O’s look done

[Roll Tide]

6 hours ago, Brooks The Great said:

Plenty of teams limp into the playoffs and then make a deep run. This team has enough talent to do it, I just want to see Mayo and Kjerstad finally given a shot to play every day (put Kjerstad in RF, Santander at 1B, Mayo the full time DH), and move away from struggling/low ceiling vets like O'Hearn, Eloy, Rivera, and Slater. 

Mayo and Kjerstad playing regularly and Westburg making it back for the playoffs could transform the lineup. I think Hyde is a terrible manager who can't write out a good lineup to save his life, but this offense has been so bad for so long that I think even he's capable of making those changes. 

If Webb, Coloumbe, and Grayson can all make it back healthy, they'll also make a difference. 

Why on earth are you advocating to put Kjerstad in RF and moving Santander at 1B. Based on everything we’ve seen Kjerstad is a shaky OF. Santander might not have a ton of range but he catches what he can get to and has a pretty good arm. For Heston, even his routine plays makes you nervous. I think Kjerstad’s present would be at DH and future May be as a 1B.

[Sports Guy]

4 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:

Why on earth are you advocating to put Kjerstad in RF and moving Santander at 1B. Based on everything we’ve seen Kjerstad is a shaky OF. Santander might not have a ton of range but he catches what he can get to and has a pretty good arm. For Heston, even his routine plays makes you nervous. I think Kjerstad’s present would be at DH and future May be as a 1B.

Because OHearn needs to not play nearly as often as he is…and the answer can’t be 
Emmanuel Rivera at first.

[Explosivo]

9 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Because OHearn needs to not play nearly as often as he is…and the answer can’t be 
Emmanuel Rivera at first.

Makes sense to me. We need to inject as much offensive possibility as possible.

[OrioleintheATL]

Jiminez flat out sucks.  

[terpoh]

Unfortunately, the injuries have made this a completely different team. Rivera, Soto, Maton, Slater, Jimenez, every day 1B O'Hearn etc are essentially the same level of talent we were watching in 2019-2021 with the Hanser Alberto's, Kelvin Gutierrez', Rio Ruiz', Renato Nunez', Richie Martin's, Stevie Wilkerson's of the world. We are using guys in roles that they are not good enough for- O'Hearn at 1B every day, Rivera every day, Slater vs RHP, Jimenez every day- and we are being exposed. Expecting this group to turn it around like Texas and Arizona last year is not realistic because this current group is just not talented. This is not the roster that was 24 games above .500 in June. This is not the roster that was top 3 in baseball in offense. Do you think that if this was our roster from April to now we would be above .500? No chance- and I would guess our record would be flipped if this was the group we played with all year.

Our offense was always flawed, even when it was ranked #1, and I've always thought our overall stats were fools gold based on being too reliant on the homer/lack of getting on base. But there is a clear lack of talent in our every day lineup, and you add to that massive slumps by some of our regulars and young guys like Jackson and Mayo who just have not produced at all its a recipe for what we are seeing now.

I'm not sure there is anything that can be fixed right now other than getting guys healthy. Hoping that Kjerstad and Westburg and Mounty and Urias can return and give us a jolt, but time is ticking and thats looking less likely now than it did a month ago. Firing the hitting coaches or Hyde? What does that accomplish? There isnt a hitting coach in the world that would make Soto/Maton/Rivera/Jimenez/Slater better hitters, or make O'Hearn a gold glover. We need our regulars back for a miracle run.

[Aristotelian]

It's tough to watch. Gunnar is basically the only guy hitting (literally, last night). After Santander and Adley there are no bats who are a threat to do anything at all but they are slumping too. Mullins is on a bit of a heater but we all know that's not gonna last. Cowser and O'Hearn are playing prime positions but they are completely useless. Holliday is not ready. Mayo is not ready. Eloy is terrible. Hyde does not have a lot of options. If we get Urias and Westburg back we might have a chance. 

Offense is contagious. When guys get on base the guys after then get better pitches to hit and we get to the other team's bullpen. When guys hit pitchers can't throw them strikes and they get on base more. Right now we are in a vicious cycle that must be reversed. I don't see any option but to wait for Westburg and Urias.

[Safelykept]

39 minutes ago, terpoh said:

Unfortunately, the injuries have made this a completely different team. Rivera, Soto, Maton, Slater, Jimenez, every day 1B O'Hearn etc are essentially the same level of talent we were watching in 2019-2021 with the Hanser Alberto's, Kelvin Gutierrez', Rio Ruiz', Renato Nunez', Richie Martin's, Stevie Wilkerson's of the world. We are using guys in roles that they are not good enough for- O'Hearn at 1B every day, Rivera every day, Slater vs RHP, Jimenez every day- and we are being exposed. Expecting this group to turn it around like Texas and Arizona last year is not realistic because this current group is just not talented. This is not the roster that was 24 games above .500 in June. This is not the roster that was top 3 in baseball in offense. Do you think that if this was our roster from April to now we would be above .500? No chance- and I would guess our record would be flipped if this was the group we played with all year.

Our offense was always flawed, even when it was ranked #1, and I've always thought our overall stats were fools gold based on being too reliant on the homer/lack of getting on base. But there is a clear lack of talent in our every day lineup, and you add to that massive slumps by some of our regulars and young guys like Jackson and Mayo who just have not produced at all its a recipe for what we are seeing now.

I'm not sure there is anything that can be fixed right now other than getting guys healthy. Hoping that Kjerstad and Westburg and Mounty and Urias can return and give us a jolt, but time is ticking and thats looking less likely now than it did a month ago. Firing the hitting coaches or Hyde? What does that accomplish? There isnt a hitting coach in the world that would make Soto/Maton/Rivera/Jimenez/Slater better hitters, or make O'Hearn a gold glover. We need our regulars back for a miracle run.

You might get Urias and maybe Kjerstad. what they need more is guys that are here doing better, Adley and O'hearn snapping out of their months long slumps. Any contribution from Holliday, Mayo and Jimenez would help too.

[terpoh]

Just now, Safelykept said:

You might get Urias and maybe Kjerstad. what they need more is guys that are here doing better, Adley and O'hearn snapping out of their months long slumps. Any contribution from Holliday, Mayo and Jimenez would help too.

Is Urias an upgrade over Rivera? Sure. But I dont think hes anyone thats going to change the trajectory of this team. He was awful for 80% of this season, then turned it on the last month or so. Hopefully he comes back and is that person from August. Kjerstad should be back, but based on what we've seen in the past, he wont play. Hyde has had him and Mayo on completely different playing schedules than the other young guys. O'Hearn is just showing who he is unfortunately. Exposed in an every day role. He was best in the platoon DH and sometimes 1B role.

[Aristotelian]

12 minutes ago, terpoh said:

Is Urias an upgrade over Rivera? Sure. But I dont think hes anyone thats going to change the trajectory of this team. He was awful for 80% of this season, then turned it on the last month or so. Hopefully he comes back and is that person from August. Kjerstad should be back, but based on what we've seen in the past, he wont play. Hyde has had him and Mayo on completely different playing schedules than the other young guys. O'Hearn is just showing who he is unfortunately. Exposed in an every day role. He was best in the platoon DH and sometimes 1B role.

He is not the answer by himself, but along with Westburg and maybe Kjerstad, you'd be upgrading the bottom of the lineup who are all automatic outs to average or better hitters. We dominated the league with Gunnar plus a bunch of .750-.800 guys. Yes, we need at least a couple of Cowser, O'Hearn, Adley, and Santander to pick things up. But every bit helps and right now Urias we would be a massive upgrade over what we're getting from Holliday. 

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, OrioleintheATL said:

Jiminez flat out sucks.  

Way too many black holes in the lineup right now.

I saw  twitter post yesterday comparing the lineup from late June to one last night.  It’s night and day.

So many big losses, underperforming guys and just players who shouldn’t be playing either at all or as much as they are.

Its just a terrible combination right now.

[terpoh]

25 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Way too many black holes in the lineup right now.

I saw  twitter post yesterday comparing the lineup from late June to one last night.  It’s night and day.

So many big losses, underperforming guys and just players who shouldn’t be playing either at all or as much as they are.

It’s just a terrible combination right now.

Yup. 4-5 automatic outs every game. Pathetic.

[Sports Guy]

12 minutes ago, terpoh said:

Yup. 4-5 automatic outs every game. Pathetic.

It’s hard to lose what they have lost and keep things up.  Obviously they wouldn’t have made the Rogers trade if they knew.

[Roll Tide]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Because OHearn needs to not play nearly as often as he is…and the answer can’t be 
Emmanuel Rivera at first.

I still think Kjerstad in RF or LF is a minus.

[sevastras]

Sometimes good teams get no hit. Last night they almost got no hit and had an opportunity to tie the game in the end. Where is @Frobbys positive thread where we can say, Gunnar hit a triple and the pitching staff kept the team in the game until the very end only giving up one run?

[terpoh]

2 minutes ago, sevastras said:

Sometimes good teams get no hit. Last night they almost got no hit and had an opportunity to tie the game in the end. Where is @Frobbys positive thread where we can say, Gunnar hit a triple and the pitching staff kept the team in the game until the very end only giving up one run?

Because it has become more than a "good team slumping." We are going on 80 games (half a season) of under .500 ball. We are starting a combination of guys named Eloy Jimenes, Emanuel Rivera, Austin Slater, Nick Maton, Ryan O'Hearn, a struggling Jackson Holliday every single night. This is not a good team. This is a bad team. I would argue that 8 out of our 14 positions players is not an every day quality MLB player. That is not good. Our only hope is Westburg, Kjerstad, Mountcastle, Urias all return to replace Eloy, Maton, Soto, Rivera and are in top form the rest of the way.