FIX THE DANG BULLPEN

[Malike]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

The O’s bullpen had the 7th lowest ERA in MLB going into tonight.  They’re far from terrible.  I do think they’ll need to pick up a top level back end guy before the postseason.   

They've been very lucky. Both Webb and Cano have xERA's close to 4. Cano does two things well he gets some chase and he throws groundballs. Unfortunately, he gets no strikeouts and his HH and Avg Exit Velocity are bottom of the shelf. Groundball pitchers are great, but when your average exit velo is a hard hit ball, bad things often happen.

Webb is in the bottom 1% in Chase, middling K %, Bottom of the barrel in BB% and Barrel %, and is a flyball pitcher.

They are not as good as the ERA.

[Roy Firestone]

what the hell is so wrong about Cade Povich?

[LGOrioles]

3 minutes ago, Malike said:

Aiken has been excellent, but the guys who are supposed to be "the guys" are not good. I suspect that by the deadline the bullpen will have blown enough games for them to start shipping out guys from AAA for some elite arms with control for the pen.

Agreed and I would say Coulombe has been great too. The issue has been the righties. Just taking a peek though, the timing is pretty interesting. Kimbrel completely lost it for about 2 weeks. And then right as he started pitching better, Webb completely lost it (after that dominant NYY outing). And then a few days later (starting in CIN) Cano started losing it. Prior to these past 2/3 weeks, Cano’s numbers were almost the same as last year and Webb’s numbers were elite. 

Webb isn’t an elite reliever but should be fine as more of a 6th inning guy. He’s definitely overused right now. Hopefully Cano turns it around but even if he does, he’s good but not elite, and they still need at least one more back end piece. 

[Malike]

1 minute ago, Roy Firestone said:

what the hell is so wrong about Cade Povich?

He's a starting pitcher.

[OriolesMagic83]

1 hour ago, Malike said:

He's a starting pitcher.

I would rather the O's try McDermott as a reliever.  He seems a long ways away from being a mlb starter and could definitely help in the bullpen with his dominant stuff if he can keep stuff under control.

[baltfan]

I will keep banging this drum. They sit on the low pitches with Cano and put even good pitches in play like they did tonight.  He needs to occasionally throw up in the zone to keep them honest.  I know that he is a sinkerballer, but how many times does something like tonight have to happen before he slightly adjusts?

[Billy F-Face3]

DFA Heasley and bring up Vespi. If Vespi is unavailable because of the half double header, then we gotta look at someone like Tate, Baker, or another guy like the one they just claimed/traded cash for.  Luis Gonzalez has very good stats this season but not very good career sample numbers, so they'll have to look at all the analytics and spin rates before trying a guy like Gonzalez or McGough in the Majors. We don't want another Heasley situation.

[Billy F-Face3]

Vespi, Tate, and McGough look to be the top relief candidates to call up for the bullpen right now. Unless you want to change Zimmerman from starter to reliever, then his name enters the conversation, based on his previous experience with the major league roster.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Who are some realistic trade options?

[orioles119]

6 hours ago, accinfo said:

Too bad the Orioles lost again!  Oh what they won?

This gets a down vote?  How about a little perspective?  It wasn't pretty, but they won.  That's what truly matters. 

[Bemorewins]

8 hours ago, accinfo said:

Too bad the Orioles lost again!  Oh what they won?

They may have won against the CHI SOX which is really nothing to brag about in 2024. But I think that it is becoming quite clear that our bullpen is not good enough to win a championship (which is the goal for 2024 and going beyond).

[Aristotelian]

Guys need to chill a bit. We have one guy, Perez, with an ERA over 3.50. We don't have a Bautista/Miller type but overall the bullpen is fine. Headley was a short term move and will be gone soon. Yes, I would like us to trade for an elite arm to make us better.

Also, Akin is not our best pitcher. He has an awful track record and has melted down at the worst times like everyone else. Pl ase do not move him up the hierarchy. If anything he should have been on the shuttle so we could have kept Baumann.

Cano, Kimbrel, and Coulombe are the A team and should stay that way.  Kimbrel needs rest but Hyde has figured that out and adjusted.

[Bemorewins]

8 hours ago, LGOrioles said:

Webb isn’t a back end guy like Hyde has been using him. Cano isn’t the same guy he was last year (K-BB% is half of what it was last year). Right now, excluding Kimbrel since he’s back in the closer role, their best two relievers are Coulombe and Akin. Suarez has been good too but he’s not getting used like a back end guy. They desperately need to add at least one RHP and probably two that are legit 7th/8th inning guys. Would make the bridge to the 9th inning so much smoother if Webb/Cano/Suarez were your 5th-7th inning options out of the pen, then you had 2 other strong pieces to go in the 8th, and 2 really good lefties in Coulombe/Akin. 

The question is - If you and I and just about anyone watching can see that the guys on the roster in the pen aren’t good enough as a whole, why couldn’t those responsible for the decisions see this?

Like who thought Kimbrel would be an adequate replacement for Bautista? Who thought that Cano would be as good as he was last season? Who thought that Perez was better than Baumann? Who thought that Jacob Webb was a legit 7th inning guy on a pennant contender?

It appears that we have a flaw somewhere in terms of understanding the importance that a pen plays on a championship contending team. You can’t just throw anybody out there off the trash heap/waiver wire and be arrogant enough that you believe we can fix “whoever” all the team and be good enough to be the best. It looks like our decision makers are going to have to let go of a little ego and obsession with having to always be the smartest guys in the room and do what they have been resisting so long which is add substantive talent through trades.

[Bemorewins]

8 hours ago, Frobby said:

The O’s bullpen had the 7th lowest ERA in MLB going into tonight.  They’re far from terrible.  I do think they’ll need to pick up a top level back end guy before the postseason.   

That may be the season aggregate. But that is not where they are now. They are so bad right now that they are making some of the worst, most struggling hitters/offenses in MLB look good. This is not the bullpen that it was back in the Yankees series. As the season has gone on, the bullpen has gotten progressively worse.

[dystopia]

Looks to me like the bullpen was fine yesterday aside from Heasley who is just not a major league pitcher.