How important is this Yankees series, really?

[Moose Milligan]

I think it was very important.  Not necessarily from a W/L perspective, but from what it means to a group of players that are extremely talented yet are still on the upswing of their careers, trying to make a name for themselves and go toe-to-toe with the Yankees and all that comes with them.

I think it also exposed the Yankees for what they are...outside of Soto and Judge and sometimes Stanton, their lineup is not impressive.  The key to beating them is to not let the other 6-7 guys beat you.  Soto and Judge are going to do what they're going to do, Stanton isn't what he was but he can still go on a heater and he can still run into a fastball from time to time.  He still needs to be respected.

There's no one else in that lineup that you really have to worry about, but if you take care of the rest, you limit the damage that the other 2.5 can do.

Their bullpen is very good, but they can be had.  If we have to play them in the playoffs, it will suck to have to face Nestor Cortes.  In comparison, Cole doesn't scare me the way Cortes does...we've gotten to Cole before.  We touched up Gil today and we'll see how the rest of his season goes.

The takeaway is the same as it was the first time we played them this year.  They're good, but they're not amazing and they can be had.

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think it was very important.  Not necessarily from a W/L perspective, but from what it means to a group of players that are extremely talented yet are still on the upswing of their careers, trying to make a name for themselves and go toe-to-toe with the Yankees and all that comes with them.

I think it also exposed the Yankees for what they are...outside of Soto and Judge and sometimes Stanton, their lineup is not impressive.  The key to beating them is to not let the other 6-7 guys beat you.  Soto and Judge are going to do what they're going to do, Stanton isn't what he was but he can still go on a heater and he can still run into a fastball from time to time.  He still needs to be respected.

There's no one else in that lineup that you really have to worry about, but if you take care of the rest, you limit the damage that the other 2.5 can do.

Their bullpen is very good, but they can be had.  If we have to play them in the playoffs, it will suck to have to face Nestor Cortes.  In comparison, Cole doesn't scare me the way Cortes does...we've gotten to Cole before.  We touched up Gil today and we'll see how the rest of his season goes.

The takeaway is the same as it was the first time we played them this year.  They're good, but they're not amazing and they can be had.

Normally speaking, they can pitch.

They have 2 HOF hitters and Stanton can crush you when he’s hot but he’s usually a relatively easy out.

They just aren’t that talented 6-26…but they have a really nice Top 5.

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

Normally speaking, they can pitch.

They have 2 HOF hitters and Stanton can crush you when he’s hot but he’s usually a relatively easy out.

They just aren’t that talented 6-26…but they have a really nice Top 5.

Agreed.

 

[Malike]

I'm watching the Yankee feed and Michael Kay is shocked that the Orioles have a 6 run lead and Gunnar was running in the 3rd. Like the game was over or something. 

[LGOrioles]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Normally speaking, they can pitch.

They have 2 HOF hitters and Stanton can crush you when he’s hot but he’s usually a relatively easy out.

They just aren’t that talented 6-26…but they have a really nice Top 5.

Yeah their 3rd and 4th best players by WAR are Trevino and Volpe. They’re great defensively but they both have xwOBA’s worse than Hays and Urias, and just barely higher than Mateo. Other than that, you’re right on Stanton and Verdugo is a little above average but his best trait is his low K%, his contact quality is very poor. 

[Moose Milligan]

2 minutes ago, LGOrioles said:

Yeah their 3rd and 4th best players by WAR are Trevino and Volpe. They’re great defensively but they both have xwOBA’s worse than Hays and Urias, and just barely higher than Mateo. Other than that, you’re right on Stanton and Verdugo is a little above average but his best trait is his low K%, his contact quality is very poor. 

I do not see how Trevino is some amazing defensive catcher.  The Sox ran all over him, so did we and we did it relatively easily.

Pitch blocking, sure.  I bet he's fine.  And I know that stealing bases doesn't all rest on the shoulders of the catcher but he looks like a Little Leaguer throwing.

I do believe Volpe is a good defender.

[Tbone83]

It turned out to be a very important character series for the Orioles. NY seemed hell-bent on getting into some sort of brawl by turning the Judge nothingburger into the crime of the Century and retaliating multiple times. I honestly feel like they were trying to create some sort of team bonding moment along the lines of the Armando Benitez thing back in the 90s.

The Orioles didn't take the bait, scrapped out a win in game two and beat the brakes off them today. For being the "young" team, they showed a ton of maturity. The Yankees came off as unfocused crybabies and they lost 2/3 to AAAA level starting pitching.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Normally speaking, they can pitch.

They have 2 HOF hitters and Stanton can crush you when he’s hot but he’s usually a relatively easy out.

They just aren’t that talented 6-26…but they have a really nice Top 5.

Our lineup is so much more balanced it isn’t even funny.   

We have now outscored the Yankees head to head by 39-21 after today’s bombing.  
 

[HowAboutThat]

Sheesh to anyone who said it wasn’t important. It was very important and would have been even if we’d been swept. We won. We won a very important series.
Very important, people!

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 hours ago, Malike said:

I'm watching the Yankee feed and Michael Kay is shocked that the Orioles have a 6 run lead and Gunnar was running in the 3rd. Like the game was over or something. 

In that little league of a stadium I don't feel relaxed until it's a 10 run lead. All you need is a few cheap home runs from Soto, Judge and Stanton and boom it's a ballgame again.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

I do believe Volpe is a good defender.

Unlike Jeter, Volpe's reputation as a plus defender at shortstop is earned.

[Malike]

2 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

In that little league of a stadium I don't feel relaxed until it's a 10 run lead. All you need is a few cheap home runs from Soto, Judge and Stanton and boom it's a ballgame again.

Yeah, both Girardi and Cone were like STFU it's the 3rd inning in Yankee Stadium.

[Nite]

Obviously important because of simple tie breaker reasons. Winning this series put them up 5-2. Only 2 more wins puts that equation to bed and gives the O's the +1 advantage in the standings. This can be accomplished going into the All Star break.

[sportsfan8703]

We left outta there 1 up in the loss column with the back of our rotation going, and coming of the news that Bradish is out with TJ.  That was pretty much worst case scenario for the Yankees.  They also lost Rizzo.  Jasson Dominguez also got re-injured too.  A really bad week for the bad guys.  A really good week for the O's.  

[Bemorewins]

12 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think it was very important.  Not necessarily from a W/L perspective, but from what it means to a group of players that are extremely talented yet are still on the upswing of their careers, trying to make a name for themselves and go toe-to-toe with the Yankees and all that comes with them.

I think it also exposed the Yankees for what they are...outside of Soto and Judge and sometimes Stanton, their lineup is not impressive.  The key to beating them is to not let the other 6-7 guys beat you.  Soto and Judge are going to do what they're going to do, Stanton isn't what he was but he can still go on a heater and he can still run into a fastball from time to time.  He still needs to be respected.

There's no one else in that lineup that you really have to worry about, but if you take care of the rest, you limit the damage that the other 2.5 can do.

Their bullpen is very good, but they can be had.  If we have to play them in the playoffs, it will suck to have to face Nestor Cortes.  In comparison, Cole doesn't scare me the way Cortes does...we've gotten to Cole before.  We touched up Gil today and we'll see how the rest of his season goes.

The takeaway is the same as it was the first time we played them this year.  They're good, but they're not amazing and they can be had.

I agree with your main takeaway, especially about their offense. Though Volpe is a good young player (not Gunnar but still good) and Verdugo is solid. But yeah beyond the top 5, they really have nothing. I was not as impressed with their bullpen as I was the first time around.

We may be the best team in baseball now. But IMO we still have a sizeable weakness at #3 starter and closer. If we sure those up, I don’t see ANYONE including the Yankees or Phillies or Dodgers beating us.