Relax about the pitching

[eddie83]

It’s not the same sport as years ago. For better or worse you have to accept it. Injuries, innings limits etc. I am not saying the Orioles should pass on adding arms. Not at all. Clearly on paper the Orioles SP depth is not as good as some other teams. Clearly they could add a power arm or two to the pen. 

Ultimately if the Orioles will win it all it will be the same script as any team that wins. Players step up. Bats have huge games. Middling pitchers get the job done. 
 

I wanted to go back and look at last year. Here is the Rangers postseason starting pitchers. 
 

Rangers playoff starts 

Pitcher/IP/ER

ALWC 2-0 over TB
Montgomery  7/0              W 4-0
Eovaldi 6.2/1                      W 7-1 

ALDS 3-0 over BAL 
Heaney 3.2/1                      W 3-2*
Montgomery 4/4- 5 total  W 11-8
Eovaldi  7/1                           W 7-1 

ALCS 4-3 over HOU
Montgomery 6.1/0             W 2-0
Eovaldi 6/3                         W 5-4
Scherzer 4/5                      L 8-5
Heaney 0.2/3                     L 10-3
Montgomery 5.1/2             L 6-4*
Eovaldi 6.2/2                      W 9-2
Scherzer 2.2/2                   W 11-4*

WS 4-1 over ARZ 
Eovaldi 4.2/5                     W 6-5 *
Montgomery 6/4               L 9-1
Scherzer 3/0                     W 3-1*
Heaney 5/1                        W 11-7
Eovaldi 6/0                         W 5-0 

I marked an asterisk by a couple of games. 

-Game 1 vs BAL Bullpen 5 arms 5.1/1
-Game 5 vs HOU Leclerc the closer allowed 3 runs in 9th to lose heartbreaker 
-Game 7 vs HOU Montgomery 2.1/0 in relief backing up 
-Game 1 vs ARZ  Rangers score 2 in 9th to tie- a Seager HR and win in 11th a walkoff HR by Garcia. Bullpen goes 5.1/0
-Game 3 vs ARZ Jon Gray goes 3/0 to backup Scherzer. Pen overall goes 6/1

 

Now clearly because the Rangers won this way does not mean every team will win the same. The Astros had better pitching depth in 2022. That said they fell behind the red hot Phillies 2-1 in the WS. Then won 3 straight. In 21 the Braves won Game 4 in the NLCS using an opener who went 1 IP. The next game Fried got lit up and they came home and won Game 6. Their bullpen was on fire that postseason. 
 

It’s not like it’s impossible that guys like Kremer and Irvin can’t pitch well. It also would not be a shock if someone like Akin got big outs in the playoffs. The Rangers didn’t have a good bullpen last year but in October except for ALCS Game 5 they stepped up. Then after the gut punch they went back to HOU and won 2 games. 
 

The trade deadline is 37 days away. It’s going to be a long month. Who knows what happens between now and then. Last year Texas lost 16/20 in August and easily could have missed the postseason. Even when they played better in September they lost the division the last day of the year. Yes they added Montgomery and Chapman but it’s not like the team caught fire immediately. 
 

Who knows whether someone like Coloumbe will be key in September/October or not back at all. The biggest key is somehow staying healthy the rest of the way. The thing is all teams have the same issue. We have a deep lineup and if anything it has a realistic chance to get better. 

[DirtyBird]

Looks like they did much better when the starters pitched well and when the bullpen locked down

[eddie83]

5 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

Looks like they did much better when the starters pitched well and when the bullpen locked down

How many SP’s threw well? 
 

This team is probably going to have to match what TEX did with Eovaldi and Montgomery using Burnes/GRod. Need to win 66% plus of their playoff starts. 
 

There isn’t another Bradish out there. That doesn’t exist. He may be a top 10-15 SP in the game. 
 

It’s all about your health and availability come October. The trade deadline is 5 plus weeks away. There are going to be ebbs and flows. Most important thing between now and October is the health of Burnes and Grayson. 

[Three Run Homer]

2 hours ago, eddie83 said:

There isn’t another Bradish out there. That doesn’t exist. He may be a top 10-15 SP in the game. 
 

True, but there are guys who will be traded who are a better bet for October than Kremer and Irvin.  

[eddie83]

18 minutes ago, Three Run Homer said:

True, but there are guys who will be traded who are a better bet for October than Kremer and Irvin.  

Certainly possible. People need to be patient and temper their expectations of a star pitcher joining the team. That doesn’t mean a SP can’t make a significant impact the rest of the way. 

Edited Monday at 03:57 by eddie83

[Philip]

Seems as good a place as any to post this exchange from tonight’s MLBTraderumors chat.

 

 

[Malike]

I think the O's will kick the tires on Severino from the Mets, he's having a bounce back season of sorts.

[Sports Guy]

Burnes and Rodriguez have to be lights out and we need DC to come back and be the excellent pitcher he has been but we also know he’s not a 5-6 inning saves guy.

It’s hard to envision us winning an AL pennant, much less a WS, relying on Kimbrel in the highest of leverage situations and a lot of innings going to guys like Irvin, Kremer and Cano.

[interloper]

I will not relax about the pitching. Lol. It's a huge issue. 

[O's84]

#3 starter + 2 back end BP guys.  Get that and were a WS contender.  

[Moose Milligan]

4 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Burnes and Rodriguez have to be lights out and we need DC to come back and be the excellent pitcher he has been but we also know he’s not a 5-6 inning saves guy.

It’s hard to envision us winning an AL pennant, much less a WS, relying on Kimbrel in the highest of leverage situations and a lot of innings going to guys like Irvin, Kremer and Cano.

Spot on here.  

We'll see what Elias does at the deadline but I am not getting my hopes up.

Anything can happen in the playoffs...the Rangers got hot at the right time last year, I think we all wanted to face them in the playoffs because we thought their bullpen was weak.  

[interloper]

13 minutes ago, O's84 said:

#3 starter + 2 back end BP guys.  Get that and were a WS contender.  

That's definitely the mission. I have a hard time believing Elias is going to be able to find those 3 things. He neglected to do more in the offseason when the bullpen was an obvious issue, and here we are with the ramifications of that inaction. 

[glenn__davis]

15 minutes ago, O's84 said:

#3 starter + 2 back end BP guys.  Get that and were a WS contender.  

We're a WS contender already.   Probably one of the better ones actually.

[interloper]

Just now, glenn__davis said:

We're a WS contender already.   Probably one of the better ones actually.

We were before all the injuries. We are merely a playoff contender at this point. 

[O's84]

Just now, interloper said:

That's definitely the mission. I have a hard time believing Elias is going to be able to find those 3 things. He neglected to do more in the offseason when the bullpen was an obvious issue, and here we are with the ramifications of that inaction. 

I doubt it too.  However, if he can get a #3 starter and a back end BP arm, we call still be fine if McDermott can make the jump and be that 2nd BP guy.