And so itbegins

[Flash- bd]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Yea I agree. I have been saying this all year. People act like DH’ing is a day off. It’s not. 

Isn't it?

I dunno, maybe I just don't know enough about the nit and gritty of baseball--mean this genuinely--but soccer players play 90 minutes of pure exertion every 3 days, and train at high levels in between...why isn't sitting in the dugout all game long, doing BP, and going up to hit 4 times basically a day off? I don't see how that can really be tracked with wear and tear, but maybe there is something I don't understand here. 

[EddeeEddee]

I'm definitely more concerned about the pitching.  I'm not sure the team has a realistic strategy when it comes to improving the pitching on this team.  There's just not enough depth of promising pitchers, partly due to this team preferring to draft top position player prospects, but also no bold trades to get a Pablo Lopez type pitcher.  And obviously there's an avoidance of higher tier pitching free agents, which goes way back.  Even if Grayson Rodriguez were pitching great right now we'd still be concerned with the lack of depth when other young pitchers struggle, or someone like John Means has a setback, or someone else goes down with an injury.

On the hitting, I don't think the hitting slump should be a huge cause for concern right now.  Every team goes through hitting slumps, arguably our best position player (Mullins) is hurt, and we also know that most of our position player future is still in the minor leagues.  

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, EddeeEddee said:

I'm definitely more concerned about the pitching.  I'm not sure the team has a realistic strategy when it comes to improving the pitching on this team.  There's just not enough depth of promising pitchers, partly due to this team preferring to draft top position player prospects, but also no bold trades to get a Pablo Lopez type pitcher.  And obviously there's an avoidance of higher tier pitching free agents, which goes way back.  Even if Grayson Rodriguez were pitching great right now we'd still be concerned with the lack of depth when other young pitchers struggle, or someone like John Means has a setback, or someone else goes down with an injury.

On the hitting, I don't think the hitting slump should be a huge cause for concern right now.  Every team goes through hitting slumps, arguably our best position player (Mullins) is hurt, and we also know that most of our position player future is still in the minor leagues.  

Means already had a setback.

[Baltimorecuse]

6 minutes ago, EddeeEddee said:

I'm definitely more concerned about the pitching.  I'm not sure the team has a realistic strategy when it comes to improving the pitching on this team.  There's just not enough depth of promising pitchers, partly due to this team preferring to draft top position player prospects, but also no bold trades to get a Pablo Lopez type pitcher.  And obviously there's an avoidance of higher tier pitching free agents, which goes way back.  Even if Grayson Rodriguez were pitching great right now we'd still be concerned with the lack of depth when other young pitchers struggle, or someone like John Means has a setback, or someone else goes down with an injury.

On the hitting, I don't think the hitting slump should be a huge cause for concern right now.  Every team goes through hitting slumps, arguably our best position player (Mullins) is hurt, and we also know that most of our position player future is still in the minor leagues.  

I've watched the O's since I moved here 25 years ago.  I remember one good pitching staff in that span.  I believe pitching is two thirds of baseball.  Look at the bottom half of teams and then look at their ERA.  You don't even need Pythagoras.  

[Tony-OH]

Rutschman has a .361 wOBA (it was .354 last year) with a .376 xwOBA to go along with his 133 RC+. Rutschman's offense has been the least of our concerns. He's a better hitter than he was last year so although his SLG is down a bit .425 to his .445 last year when he was a double machine, he's picking up more single than outs as the trade off. 

Rutschman is not going to be a big homer guy. We saw that in the minors. He's going to settle in a 20-25 homer guy most likely but he's going to walk a lot and hit for a good average so he's going to remain a great hitter and plus plus for his position. 

[Sports Guy]

7 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Rutschman has a .361 wOBA (it was .354 last year) with a .376 xwOBA to go along with his 133 RC+. Rutschman's offense has been the least of our concerns. He's a better hitter than he was last year so although his SLG is down a bit .425 to his .445 last year when he was a double machine, he's picking up more single than outs as the trade off. 

Rutschman is not going to be a big homer guy. We saw that in the minors. He's going to settle in a 20-25 homer guy most likely but he's going to walk a lot and hit for a good average so he's going to remain a great hitter and plus plus for his position. 

25 homers and 35-45 doubles is fine.

15-20 homers and 20-25 doubles isn’t that great. The team needs more from him than that

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

25 homers and 35-45 doubles is fine.

15-20 homers and 20-25 doubles isn’t that great. The team needs more from him than that

Considering how Elias has been building his rosters the O's should absolutely not need that from him.  Not with all the draft capital he's been spending on bats.

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

25 homers and 35-45 doubles is fine.

15-20 homers and 20-25 doubles isn’t that great. The team needs more from him than that

I'm not too worried about the lack of extra base hits yet. He's raised his average, raised his BB% and cut his K% down. These are all adjustments he's made this year. Maybe that's happened at the expense of his power a bit? I have definitely noticed he'll take that oppo single if it gets him on vs swinging from the heels on every pitch. 

If Kjerstad, Westburg and Cowser are who we think they can be, he may not need to be a huge power guy. 

[EddeeEddee]

37 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Means already had a setback.

Yeah, that's what I was referring to.

[EddeeEddee]

33 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

I've watched the O's since I moved here 25 years ago.  I remember one good pitching staff in that span.  I believe pitching is two thirds of baseball.  Look at the bottom half of teams and then look at their ERA.  You don't even need Pythagoras.  

Yes, well said.  My fandom goes back to the 70s when the Orioles were the team all others looked to as the exemplary approach to pitching.  It was even called "The Oriole Way".  Now it's The Rays everyone would like to model when it comes to pitching.  How do they do it?  They make it look so easy.  I like Elias, but there just are not enough quality arms on this team.

[sportsfan8703]

18 hours ago, Ginger said:

Mediocre starters. Stinko infield. Weiters revisited.  Middling middle  relievers. Not a star in sight. Blah. Blah. Blah. I’m going to bed.

“Two game losing streak” - Mike Bordick

[Sanfran327]

I didn't want to create another "you all are overreacting" thread, so I'll just say it here:

Now you can exhale. Take another deep breath. 3-3 on the road against 2 pretty good teams is not bad. We are going to have to tread water while Mullins is out - that's just the cold, hard truth. 

Let's get ready to go 6-3 over our next 9.

[Frobby]

17 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

25 homers and 35-45 doubles is fine.

15-20 homers and 20-25 doubles isn’t that great. The team needs more from him than that

They shouldn’t.  2nd best wOBA among catchers in MLB.  That should be plenty good enough.   

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

They shouldn’t.  2nd best wOBA among catchers in MLB.  That should be plenty good enough.   

The thing is, people want to comp him to catchers. We need to comp him to just elite players overall.

Thats what we need him to be. Elite. That’s what you drafted him for. You didn’t draft him to be a very good player. You drafted him to be THE foundational piece for the franchise. 

That’s the ability and talent level he has.

Good but not great C defense and a 430 slugging isn’t that guy. That’s not what you spend the first pick on.

 

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The thing is, people want to comp him to catchers. We need to comp him to just elite players overall.

Thats what we need him to be. Elite. That’s what you drafted him for. You didn’t draft him to be a very good player. You drafted him to be THE foundational piece for the franchise. 

That’s the ability and talent level he has.

Good but not great C defense and a 430 slugging isn’t that guy. That’s not what you spend the first pick on.

 

Do you spend it on passable SS/3B defense and a 417 slugging?

Do you spend it on a 1B with a 356 slugging?

You should be spending the first pick on the best player in that draft class.  An absolute stud isn't there every year.  Even you know this.

 

That being said I'm fine with the bat but I'm disappointed in the glove this year.  I think the number of games he's playing is a factor.