggestions for the next week.

 

[joelala]

13 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Why does it look like that?  Because he has had a good 2 weeks?

Did it look that way when his OpS was under 700, which it has been for most of the season?

 

Because he provides depth and insurance in the event that the young players falter or get injured. He just stepped in for Ortiz and did exactly what he was brought here to do. Who else would you have signed for 8 mil or less? 

[luismatos4prez]

1 hour ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Everytime Y'all right "MOO" I see a cow. And every time Y'all right TOR, I see a Blue Jay.

Then Alek Manoah is both a MOO and a TOR.

[Going Underground]

16 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Thanks, stuff like that comes with a cost, now I'm going to be getting Supertramp in my youtube suggestions for the next week.

 

Fool's Overture is a pretty good song. We must never surrender 

[bpilktree]

Meh.  It is two games I am not gonna worry or get two exited about two games at any point in the season.  We were on pace to win 108 games coming into this series which even the most optimistic fan would seem crazy.  There was a thread started about this tough 25 game stretch and pretty much everyone said that playing around .500 would be accomplishment, we are 12-9 with 4 games left.  The best teams have poor stretches during the season and our good teams recently had 5+ game losing streaks.  
 

The comment that we need to make improvements because other teams will although true they will there is 0% chance we do nothing to try improve this team.  That may mean we make a big trade, a few small trades, or a trade and some promotions to major league team.  There is too many guys in the organization that are major league ready that we need to either trade or see what they can do.  The organization is not going to just leave guys like Westburg, Ortiz, and Cowser down in AAA all season they will either be brought up to improve team full time or a trade will be made with them or other guys to improve the team.  

This team right now can compete with pretty much everyone so if they get in the playoffs they can still make a good run because as people have said they have streaky guys like all teams really.  Mullins has shown he can carry an offense at times, Mountcastle can get  as hot as anyone at times as can Santander.  In the playoffs it comes down to can you make the big outs when runners are on and how you can get runners in to score when you get them on.  Yesterday was an example of that as the 2nd inning we got a hit baseman, and two hits in 4 batters and didn’t score.  A run or two in that inning changes the entire complexion of game.  

[Bemorewins]

3 hours ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

1. If anyone is at all superstitios, then burn those uniforms ASAP. It's not that I don't like them, but we're 0-2 in them. 

2. How them all black unis gonna feel in the summer days of August and September? They gotta be hot right?

3. It is great to know that these performances from our O's have been very few this season. In recent years, the losses the last two nights would have been no big deal and we fans would have just chalked it up as "normal". Look at how far we have come. I expect to win every game now. 

4. We are two players short of a real contender to go deep into the playoffs: a big bat that isn't streaky and a 1 or 2 pitcher that can be counted on. We can make the playoffs as we are now, but we won't go far. Remember, all of the other contenders are going to improve their team at the trade deadline. We gotta keep up if we really want to win this season. This is especially important with Means not coming back and Grayson's performance. 

IMO - Logic and sound rational thinking suggest that the uniforms are irrelevant to performance. The unis didn’t dictate to Grayson to keep throwing center cut pitches to get destroyed. That was ALL on him. 

However, I do agree that they will be very hot and uncomfortable during day games in the Summer. They will probably only be able to wear them at night.

I also agree that we need a pitcher (a real one who can sit in front of our rotation) and have made thoughts known on the subject. 

However, I don’t think we reasonably expect that this front office/disastrous ownership situation will do what it takes to acquire both. And if I had to prioritize one over the other it would be the pitcher. I feel we can compete “as is” with the lineup that we have and the eventual addition of Cowser, etc. But I don’t see a way to realistically winning 3 rounds in the AL playoffs with this pitching staff.

[Mr-splash]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Why does it look like that?  Because he has had a good 2 weeks?

Did it look that way when his OpS was under 700, which it has been for most of the season?

 

Without Frazier we would have went 3-3  against the Yankees and Jay's instead of 5-1.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Mr-splash said:

Without Frazier we would have went 3-3  against the Yankees and Jay's instead of 5-1.

They would have lost even more than that, what with the batting out of order from only having the eight players.

[Bahama O's Fan]

It's easier to go from bad to good than it is togo from good to great. Let's see if Elias can do the second one as well as he has done the first one. 

We have no hitter that other teams fear. There's no "Oh no, this guy is hitting in the ninth" worry by other teams