Thoughts on Friday nights loss

[Roll Tide]

1 hour ago, Fan4Life said:

I suggested that we need a bat as well while most of the board focus is on pitching, which is also a need. Unless you just want to make the playoffs, you'd better find a way to win games when you "run into good pitching" because we'll run into a lot of it. . 

So you think 1 bat fixes last night?

[Frobby]

So far as what the OP said, you could have stopped at “I don’t care what the stats say.”  Right, who needs evidence or facts?   

Last night was a case of the Tampa pitchers being very on their game and an umpire with a generous strike zone that they took advantage of.  It happens.  Next game, please?
 

[Roy Firestone]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

So far as what the OP said, you could have stopped at “I don’t care what the stats say.”  Right, who needs evidence or facts?   

Last night was a case of the Tampa pitchers being very on their game and an umpire with a generous strike zone that they took advantage of.  It happens.  Next game, please?
 

Are you sure you want McClanahan ? He's the next game.

[Paul in Virginia]

1 hour 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.

And, of course, we're now without Mullins, making your argument even stronger.

[Baltimorecuse]

19 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

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

No, but he wasn't going to carry a team either.  Plus he was a doubles machine.  So he had some power.  We've got better corner outfielders now.  For the hype Cowser got I wanted some serious power.  Now if you're satisfied with run-of-the-mill Cowser is going to be OK.  

People are right in saying we need a big bopper, and Cowser ain't it. Gunnar has the tools.  He needs to read the pitchers better.  

[Brooks The Great]

10 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

I think this series will be tough to even split..Theyve got Mcclanahan tomorrow and Grayson cant out pitch him...Sunday will be our best shot, but we simply aren't hitting..and thats not a recipe for winning or splitting a series...

Thanks in advance for the good ole' Roy Reverse Jinx!

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

Are you sure you want McClanahan ? He's the next game.

I’m just saying I tend not to draw conclusions based on what happens in a single game.  No, I don’t relish facing McClanahan.  He’s been a little more human over the last 5 weeks or so, but no question he’ll be tough. 

[Brooks The Great]

7 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

No, but he wasn't going to carry a team either.  Plus he was a doubles machine.  So he had some power.  We've got better corner outfielders now.  For the hype Cowser got I wanted some serious power.  Now if you're satisfied with run-of-the-mill Cowser is going to be OK.  

People are right in saying we need a big bopper, and Cowser ain't it. Gunnar has the tools.  He needs to read the pitchers better.  

I bet you were questioning Adley after his first month in the majors, and Gunnar after his April and May this season. 

Cowser and Westburg need time to adjust. They'll both be fine, but it may take another few weeks for both.

Also, Cowser has never been projected to be a big bopper. What he should - and I believe will - be is a great hitter who's an OBP machine. And the Orioles' future regular leadoff hitter, probably in 2024.

[baltfan]

1 hour ago, gtman55 said:

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.

Eflin is exactly the type of pitcher that drives the Orioles nuts.  A relative soft-thrower who relies upon command and mixing of pitches to beat you.  The Orioles are much better against high velocity pitchers.  They lead the majors in batting average against high velocity.  

[oriole]

Where are we gonna put this supposed home run bat? There’s barely enough room for the position players we do have. Unless you’re suggesting replacing Santander at DH or O’Hearn at 1B, but they’ve done their jobs well. I see no reason to demote them for a few extra home runs. Not to mention this home run hitter won’t be free, so we’ve got to give something up to replace players that are already doing well. Makes no sense. Sometimes the other team is just better for the night. It happens. It’s likely to happen again vs McClanahan. But if they can get a win on Sunday and the series is split, I don’t see how any of us can complain about that.

The needs are apparent…middle relief and a SP. Please do not manifest any Jesus Aguilar type signing/trade! Because that’s the type of cheap home run hitter that Elias has gone after.

[Frobby]

1 hour 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.

Who is injured for Tampa?  I’m looking at their BB-ref page and on offense, the only names I see are Francisco Mejia (.658 OPS), Vidal Brujan (.486) and Jonathan Aranda (.467).   

When I look at why Tampa has stumbled,  it’s the offense that stands out:

March/April .878 OPS

May .779

June .740

July .649

Now, maybe some players returned from the IL lately that I don’t know about   But based on who’s injured now, I don’t see the Rays’ offense being ravaged by injuries.   It’s more a matter of them returning to Earth after an unsustainably hot start.

The pitching has sustained some important injuries, but hasn’t had as big a drop off as the offense has.  So, I don’t think that injuries really are the main explanation of Tampa’s so-so performance over the last 60 games or so, though I agree they’re a partial factor on the pitching side.

First 36 games (29-7): 6.33 runs/game, 3.06 runs allowed/game

Last 65 games (32-33): 4.68 runs/game, 4.23 runs allowed/game

 

[Baltimorecuse]

27 minutes ago, Brooks The Great said:

I bet you were questioning Adley after his first month in the majors, and Gunnar after his April and May this season. 

Cowser and Westburg need time to adjust. They'll both be fine, but it may take another few weeks for both.

Also, Cowser has never been projected to be a big bopper. What he should - and I believe will - be is a great hitter who's an OBP machine. And the Orioles' future regular leadoff hitter, probably in 2024.

OBP is the most overrated stat in baseball.  Take out the bottom three teams, that shouldn't be in the league, and the difference in the top 26 is 5 bases per 100 at bats.  You win pennants with slugging pct. and pitching.  When Cowser came up there wasn't a player on the roster I thought he'd be an improvement on.  If he's a starting outfielder in 2024 it will be a digression in our current outfield.  

[Aristotelian]

26 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Eflin is exactly the type of pitcher that drives the Orioles nuts.  A relative soft-thrower who relies upon command and mixing of pitches to beat you.  The Orioles are much better against high velocity pitchers.  They lead the majors in batting average against high velocity.  

Reminded me of Wells when he is on. Hit his spots, pounded the zone without missing in the zone, had us 0-2 one batter after another. Just a well pitched game. I love watching Wells when he is on but frustrating to be on the other end of it. You can't blame the hitters for being overly aggressive because every take was a strike.

[RZNJ]

Cowser had 10 homers and 10 doubles in 56 games at Norfolk.     That’s solid.   I think he’s a 30 double 20+ homer guy at the ML level.   Combine that with the on base skills and you’ve got something.   So far, the power hasn’t shown but it’s there.

[dtk9119]

I agree w/ much of what Roy says in OP. It's a shame that Mountcastle (who's name I don't even think has been mentioned so far in this thread) has become such an afterthought because he could be the power bat everyone talks about. But alas, he looks to be pretty cooked at this point. That said, even if he was Aaron Judge, he wouldn't have hit Efflin last night.

My issues w/ last night were more w/ swing decisions. I think Ben said it during the telecast, I don't remember seeing so many watched strike 3s in ABs this year.  I know we focus on Efflin, but you had Poche and Fairbanks in the last 2 innings and we were doing the same crap we did the whole game. Yes Gonzalez didn't help w/ his garbage strike zone, but if after the whole game the hitters know he's calling low strikes, then by the 8th and 9th innings, shouldn't you be able to make adjustments and actually try and swing at those pitches?

All that said, we are still in good shape in this series even if we lose to Cy McClanahan today. If that happens, you would assume Wells has an advantage over Bradley on Sunday. We get out w/ a split and still have the tiebreaker w/ the Rays having to come to BAL in Sept.