I know nobody wants to hear this but......

[Tony-OH]

This is a mix of hitting two really hot teams, our pitching attrition, and just some bad luck. Everything is not going their way right now. 

Sure, I think the rotation needs some help after losing Bradish, Means, Wells and Kremer and yes, Elias should have done more this offseason to sure up this pen (I was saying that all offseason and through spring), but when the team pitches good it doesn't hit and when they score a bunch, their pitching stinks. 

This team was not going to continue on a 105-win pace with their pitching injuries, but luckily, the Yankees have not been playing great either after being lights out for awhile (while the Orioles were red-hot). 

No this team is not going to go into a giant tailspin where they end up under .500 and yes, they will eventually break out of this. We saw in the schedule this was a tough stretch of opponents and lack of off days and it's just kind of caught up just as they hit two teams getting hot. 

They're going to be fine when it comes to making the playoffs.

Now, do they have a deep playoff caliber rotation and bullpen? No, I think they need to make moves, move that are going cost some players people don't want to see go, but when you have never drafted and developed a major league pitcher in 5 years of drafting, this is what your strategy was devised for. 

Develop the bats, trade/acquire for the arms. Now it's time to see if Elias is able to fulfill his strategy.

[Spy Fox]

4 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

5 game losing streak has some people here on tilt.  

That STRK column in the standings is very persuasive. 

Look elsewhere and you'll see that in spite of the L5 they still have the top run differential in the AL and are closer to the East lead than they were a week ago. 

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

That STRK column in the standings is very persuasive. 

Look elsewhere and you'll see that in spite of the L5 they still have the top run differential in the AL and are closer to the East lead than they were a week ago. 

And yet the sky is falling.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

And yet the sky is falling.

There is a crack in it.

 

[O's84]

37 minutes ago, Malike said:

I mean, if they keep tanking they can sell Burnes at the deadline, he'd command a huge return. I'm sure they won't, but if they decide to punt the season they have pieces to bring legit guys back.

If Elias thought flying to address the team when he traded Mancini away was bad, that's nothing compared to the speech he'd have to explain about trading Burnes.

I don't think this will happen, but in that hypothetical situation, I'd love to be a fly on the wall there.

[Malike]

2 minutes ago, O's84 said:

If Elias thought flying to address the team when he traded Mancini away was bad, that's nothing compared to the speech he'd have to explain about trading Burnes.

I don't think this will happen, but in that hypothetical situation, I'd love to be a fly on the wall there.

I was saying that sarcastically, but yeah would be interesting to say the least. It sucks they've lost 5, it's going to be okay eventually, they should win enough to secure a WC spot easily.

[Just Regular]

9 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

That STRK column in the standings is very persuasive. 

Look elsewhere and you'll see that in spite of the L5 they still have the top run differential in the AL and are closer to the East lead than they were a week ago. 

That Santander HR preserved the run differential for tonight!

The season is half done - three AL teams are +100 well past all others.

I think I know which of those three has the best chance to go +100 again in the second half.

[OHearn4Prez]

16 minutes ago, Tbone83 said:

Not addressing the bullpen other than a stopgap closer in the offseason is kinda coming home to roost now. Doesn't help that Cano and Perez haven't been very good either. The rotation has just been pure bad luck. When your 2/4/5 plus Wells are gone, sooner or later you are going to feel it. Irvin and Suarez have pitched above expectations but you gotta assume they are going to settle into mid-4 ERAs sooner or later.

No idea what the front office is going to do by the deadline. It's a sellers market it seems. I will say I hope major moves are made between now and the start of the 25 season, because it is pee or get off the pot with a lot of these guys on the farm.  And if Burnes isn't back, there is a TON of pitching that needs to be added.

I don’t know that I completely agree that the pitching is pure bad luck. They have known since January that Means and Bradish were unlikely to go the whole season, so they had opportunities to get more reliable starters in the off season without having to rely on guys like Suarez and Irvin. 
 

They knew Felix would be unavailable the entire season and that we had other average/below average guys in the pen and decided to only get an ok Kimbrel.  Now they are in a situation like others said in a sellers market with multiple holes to fill. I think the best bet without giving up too much is strengthen the pen as best as possible and then pray that the starters get back to quality starts.

[Sports Guy]

40 minutes ago, Orioles Jim said:

So I’m to take it your worry level right now is quite low?

I have the same worry about this team that I had before the season started…pitching.

 I was worried about Bradish and Means staying healthy (Bradish pitched more than I thought he would) and I didn’t like the pen.

Im not going overboard like this thread is imo but Elias does have work to do. 

[O's84]

12 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

They're going to be fine when it comes to making the playoffs. Now, do they have a deep playoff caliber rotation and bullpen? No, I think they need to make moves, move that are going cost some players people don't want to see go, but when you have never drafted and developed a major league pitcher in 5 years of drafting, this is what your strategy was devised for. 

Develop the bats, trade/acquire for the arms. Now it's time to see if Elias is able to fulfill his strategy.

Tony, you mentioned how Elias really hasn't made that "go for it" move.  I tend to agree with you that Elias might not have gone for Burnes if he knew Bradish wasn't injured.  

We need a #3rd starter and to 2 back end pen arms.  Elias said last year at the deadline he "took big swings" but ultimately just came away with Flaherty and Fuji.  He'll have to better this time around because this team, as presently constructed, is a longshot for the WS.  

Now getting 2 back end pen arms ad the deadline will be tough.  But he made his life more difficult when he didn't upgrade the pen during the offseason, especially after trading away Hall (And knowing no Felix for the year).

[Just Regular]

6 minutes ago, O's84 said:

If Elias thought flying to address the team when he traded Mancini away was bad, that's nothing compared to the speech he'd have to explain about trading Burnes.

I don't think this will happen, but in that hypothetical situation, I'd love to be a fly on the wall there.

The way it would work is...Elias wouldn't have to address anyone except Holliday, Mayo and Basallo about them being pushed down the top 10 prospects.

Burnes goes, Adley goes, Gunnar goes, Grayson goes.     Maybe we keep Julio Teheran and Garrett Cooper for veteranosity.

Gunnar has to go to the Nationals for Wood and Crews as co-headliners.    Adley to Minnesota for Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee.     Burnes for Lawlar, Grayson for Jobe.    We can leave Ethan Salas alone since Basallo's competitive there.

[Sports Guy]

The Os are simply relying too much on players that can fit a role but aren’t high leverage, high level guys. As talented as the team is, they are below average in very important areas and that is a killer.

[Uli2001]

This is the sophomore regression year. It's 2013, if you will. I do think the Orioles will come back much stronger in 2014, oops 2025. They will have hopefully their hurt pitchers back and healthy, and the young guys will have one more year under their belts. They don't need to do anything crazy this year, but trading Burnes at the deadline (then try to sign him in the offseason, yeah, fat chance) may not be a bad idea.

[Uli2001]

4 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

The way it would work is...Elias wouldn't have to address anyone except Holliday, Mayo and Basallo about them being pushed down the top 10 prospects.

Burnes goes, Adley goes, Gunnar goes, Grayson goes.     Maybe we keep Julio Teheran and Garrett Cooper for veteranosity.

Gunnar has to go to the Nationals for Wood and Crews as co-headliners.    Adley to Minnesota for Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee.     Burnes for Lawlar, Grayson for Jobe.    We can leave Ethan Salas alone since Basallo's competitive there.

Troll post to get a rise...

[O's84]

11 minutes ago, Malike said:

I was saying that sarcastically, but yeah would be interesting to say the least. It sucks they've lost 5, it's going to be okay eventually, they should win enough to secure a WC spot easily.

Yeah I know, in 2022 we were a couple games over .500 and there were a lot of teams in front of us so it made sense.  This year even after losing 5 in a row we are still 19 games over .500.  So yeah, whole different animal.  I would take a monumental collapse from here to the trade deadline for that scenario to occur.  But I couldn't resist imagining the hypothetical speech.