Hey you guys! We've got the best record in baseball!

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

Great recap.

It is interesting to see how much adversity this team has overcome to still be one of the best team's in baseball.

I know some fans/posters live and die with every game and proclaim this team is going down the toilet the first time it loses two games in a row, but this team really is pretty good overall.

Over the last 30 days, Santander (.993 OPS) Cowser (.943), Holliday (1.081 since his return) and Mullins (.849) to a lesser extent have really driven this offense though Gunnar (.798) has been good, just not amazing. 

Hopefully Adley (.611) and Mountcastle (.643) will get it back going and Mayo will make his adjustments. 

I forgot to mention Gunnar's power outage.  

[Sanfran327]

13 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I forgot to mention Gunnar's power outage.  

I think Gunnar is going through a sophomore slump and is physically tired. He plays extremely hard, and that's tough to do over 162. I'd also assume he's played more games than anyone else on our roster by a good bit.

Note: he has, but not by a lot. He's played in 117 of 119 games, while Santander has played in 114 (but does DH sometimes) and Cowser has played in 111, though I'd argue that SS is far more demanding than the OF. Rutschman sits at 109, Mullins and Mountcastle are at 108, and Westburg and O'Hearn are at 101. Nobody else is above 75 for reference.

I'm not sure if that bodes well for a resurgence in September/October, but I think we see a full season of Superstar Gunnar starting next year.

Edited August 12 by Sanfran327

[glenn__davis]

10 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

I think Gunnar is going through a sophomore slump and is physically tired. He plays extremely hard, and that's tough to do over 162. I'd also assume he's played more games than anyone else on our roster by a good bit.

Note: he has, but not by a lot. He's played in 117 of 119 games, while Santander has played in 114 (but does DH sometimes) and Cowser has played in 111, though I'd argue that SS is far more demanding than the OF. Rutschman sits at 109, Mullins and Mountcastle are at 108, and Westburg and O'Hearn are at 101. Nobody else is above 75 for reference.

I'm not sure if that bodes well for a resurgence in September/October, but I think we see a full season of Superstar Gunnar starting next year.

If he's a bit worn down (and I agree with you that it's an "if") then the cooler weather can help remedy that quite a bit.  They're called the dog days of summer for a reason.  

I know for me personally this is about the time of year where the heat really starts to get to me and I start yearning for cooler weather.   But then, I'm not an elite athlete.

[Moose Milligan]

15 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

I think Gunnar is going through a sophomore slump and is physically tired. He plays extremely hard, and that's tough to do over 162. I'd also assume he's played more games than anyone else on our roster by a good bit.

Note: he has, but not by a lot. He's played in 117 of 119 games, while Santander has played in 114 (but does DH sometimes) and Cowser has played in 111, though I'd argue that SS is far more demanding than the OF. Rutschman sits at 109, Mullins and Mountcastle are at 108, and Westburg and O'Hearn are at 101. Nobody else is above 75 for reference.

I'm not sure if that bodes well for a resurgence in September/October, but I think we see a full season of Superstar Gunnar starting next year.

He's gotten some hits lately, just nothing over the fence.  It's hard to say that someone with a .929 OPS is having a sophomore slump.  But maybe he is, it's hard to tell.

We were looking at a 40+ homer pace, easy...now he might not make it to 35.  Still a very good season, but he's dropped off the MVP level that he was performing at to start the season.

[glenn__davis]

12 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

He's gotten some hits lately, just nothing over the fence.  It's hard to say that someone with a .929 OPS is having a sophomore slump.  But maybe he is, it's hard to tell.

We were looking at a 40+ homer pace, easy...now he might not make it to 35.  Still a very good season, but he's dropped off the MVP level that he was performing at to start the season.

He's still hitting some rockets, just not elevating like he was.  Must be Eloy rubbing off on him.

[osfan83]

This team is so vexing! Yes, tied for the best record in baseball, and I want to enjoy that....but they are also so difficult to watch sometimes. Sloppy infield defense, shaky pen, struggling to get the big hit in the middle innings. Every time I get irritated, I look at the standings and say, "well we must be good". 

[LookitsPuck]

12 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

How can this be? 

We've got a rookie 3rd baseman who can't buy a hit and is a butcher with the glove, our real third baseman is out with a broken hand, our #2 starter is on the shelf with the ever mysterious lat strain, two of our top starting pitchers are out with Tommy John surgeries, one of our best relievers MIGHT be ready to come back in September, our amazing closer from last year won't be back until next year, one of our bullpen pickups at the deadline has an ERA for us that's approaching Michael Jordan's career PPG average, the closer we paid 13 million for this year doesn't look like he's our closer anymore and has stretches where he looks downright awful, one of our other relievers is on his 7th team and that's not counting his stops in Japan and the KBO, we've got a backup catcher who got hit in the face with a pitch but outperformed our All-Star catcher for the month of July, and we've got a rookie second baseman who looks Ruthian at the plate since his return from the minors but apparently has a noodle for an arm.  

Home plate umpires consistently screw us left and right on calls out of the zone, they're clearly out to get us.  We've got a starting pitcher who hadn't been in the majors since 2017, was released by the Samsung Lions of the KBO last August and is sporting a 3.39 ERA, yet we're proclaiming that he's turning into a pumpkin at the first sign of trouble.  Our GM absolutely refuses to draft pitching in the high rounds and we've got a manager who is simply obsessed with matchups and doesn't always pull the right string.  

But we're tied with the Yankees at 70-49 for the best record in baseball.  Man, I love it when a plan comes together.

The best thing about this is post is it is 100% true and also sarcastic, but it doesn't do anything aside from make me laugh and immediately sad right after.

Well done, Moose.

[Moose Milligan]

36 minutes ago, LookitsPuck said:

The best thing about this is post is it is 100% true and also sarcastic, but it doesn't do anything aside from make me laugh and immediately sad right after.

Well done, Moose.

I hate frustrating losses as much as anyone else, but I think people forget how good this team has been despite the obstacles they've had to endure.  

[maybenxtyr]

Well, they're not winning the way we want them to. (Sarcasm)

 

It does make me wonder why could have been with just some slightly better health. The years go by quickly as you get older, so I'm going to do the best I can to enjoy it while it lasts. 

[jabba72]

Amazing that the O's have managed to have the best record in baseball while going 17-18 since July 2nd. It feels like we've played a horrific stretch and should be way behind NYY. But the Yankees and Dodgers both went 11-13 in July. Phils went 10-14. All three of those teams had worse July's than the O's did. 

[SteveA]

2 hours ago, LookitsPuck said:

The best thing about this is post is it is 100% true and also sarcastic, but it doesn't do anything aside from make me laugh and immediately sad right after.

Well done, Moose.

If Moose can make one person sad he has done his work for the day!

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, SteveA said:

If Moose can make one person sad he has done his work for the day!

Well two, his mom is always going to be sad.

[HowAboutThat]

11 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

We’re still dealing with replacing the injured guys. Bautista, Webb/Coloumbe, Bradish/Means, and Westburg. Those 4 spots are really our only glaring holes. 

That made me laugh laugh.

”Men, except for those four gaping holes in our hull, the ship is doing great.”

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, HowAboutThat said:

That made me laugh laugh.

”Men, except for those four gaping holes in our hull, the ship is doing great.”

If all the other ships have a similar number of holes what's the problem?

[Too Tall]

Been out all day, just caught up with this. Made me cry and laugh at the same time. This team is really hard to figure out. Yet here we are. We went through a 30-game stretch were we held our breath and did pretty darn good. Then, July hit and all these injuries and...... Yet here we are. Only problem, is where we are on 8/12 don't mean a didly cept for discussion and reflection's sake. Of Course better to be here than there!! And here we are...... So, I will savor the moment and look to the future with trepidation!!!!! That be me.