Well, That Sucked

[eddie83]

I’m hoping Holliday can at some point this year be a weapon. Could be a second half difference. Obviously aren’t going to rush him. Still of course have Kjerstad and Mayo. 

 

That said for now have to let things play out. I actually think Hays looks better. Need to get Mountcastle going again and/or Santander. 
 

The immediate question is how will Hyde handle the OF. Urias is pretty much buried. 

[eddie83]

18 minutes ago, Orioles0615 said:

Since April 21st

 

22nd in Runs 

23rd in BA

27th in OBP

7th in Slugging by some miracle 

 

Pretty telling.  

[OnlyOneOriole]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Flush it.  We haven’t been swept in two years so we’ve forgotten that good teams have bad stretches sometimes.  That blew, but forget it and move on.

Silver lining is we can stop hearing about the streak.  

I am going to disagree.   The O's hitters as a whole have been trending down since the first 2-3 weeks of the season.  This wasn't a one time thing.  This is a serious issue. 

Starting pitching has been great.    Hitting has not despite what the stats say.  It just hasn't and we can all see that. 

The bottom line is the Os....as I said last year in the "O's will not win the WS in 2023" thread....are lacking in true difference makers in their starting hitting lineup other than Gunnar and maybeeeee Westburg and Cowser.   So my thought then, as it is now, is too play the younglings like Heston and Mayo and Stowers and Norby.  Because at least they have a real chance to come up and produce.

We already know what players like Urias and Mullins and Hayes are going to do.  And they are not going to win you a WS.

 

So why even go down that route at this point?

[Tbone83]

Game 2 up until the weather hit was the most frustrating baseball I have watched in 2 years. Playoffs last year being a possible exception. Just awful at bat after awful at bat. I agree the outfield is getting to be a problem. Cowser has come back to earth and Hays, Mullins, and Tony are just plain bad right now.

I'd like to think the Sox series will be a good chance to "get well" but StL isn't very good either.

[LGOrioles]

On a more positive note, the O’s are still 10-8 in May while:

1. They have the lowest BABIP in the MLB

2. 3 regulars have a wRC+ over 100 (4 including Mateo)

3. Grayson has made one start

4. Cano’s ERA is 5.06, Kremer’s is 4.60, and Kimbrel’s is 4.50

5. Both the offense and pitching rank in the bottom 10 in clutch score 

 

Burnes, Bradish, Irvin, Mateo, and Henderson have been good. Almost everyone else has ranged from solid (Westburg) to disappointing (Santander, Cowser, Adley, O’Hearn) to brutal (Mullins, Mountcastle, McCann). 
 

Definitely a disappointing few weeks and past series, but it’s pretty crazy they’re still 10-8 this month while looking so “bad” for their standards. Says a lot about the expectations this team has. 

[Tbone83]

Regarding the not swept streak- I will not miss hearing about it because after the ALDS, the streak became as about as relevant as the Ravens preseason win streak.

 

[OnlyOneOriole]

47 minutes ago, Moshagge3 said:

Adley having 10 walks in 48 games is shocking to me. That's four fewer than Salvy Perez, who's famous for not walking. Life is just too easy for a pitcher against the Orioles right now. 

His swings and batting today with runners on base in the 3rd inning was horridly bad.  Especially his strikeout swing.

 

He looked like he had never swung a bat in his life. 

[OnlyOneOriole]

6 minutes ago, Tbone83 said:

Game 2 up until the weather hit was the most frustrating baseball I have watched in 2 years. Playoffs last year being a possible exception. Just awful at bat after awful at bat. I agree the outfield is getting to be a problem. Cowser has come back to earth and Hays, Mullins, and Tony are just plain bad right now.

I'd like to think the Sox series will be a good chance to "get well" but StL isn't very good either.

Consider the Yankees outfield right now compared to the Os as far as production.

 

It is like a HS football team playing against the U of M Wolverines last year.

[LGOrioles]

7 minutes ago, OnlyOneOriole said:

I am going to disagree.   The O's hitters as a whole have been trending down since the first 2-3 weeks of the season.  This wasn't a one time thing.  This is a serious issue. 

Starting pitching has been great.    Hitting has not despite what the stats say.  It just hasn't and we can all see that. 

The bottom line is the Os....as I said last year in the "O's will not win the WS in 2023" thread....are lacking in true difference makers in their starting hitting lineup other than Gunnar and maybeeeee Westburg and Cowser.   So my thought then, as it is now, is too play the younglings like Heston and Mayo and Stowers and Norby.  Because at least they have a real chance to come up and produce.

We already know what players like Urias and Mullins and Hayes are going to do.  And they are not going to win you a WS.

 

So why even go down that route at this point?

In regards to true difference makers, last year Texas had Seager and then a bunch of solid bats (including Carter who was unreal for them but clearly was not sustainable). Westburg, Cowser, O’Hearn and Adley have all been better so far this year offensively than Semien or Garcia last year (their 2nd and 3rd best regulars last year). 

No offense is going to look good when you only have 3 regulars hitting as well in a particular month as they normally do (Mateo, Westburg, and Gunnar). 

[OnlyOneOriole]

1 minute ago, LGOrioles said:

In regards to true difference makers, last year Texas had Seager and then a bunch of solid bats (including Carter who was unreal for them but clearly was not sustainable). Westburg, Cowser, O’Hearn and Adley have all been better so far this year offensively than Semien or Garcia last year (their 2nd and 3rd best regulars last year). 

No offense is going to look good when you only have 3 regulars hitting as well in a particular month as they normally do (Mateo, Westburg, and Gunnar). 

Os are either going to have to trade for a big bat (and they are out there) or call up some youngsters and hope they learn and produce. 

 

For example Heston imo should be playing all day everyday.  The fact he is not is criminal to me. 

Mayo should have been but now he is out.

I don't think their are many organizations in baseball that would be playing players like Hayes, Mullins, and Urias over those guys.

 

But here we are.  And it makes NO SENSE.

 

All imo. 

[LGOrioles]

4 minutes ago, OnlyOneOriole said:

Os are either going to have to trade for a big bat (and they are out there) or call up some youngsters and hope they learn and produce. 

 

For example Heston imo should be playing all day everyday.  The fact he is not is criminal to me. 

Mayo should have been but now he is out.

I don't think their are many organizations in baseball that would be playing players like Hayes, Mullins, and Urias over those guys.

 

But here we are.  And it makes NO SENSE.

 

All imo. 

I don’t disagree that they may need to trade for a bat (particularly OF) if Mullins doesn’t figure it out. As far as Kjerstad, his Chase and whiff rates have been terrible. What he’s done so far in his MLB sample size is exactly what everyone is complaining about right now. I’m not sure what his MILB numbers look like in that regard but he’s probably not going to have much luck with Chase and whiff rates over 35%.

[Since1984]

25 minutes ago, Tbone83 said:

Game 2 up until the weather hit was the most frustrating baseball I have watched in 2 years. Playoffs last year being a possible exception. Just awful at bat after awful at bat. I agree the outfield is getting to be a problem. Cowser has come back to earth and Hays, Mullins, and Tony are just plain bad right now.

I'd like to think the Sox series will be a good chance to "get well" but StL isn't very good either.

Now 8-2, the Cardinals were projected to win the west. I’m currently blaming Gibson’s posted signage in the Orioles dugout as a hex.

[Sports Guy]

30 minutes ago, OnlyOneOriole said:

I am going to disagree.   The O's hitters as a whole have been trending down since the first 2-3 weeks of the season.  This wasn't a one time thing.  This is a serious issue. 

Starting pitching has been great.    Hitting has not despite what the stats say.  It just hasn't and we can all see that. 

The bottom line is the Os....as I said last year in the "O's will not win the WS in 2023" thread....are lacking in true difference makers in their starting hitting lineup other than Gunnar and maybeeeee Westburg and Cowser.   So my thought then, as it is now, is too play the younglings like Heston and Mayo and Stowers and Norby.  Because at least they have a real chance to come up and produce.

We already know what players like Urias and Mullins and Hayes are going to do.  And they are not going to win you a WS.

 

So why even go down that route at this point?

It’s intellectually dishonest to say players like that aren’t on playoff teams and world series winning teams.  

[Sports Guy]

7 minutes ago, LGOrioles said:

I don’t disagree that they may need to trade for a bat (particularly OF) if Mullins doesn’t figure it out. As far as Kjerstad, his Chase and whiff rates have been terrible. What he’s done so far in his MLB sample size is exactly what everyone is complaining about right now. I’m not sure what his MILB numbers look like in that regard but he’s probably not going to have much luck with Chase and whiff rates over 35%.

It’s a SSS with sporadic playing time. Nothing can be taken from those numbers.

[Tbone83]

I get the respect the team has for the starting OF. They were here for, and were all keys to, the Orioles becoming relevant again. My hope was they could play well enough to get to the ASB so they could ride off to the proverbial sunset gracefully and let the youngsters come up. But it's not even June and Hays and Mullins are under .200 and Tony is barely above.  I'm not sure what to do.