Where are the pollyannas?

[terpoh]

1 minute ago, emmett16 said:

Urias started the year 7 for 39.

He OPS’d .800 from 4/8 through end of the season. 

Ok- point taken regarding my commentary about before August. But my point was more to the time in September after he returned. He wasn’t hot heading into the playoffs, But was still our best option at 3B.

[EddeeEddee]

9 minutes ago, terpoh said:

I know that Urias was hot in August and he has always been a solid fill in. But he was awful Before August and had a .650 OPS after his return from injury. Just pointing that out as “guys that are hitting now”. He was hitting in August, he wasn’t really hitting now. I know it’s not directly what you were saying but just wanted to point it out. But that’s not his fault, he’s just not an every day guy. A very solid backup.

He had a .940 OPS in July and an .858 OPS in August.  Plus he had a .900 OPS in May.  Better numbers than Adley overall.  I just don't buy this idea that the reason Mayo and Holliday have struggled is because Urias is in their way.  It's their job to earn -- not be handed to them. 

Urias had great numbers his first season in the majors, but he was already 26.  Consider how young Holliday and Mayo are and it's easy to see why they need some more time.  

[EddeeEddee]

8 minutes ago, terpoh said:

Ok- point taken regarding my commentary about before August. But my point was more to the time in September after he returned. He wasn’t hot heading into the playoffs, But was still our best option at 3B.

Actually it could be argued that Emmanuel Rivera should have been the starting third baseman based on his hot September.  But I can see why Hyde would have preferred him off the bench.

[Hts1980]

I was wondering how prevalent the concern was for the hitting approach the guys are taking.  Rutschman looks like he’s hitting a wedge into 17th at tpc.  Tyson would be proud of his uppercut.  And the home run or bust mentality is annoying.  I think this is part of what did the 2014 group in.  I agree that there needs to be an adjustment in how the orioles develop their hitters.  With guys throwing in average mid to upper 90s with nasty breaking stuff contact is the most important thing.  When you try to hit a 350 yard drive every time you’re gonna swing and miss a lot.

and Hyde is a tough one.  Dude put up with and went through a lot during the doldrums.  I think more so the hitting coaches need to be reevaluated.

[Emory Eagle]

Division is going to be tough next year.  Rays have reloaded, Red Sox have a new core in place and will likely supplement with a big Fa splash or two, and the Yankees will continue to be the Yankees.

Ultimately O’s success or lack thereof will rest on the improvement of their young positional talent, but seems like we need to add some kind of weapon vs left handed pitching.  And will need to either replace or resign Burnes, not something easy to do without significant financial investment.  

[Chelsea_Phil]

It’s early morning and I am still steaming mad.

 

it’s like we have 9 Mark Belangers hitting for us, all of whom cannot play defense anywhere near what Mark did for us.

[JR Oriole]

3 hours ago, Hts1980 said:

I was wondering how prevalent the concern was for the hitting approach the guys are taking.  Rutschman looks like he’s hitting a wedge into 17th at tpc.  Tyson would be proud of his uppercut.  And the home run or bust mentality is annoying.  I think this is part of what did the 2014 group in.  I agree that there needs to be an adjustment in how the orioles develop their hitters.  With guys throwing in average mid to upper 90s with nasty breaking stuff contact is the most important thing.  When you try to hit a 350 yard drive every time you’re gonna swing and miss a lot.

and Hyde is a tough one.  Dude put up with and went through a lot during the doldrums.  I think more so the hitting coaches need to be reevaluated.

I can't speak for others obviously, but I have a lot of concern over the hitting approach. This approach is unpleasant to watch and has been pretty much all year. Cowser striking out with the bases loaded and 1 out on a pitch that breaks his hand because it is so inside is the perfect symbol for everything that is wrong with what we do. He was swinging no matter where that pitch was going.

But I am more concerned that there is simply nothing at all special about anyone we have in place in the organization....whether it be the GM, analytics gurus, managers, coaching staff, or players.  They just look like an ordinary organization and ordinary team to me that isn't any better at what they do than anyone else. And sadly, when the stakes are high and the pressure ramps up, we are worse than anyone else. 

42-48 in their last 90 is pretty telling, especially when they looked their best sweeping 3 in a row to end the regular season in the only 100% meaningless games played in that stretch.  They are enjoyable to watch, when the pressure is totally off.

At least we still have playoff baseball to watch. I'll try not to cry or be too jealous when I watch the Brewers and Padres and see what a young Jackson is supposed to look like as opposed to the one we have.

[Safelykept]

10 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Where are you now?

Where are the posters who laughed when we said how boring this team was?
Where are the posters who scoffed at the idea that this team is full of players who can't perfrom under pressure?
Where are the posters that bring up that the Orioles offense scored the second most runs?
Where are the posters that go into the game thread and tell people they are overreacting when it's clear this team is choking time and time again?
Where were the posters who just think it's baseball that this core group choked once again?

Every single coach should be fired. Hyde should be fired. Elias gets one more offseason with an owner that may actually spend.

Santander, Mountcastle and O'Hearn should have played their last games as Orioles.

Rutschman needs to go to fat boy camp and lose about 15 pounds while putting on muscle. Maybe go to a hitting school that teach 2-0 is a great pitch to swing on. 

At the end of the day, this is EXACTLY what this team deserved. They have played like scared little school children since late June. Don't give me injuries, because this team's offense was in tact and they scored one freakin' run in two games. One. 

They were swept by a 85-win team that has struggled down the stretch. They collected two hits off a bullpen in 8 innings of work. They are an absolute and utter embarrassment. This team is more of an embarrassment than the team that lost 110+ games. 

Everyone involved in this season have stained their reputation. EVERYONE. Gunnar hits 37 home runs and craps his pants. Cowser thinks he's rookie of the year and dude swings at ball that hit him with the bases loaded. What kind of ridiculous unprofessional at bat was that? 

Adley? Are you kidding me. If they traded him this offseason I wouldn't shed a tear. 

The only thing good in any of this is now my calendar has been freed up. Never again will I ever trust a Hyde-led, Elias developed team led by his core. He needs to go out and find guys that don't poop their pants the second pressure is involved.

Thank you Burnes for being a professional and doing your job. You deserved better than being in a clubhouse full of choke artists. 

If Elias brings back this coaching staff he gets one more year to win a World Series than he's on the chopping block too. If he wants to ride with these losers, then go down with these losers.

The players coaches and Administration I could see you going after, but the posters that stayed the course and were optimistic? that just seemed a little shallow.Be as how you opened the door for putting posters down, with all the openings that you would have coming up. Maybe the O's could take you on as a consultant.

[sportsfan8703]

Like I said two months ago… I’m sure our hitters look great in gym shorts in the batting cages, but they were too “set in their ways” to adjust.

Houston’s advanced scouts figured out on our road trip out that after putting up 15 on the NYY. We’ve been this way since. 

If you keep Hyde, everyone has to acknowledge that change needs to happen. We need to start manufacturing runs better. All that comes with that. The hitting coach has to go. He’s the fall guy.

Elias is not the smartest guy in the room. He also needs to realize that. 

[Bemorewins]

3 hours ago, Emory Eagle said:

Division is going to be tough next year.  Rays have reloaded, Red Sox have a new core in place and will likely supplement with a big Fa splash or two, and the Yankees will continue to be the Yankees.

Ultimately O’s success or lack thereof will rest on the improvement of their young positional talent, but seems like we need to add some kind of weapon vs left handed pitching.  And will need to either replace or resign Burnes, not something easy to do without significant financial investment.  

I’m not sure why we wouldn’t be making significant adds to the payroll?

We have one of the sports wealthiest owners/ownership groups AND we are not paying anyone.

[sportsfan8703]

The ball is in Rubenstein’s court. At the least, we need to resign Burnes. We probably need a bat too. 

[Bemorewins]

7 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Like I said two months ago… I’m sure our hitters look great in gym shorts in the batting cages, but they were too “set in their ways” to adjust.

Houston’s advanced scouts figured out on our road trip out that after putting up 15 on the NYY. We’ve been this way since. 

If you keep Hyde, everyone has to acknowledge that change needs to happen. We need to start manufacturing runs better. All that comes with that. The hitting coach has to go. He’s the fall guy.

Elias is not the smartest guy in the room. He also needs to realize that. 

This last part!

We have operated with an organizational arrogance the last few years believing that we can take any/other teams spare parts and make them into key/functional pieces WAY TOO MANY TIMES in the last couple of years. IMO these seemed like inappropriate modalities given what was at stake the last couple of years.

There almost appeared to be this arrogance of “well this year doesn’t matter as much because we will continue to get here over and over for years to come”.

But opportunities are fleeting and there is no guarantee on the future because there are too many variables impacting it. I hope there is more attention/focus/urgency on the present going forward. 

[sportsfan8703]

2 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

This last part!

We have operated with an organizational arrogance the last few years believing that we can take any/other teams spare parts and make them into key/functional pieces WAY TOO MANY TIMES in the last couple of years. IMO these seemed like inappropriate modalities given what was at stake the last couple of years.

There almost appeared to be this arrogance of “well this year doesn’t matter as much because we will continue to get here over and over for years to come”.

But opportunities are fleeting and there is no guarantee on the future because there are too many variables impacting it. I hope there is more attention/focus/urgency on the present going forward. 

Exactly. Can Hyde change an organizational philosophy?

I think what has to happen now, is the whole org needs to realize we’re trying to win in October. So everything that got us to this point is all great and everything, but the young guys are here, and now it’s time to grow up and win. 

[survivedc]

5 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

This last part!

We have operated with an organizational arrogance the last few years believing that we can take any/other teams spare parts and make them into key/functional pieces WAY TOO MANY TIMES in the last couple of years. IMO these seemed like inappropriate modalities given what was at stake the last couple of years.

There almost appeared to be this arrogance of “well this year doesn’t matter as much because we will continue to get here over and over for years to come”.

But opportunities are fleeting and there is no guarantee on the future because there are too many variables impacting it. I hope there is more attention/focus/urgency on the present going forward. 

This “spare parts” argument is easily the most overstated critique of the Elias era. Every team does it, and frankly, I think the few that we have have generally performed well.

[sportsfan8703]

We’ve been dead in the water for two months since the league figured us out. I don’t think there’s been many Pollyannas.
 

You can know your team is dead in the water and still root for them. They’re still playing. 162 is a long season to just stop watching and rooting.

I’m 41. Give me this dead in the water team that made the playoffs versus the dark periods I’ve seen.