Offense is down in MLB this year — but not in Baltimore

[btdart20]

45 minutes ago, interloper said:

A lot of teams are pretty injured and have worse depth than us. I'm not saying that's the reason, but it's a reason to believe maybe we can maintain our offense throughout the season better than other teams. 

I have to think SP injuries across the league has more impact than injured hitters.  In theory, it should increase runs/game across the league.  But as @Say O!said, CHW, MIA...

[Malike]

1 hour ago, btdart20 said:

All offseason some were fretting the 1-run wins, pythag, no Bautista, etc.  I didn't think it would be as crazy as our concerns because our hitters are on their ascent or have high floors.

Will the 2027 Orioles supplant the 1927 Yankee lore?  Let’s go!

They are also giving up a ton of runs and the bullpen is atrocious for the most part. The pythag argument will still be there this year.

[Frobby]

This actually reminds me a bit of Tampa’s hot start last year.  That was even crazier, with the entire team at .879 OPS at the end of April.   I remember looking at their players’ stats and virtually everyone was outperforming their historical and prior year numbers by a wide margin.   The difference with the O’s is that several of our younger guys don’t have much of a track record to go on.   

[btdart20]

7 minutes ago, Malike said:

They are also giving up a ton of runs and the bullpen is atrocious for the most part. The pythag argument will still be there this year.

All of that is a fair argument.  But the upside X factor on the yoots in question is there too.

[Malike]

1 minute ago, btdart20 said:

All of that is a fair argument.  But the upside X factor on the yoots in question is there too.

I think the bullpen ERA on the road trip was near 8. I think sustaining that by outscoring your opponents is going to be a tough road to hoe.

[Natty]

We have 5 guys batting over .300.

[Philip]

20 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

All of that is a fair argument.  But the upside X factor on the yoots in question is there too.

Ah yes, never forget the yoots on question!

or the rear differential!

[Tony-OH]

31 minutes ago, Malike said:

I think the bullpen ERA on the road trip was near 8. I think sustaining that by outscoring your opponents is going to be a tough road to hoe.

The offense certainly carried the bullpen this roadtrip. The bullpen SHOULD settle down though like I said in the game thread yesterday, besides Kimbrel and maybe Coulombe, who do you have complete faith in when they come in the game? 

Not to turn this into a bullpen discussion in Frobby's offense thread, but the offense had to carry the pen. 

As much as I don't think the offense is sustainable at this road trip level long term, I do think we are seeing some young hitter blossom that could very well make the Orioles offense one of the best in the league for a long time. 

The emergence of Cowser and Westburg this year, along with the improvements by Gunnar against lefties and Mountcastle's continued willingness to take a walk has really broadened the threat factor in this lineup. Against righties, the Orioles can put six guys in a lineup with .359 or high OBP right now. All of this and Adley and Mountcastle only have four home runs between them, so we can expect more power from them as well.

Sure, Cowser and Westburg may cool off some and even Gunnar is most likely not going to carry a 1.000+ OPS the rest of the year, but Mullins and Santander should improve their OBPs. 

So really, even if some guys cool down, others have room to heat up. 

[KojiSplit]

On 4/25/2024 at 10:14 AM, Too Tall said:

I hope this thread doesn't start a jinx!!!!!!!  Waving my anti-jinx wand!!!!  Baseball is a game of averages. Don't assume anything long term - as sure as it may seem. Just cross fingers and enjoy the now. 

A’s start 5era, 0-5 record Ross Stripling yet the O’s manage to only score 2 runs off him and would ultimately lose 3-2. So yes the Frobby jinx strikes again lol

[Aristotelian]

Just bumping this thread for an update. As a team we are still 3rd in runs scored and 3rd in OPS at .751. Looking up at the Dodgers and Brewers, with Braves right behind us. (Last year we were #7).

We are also #6 in ERA, up one spot from #7 last year (#3 in WHIP and tied for #1 in BB allowed). Sports Guy will be disappointed we are only #11 in K's. The teams ahead of us are BOS, SEA, NYY, DET, and PHI, so we are the only team in MLB in the top six in runs scored and ERA. 

Unlike previous years where we have had to outperform our run differential, this year we are +45, second only to the Dodgers.

At a high level, this is a very, very good team.