Orioles reach AS break on a roll.

[foxfield]

An awful lot of complaining about not playing the right people or even having the right people on the roster.  But the Orioles  complete their excellent, yet imperfect, first half in smashing form sweeping the AL's best team based on ERA+ (BBRef) in Minnesota, outscoring the Twins 24-5.

The Orioles are 54-35 and trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 2 games (the are even in the loss column).  The Rays are 58-35. The AL East is as tough as ever, with every team above .500.  The Orioles lead the 50-41 Blue Jays by 5.5 games, the 49-42 Yankees by 6, and the 47-43 Red Sox by 7.  The AL East is a beast.

We nit pick everything, it's what fans do.  But this is an excellent team that is resilient and yet still seems like it has room for improvement.  Whether it makes big moves or not.

We have self doubted everything;  the owner, the manager, the GM and many of the players, and it often makes sense. We talk about trading scraps for stars or kids for the missing piece(s).  No matter what happens from here, this is only the beginning of the ride.  I know 2012 was a refreshing season after 14 years of darkness, but in the end, the 5 year run was bitter sweet.  This feels different.  Will it be? Are we nearing the end of a 40 year WS appearance drought?  Even if it doesn't come in '23, it feels like it is close.

It's gonna be nerve racking as we move forward, but this is a playoff caliber, World Series contender, based on what it has done.  Let's try and take a moment to enjoy this.  It has been a long, long, time coming.  We have 4 players in the AS game, 2 in the Futures Game, 3 #1 ranked prospects in all of baseball over the last year and still have one of the best farm systems even as those guys graduate to the bigs.  Oh, and the O's get to draft again tonight.

Ain't the beer cold!!!!

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

 

[Moshagge3]

Well, to the person that thought the O's would drop back to .500 by the end of July, that's now mathematically impossible.

[Orioles Jim]

It’s gonna be tough not getting my O’s fix until Friday!!!

[banks703]

37 minutes ago, Moshagge3 said:

Well, to the person that thought the O's would drop back to .500 by the end of July, that's now mathematically impossible.

That was me and I’m happy to be wrong as they appear to have righted the ship with this five game win streak. They had gone 1-6 over the week prior to the beginning of the streak, having been outscored 38-17 in that stretch. Clearly I’m not the only person who saw the rails potentially falling off last week (looking at you Mike Elias) given that they finally promoted CC and demoted McKenna. The promotion of Cowser may not have been the only reason for them to go on a roll but it’s pretty clear they are better with him than with McKenna. 
 

So, is it just a coincidence that they have gotten onto this role since the promotion of BOTH JW and CC? I don’t think so. Westburg not being promoted for nearly half the season was egregious. Cowser should have been getting the PT that McKenna was getting before they switched places. They now have a more complete 26 man with lots of versatility and positional flexibility. The next move is to swap Mateo for Joey Ortiz. 
 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by banks703

[vab]

When you step back and think about it, it's just hard to believe they've gone from winning 52 games in a full season to winning 54 at the all-star break in two years. Never felt this good about where the organization is now and where it's going in the future. They better make sure Elias is locked down, give him whatever he wants. 

[OriolesMagic83]

1 hour ago, foxfield said:

An awful lot of complaining about not playing the right people or even having the right people on the roster.  But the Orioles  complete their excellent, yet imperfect, first half in smashing form sweeping the AL's best team based on ERA+ (BBRef) in Minnesota, outscoring the Twins 24-5.

The Orioles are 54-35 and trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 2 games (the are even in the loss column).  The Rays are 58-35. The AL East is as tough as ever, with every team above .500.  The Orioles lead the 50-41 Blue Jays by 5.5 games, the 49-42 Yankees by 6, and the 47-43 Red Sox by 7.  The AL East is a beast.

We nit pick everything, it's what fans do.  But this is an excellent team that is resilient and yet still seems like it has room for improvement.  Whether it makes big moves or not.

We have self doubted everything;  the owner, the manager, the GM and many of the players, and it often makes sense. We talk about trading scraps for stars or kids for the missing piece(s).  No matter what happens from here, this is only the beginning of the ride.  I know 2012 was a refreshing season after 14 years of darkness, but in the end, the 5 year run was bitter sweet.  This feels different.  Will it be? Are we nearing the end of a 40 year WS appearance drought?  Even if it doesn't come in '23, it feels like it is close.

It's gonna be nerve racking as we move forward, but this is a playoff caliber, World Series contender, based on what it has done.  Let's try and take a moment to enjoy this.  It has been a long, long, time coming.  We have 4 players in the AS game, 2 in the Futures Game, 3 #1 ranked prospects in all of baseball over the last year and still have one of the best farm systems even as those guys graduate to the bigs.  Oh, and the O's get to draft again tonight.

Ain't the beer cold!!!!

 

Playing in a World Series would be beyond incredible.  I would be happy with a playoff series win.  Is it true the O's have only won 2 playoff series in the last 40 years?  2014 and can't remember if it was 1996 or 1997.  Is that right?

[ArtVanDelay]

1 minute ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Playing in a World Series would be beyond incredible.  I would be happy with a playoff series win.  Is it true the O's have only won 2 playoff series in the last 40 years?  2014 and can't remember if it was 1996 or 1997.  Is that right?

Didn’t they make the ALCS in both ‘96 and ‘97?

[Mooreisbetter27]

3 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Playing in a World Series would be beyond incredible.  I would be happy with a playoff series win.  Is it true the O's have only won 2 playoff series in the last 40 years?  2014 and can't remember if it was 1996 or 1997.  Is that right?

Well 83 was 40 years ago… so….

[OriolesMagic83]

5 minutes ago, vab said:

When you step back and think about it, it's just hard to believe they've gone from winning 52 games in a full season to winning 54 at the all-star break in two years. Never felt this good about where the organization is now and where it's going in the future. They better make sure Elias is locked down, give him whatever he wants. 

Yes, they need to lock Elias up.  The O's can't sign the best free agents, but the price of a veteran utility player they could probably look Elias up for 10 years.  I just want Elias locked up past the end of this lousy ownership and whatever drama happens while it is ending/O's being sold. 

[SteveA]

4 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Playing in a World Series would be beyond incredible.  I would be happy with a playoff series win.  Is it true the O's have only won 2 playoff series in the last 40 years?  2014 and can't remember if it was 1996 or 1997.  Is that right?

They won playoff series in 1996 and 1997, and lost in the ALCS both years.   They won a wild card game in 2012.   They won a playoff series vs Detroit in 2014.  And of course in 83, they won the ALCS and World Series.

[Frobby]

I think it’s safe to say that just about everyone here would have been thrilled to be in this position at the all star break when the season started.   It was a dream first half, punctuated by a five-game winning streak that culminated with a 15-2 blowout of a decent team and a good pitcher.  I hope Brandon Hyde, his staff and the players take deep satisfaction in what they’ve accomplished so far, enjoy a restful break, and come back ready to do it all again in the second half.  

[OriolesMagic83]

2 minutes ago, SteveA said:

They won playoff series in 1996 and 1997, and lost in the ALCS both years.   They won a wild card game in 2012.   They won a playoff series vs Detroit in 2014.  And of course in 83, they won the ALCS and World Series.

So 3 Series in 39 1/2 years.  The Astros won 3 series last year.  Hopefully this is a new age of Orange and Black.

[EddeeEddee]

38 minutes ago, banks703 said:

That was me and I’m happy to be wrong as they appear to have righted the ship with this five game win streak. They had gone 1-6 over the week prior to the beginning of the streak, having been outscored 38-17 in that stretch. Clearly I’m not the only person who saw the rails potentially falling off last week (looking at you Mike Elias) given that they finally promoted CC and demoted McKenna. The promotion of Cowser may not have been the only reason for them to go on a roll but it’s pretty clear they are better with him than with McKenna. 
 

So, is it just a coincidence that they have gotten onto this role since the promotion of BOTH JW and CC? I don’t think so. Westburg not being promoted for nearly half the season was egregious. Cowser should have been getting the PT that McKenna was getting before they switched places. They now have a more complete 26 man with lots of versatility and positional flexibility. The next move is to swap Mateo for Joey Ortiz. 
 

 

 

I admit that was me too.  I just didn't expect Irvin, Kremer and Gibson to give good innings, and I did not think they would promote Westburg and Cowser at the expense of Ortiz and McKenna.  Great job at every level of the organization.

[accinfo]

32 minutes ago, banks703 said:

 

So, is it just a coincidence that they have gotten onto this role since the promotion of BOTH JW and CC? I don’t think so. Westburg not being promoted for nearly half the season was egregious. Cowser should have been getting the PT that McKenna was getting before they switched places. They now have a more complete 26 man with lots of versatility and positional flexibility. The next move is to swap Mateo for Joey Ortiz. 
 

 

 

The team is 54-35 so saying it was egregious to have not promoted anyone when they did is just hyperbolic.  At some point you have to give the people running the Orioles the credit they deserve for the decisions they have made and when they have made them.  None of us know if they would have had a better record if they promoted them earlier but the record they have is the second best in the AL and the third best in baseball.  This two years after only winning 52 games in total.