This offensive style is not sustainable

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

And now we get Miller-Castillo-Kirby from Seattle.. can't get much tougher than that inside of any one series. 

Yep, but Seattle also is 23rd in runs scored per game at 3.82.  And, their team ERA is much better at home (2.83) than on the road (4.02). So, if we win a couple of low-scoring squeakers this weekend, I’ll try not to complain too much about the lack of offense.  

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, PeregrineT said:

I mean, Ill be more concerned when this team isnt 4th in the league in scoring.  With the exact same runs per game as last season, in a year where all hitting is down.  With a bunch of young players learning.

Goes to show you even if you become the best team in baseball people will find something to complain about.

All very valid points. It's also been cooler this spring in most places and that has kept the scoring down a little.

[tntoriole]

20 hours ago, interloper said:

I'm sure SOME of it is by design. We know they preach being aggressive on pitch you can hit. I think the players are now struggling to find the balance with that. At least temporarily. 

They like guys with knowledge of the strike zone with good minor league BB:K ratios. So it's not like they don't value it. But something isn't translating at the big league level. Seems like all the players looked at Gunnar and said WE NEED TO BE AGGRESSIVE LIKE HE WAS. 

Fine line between aggressive and dumb

[theobird]

Did you see Adleys walk off last night? That was at once, dumb and fantastic.

[interloper]

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/a-plan-comes-together-looking-for-more-walks-ryan-o-hearn-is-getting-them

Here's a good example of a guy who understands "If I swing early I need to do damage, but I want to also walk more". 

I like that approach, and I think that's probably what the Orioles are ideally preaching. 

[Hallas]

2 hours ago, interloper said:

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/a-plan-comes-together-looking-for-more-walks-ryan-o-hearn-is-getting-them

Here's a good example of a guy who understands "If I swing early I need to do damage, but I want to also walk more". 

I like that approach, and I think that's probably what the Orioles are ideally preaching. 

 

O'Hearn's statcast percentile bars are insane.  He's not swinging at balls out of the zone, he's squaring up everything, and he rarely whiffs.  I don't think I've ever seen a guy look this bad through his mid-20s and then flip a switch at 29/30.

[now]

12 minutes ago, Hallas said:

 

O'Hearn's statcast percentile bars are insane.  He's not swinging at balls out of the zone, he's squaring up everything, and he rarely whiffs.  I don't think I've ever seen a guy look this bad through his mid-20s and then flip a switch at 29/30.

Steve Pearce comes to mind, and a glance at his career chart bears it out.

[interloper]

51 minutes ago, now said:

Steve Pearce comes to mind, and a glance at his career chart bears it out.

Yep, O'Hearn is truly the left-handed Steve Pearce. Loved me some Pearce, that dude was a baller. 

[KojiSplit]

Orioles are 7-1 so far in May (through May 22nd) when scoring 4 or more runs.

3-7 when scoring 3 or less in same time span.

[OriolesMagic83]

This offensive approach is as bad as the hey day of Buck's swing for the fences with every swing and damn OBP.  Are hitters told to forget everything they learned when they get to Baltimore?  Just really disappointed in an offense that is HR and not much else.  Maybe it worked early in the year but pitchers have figured O's hitters out.  Don't groove the 1st pitch and keep throwing stuff off the plate and low or high.  

[Moose Milligan]

5 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

This offensive approach is as bad as the hey day of Buck's swing for the fences with every swing and damn OBP.  Are hitters told to forget everything they learned when they get to Baltimore?  Just really disappointed in an offense that is HR and not much else.  Maybe it worked early in the year but pitchers have figured O's hitters out.  Don't groove the 1st pitch and keep throwing stuff off the plate and low or high.  

It is a terrible approach and I don't think anyone saw it coming this year.  It's Buck-Ball all over again in this regard and it's awful.  

10 hours ago, KojiSplit said:

Orioles are 7-1 so far in May (through May 22nd) when scoring 4 or more runs.

3-7 when scoring 3 or less in same time span.

That's about what I'd expect from a team that suddenly has great starting pitching but struggles to score runs for stretches at a time.  I'd figure most teams have a losing record when scoring less than 3 runs.  

[Sports Guy]

Some awful numbers:

OPS under 600:  Hays, Urias, Mullins and McCann.  356 PA. That is 19% of the teams PA.

17 players have come up and had at least 10 PA.   11 of them have an OBP of 295 or less.

McCann is on pace for 248 at bats, which is 41 more than last year. He has yet to walk, his OpS is well under 600 and he has a negative WAR.

Speaking of a negative WAR..McCann is joined by Hays and Urias as below replace level guys…combining to be worth -1.3.

Hays has a wRC+ of 16 and -.7 WAR.

As a team, they have the second worst BB% in all of baseball.

Adley is on pace to walk 34 times. He walked 92 times last year and 65 the year before (in less than 400 at bats).  He had the most balls called strikes last year (or second most) and I’m wondering if he’s trying to be ultra aggressive because of it?  Either way, he’s not a good enough hitter to not walk.

 

[Sports Guy]

Btw, they are 26th in all of MLB in team BaBiP, so they have some bad luck on their side too.

[Orioles0615]

6 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

This offensive approach is as bad as the hey day of Buck's swing for the fences with every swing and damn OBP.  Are hitters told to forget everything they learned when they get to Baltimore?  Just really disappointed in an offense that is HR and not much else.  Maybe it worked early in the year but pitchers have figured O's hitters out.  Don't groove the 1st pitch and keep throwing stuff off the plate and low or high.  

"Are hitters told to forget everything they learned when they get to Baltimore?"

 

i think that is part of the issue. The guys struggling never came up or spent time in the minor league system, where they seem to preach patience and try to cut down on K's

[DirtyBird]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Btw, they are 26th in all of MLB in team BaBiP, so they have some bad luck on their side too.

where are they in xBA?