Jack Flaherty for Closer

[webbrick2010]

Flaherty is better than Lopez

They should both be released

[ScGO's]

40 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

 Lopez just needs the DFA. There’s no reason to pay him his Arb number. Maybe we can resign him to a 1/1.5 million contract this offseason and see what he looks like in ST, but also have the 1.5 million be a deterrent if we need to DFA him to AAA.

 

DFA and resign to a milb contract. We have plenty of RP depth where we don't need to pay him 1.5 mil

Irvin needs to be up now as the long man.

[StottyByNature]

I think the bullpen can limp through the end of the season and get us the division.  The decision here should be all about the playoffs.  We can really shorten up who we use in the postseason and it will be some combination of Cano, Coulombe, Perez, Webb, Hall, and Fujinami, probably listed in order of trustworthiness.  Lopez and Baumann won't see the light of day unless it's a blowout.  I think Flaherty would slot nicely in here given 3 of our top 5 are lefties.  

It will be interesting who we line up as the fourth starter as well.  My guess is it will be Gibson on an extremely short leash followed quickly by Means or Irvin.  

[dzorange]

20 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

DFA and resign to a milb contract. We have plenty of RP depth where we don't need to pay him 1.5 mil

Irvin needs to be up now as the long man.

At least give up Lopez's spot to someone who could maybe pitch their way onto the postseason roster. I know Baker isn't the most loved on this forum, but I'd much rather give him the innings over Lopez and see if he can figure some things out. Or Cole Irvin. But at this point, it's a little too late.

Irvin is pretty much blocked by whichever two starters are moved to the bullpen for the playoffs, though.

Edited September 20, 2023 by dzorange

[dzorange]

21 minutes ago, StottyByNature said:

I think the bullpen can limp through the end of the season and get us the division.  The decision here should be all about the playoffs.  We can really shorten up who we use in the postseason and it will be some combination of Cano, Coulombe, Perez, Webb, Hall, and Fujinami, probably listed in order of trustworthiness.  Lopez and Baumann won't see the light of day unless it's a blowout.  I think Flaherty would slot nicely in here given 3 of our top 5 are lefties.  

It will be interesting who we line up as the fourth starter as well.  My guess is it will be Gibson on an extremely short leash followed quickly by Means or Irvin.  

Lopez isn't eligible for the playoffs. I have some confidence in that bullpen lineup you've listed, especially if Flaherty can see an uptick in velocity and effectiveness. I don't know if Gibson would really be effective out of the 'pen, but Means might be.

I could see Bautista added to the ALCS roster if the O's make it.

[StottyByNature]

3 minutes ago, dzorange said:

Lopez isn't eligible for the playoffs. I have some confidence in that bullpen lineup you've listed, especially if Flaherty can see an uptick in velocity and effectiveness. I don't know if Gibson would really be effective out of the 'pen, but Means might be.

I could see Bautista added to the ALCS roster if the O's make it.

Thanks for the clarification.  I really don't want to see us push Bautista, as great as he is.  While the club needs to be in win-now mode he has his whole career ahead of him and should not risk it.  I don't know the full extent of the injury but if he is being asked to go out there in a compromised state I hope he respectfully declines.

[dzorange]

4 hours ago, StottyByNature said:

Thanks for the clarification.  I really don't want to see us push Bautista, as great as he is.  While the club needs to be in win-now mode he has his whole career ahead of him and should not risk it.  I don't know the full extent of the injury but if he is being asked to go out there in a compromised state I hope he respectfully declines.

If he pitches, it seems more like "welp, we can't do any further damage to the arm". They'd be more delaying surgery than making it worse. Delaying it isn't good either, but if he can throw in a high leverage inning or two in the ALCS, the reward is potentially a World Series appearance.

My bigger concern would be whether or not Bautista can be effective.

Edited September 20, 2023 by dzorange

[Frobby]

5 hours ago, dzorange said:

If he pitches, it seems more like "welp, we can't do any further damage to the arm". They'd be more delaying surgery than making it worse. Delaying it isn't good either, but if he can throw in a high leverage inning or two in the ALCS, the reward is potentially a World Series appearance.

My bigger concern would be whether or not Bautista can be effective.

If they’re seriously considering this, they should activate him for the Boston series and see how he looks in game conditions before making a decision on the playoff roster.  

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

If they’re seriously considering this, they should activate him for the Boston series and see how he looks in game conditions before making a decision on the playoff roster.  

They might think he's only got so many pitches left in his UCL and they want to save as many as possible for the playoffs.

[OriolesMagic83]

I would like to see what Flaherty can do in a high leverage situation.  I already know what Fuji can do, dump gasoline on it.  Maybe Fuji will be good next year, but there's zero reason to believe he is a dependable playoff reliever.  I don't envy Hyde's job, he has to keep the bullpen fresh w/ pitchers like Fuji, Lopez, and Flaherty who can blow up at any point.  Other people would add more pitchers to that list.

[OriolesMagic83]

9 hours ago, ScGO's said:

DFA and resign to a milb contract. We have plenty of RP depth where we don't need to pay him 1.5 mil

Irvin needs to be up now as the long man.

I didn't understand optioning Irvin.  I know they needed another arm, but Irvin had been the O's only dependable multi inning starter.

[rm5678]

13 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

I didn't understand optioning Irvin.  I know they needed another arm, but Irvin had been the O's only dependable multi inning starter.

I feel the same way. And now they can't bring him back until the 28th unless someone happens to get injured.

[OriolesMagic83]

11 minutes ago, rm5678 said:

I feel the same way. And now they can't bring him back until the 28th unless someone happens to get injured.

Obviously Hyde has been great this year, but this long stretch of games reveals Hyde's weakness: using too many relievers for 1 inning or less.  The O's routinely have a starter go 5 innings and still use 4 or 5 relievers.  After a week without a day off, the bullpen is running on fumes.  Would have been nice to have kept Irvin up here and he could have pitched the last 3 or so innings in a game and gave the bullpen a day off.

[Frobby]

27 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

They might think he's only got so many pitches left in his UCL and they want to save as many as possible for the playoffs.

I’m sure they do think that.  But you can’t throw a guy into a playoff game who hasn’t pitched in a game in more than a month.  I wouldn’t use him until the last series, but I think you need to see him and he needs to shake off the rust. 

[OriolesMagic83]

Why are the O's trying so hard to keep a guy w/ 7+ ERA (Fuji) and a 6+ ERA (Lopez) in the pen.  This isn't spring tryouts.