A little worried about the offense

[interloper]

32 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

I kind of want Yasmani Grandal off the White Sox, plus then you could put McCann back where he earned his $40mm.    And of course re-adjudicate who is paying who what for the balance of the contract, as in any trade transaction.

Grandal seems like an expensive replacement for such an incremental upgrade to the backup catcher position, no? Don't see that having much of an impact. 

Edited July 26, 2023 by interloper

[baltfan]

Adley is tremendously valuable but I don't think he scares other clubs.  I was hoping he would scare people.  Gunnar will at some point, I am confident.

[bpilktree67]

Gunnar was most likely going to get today off to give him two days in a row off and a lefty starter so i am not worried about him at this point.  If it Sunday morning and he hasn't been in the lineup yet then i will be bit more worried.  I still expect them to add a veteran bat at some point for the deadline and most likely an outfielder.  

[Fiver6565]

3 hours ago, interloper said:

No Mullins, no Hicks, no Gunnar. Without Gunnar and Mullins, the offense right now is centered around Adley, Santander, O'Hearn, and Hays. Sometimes Frazier, Urias, and Mounty do stuff. To the extent that Westburg or Cowser contribute offensively, it feels like a bonus because how could you expect much more of them this early in their careers. All of this feels a little dicey to me. 

Every single game is close. We don't hit a lot of home runs. We're crossing our fingers with Cowser and Westburg in the heat of a playoff race. It's exciting, sure, but stressful. This team could really use another ML hitter in the mix and I think it's an underrated need right now. It's a lot to ask of some of these guys - even guys like Adley and Gunnar - to continue to carry a playoff-caliber team offensively against the type of pitching we're facing. 

This is a team that will be asked to go toe-to-toe with true offensive juggernauts like the Braves and Dodgers who have playoff-tested veteran hitters. Obviously the pitching is a bigger need, but if I were Elias I would not rest on my laurels offensively. 

Why do people keep bringing up the Dodgers and Braves when these types of questions come up?  If we face either of those teams again, it will mean we are in our first World Series since 1983.  Sign me up for that and I'll be fine comparing our offenses then.  But until then, how about we focus on the actual competition, like the Blue Jays, Rangers, Red Sox.  Those are the teams with offenses that might be better than ours, that actually matter.  And its a pretty short list anyway.

[Fan4Life]

3 hours ago, interloper said:

No Mullins, no Hicks, no Gunnar. Without Gunnar and Mullins, the offense right now is centered around Adley, Santander, O'Hearn, and Hays. Sometimes Frazier, Urias, and Mounty do stuff. To the extent that Westburg or Cowser contribute offensively, it feels like a bonus because how could you expect much more of them this early in their careers. All of this feels a little dicey to me. 

Every single game is close. We don't hit a lot of home runs. We're crossing our fingers with Cowser and Westburg in the heat of a playoff race. It's exciting, sure, but stressful. This team could really use another ML hitter in the mix and I think it's an underrated need right now. It's a lot to ask of some of these guys - even guys like Adley and Gunnar - to continue to carry a playoff-caliber team offensively against the type of pitching we're facing. 

This is a team that will be asked to go toe-to-toe with true offensive juggernauts like the Braves and Dodgers who have playoff-tested veteran hitters. Obviously the pitching is a bigger need, but if I were Elias I would not rest on my laurels offensively. 

In another thread I expressed that this team has had eight hits or less over the past 25 games, 15 times. And that was with the real offense mostly.

[interloper]

5 minutes ago, Fan4Life said:

In another thread I expressed that this team has had eight hits or less over the past 25 games, 15 times. And that was with the real offense mostly.

Yeah it's a real issue IMO. It puts a lot of pressure on the bullpen in particular and as we saw last night, it's just not sustainable. Our SP has been pretty good outside of a couple Wells hiccups lately. 

To me someone like Candelario would really help deepen the lineup.

Edited July 26, 2023 by interloper

[Bemorewins]

3 hours ago, IPlayGM said:

 I don’t think Adley is the type of player to carry a team offensively. For us to reach where we all want to be, I am hoping he is the 3/4/5th best offensive guy we have. That will certainly take some time.

To your original point, now would really be a good time for scorching hot Ryan Mountcastle.

 

Well, Adley is by far the most reliable Oriole to get on base. He only has a little more than a year's worth of big league experience than Cowser/Westburg "they young guys" and a few more months more than Gunnar. They are all young players who are likely still developing into the best versions of themselves at the big league level.

For right now, I would say he is a player who gets on base at a very good clip, has elite swing decisions/understanding of the strike zone. But the extra base hits haven't been there for him this season, thus the lower SLUG % than we would like.

To your other point about Mountcastle, if our fate rest on him being good/productive for any extended stretch (heck even having 4 good ABs in a singular game) we might be in trouble.

[interloper]

Grichuk was mentioned in another thread and that's a good target as well. RH OF, 120 OPS+ with a strong .370 OBP. The right-handedness isn't an ideal fit with Hays on the roster, but Grichuk does hit RHP pretty well. He kills LHP, so he'd let you really stack a lineup vs LHP. 

For my money, I'd take Candelario's switch-hitting 16 bombs to Grichuk's 6. But the need in the OF over IF is undeniable. 

[Billy F-Face3]

I'm worried about the offense too. A considerable concern is that at worst, tonights lineup consists of Mateo, McCann, and McKenna all sandwiched together for a quick 1 2 3 inning in favor of the Phillies.  That would be bad managing if that happens.

And I'm actually looking forward to see McKenna play this 1 game against a lefty.

[SteveA]

3 hours ago, IPlayGM said:

 I don’t think Adley is the type of player to carry a team offensively. For us to reach where we all want to be, I am hoping he is the 3/4/5th best offensive guy we have. That will certainly take some time.

To your original point, now would really be a good time for scorching hot Ryan Mountcastle.

 

Well, he has had at least one hit in every game he has started since coming off the IL over 2 weeks ago.

He's hit well since coming off the IL:   10/27, 2 walks, 3 doubles a HR.   That's a slash line of .370/.413/.593/1.006.    

[SteveA]

19 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

I'm worried about the offense too. A considerable concern is that at worst, tonights lineup consists of Mateo, McCann, and McKenna all sandwiched together for a quick 1 2 3 inning in favor of the Phillies.  That would be bad managing if that happens.

And I'm actually looking forward to see McKenna play this 1 game against a lefty.

Are you projecting McCann because you think Adley will get a day off, or you think they will want to DH Adley, to get both bats in the lineup?

Honestly, Adley had a full day off Monday, and he's getting one tomorrow, there's no reason he wouldn't play tonight.   DH, maybe, I guess.

[SteveA]

20 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

I'm worried about the offense too. A considerable concern is that at worst, tonights lineup consists of Mateo, McCann, and McKenna all sandwiched together for a quick 1 2 3 inning in favor of the Phillies.  That would be bad managing if that happens.

And I'm actually looking forward to see McKenna play this 1 game against a lefty.

Are you factoring in Mateo and McKenna's better production vs lefties when you paint them as automatic outs?

Same thing could have been said about the lineup vs McClanahan Saturday, and Mateo and McCann had back to back run scoring hits.

[Billy F-Face3]

1 hour ago, SteveA said:

Are you factoring in Mateo and McKenna's better production vs lefties when you paint them as automatic outs?

Same thing could have been said about the lineup vs McClanahan Saturday, and Mateo and McCann had back to back run scoring hits.

I've lost all faith in Mateo, even against lefties. And McCann is only in the lineup for his defense. Sure, they might get a hit once in a blue moon, but even the clock is right twice a day. 

I'm more confident in Mckenna of the 3 vs LHP. 

But now my concerns have become real. Terrible managing to squish 3 weak RH together and batting 4 RH strait in the lineup...

https://www.mlb.com/orioles/roster/starting-lineups

• A Hays (R) LF

 

• A Rutschman (S) DH

 

• A Santander (S) RF

 

• R Mountcastle (R) 1B

 

• J Westburg (R) 2B

 

• R Urías (R) 3B

 

• J McCann (R) C

 

• J Mateo (R) SS

 

• R McKenna (R) CF

[clapdiddy]

I'm OK with this lineup.  I just wish they'd start hitting with men on base.   Seems like everyone might be trying a little too hard right now.

[Billy F-Face3]

Correction: They are batting SIX right handers in a row. 

O'Hearn should be in the lineup.