This offensive style is not sustainable

[Just Regular]

I'm curious to see how they come at Seattle.    Weaker SP you don't mind them getting quick PA outcomes as in general they don't prevent runs effectively.

The Mariners bullpen is down Matt Brash and Gregory Santos, but we'll see three strong starters.

We got Kikuchi out early today, and when Jose Berrios is on a heater he challenges batters so directly some of the fast cadence is on him.

Bryce Miller in particular leading off the series is fastball forward and has tapered off to an average walk rate this year.

[LGOrioles]

Somewhat off topic, but if Elias deems Holliday isn’t ready to make an impact and Houston sells, can you imagine if the O’s traded for Bregman and moved Westburg to 2B? It’s a pipe dream and ideally Holliday makes the idea mute, but Bregman would lengthen the lineup so much and add some much needed patience/OBP. 

[owknows]

They definitely need a more sustainable offensive style

[waroriole]

It does seem like they’re purposely taking a different approach this year. My hope is they want to stress to players there’s a time to be aggressive and a time to be selective. This should help players find their appropriate balance as they progress and as we get into  the postseason. With young players, maybe if you start them off under a directive of how to approach pitchers they learn how to do it on their own. 

[EdwinRip]

1 hour ago, LGOrioles said:

Somewhat off topic, but if Elias deems Holliday isn’t ready to make an impact and Houston sells, can you imagine if the O’s traded for Bregman and moved Westburg to 2B? It’s a pipe dream and ideally Holliday makes the idea mute, but Bregman would lengthen the lineup so much and add some much needed patience/OBP. 

30 year old Bregman with a sub 300 OBP and all of his metrics are going south…not to mention his one calling card of hitting it out to left in Houston would not happen at Camden Yards.  Hard pass!

[OHearn4Prez]

We need to trade for OF help, not infield. Any good OF’s on likely selling teams?

[Frobby]

Five times today, the Orioles had either a runner on second with nobody out and failed to advance him, or a runner on 3B with less than two out and failed to score him.  Just terrible situational hitting.  

[Malike]

Stark contrast to last year, when they were so good at those situations with RISP. Hopefully, it's a blip and starts to even out.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Malike said:

Stark contrast to last year, when they were so good at those situations with RISP. Hopefully, it's a blip and starts to even out.

As of the end of April, their RISP numbers were excellent.  But I’m not even talking about getting hits with RISP.  Right now they can’t even make productive outs.  

[Hallas]

I can't find the article right now, but I recall reading a while back that there was some evidence that hitting tons of home runs correlates with beating your pythagorean expectation.  That's one of the reasons why the early-mid 2010s Orioles teams with prime Chris Davis frequently beat our expected win totals.  Since we're at or close to the stabilization rate for a lot of HR/power numbers I don't think the conclusion here is that our style of play is unsustainable.

 

Also, offense around the league is in the absolute gutter, so the runs we're able to score are pretty meaningful.

[Hallas]

 

 

This might explain the Orioles clear change in approach.  If you see a pitch you like on the first pitch take a big fat rip at it.  League average SLG is .550 and the O's are at .700.  So there's some analytical wisdom behind going up and hacking.

Edited May 16 by Hallas

[Moose Milligan]

3 hours ago, Hallas said:

 

 

This might explain the Orioles clear change in approach.  If you see a pitch you like on the first pitch take a big fat rip at it.  League average SLG is .550 and the O's are at .700.  So there's some analytical wisdom behind going up and hacking.

Yeah, that's true.  Pitcher wants to get a first pitch strike, they want to put something over the plate or near the plate.

I think you can do both, though...I think you can take a rip at the first pitch if it's in the zone and if you miss or check your swing...well, you can still have a productive at bat.  You can still work a count.  

So basically the Orioles are Babe Ruth on the first pitch.  If that's the case, then why have they been in a 2 week slump?

[sportsfan8703]

Will Westburg at the top of the lineup continue?  Gunnar cleanup?  Mateo has been getting on at least once in his last several games. That helps the offense so much. 

[RZNJ]

The Orioles are #2 in lowest walks.  Last year they finished #10.  Rutschman has 9 walks as of May 15.  Last year on May 15 he had 32.  If Rutschman had 32 walks right now the Orioles would move from #2 to #7.   This team wide approach shift is largely a one player approach shift and that player is doing pretty well.

[sportsfan8703]

We’ve also been running into really good pitching. It’s just how the schedule works. You don’t want to sit back and take hittable pitches and be down 1-2 every count. 

Things will start to balance out when the grind of 162 starts to wear on opposing team’s rotations.