Why does this team so often struggle to get untracked early in a game?

[Roy Firestone]

Is it left-handed pitching? Against right handers they’re quite competent thus far: .246/.292/.460 with a .762 OPS. Yet against southpaws, the team has a .206/.309/.279 slashline and a puny .588 OPS in the same time.Do the Orioles need more hitters who can hit from the right side or just players who just hit left handed pitching well.? Gunnar Henderson has a long career ahead of him, and it's likely he'll be a big star.But last year, awe struggled against LHP. Austin Hays, Ramon Urias have both struggled against all pitching. Ryan Hearn and Colton Cowser seem to be faring best against LHP, but as a team, the Orioles seem sluggish against lefties...

Then theres the approach. Oriole hitters may be hitting too early in the count, maybe the scouting reports say thats the right thing to do, but so far first pitch swinging and not working the count has seemed to hurt the team.

Of course, some of the pitchers, mostly lefties have been good pitchers...but not every pitcher the Orioles have faced and fared poorly against has been dominant coming into the games.

I think the Orioles need to shake up their lineup, and play Cowser more, and maybe O'Hearn as a DH. He is NOT a capable outfielder.

Then theres the farm. Eventually this lineup will be drastically different. Theres a ton of power in Norfolk. Kjerstad is tearing the cover off the ball, as is Stowers who hits lefties well...then theres RH hitting Mayo who is currently batting .417 in the minors. Of course Jackson Holliday is virtually ready to start for the Birds.

I think things will reveal itself in the next 2-3 weeks. Hays may wake up. Santander too. But for now, this team relying on late rallies is not a sustainable recipe for winning games, as we saw today..

[OnlyOneOriole]

I've talked about it in other threads.   When you have players like Hays, Mateo, Kemp, and Urias playing 90% of the time?  (and I don't mean all 4 at once but at least 2 and sometimes 3 at once)

 

You are going to struggle.  None of them are good or even average professional hitters imo.  Hays can get hot for 2 weeks but then he is cold for 2 months.

 

Add in guys like Mullins, who let's face it has not been good for 2 years now, and guys like O'Hearn?  Who had a career year last year?  Lets face it that is not murderers row. 

Or even close to it. 

We all tend to over rate 'our guys'.  But when 4-5 of our guys in any given starting lineup suck?   Then our overall line up sucks.  No matter how good the other 4-5 guys are. 

I said this last year in the 'we will not win the WS' thread and got crucified for it, but the O's talent level is not great with their current starters....which are basically the same as last year.  When push comes to shove I would rather live and die with guys like Heston, Holliday, Mayo and Stowers than the 4 guys I mentioned above. 

Edited April 7 by OnlyOneOriole

[Bahama O's Fan]

The offense is streaky, just like last season. We looked great in the first two games of the season. Now we look like the team that got swept by the Rangers last postseason. What makes things looks worse are the guys crushing it in AAA right now. 

[Explosivo]

4 hours ago, OnlyOneOriole said:

I've talked about it in other threads.   When you have players like Hays, Mateo, Kemp, and Urias playing 90% of the time?  (and I don't mean all 4 at once but at least 2 and sometimes 3 at once)

 

You are going to struggle.  None of them are good or even average professional hitters imo.  Hays can get hot for 2 weeks but then he is cold for 2 months.

 

Add in guys like Mullins, who let's face it has not been good for 2 years now, and guys like O'Hearn?  Who had a career year last year?  Lets face it that is not murderers row. 

Or even close to it. 

We all tend to over rate 'our guys'.  But when 4-5 of our guys in any given starting lineup suck?   Then our overall line up sucks.  No matter how good the other 4-5 guys are. 

I said this last year in the 'we will not win the WS' thread and got crucified for it, but the O's talent level is not great with their current starters....which are basically the same as last year.  When push comes to shove I would rather live and die with guys like Heston, Holliday, Mayo and Stowers than the 4 guys I mentioned above. 

The doom and gloom is strong with this one. Kemp, I agree but all the other stuff, yeesh.

[DirtyBird]

1 hour ago, Explosivo said:

The doom and gloom is strong with this one. Kemp, I agree but all the other stuff, yeesh.

You agree with him on the guy who never plays, but not on the black holes in the lineup who do?

[Frobby]

I wonder how many times I’m going to have to say that drawing trends out of a handful of games is just a waste of time?

From now on, I’m just going to post, “Response No. 1”.

[Sports Guy]

6 hours ago, OnlyOneOriole said:

I've talked about it in other threads.   When you have players like Hays, Mateo, Kemp, and Urias playing 90% of the time?  (and I don't mean all 4 at once but at least 2 and sometimes 3 at once)

 

You are going to struggle.  None of them are good or even average professional hitters imo.  Hays can get hot for 2 weeks but then he is cold for 2 months.

 

Add in guys like Mullins, who let's face it has not been good for 2 years now, and guys like O'Hearn?  Who had a career year last year?  Lets face it that is not murderers row. 

Or even close to it. 

We all tend to over rate 'our guys'.  But when 4-5 of our guys in any given starting lineup suck?   Then our overall line up sucks.  No matter how good the other 4-5 guys are. 

I said this last year in the 'we will not win the WS' thread and got crucified for it, but the O's talent level is not great with their current starters....which are basically the same as last year.  When push comes to shove I would rather live and die with guys like Heston, Holliday, Mayo and Stowers than the 4 guys I mentioned above. 

Don’t disagree with some of what you are saying but the question is, why does the team start slow?  Well, our best players come up first so….

[Sanity Check]

We are also facing some really good starting pitchers who would also overmatch the guys in Norfolk that so many want on the team now.

BUT, I'd rather see Holliday and some others being overmatched rather than Urias, Kemp, Hays and Mateo.

I looked at the Yankees starting lineup averages for this year so far, they are not good either, except for Soto and one or two others.  

Not to get worried about this now, because everything evens out, but has anyone looked at how lights out the Boston starters have been this year?  The same guys that shoved the bats up our butts to end last year's regular season?  They could be better than advertised.  

We have our work cut out for us.

[bpilktree]

Because hitting a baseball is hard and especially in colder weather.  The starting pitching is better and 20-30 years ago the starters used to try to go 7-8 innings so they would save some juice for later in the game or not use all their pitches.  Now the starter is just airing it out and going max velocity from the get go.  They also will throw any pitch because it doesn’t matter if a hitter sees all the pitches in one at bat you probably going to only see him one or two more times.  It also the reason that there are more arm injuries imo, they are going max velocity and not just fastballs but sliders are coming in at 90 mph.   

[Jagwar]

I'd rather the team get "on track" than "untracked". 

It's an unfortunate combination of all the things mentioned so far. It's only 8 games, but there should be recognition from Elias that these things have to be addressed. 

[Too Tall]

Not much different from last year. Same team - same MO. Last year we often got behind early and then came back. I admit yesterday WAS frustrating on a number of levels however. 

I too would like to see if some of the Norfolk 'Bopping" would transfer. How to fit it in? I'm a Norby fan and would love to see how his right-handed bat would fair against these left handers. I just don't see Elais dumping Urias or Mateo YET particularly for a more challenged defensive player. Hayes is not going anywhere unless it's a trade and why trade at a low point? Same with Mullins. Kemp is another story but Holliday ain't right-handed.

So, I tell myself, if we win today it's a 6-3 record. That translates to 108-54.  So I think it's a little early to expect Elias to panic or predict just what kind of team we have in 2024. Patience is a virtue.

[Going Underground]

Too many off days to party and the young guy take longer to get the alcohol out of their body. That is why you need the veteranoisty.

[sportsfan8703]

Adley has more of a leadoff hitter mentality with taking pitches. So does Hays/Mullins. Gunnar should be batting 2nd or 3rd. 

Leadoff is yet another way that Holliday will help. 

1. Holliday 2B L

2. Adley C S

3. Gunnar SS L

4. Mounty 1B R

5. Santa RF S

6. O’Hearn DH L

7. Hays LF R

8. Mullins CF L

9. Westburg 3B R

 

[24fps]

Struggling?  The O’s are 5-3.  It’s not like they’re the 2-6 Mets.

After going 2-4 yesterday, the Mets’ Brandon Nimmo is now 3-25 on the season - .120/.333/.160/.493.  Teammate and perennial All-Star Francisco Lindor is another story however. He is 1-31 and slashing .032/.184/.032/.216.  That’s struggling.
 

Fun fact. Together the two are still owed around $400 million or roughly four times the future commitment of the entire Orioles team - which I expect to break out of its minor funk any minute now. 

[Orioles West]

I love Gunnar, but I don’t see him as a true leadoff hitter. I don’t know that there is a great option atop the order based on the current O’s roster.