95 replies to this topic

[Mike B]

It is 10-1 and Gregg does not get the call to pitch the 9th. If he does not pitch here than he should not be on the roster. I am not really making fun of his pitching, but this is the spot where your 12th man finishes the game to save guys who might be needed in a close game.

My son just laughed and said Gregg is getting paid 5 million to travel with the team.

[BSLChrisStoner]

It is 10-1 and Gregg does not get the call to pitch the 9th. If he does not pitch here than he should not be on the roster. I am not really making fun of his pitching, but this is the spot where your 12th man finishes the game to save guys who might be needed in a close game.

My son just laughed and said Gregg is getting paid 5 million to travel with the team.

Yeah, I know he pitched last night; but I was also surprised he was not brought back in tonight.

[SportsGuy]

It is 10-1 and Gregg does not get the call to pitch the 9th. If he does not pitch here than he should not be on the roster. I am not really making fun of his pitching, but this is the spot where your 12th man finishes the game to save guys who might be needed in a close game.

My son just laughed and said Gregg is getting paid 5 million to travel with the team.

He has a finished games clause that kicks in an option or next year...but the 8th inning would have been a good spot.

[Mike B]

Yea, I know and agree about the 8th inning. I looked ahead at the schedule and just thought we needed to save as many innings as possible for our key guys.

[Chris B]

We talked about this in the Game Thread of last night's game but I figured I'd bring this discussion to the main board.

Up 7-1 last night going into the 9th, Buck Showalter was going to bring in another pitcher after O'Day went 1 2/3 IP. Kevin Gregg (who we can all agree is the worst reliever on the team) hadn't pitched since Friday, while Luis Ayala hadn't pitched since Saturday. Clearly the work last night was going to be mop-up duty, but Buck decided to go with Ayala over Gregg.

Like almost all Orioles fans, I don't think Buck has any confidence in Kevin Gregg. If he can't be used on significant rest in a low-risk game up 6 runs, when is he going to be used?

The better question may be: When will Dan Duquette pull the trigger and release Gregg to bring a serviceable arm to the bullpen?

[NCRaven]

Up 7-1 last night going into the 9th, Buck Showalter was going to bring in another pitcher after O'Day went 1 2/3 IP. Kevin Gregg (who we can all agree is the worst reliever on the team) hadn't pitched since Friday, while Luis Ayala hadn't pitched since Saturday. Clearly the work last night was going to be mop-up duty, but Buck decided to go with Ayala over Gregg.

Like almost all Orioles fans, I don't think Buck has any confidence in Kevin Gregg. If he can't be used on significant rest in a low-risk game up 6 runs, when is he going to be used?

I think the decision last night might have been more about getting Ayala work than being afraid to use Gregg. Clearly Ayala is valued greater by Buck than Gregg. On that I agree with you. So, I assume that since Ayala hadn't worked since Saturday, Buck may have wanted to get him an inning of work to keep him sharp. A subtle difference, it wasn't that he was afraid to pitch Gregg, but that he wanted Ayala to get an inning in so he didn't get rusty, if you follow the difference.

[Mackus]

I think Gregg still probably gets another 2-3 outings before they will strongly consider releasing him. But if he continues to only be used sporadically and in very low-leverage situations and still struggles, then he'll be gone. If he pitches well, he'll get a chance to slowly become more trusted.

I think it's also likely that he gets more back into the main rotation of bullpen arms as guys who have been unexpectedly dominant, like O'Day, come back down to Earth and start to struggle a bit.

[Adam Wolff]

I've mentioned a lot in the game threads lately, that the O's have been in situations that would be 'Gregg territory'. Blow out games that you might use your worst pitcher. He's not getting in. Clearly, he's of no value to the team. I understand why they've kept him in the past. They insisted on forcing him into the late innings, regardless of result. However, Buck has wised up now. He realizes Gregg brings nothing good and he rarely pitches!

On a team that is without a long man, why is Gregg still on this team? Clearly, just about any arm would be better. I think we can all agree Gregg wore at his welcome a long time ago, however my main issue here is having a guy on the roster that you refuse to use. He shouldn't be used, and that's because he shouldn't still be on the roster.

[ravens8589]

There is no point wasting a roster spot to keep a guy you're not going to pitch. Myself and other in the game thread have mentioned this many times and it is becoming aggravating. A decision must be made on this because we can use that roster spot on someone who will be effective for us and contribute, maybe an extra bat because the bullpen seems fine as it is. This is a question that will be asked until a decision is made. We clearly are not in need of him anmore. Just part ways and call it a bad experiment.

[Chris B]

I've mentioned a lot in the game threads lately, that the O's have been in situations that would be 'Gregg territory'. Blow out games that you might use your worst pitcher. He's not getting in. Clearly, he's of no value to the team. I understand why they've kept him in the past. They insisted on forcing him into the late innings, regardless of result. However, Buck has wised up now. He realizes Gregg brings nothing good and he rarely pitches!

On a team that is without a long man, why is Gregg still on this team? Clearly, just about any arm would be better. I think we can all agree Gregg wore at his welcome a long time ago, however my main issue here is having a guy on the roster that you refuse to use. He shouldn't be used, and that's because he shouldn't still be on the roster.

I think this is what bothers me most. Honestly, we haven't had many (if any?) games where the team was in dire need of a long man. We've actually been pretty luck due to the success of the starters thus far. Eventually, it's going to happen, no doubt about it. Every bullpen needs someone who can go 2-3+ innings because a starter just has a really bad night.

[Nuclear Dish]

For anyone who didn't see the ESPN article on Dylan Bundy, there's this one line in it about Kevin Gregg:

It didn't take the Orioles long to see the kid was serious. On the first day of spring training, veteran reliever Kevin Gregg sat Bundy down and told him, "I get to the park at 6:45 a.m. every day -- and you will beat me here every day.'' Gregg never had to convey the message again.

If that's his only positive contribution to the team this year, it'll have been a big one. Worth $6M, probably not. But if he set the tone for our #1 prospect to be a true professional, I'll be grateful to him.

[RichardZ]

I think Gregg still probably gets another 2-3 outings before they will strongly consider releasing him. But if he continues to only be used sporadically and in very low-leverage situations and still struggles, then he'll be gone. If he pitches well, he'll get a chance to slowly become more trusted.

I think it's also likely that he gets more back into the main rotation of bullpen arms as guys who have been unexpectedly dominant, like O'Day, come back down to Earth and start to struggle a bit.

Obviously, O'Day and the others will give up runs, but if you look at what O'Day did in 2009 and 2010 for the Rangers, what he's doing now shouldn't be labeled unexpected. He was one of the best relievers in the game, period. Physical problems hurt him last year but he seems to be over them.

[Roll Tide]

I personally dont know what to think of the Kevin Gregg issue. They have used him twice in 15 days, two 1-2-3 innings in low pressure situations. The fact is they just dont have the appetite to cut him from the team. Buck is placing a heavy burden on the rest of the pen with his avoidance of Gregg. In addition not using him does nothing to help his trade value.

I'm hoping Buck starts to mix him in a little more in the coming days or DD figures out a way to talk the Angelos family into approving his release. Either way get Buck to use Gregg or get him off the roster. if the situation goes on I can see Buck doing damage by over using the rest of the guys.

Just my .02 cents.

[Adam Wolff]

I'll give credit where credit is due. Gregg has pitched 5 scoreless innings over his last 4 appearances.

I still think the team would be much better suited to have a long man occupying his pen spot (Pomeranz, perhaps?), but Gregg has been a little better. I still have no confidence when he comes in, though.

[bnickle]

I'm talking higher leverage situations, the 6th or 7th inning of a tie game or 1, 2 run games. You just can't go to Ayala, Strop, JJ and O' Day every single night. Now, I would try to never use him in the 8th or 9th nor would I use him in a fireman role to come in and work out of jams a starter created. It seems Buck likes to use Ayala and O'Day for those situations and that is working out well. However, to start a 7th inning he's gonna have to give Gregg some rope in that role.

Consider that Gregg over his last 5 appearances has thrown 6.1 scoreless innings with 6 K's and a Whip of 0.82. If your gonna have him out there you got to start using him a little more often, especially when he seems to be going well.

[SportsGuy]

I agree. You have to either let him sink or swim and you do need to do some kind of important situations as well.

Some games where we are up 3(or down a few) and need someone to come in the 6th or 7th inning is the type of situation where he needs to be used.

[Oriole85]

Last year weren't we talking about Buck should never use him and he got a lot of grief and now were telling him to use him? I do think if there is no trust in him, they should outright release him rather than him taking a roster spot, but I have no problem of him being used, but ideally not in high leverage situations. Agreed, time for him to sink or swim.

[bnickle]

Last year weren't we talking about Buck should never use him and he got a lot of grief and now were telling him to use him? I do think if there is no trust in him, they should outright release him rather than him taking a roster spot, but I have no problem of him being used, but ideally not in high leverage situations. Agreed, time for him to sink or swim.

For what it's worth, I trust Gregg more than I do Eveland and at least as much, maybe more, than Patton right now. I know they are keeping Eveland around as a long man but ideally you DFA him again and bring up Pomeranz.

[Kevin Ebert]

I'm going to have to disagree here guys. Just because Gregg had some success over a six inning sample does not mean that he should start pitching higher leverage innings. Gregg has a long career of evidence showing that he is a below average reliever, and he should be used as such.

I think Buck should keep Gregg in low leverage situations. There are going to be plenty of innings for him to pitch when the O's are up or down more at least 4-5 runs. He shouldn't be pitching in games where his poor pitching can determine the outcome.

And there's just no reason for Eveland to be on the roster. Send that guy back to the minors.

[SportsGuy]

You don't need to send him out in higher(not HIGH) leverage situations everytime...but they should be mixed in some right now.

Maybe you wait to see if he has another few good outings...i wouldn't be opposed to that.

But after that, you have to start seeing how he handles things.