This team is so resilient

[Frobby]

I’ve been constantly amazed at this team’s ability to weather adversity.  Yesterday marked their 25th blown save of the season, and yet, they’ve come back to win 10 of those games, including yesterday’s.  They also had two others where a save was blown and came back to take the lead again, only to have the bullpen falter a second time.  So, despite the 25 blown saves, only 13 losses have resulted from those games.  That’s remarkable.  

I also feel like there have been a ton of games where the other team scores to narrow a lead, and our offense has immediately answered right back.  And of course, the O’s have the most comeback wins of any team in the majors.  

Bottom line, this team does not get down on itself.   Even when they lose, it’s seldom without a fight.   And that makes them so fun to watch. 

 

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’ve been constantly amazed at this team’s ability to weather adversity.  Yesterday marked their 25th blown save of the season, and yet, they’ve come back to win 10 of those games, including yesterday’s.  They also had two others where a save was blown and came back to take the lead again, only to have the bullpen falter a second time.  So, despite the 25 blown saves, only 13 losses have resulted from those games.  That’s remarkable.  

I also feel like there have been a ton of games where the other team scores to narrow a lead, and our offense has immediately answered right back.  And of course, the O’s have the most comeback wins of any team in the majors.  

Bottom line, this team does not get down on itself.   Even when they lose, it’s seldom without a fight.   And that makes them so fun to watch. 

 

I blame  Hyde for this.

I think Hyde has developed an environment where players focus on how to win rather than getting down about what went wrong.   Its all Hyde's fault.

Edited August 14, 2023 by wildcard

[ThisIsBirdland]

When they started the season 1-2 (including McKenna's fly ball drop in Boston), then flew in to Texas and lost Bradish in the 2nd inning of the opener yet won the game 2-0 behind Wells' 5 shutout innings, saving an already taxed bullpen, you could see the makings of a very resilient club. Overcoming Dylan Cease's 4-run 1st inning lead a week later in Chicago was another key early moment IMO.

They've never shown any lack of resiliency between now and then, and turning the last two series into a 3-3 split despite all that went against them was some of the most satisfying baseball I've seen all year. Special team, and even with being on pace to be a 100-win team in one of the best divisions ever, they're set to add even more talent in the years ahead.

[Sports Guy]

They are young, confident and arrogant…in other words, they DGAF.

It’s a great trait to have.

[Jim'sKid26]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

They are young, confident and arrogant…in other words, they DGAF.

It’s a great trait to have.

Coming from you, that's a huge compliment! 

I agree that they are a fun team to watch and to pull for. I'm enjoying the ride!

[clapdiddy]

15 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

They are young, confident and arrogant…in other words, they DGAF.

It’s a great trait to have.

Not sure "arrogant" is a word I'd use, but they definitely aren't intimidated by any team or situation.

[Pickles]

Amazing stat they showed in Saturday's broadcast.

But apparently the O's have the best record in the league when the opposition scores first and the best record in the league when they score first.

That's startling.  

[jerios55]

5 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Amazing stat they showed in Saturday's broadcast.

But apparently the O's have the best record in the league when the opposition scores first and the best record in the league when they score first.

That's startling.  

How does that not equal the best record in the league overall.  I feel like something doesn't add up there unless they specifically meant the American League.

[BohKnowsBmore]

6 minutes ago, jerios55 said:

How does that not equal the best record in the league overall.  I feel like something doesn't add up there unless they specifically meant the American League.

Unlike the NFL and NBA, references to the "league" in MLB have traditionally been specific to either the AL or NL (as appropriate). When someone means all 30 teams, they've traditionally said, "in the majors" to avoid any such ambiguity.

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, jerios55 said:

How does that not equal the best record in the league overall.  I feel like something doesn't add up there unless they specifically meant the American League.

It’s because they have scored first in less than half their games.   Their winning percentage when scoring first is highest, but their total wins when scoring first is lower than the Braves and maybe some other teams.  

[Aristotelian]

Folks here seem to be downplaying the "unswept" streak but I think that it speaks to their resiliency and vice versa. If you can avoid getting swept, that puts a limit on losing streaks. If you can win the majority of your series and sweep a few while remaining unswept, that is a recipe for a solid season. It's a pretty amazing streak for a 162 game season. 

[BohKnowsBmore]

48 minutes ago, jerios55 said:

How does that not equal the best record in the league overall.  I feel like something doesn't add up there unless they specifically meant the American League.

 

30 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It’s because they have scored first in less than half their games.   Their winning percentage when scoring first is highest, but their total wins when scoring first is lower than the Braves and maybe some other teams.  

A good old fashioned Simpson's paradox

[jerios55]

38 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It’s because they have scored first in less than half their games.   Their winning percentage when scoring first is highest, but their total wins when scoring first is lower than the Braves and maybe some other teams.  

In fairness, what I quoted included when opponents score first as well.  So games the O's score first and games opponent score first would be every game that played in (unless I'm missing something else).

But league being American only as BohKnows mentioned/confirmed does make sense as well.

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, jerios55 said:

How does that not equal the best record in the league overall.  I feel like something doesn't add up there unless they specifically meant the American League.

As others have pointed out, it's mathematically possible because the Braves and Orioles have a vast difference in # of games scored first.   Best record is based on %, but when the denominators are different, we could have a better % in both categories and yet a worse % overall.

Here's a totally made up example of how that could happen, with easy fractions so the concept shines through:

Team A has played 100 games.   They have scored first in 30 games and won 27 of those (90.0%).
Team B has played 100 games.   They have scored first in 70 games and won in 61 of those (85.7%).
    So team A is better when scoring first:  90.0 > 85.7

Team A has scored second in 70 games and won 35 of them (50.0%).
Team B has scored second in 30 games and won 14 of them (46.7%).
   So team A is better than team B when scoring second:  50.0 > 46.7

But overall:
Team A has won 27 + 35 = 62 of 100 games (62.0%).
Team B has won 61 + 14 = 75 of 100 games (75.0%).
    Team B has an overall better record:   75.0 > 62.0.
 

[Frobby]

46 minutes ago, jerios55 said:

In fairness, what I quoted included when opponents score first as well.  So games the O's score first and games opponent score first would be every game that played in (unless I'm missing something else).

But league being American only as BohKnows mentioned/confirmed does make sense as well.

I am not sure I follow you but let me give an example of what I am saying.  I don’t know the actual numbers.  

The Braves are 75-42.   Let’s say they scored first in 80 of their games and won 60 of them (75%).  They won 15 of the 37 games where the other team scored first (40.5%).  That adds up to their 75-42.   

The Orioles are 73-45.  Let’s say they scored first in only 55 of those games, and won 44 (80%).   In the other 63 games where they trailed, they won 29 (46.0%).   That adds up to their 73-45 record.  

So, in this example, the O’s had a better winning percentage when scoring first (80% to 75%), and a better winning percentage when the other team scored first (46% to 40.5%), but Atlanta has the better overall winning percentage (64.1% to 61.9%), because of the fact that they scored first in many more games.   

The percentages I gave you aren’t the actual ones, but I believe that this is the actual explanation for how we have the best winning percentage when scoring first and when not scoring first, but not the best winning percentage overall.