Thoughts on Friday nights loss

[Baltimorecuse]

5 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

I don't think this is about 1 game as obviously you can be shut down at any given time.  We have a trend of having 7 hits or less in a game more often than a team wanting to go deep into the playoffs would. 

 

Are we a better team than the Rays? I'd say no. Should we try to be?

How come they are chasing us?

[RZNJ]

The best scenario involves Westburg and Cowser resembling a lesser but compelling version of their Norfolk selves.   Westburg had 18 homers in 67 games there.   Cowser hit .330.   They both had OPS well over .900.    We don’t need all of that but we need some of that.

[Sports Guy]

18 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

I don't think this is about 1 game as obviously you can be shut down at any given time.  We have a trend of having 7 hits or less in a game more often than a team wanting to go deep into the playoffs would. 

 

Are we a better team than the Rays? I'd say no. Should we try to be?

We are not better than a healthy rays team. We may be better than the team out there right now.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Sports Guy

[Sports Guy]

11 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

How come they are chasing us?

Injuries 

[Baltimorecuse]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

Injuries 

Then we're better than they are.  

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

Then we're better than they are.  

They have a run differential of 147. Ours is 45.

Tampa is the more complete team but they have some key injuries that have caught up to them the last 2-4 weeks.

Like I said, we may be better than the team they have right now but once they get healthier, we aren’t better.

Doesnt mean the Os can’t win a short series vs them though.

[gtman55]

We got outpitched last night. Simple as that. Of course the umpire sucked but at a point the players had to realize they needed to swing at the borderline low stuff. I've never seen so many called third strikes. And we definitely are missing Mullins. Cowser just isn't ready for crafty MLB vet pitching.

[Fan4Life]

11 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

Then we're better than they are.  

Well some of this might be subjective, but if you put their lineup against ours person for person there's more guys on their team I would take before guys on our team. I think RZNJ is exactly right, we're not getting much if any production from Cowser and Westburg. I think I looked at our last 25 games and 15 of them we have eight hits or less. Now we're fortunate to win some of those games because of some great pitching on our end, but again the playoffs is going to be the next level

[Baltimorecuse]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

They have a run differential of 147. Ours is 45.

Tampa is the more complete team but they have some key injuries that have caught up to them the last 2-4 weeks.

Like I said, we may be better than the team they have right now but once they get healthier, we aren’t better.

Doesnt mean the Os can’t win a short series vs them though.

Their offense was off the charts.  Now they are reverting to the means.  Unquestionably, they have the best rotation in baseball.  However, maybe we're getting better.  Stay tuned.  

[AlbNYfan]

Let's at least admit that Keflin was very tough last night. 2 hits, 1 walk isn't going to get you much. Wasted great start by Bradish. Roy talked about HR's...the O's just need to get on base. I didn't care for the line up in many ways. Having 3 outs at the bottom of the order was stupid IMO and made Keflin's job much easier. It is not the time for on the job training. To get ready for next year?? The O's are in first now with 60 or so games left, they'll be lucky to be in that position next year. Play for now. The AL East isn't going to lay dormant over the winter. Cowser, Westburg and others may indeed turn out to be OK, but right now I'd use the guys that got the O's that got us there and yes that includes the guys you hate because of their flaws.

[Baltimorecuse]

1 minute ago, Fan4Life said:

Well some of this might be subjective, but if you put their lineup against ours person for person there's more guys on their team I would take before guys on our team. I think RZNJ is exactly right, we're not getting much if any production from Cowser and Westburg. I think I looked at our last 25 games and 15 of them we have eight hits or less. Now we're fortunate to win some of those games because of some great pitching on our end, but again the playoffs is going to be the next level

I did a post this morning about the lack of respect for our pitching.  I'm a big believer in the old saying pitching is two thirds of baseball.  

I'll worry about the playoffs when we clinch a spot.  The ONLY statistic that matters is wins and losses.  

I was the guy who took ALL the crap for skepticism about Cowser.  He's here now and I hope I'm wrong.  I think Westburg will be OK.  

[Sports Guy]

8 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

I did a post this morning about the lack of respect for our pitching.  I'm a big believer in the old saying pitching is two thirds of baseball.  

I'll worry about the playoffs when we clinch a spot.  The ONLY statistic that matters is wins and losses.  

I was the guy who took ALL the crap for skepticism about Cowser.  He's here now and I hope I'm wrong.  I think Westburg will be OK.  

You rightfully took crap for Cowser because you are judging him on a tiny sample size.

Meanwhile, his walk rate is double league average, his p/pa is the highest in the league, his chase rate is much better than league average and he is striking out less than the league average.

It’s a SSS for all of that but it’s a SSS for any stat he has, so they are all relevant if you are going to complain about him.

He will be fine. Westburg isn’t showing any power but he will be fine. Some players need an adjustment when they first come up. Some don’t. Some need 50 at bats, some need 500. This is why Cowser should have been up 6-8 weeks ago, when it was obvious he had nothing left to prove. It’s why Westburg should have started the season here because he had nothing left to prove.

You have/had a cushion that if they struggle, you can sustain. They aren’t getting a lot from these guys but they are still winning. As they gain experience, hopefully their talent level being much higher than those who they replaced will increase the teams margin for error because at this point, that’s what we need to be trying to do.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Sports Guy

[Baltimorecuse]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

You rightfully took crap for Cowser because you are judging him on a tiny sample size.

Meanwhile, his walk rate is double league average, his p/pa is the highest in the league, his chase rate is much better than league average and he is striking out less than the league average.

It’s a SSS for all of that but it’s a SSS for any stat he has, so they are all relevant if you are going to complain about him.

He will be fine. Westburg isn’t showing any power but he will be fine. Some players need an adjustment when they first come up. Some don’t. Some need 50 at bats, some need 500. This is why Cowser should have been up 6-8 weeks ago, when it was obvious he had nothing left to prove. It’s why Westburg should have started the season here because he had nothing left to prove.

You have/had a cushion that if they struggle, you can sustain. They aren’t getting a lot from these guys but they are still winning. As they gain experience, hopefully their talent level being much higher than those who they replaced will increase the teams margin for error because at this point, that’s what we need to be trying to do.

No, zero sample size.  I watched him hit twice and said you've got to be kidding.  I didn't even factor in his fielding adventures.  There's things Cowser needs to do to become the sort of power we need in a corner outfielder.  Other than that I see a career mediocrity.  Now if he does those things, and learns to read pitchers he could be really good.  

Meantime, it wasn't the criticism that bothered me.  Hell, if that bothered me I wouldn't have said it.  It was the personal attacks I don't like.  

 

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Baltimorecuse said:

No, zero sample size.  I watched him hit twice and said you've got to be kidding.  I didn't even factor in his fielding adventures.  There's things Cowser needs to do to become the sort of power we need in a corner outfielder.  Other than that I see a career mediocrity.  Now if he does those things, and learns to read pitchers he could be really good.  

Meantime, it wasn't the criticism that bothered me.  Hell, if that bothered me I wouldn't have said it.  It was the personal attacks I don't like.  

 

You don’t have to have a lot of power to be a corner OFer. Do you think Markakis was a bad player?

[Brian88]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

I’m not so sure what a home run threat would have done for us last night. 

Threatened to hit a homerun while watching strike 3 at his ankles.