I Don't Understand It, They're Not Even Competitive Right Now.

[Brooks The Great]

3 hours ago, bpilktree67 said:

Every team has 2 or 3 below average hitters in their regular lineups and our bottom of the order is better than most other teams.  Urias is ops + is 98 that is league average in the 9 hole.   Mateo is 93 slightly below average.  Mullins at 74 is the only one really below league average.   

But not every team has Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad, Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby, and Coby Mayo ready to replace those bad hitters at any moment from the minors or from the major league bench. You're just making excuses for a problem that has clear solutions. 

And Mike Elias needs to be called out for not making changes to a roster with flawed veteran players when he has a surplus of prospects that is unprecedented. Not just for the Orioles, but for any team in the modern era.

[Roy Firestone]

3 hours ago, bpilktree67 said:

Players batting average  on first pitch this season.  
Henderson .310 
Rutschman .462

Santander .275 

Mounty .441

Westy .327

Mullins .295

O’Hearn .245

Cowser .545

Mateo .343

They are hitting much better on first pitch average and ops then they are when taking a few pitches.  If the first pitch is good swing at it and do damage.  

 

 

 

 

 

Theres a dual reason though, for NOT swinging at the first pitch.And that's pitch count. The other day we had Cole in trouble with pitch count, but then we had two consecutive 9 pitch innings and got him off the hook. Maybe the stats say those guys hit well on the first pitch, but remember pitch count matters too. We simply dont have many good at bats right now. Too anxious, and maybe too swing happy, or maybe just not reading the pitchers well.

[allquixotic]

Hard to believe an entire team of 30 people can simultaneously become so inept.

What would a hospital do if all 30 surgeons in the emergency room came in on a busy Monday morning going, "What's a scalpel? Uh.... try wiping it with a Kleenex? I dunno..." That's the level of sheer incompetence the O's are consistently displaying.

It's like the coaches arranged a team meeting and went, "Everything you've learned about baseball? Throw it away. Forget it. I'm teaching you something new. The goal of the game is to lose -- here's how you do it."

[Blue Bird]

A win on Sunday would be a psychological boost if nothing else

[gtman55]

6 hours ago, Brooks The Great said:

When you start awful hitters like Jorge Mateo, Ramon Urias, and Cedric Mullins regularly in your lineup, you wind up paying for it. Especially when your best hitters (Gunnar, Adley) go into a slump as well.

Agreed, which takes me to the trade deadline. All three players should be available in trade talks. It's time to start making room for the pipeline of talent we have in the minors. 

[glenn__davis]

5 hours ago, ThomasTomasz said:

We just had a stretch where we played 30 games in 31 days, had a day off, and then promptly went on a west coast trip. 

Then, we get a home-stand, and just happened to luck into playing against 

Jameson Taillon (pitching like a #1-2 this year) 
Shoto Imanaga 
Justin Steele
Gerrit Cole 
Luis Gil 

The pitching has 100% been a let down this week, but I can’t fault the offense.  It is hard to get going when you’ve got five TORP’s in a row, heading into a break no less.  

Baseball is 162 games.  We will be fine.  And even if not……the window is open for a ridiculously long time.  

100% agree with this take and am not part of the sky is falling crowd. When I saw the pitching for this week I thought it might be a tough week. 

But the OP isn't wrong. During this streak they've never led and have been losing by at least the 3rd inning of every game and usually a sooner. A very frustrating week of baseball for sure. 

[Safelykept]

13 hours ago, ORIOLE33 said:

I know, "it's baseball." But how can a team that was so good, become so bad over night? They're not even hitting HR's right now. I never thought that we desperately needed to make a move, but something needs to be done. The Yankees were slumping as bad as were were and we have literally turned their season around. 
 

This team needs to get their s**t together. 

And how can a team that looked so bad that they could be piece together two 7 game losing streaks, and immediately after the second one, used their next 7 losses to win 30 games (30 out of 37), not to mention some other stuff that happened in 1983. Its  baseball.

[ScGO's]

Hypothetical. Burnes goes down with an injury. Where is our season? Has a season's hopes rested so firmly upon one player's shoulders like it does with Burnes and the Orioles right now?

This exercise is very telling about our pitching depth/quality.

[glenn__davis]

Just now, ScGO's said:

Hypothetical. Burnes goes down with an injury. Where is our season? Has a season's hopes rested so firmly upon one player's shoulders like it does with Burnes and the Orioles right now?

This exercise is very telling about our pitching depth/quality.

Sure, Barnes going down would be a huge blow. But regarding your last sentence  I don't know many teams that could withstand losing 4 SPs for the season along with their top RP last year. 

[Safelykept]

11 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

Hypothetical. Burnes goes down with an injury. Where is our season? Has a season's hopes rested so firmly upon one player's shoulders like it does with Burnes and the Orioles right now?

This exercise is very telling about our pitching depth/quality.

Yes , but only because of all the injuries, If Burnes goes down , might as well punt the season. Only so much you can put back together at the deadline.

[LookitsPuck]

12 hours ago, Orioles0615 said:

I wonder when then can finally admit dual hitting coaches and an offensive strategy coordinator is a bad idea

Wasn’t a bad idea when they were the best offense in baseball very recently.

They’re slumping. Everybody is pressing. It happens.

[Jagwar]

12 hours ago, ledzepp8 said:

Exactly right. People need to step off the ledge. They're 57-38. After 95 games in 2023, they were 58-37. 

Are they having a tough time right now? Sure. But c'mon, some people need to have a little perspective.

And... last year the O's were 6.5 games back of the Rays on July 1 and won the division. @DrungoHazewood has also noted that the 1983 team had 2 separate 7-game losing streaks. They were 3 games back on July 16 and won the AL East by 6 games.

Time is an ally here. If they're playing like doo doo in September I'll really worry

[Royle]

Feels like the right time to pull out the cliche that you’re never as good as you look when you’re winning, or as bad as you look when you’re losing.  Long way to go to know what kind of team we will be this season.

[Morgan423]

13 hours ago, bpilktree67 said:

Players batting average  on first pitch this season.  
Henderson .310 
Rutschman .462

Santander .275 

Mounty .441

Westy .327

Mullins .295

O’Hearn .245

Cowser .545

Mateo .343

They are hitting much better on first pitch average and ops then they are when taking a few pitches.  If the first pitch is good swing at it and do damage. 

Yes, but this is an easy adjustment point we can be countered on if the other teams in the league figure it out... which they were bound to do in the age of analytics.  They're not stupid.

So now opposing pitchers have gone from throwing a hittable, get-me-over strike one pitch that our guys can clobber, to very often throwing stuff that "looks-hittable-but-is-actually-moving-junk" on that pitch.  And because the guys haven't shifted gears, they're falling for it and making poor contact. 

When they adjust, you have to adjust back. 

[bpilktree67]

10 minutes ago, Morgan423 said:

Yes, but this is an easy adjustment point we can be countered on if the other teams in the league figure it out... which they were bound to do in the age of analytics.  They're not stupid.

So now opposing pitchers have gone from throwing a hittable, get-me-over strike one pitch that our guys can clobber, to very often throwing stuff that "looks-hittable-but-is-actually-moving-junk" on that pitch.  And because the guys haven't shifted gears, they're falling for it and making poor contact. 

When they adjust, you have to adjust back. 

They are 6-19 on the first pitch the last 5 games.  So if the teams are making adjustments it isn’t helping them any.