O's July swoon

[wildcard]

O's record in July is 7-9.

July ERA: 5.14 which is 27th in the majors.  O's ERA on the season is 3.71; 7th in the majors

July O's runs scored per game is 3.6 which is 27th in the majors.  On the season the O's runs per game is 4.96; 2nd in the majors.

This is not a trend the O's want to continue.

Why?

Some of the regular players seem tired.  Gunnar, Adley and Westy may need more rest.

Probably leading the league in homers may make the team a little homer happy.  A mental adjustment to get hits instead of flying to the warning track might help.

The 4th and 5th starter spots are performing poorly.    Elias is trying to acquire  pitching help.

The addition of Smith and Nittoli seem to have helped in the short term.   Baker is next to be optioned is my guess.

What next?

Mayo, Holliday, Kjerstad, Norby get their chances to help if they are not traded. The rumor of Mullins and Mounty being shopped is probably connected to the steep price for pitching. 

Povich and McDermott get their chances.   McDermott may not be competely ready but the need gives him a chance.

Trade deadline???

 

 

Edited July 24 by wildcard

[Frobby]

I don’t want to hear the “tired” excuse.  Every team in the majors has played roughly the same number of games.  Everyone’s tired.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I don’t want to hear the “tired” excuse.  Every team in the majors has played roughly the same number of games.  Everyone’s tired.  

If anything I would think a younger team would less tired.

[Earl Buck]

When Adley came up the Os started winning.  I do not expect any other 1 player promotion has as much significance, but we do not need that impact. We just need to reset from the July swoon. 
Maybe a Mayo promotion does that, or a gutsy, let’s trust the rookies and bring in Mayo and Holliday. 

[Aristotelian]

We have had injuries to our pitching staff so we are now throwing Suarez and Povich out there. The offense will come around but we need quality arms. When there is a team wife slump sometimes it means you have faced good pitching.

[wildcard]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I don’t want to hear the “tired” excuse.  Every team in the majors has played roughly the same number of games.  Everyone’s tired.  

Sticking your fingers in your ears and chanting La-la-la-la-la does not make the problem go away.

In July  Adley 541 OPS,  Westy 711 OPS, Gunnar 736 OPS; all below their season avg OPS.

[RavensNOsGuy]

4 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

We have had injuries to our pitching staff so we are now throwing Suarez and Povich out there. The offense will come around but we need quality arms. When there is a team wife slump sometimes it means you have faced good pitching.

The hitting has really been in a slump since mid-June. I'm not convinced at this point its just going to "come around" unless some promotions are made and there is a change in approach at the plate.

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

We have had injuries to our pitching staff so we are now throwing Suarez and Povich out there. The offenss come around but we need quality arms. When there is a team wife slump sometimes it means you have faced good pitching.

Do you mean  a team wife swap or a team wide slump?

[Sports Guy]

Team OPS is barely over 700 this month. 

[Sports Guy]

Gunnar: 736 OPS

Adley: 541 OPS

Westburg: 711 OPS

Mounty: 553 OPS

OHearn and Santander are hitting but the bottom of the lineup is largely a black hole so often.  Cowser has been getting better results lately and you were without Kjerstad for some of the games.

But if those 4 arent hitting and you are playing McCann, Mateo, Mullins and Hays with that, the lineup is going to struggle.

 

[wildcard]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Gunnar: 736 OPS

Adley: 541 OPS

Westburg: 711 OPS

Mounty: 553 OPS

OHearn and Santander are hitting but the bottom of the lineup is largely a black hole so often.  Cowser has been getting better results lately and you were without Kjerstad for some of the games.

But if those 4 arent hitting and you are playing McCann, Mateo, Mullins and Hays with that, the lineup is going to struggle.

 

Gunnar, Adley and Westy did not get a full break because they are All Stars.   That does not apply to Mounty.

[forphase1]

7 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Team OPS is barely over 700 this month. 

Yup.  Everyone is so focused on the pitching, and to a point I understand it, but there has been way too much of 'I know they will hit, so I'm not worried about it'.  I get it, BUT the difference is we could potentially help the offense NOW, internally, by getting Mayos bat into the lineup.  Maybe he won't set the baseball world on fire, but I think he could top Mounty and his .553 OPS for example.  The pitching help in the minors is questionable, while the hitting help is a much more solid bet.  Yes, get some pitching via trades, but also inject some life into the lineup.  

[glenn__davis]

One of the biggest things I've learned from watching baseball (and I'll give an assist to Drungo for the education on this one...)

There's not always a narrative, particularly in baseball.  There's not always a reason why it's happening.  Sometimes a team just doesn't play well for a spell.  Fortunately we played so well the first 3 months that we've been able to withstand a bit of a downturn.  

As SG mentioned, if Gunnar, Adley, Westburg and Mountcastle all aren't hitting, the team is going to struggle to score runs.  I'm confident they'll all turn it around (well, Mountcastle will for 3 weeks at some point and then go back into hibernation), but yeah, a struggling offense is very frustrating to watch.

[ScGO's]

O's have gone 15-16 since Kyle Bradish went down and we lost a true #3 option

O's are 8-5 in games GrayRod or Burnes have started. They are 7-11 in games started by any other pitchers in that span

Edited July 24 by ScGO's

[Sports Guy]

22 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

One of the biggest things I've learned from watching baseball (and I'll give an assist to Drungo for the education on this one...)

There's not always a narrative, particularly in baseball.  There's not always a reason why it's happening.  Sometimes a team just doesn't play well for a spell.  Fortunately we played so well the first 3 months that we've been able to withstand a bit of a downturn.  

As SG mentioned, if Gunnar, Adley, Westburg and Mountcastle all aren't hitting, the team is going to struggle to score runs.  I'm confident they'll all turn it around (well, Mountcastle will for 3 weeks at some point and then go back into hibernation), but yeah, a struggling offense is very frustrating to watch.

It’s also why I can’t get behind the idea that Holliday doesn’t help us this year, so you can trade him.

In good with not bringing him up right now. He needs to play more in the field and make sure the elbow is good. Multiple rain outs have not helped with this.

But his on base/walk skills are needed for this lineup right now.