I don’t know if I’ve ever seen this team as patient as today

[Frobby]

Watching this game today, I was amazed by the Orioles’ patience and perseverance at the plate.   Taj Bradley had great stuff today, and be was pounding the strike zone, but batter after batter showed great strike zone judgment and spoiled a ton of pitches.  Through 4 innings, despite only getting a few runners on base, they’d forced Bradley to throw 87 pitches in only 16 batters.  12 of the 16 batters saw a minimum of 5 pitches.  They let up on him in the 5th (which was his last inning anyway), but went right back to work on the bullpen: 23 pitches vs. Armstrong in the 6th, 28 pitches vs. Poche in the 7th, 20 pitches off Adam in the 8th, 36 pitches off Maton and Kelly in the 9th.   All in all, 206 pitches seen.   That was outstanding.  
 

[Filmstudy]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Watching this game today, I was amazed by the Orioles’ patience and perseverance at the plate.   Taj Bradley had great stuff today, and be was pounding the strike zone, but batter after batter showed great strike zone judgment and spoiled a ton of pitches.  Through 4 innings, despite only getting a few runners on base, they’d forced Bradley to throw 87 pitches in only 16 batters.  12 of the 16 batters saw a minimum of 5 pitches.  They let up on him in the 5th (which was his last inning anyway), but went right back to work on the bullpen: 23 pitches vs. Armstrong in the 6th, 28 pitches vs. Poche in the 7th, 20 pitches off Adam in the 8th, 36 pitches off Maton and Kelly in the 9th.   All in all, 206 pitches seen.   That was outstanding.  
 

By "this team" you mean the 2024 Orioles, right?  Because the Orioles teams of our shared youth bludgeoned their opponents with patience.

That said, the ability to roll up Bradley's pitch count was key to the win today and we saw lots of good 2-strike extension, I agree.

[Roy Firestone]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

Watching this game today, I was amazed by the Orioles’ patience and perseverance at the plate.   Taj Bradley had great stuff today, and be was pounding the strike zone, but batter after batter showed great strike zone judgment and spoiled a ton of pitches.  Through 4 innings, despite only getting a few runners on base, they’d forced Bradley to throw 87 pitches in only 16 batters.  12 of the 16 batters saw a minimum of 5 pitches.  They let up on him in the 5th (which was his last inning anyway), but went right back to work on the bullpen: 23 pitches vs. Armstrong in the 6th, 28 pitches vs. Poche in the 7th, 20 pitches off Adam in the 8th, 36 pitches off Maton and Kelly in the 9th.   All in all, 206 pitches seen.   That was outstanding.  
 

The very KEY to the game was getting Bradley out of there at 99 pitches...that was because they were patient and worked counts , something they have rarely done all year...they need to do more of this. I was also impressed with how they did that with the other pitchers too...I still think though, that they seem to "wait" to score late in games...I'd rather to find a way to score , say in the 4th of 5th inning instead of the 9th or 8th...and put more pressure on the other team...but Ill take it every time..

[Yossarian]

And Bradley had the benefit of some very generous calls on the right side of the plate (looking from the mound).  It's difficult to be patient knowing that there were an extra 5 inches of strike zone out there. 

[Safelykept]

1 hour ago, Roy Firestone said:

The very KEY to the game was getting Bradley out of there at 99 pitches...that was because they were patient and worked counts , something they have rarely done all year...they need to do more of this. I was also impressed with how they did that with the other pitchers too...I still think though, that they seem to "wait" to score late in games...I'd rather to find a way to score , say in the 4th of 5th inning instead of the 9th or 8th...and put more pressure on the other team...but Ill take it every time..

Roy , I love you, but they dont wait (their good but not that good) what they do is(today anyway) is let the game come to them. Many time the Starter might be the best pitcher they face (unless ts their closer) Keep the game close, get into their BP, sample multiple arms and be ready to pounce which the last 2 Years they have gotten pretty good at.

[25 Nuggets]

The Orioles had sunk to last in the AL in walks drawn.  Since then they've had multiple games of 4, 5, or 6 walks.  Hopefully this trend continues.

Gunnar Henderson has led the charge; he's drawn 9 walks in his last 9 games and 18 walks in his last 17 games.

[spleen1015]

This thread made me wonder where they rank in pitches per AB. Looks like 20th in MLB in Pit/PA.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2024-pitches-batting.shtml

[Frobby]

7 hours ago, Filmstudy said:

By "this team" you mean the 2024 Orioles, right? 

Yes, that’s what I meant.   In any event, pitch count stats aren’t available before 1988.  I have no idea how many pitches the O’s were seeing in 1970. They did take 717 walks though.  That’s 89 more than the MLB-leading Dodgers are on pace to draw this year.  

[Jim'sKid26]

The old clique is that baseball is a game of adjustments. Given the variations in the strike zone umpire to umpire, the ability of each pitcher to throw strikes, the general environment for hitting (ballpark, temperature, time of day) I am not surprised to see significant variability in patience. This is a young team that seems to be getting better as the season progresses. You have to like the trend.

[Just Regular]

I guess fouling off helped as yesterday they were still bottom half of the league in O-Swing%

Whatever their style they seem solid as a Top 3 MLB offense with perhaps at least a couple future All-Stars pursuing their life mastery of the game of baseball as best they can in the high minors.

Certainly Mullins' scuffles are amplified by the alternative of giving Heston Kjerstad a decent audition to inform whether or not you should use him against Luis Gil.

[Oriole1940]

8 hours ago, Yossarian said:

And Bradley had the benefit of some very generous calls on the right side of the plate (looking from the mound).  It's difficult to be patient knowing that there were an extra 5 inches of strike zone out there. 

The upper top corner of the zone  looking from the Pitchers side was where the ump would not call strikes for Bradish too.   Pitch after pitch put right there was called a ball, but superior talent finally won out     

[thegardner]

4 hours ago, 25 Nuggets said:

Gunnar Henderson has led the charge; he's drawn 9 walks in his last 9 games and 18 walks in his last 17 games.

Yes, but they are also pitching around him sometimes, not quite an intentional walk but we are not giving you anything to hit.

[Filmstudy]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

Yes, that’s what I meant.   In any event, pitch count stats aren’t available before 1988.  I have no idea how many pitches the O’s were seeing in 1970. They did take 717 walks though.  That’s 89 more than the MLB-leading Dodgers are on pace to draw this year.  

During the 18 consecutive winning seasons from 1968-85, the one constant was that the Orioles outdrew their opponents every single season and by an average of 123 walks per year.

Even the good offensive teams of 1996-97, 2012-16 and now pale in comparison in terms of plate discipline.

[baltfan]

11 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

The very KEY to the game was getting Bradley out of there at 99 pitches...that was because they were patient and worked counts , something they have rarely done all year...they need to do more of this. I was also impressed with how they did that with the other pitchers too...I still think though, that they seem to "wait" to score late in games...I'd rather to find a way to score , say in the 4th of 5th inning instead of the 9th or 8th...and put more pressure on the other team...but Ill take it every time..

It’s pretty clear they flipped a switch after the Cardinals series.  They have been selective since then. 

[interloper]

7 minutes ago, baltfan said:

It’s pretty clear they flipped a switch after the Cardinals series.  They have been selective since then. 

I hope so. The previous approach was not sustainable. I'm glad to see they're adjusting and I hope it continues.