Are we actually 27-14 with the highest runs/game in the AL?

[Frobby]

I think some of you are kind of making my point.  It’s like the April offense was an illusion but the May offense is reality.  The truth is, neither is reality.  The combined numbers are much closer to the truth.  The players who are slumping won’t stay in slumps forever (at least, most of them won’t).  Guys will get hot, other guys will get cold.  There be down times for the pitching, too.  But so long as the team keeps finding ways to win, I’m happy.  

[Hank Scorpio]

Meh it's called being a baseball fan.

We're never satisfied unless we're in the moment of victory. We know better than Hyde. We know better than Elias. Every loss feels oppressive and we're getting to the point that we expect wins. 

 

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

It’s definitely a negative tone. Twitter is even worse and yes, people lack perspective.

I will say this though…the team’s back for the pen and lack of walks/OBP are real concerns and you will not win in October without improvements in those areas.

 

I think that's the thing is the expectations are World Series. So you start to look at October and it becomes clear that the team as constructed, and how they look right now, does not really seem like a true WS contender. 

Yes I'm being a little overly salty at the moment. But the negative tone is due to expectations and looking towards the team's chances in October IMO. 

[SteveA]

Part of the perception that the offense isn't good even though it's the highest scoring in the AL, is that we tend to start incredibly slowly.

• The first time through the order vs a starting pitcher in a game, we have a pathetic .614 OPS.   
• The second time thru the order, it jumps to .849. 
• Third time it's .857.   
• And on the few occasions where our batters see a starter for the 4th time+ in a game, the OPS is 1.572.

Now I realize that it is typical in MLB to do better against a pitcher the 2nd and 3rd time through the order.   But the Orioles' split in that department is FAR more severe than it is across MLB.   The MLB average is:

• 1st TTTO vs a starter:  .691
• 2nd TTTO vs a starter:  .695
• 3rd TTTO vs a starter:  .749
• 4th+ TTTO vs a starter:  .701

Now let's look at some of the other good offenses.

• The Yankees are actually backwards!   They come out of the gate smoking:  1st time .826, 2nd time .745, 3rd time .696, 4+ .333
• Dodgers 1-.830, 2-.832, 3-.866, 4_-1.167
• Brewers 1-.818, 2-.703, 3-.823, 4+-.000 (just 1 plate appearance)
• Phillies  1-.832, 2-.717, 3-.849, 4+-1.350

So while the other top offenses in MLB are OPSing .826, .830, .818, .832 in the first 9 batters of the game, we put up a .614 OPS.   Is it any wonder there is so much complaining in the game threads about us making bad pitchers look good?

Now we make up for it and actually end up scoring the 4th most runs per game in the majors and most in the AL, somehow.   We have an insane .891 OPS in extra innings.   We OPS .828 in late-and-close situations.

The question to ask, is the incredibly bad .614 OPS the first time through the order just an oddity of sample size that will disappear in time, or is there something fundamental in our approach that leads to it?

[DirtyBird]

I agree that things turned extremely negative around here when Tony banned me for a week.

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think some of you are kind of making my point.  It’s like the April offense was an illusion but the May offense is reality.  The truth is, neither is reality.  The combined numbers are much closer to the truth.  The players who are slumping won’t stay in slumps forever (at least, most of them won’t).  Guys will get hot, other guys will get cold.  There be down times for the pitching, too.  But so long as the team keeps finding ways to win, I’m happy.  

It’s a developing situation.  Yes!

[interloper]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

It’s a developing situation.  Yes!

I mean we hope it is. It might not be, and that would be very bad. 

But it's most likely to be a developing situation. 

[Aristotelian]

Don't tell me how to be a fan!!!! /s

When has this board ever been positive? I think it's the nature of the platform, it attracts people who want to vent their complaints and frustrations. Often they are valid and I still learn from it. 

Reminds me of listening to WFAN when I lived in NYC. The Yanks could be in first place but if they lose a game or two it would be nonstop rants at the manager or a slumping player. We're not that bad but it is the nature of the beast.

With our current recored, 90% playoff odds, core of amazing talent and pipeline with more, and new ownership, this is a great time to be an O's fan. I do think most everyone here understands that but it is easy to take for granted.

 

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

I agree that things turned extremely negative around here when Tony banned me for a week.

I think I saw some positive comments regarding that.

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think some of you are kind of making my point.  It’s like the April offense was an illusion but the May offense is reality.  The truth is, neither is reality.  The combined numbers are much closer to the truth.  The players who are slumping won’t stay in slumps forever (at least, most of them won’t).  Guys will get hot, other guys will get cold.  There be down times for the pitching, too.  But so long as the team keeps finding ways to win, I’m happy.  

The Os are 22nd in MLB in team OBP. They were 17th in April.

Yes they scored runs in April but you don’t expect that to keep up to the level they were doing it with a poor team OBP like that.

 

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Don't tell me how to be a fan!!!! /s

When has this board ever been positive? I think it's the nature of the platform, it attracts people who want to vent their complaints and frustrations. Often they are valid and I still learn from it. 

Reminds me of listening to WFAN when I lived in NYC. The Yanks could be in first place but if they lose a game or two it would be nonstop rants at the manager or a slumping player. We're not that bad but it is the nature of the beast.

With our current recored, 90% playoff odds, core of amazing talent and pipeline with more, and new ownership, this is a great time to be an O's fan. I do think most everyone here understands that but it is easy to take for granted.

 

It’s pretty amazing how quickly fans can get spoiled.  Soon people will be comparing us to Yankees and Red Sox fans.  

[maybenxtyr]

I think it's a bit of both here. On the one hand, they're on pace for over 100 wins with really a lot of stuff not going great. On the other hand, a lot of things haven't gone right. People can view it both ways and still be happy with the results but have some apprehension about the future of the season.

 

Biggest concerns...can Cowser make the necessary adjustments after an excellent start? Mullins and Santander have track records much better than what they've shown so far. When will they get it going? Will Hays be able to step in and give Cowser or Mullins a day off and provide some production? 

 

The starting pitching even with a copious amount of injuries has to be seen as exceeding expectations. The BP, that's a bit of a question Mark at the moment. 

 

On top of the good and bad, NY is showing early on that they're going to be stiff competition in the East. And I think most of us expect them to do whatever is needed to add to their team at the deadline. All in all though, there's more positives than negatives but I'm guilty of being a pessimist for sure.

[interloper]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It’s pretty amazing how quickly fans can get spoiled.  Soon people will be comparing us to Yankees and Red Sox fans.  

This kind of opinion bugs me. It implies that people are negative for the sake of being negative. No. Some fans are critical based on clear stat trends and worrying about how to keep up this win pace if the April offense was a mirage. The fact is, we don't know yet. But there's plenty to be critical about. 

No one here is just blasting the team indiscriminately as if we are dime-a-dozen internet rage commenters. No one here sounds like a spoiled Yankees fan. Some of us have valid concerns. Doesn't mean we won't trend positive again. That's baseball. 

Edited May 17 by interloper

[RZNJ]

22 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It’s pretty amazing how quickly fans can get spoiled.  Soon people will be comparing us to Yankees and Red Sox fans.  

Just wait.  If the Orioles don’t make a deep run in the playoffs (unlike others I don’t consider making the playoffs a lock) half the board will want a new manager and floating the idea that Elias is a builder but not a closer and it might be time for a change.

Edited May 17 by RZNJ

[glenn__davis]

The complaints about the offense are a bit puzzling to me.

Every team, every year, goes through periods where the offense isn't humming.  This should surprise no one.  I'm not really getting the doom and gloom.  We haven't lost a series since Kimbrel blew 2 against the A's.  3 weeks ago.