27 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

The Orioles dropped 3 of 4 vs. the Texas Rangers, but with a day off Wednesday, and Chen and Hunter combining for 13.2 innings yesterday; Baltimore’s bullpen should be rested going into this weekend series vs. Tampa Bay.

1) The Rays arrive in Baltimore at 20-12, tied with the Orioles atop the American League East. The O’s are 10-5 against the Division. The O’s have won their two series with Toronto, their last series with NY, and their lone series with Boston. If you want to continue to assert yourselves, you need to win 2 of the 3 games this weekend.

2) Dana Eveland will get the start tonight for the Birds. The 28 year old lefty was 3-2, with a 2.21 era at AAA Norfolk. In his 36.2 ip, he allowed 39 hits, 0 hr’s, with 6 bb’s, and 19 k’s. His splits vs. LH and RH hitters were fairly close. One thing that stands out is that he allowed 5 bb’s in 12.1 ip vs. lefties, and just 1 bb in 24.1 ip vs. right handed hitters. While this his is first outing in the Majors this year, Eveland has made 59 starts in the bigs previously. He has 19 Major League wins to his name. I expect to see a guy who is not overwhelmed by the moment and opportunity.

3) Markakis had a 3 hit game, and 2 homers in the Texas series. Both were good to see. What is odd, is the lack of doubles. Between ’07 and ’10, Markakis had 40+ doubles each year. Last year that dropped to 31. So far this year he has 5. What compounds the oddity, is that Markakis’ line-drive % this year, is above his career averages. I want to see Nick get hot over a prolonged stretch of play, and start spraying some doubles into the alleys.

4) It is still early enough in the year to rapidly change your numbers with a good week. Hardy went into the Boston series sporting a .613 OPS. He ends the Texas series having raised that to .766. He has homered 4 times, and doubled 3 times in those 7 games.

5) Flaherty’s numbers are not attractive (6 for 31, 1 bb, 11 k’s), but I still like what we have seen from him. You have to remember that not only is he adjusting to the Majors, but he is also adjusting to sporadic playing time. He blasted his homer in the 1st game of the double-header yesterday, and he had a great approach on his PH single in the 9th of the 2nd game. He also added a fine catch in LF. The MASN announcers have relayed comments from Showalter several times this year, that the O’s see Flaherty as an eventual everyday Major League player. While I think he probably projects best at 2nd, the current opening is at 3rd. Flaherty played 102 games in the Minors at 3rd (and another 111 at SS). Maybe he needs to be getting some additional starts at the hot corner, allowing the O’s to see his defense there regularly, and determine if his bat is going to play. He struggled in 176 ab’s in the PCL last year, but he did have success in the AA Southern League (302 ab’s, .907 OPS, .305 baa, 20 doubles, 14 homers, 66 rbi, 40 bb’s, 55 k’s.)

6) After a strong offensive series in Boston, Reynolds singled just twice in 12 ab’s against Texas. He did walk twice. He can’t go into another slump. His bat needs to get hot, and produce now to stay in the lineup.

7) Davis is now 1 for his last 17, with 10 k’s. He got the night off in the 2nd game of the DH yesterday. The O’s offense is different with him producing. It would be a great sign from him for the rest of this year, if he could shake off this mini-slump with some positive outings this weekend.

8) Matusz and Arrieta take the mound Saturday and Sunday for the O’s. Both were excellent in NY, and both had disappointing outings vs. Texas. If these two (and later hopefully Britton) are consistently pitching well, and reaching towards their ceiling; the O’s can dream bigger. However, the approach with these two, and with the O’s in-general needs to be one game, one series at a time. Every-time these guys take the mound, they need to have the attitude of going out to prove themselves. (This is not to say they have not.) Tampa Bay has a juggernaut, primarily built around their young talented starting pitching. I want to see Matusz and Arrieta go match Moore, and Shields pitch for pitch. They are certainly capable of doing so.

9) Last night, Lindstrom allowed his first 2 er’s of the year (14 innings). In the first game yesterday, Johnson let up the 3 run homer in the 9th. Ayala had allowed two hits to start the inning. During Hamilton’s historic night, O’Day allowed one of the four homers. The bullpen’s success has been so overwhelming, it has been almost jarring to see things not go perfect. Rationally, we have been saying you can’t expect perfection from this group. The question was always going to be how they responded to a little adversity. It will be interesting to see how they perform this weekend.

9a) There was a lot of talk bout Pomeranz in the game thread last night. There is a lot to like with that arm, and the O’s need to find a way to keep him part of the staff.

10) Wieters has homered just once in his last 14 games. He has 1 double during the same time-frame. He entered the Boston series with his OPS at 1.009. That has dropped to .914 entering the series tonight. If he finishes the year with a .914 OPS, all O’s fans will be rightfully excited. That said, the O’s need him to be a consistent force in the middle of the lineup. This weekend would be a good time to break back out.

Projected Pitchers
5/11: Hellickson (RHP) vs. Eveland
5/12: Moore (LHP) vs. Matusz
5/13: Shields (RHP) vs. Arrieta

Hellickson: 3-0, 2.75 era, 36 ip, 32 hits, 6 hr’s, 15 bb’s, 23 k’s, .722 OPS against, 0.76 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texas...pitcher/476451/

Moore: 1-2, 5.71 era, 34.2 ip, 39 hits, 6 hr’s, 18 bb’s, 28 k’s, .851 OPS against, 0.50 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texas...pitcher/519043/

Shields: 5-1, 3.23 era, 47.1 ip, 43 hits, 7 hr’s, 15 bb’s, 43 k’s, .697 OPS against, 1.52 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texas...pitcher/448306/

C: Molina .648 OPS, 57 ab’s
1st: Pena .789 OPS, 115 ab’s
2nd: Zobrist .790 OPS, 106 ab’s
SS: Rodriguez .613 OPS, 92 ab’s
3rd: Rhymes .543 OPS, 29 ab’s
LF: Jennings .738 OPS, 112 ab’s, 8 steals
CF: Upton .791 OPS, 59 ab’s
RF: Joyce .967 OPS, 98 ab’s
DH: Scott .852 OPS, 93 ab’s

Bench: Gimenez, Johnson, Allen, Guyer
Rotation: Price, Shields, Hellickson, Niemann, Moore
Bullpen: Rodney, McGee, Peralta, Howell, Badenhop, Davis, Ramos

Current Ranks:

Tampa Bay
Runs: 9th
Batting Average: 17th
On Base: 8th
Slugging: 7th
ERA: 19th
Quality Starts: 22nd
WHIP: 21st
BAA: 16th

Baltimore
Runs: 8th
Batting Average: 14th
On Base: 17th
Slugging: 5th
ERA: 8th
Quality Starts: 20th
WHIP: 12th
BAA: 12th

[furryburres]

Great write-up. Couple of things:

1) The entire offense, with the exception of a couple of good innings, looked abysmal against that Texas staff. With Wieters, Andino, and Davis slowing down a tad, other players need to step up their production big-time. Like you said, I'm especially looking to see how Reynolds does in this series. I said this in the game thread, and I'll say it again. Contrary to what we've all been taught in little league, Reynolds needs to be an aggressive swinger. When he looks and waits for his pitch, he gets tentative and keeps that front foot relatively stiff so as to not go all-in on a pitch. When he's aggressive, taking hacks, is when he shines. I'm looking for him to come out and take swings.

2) Moore is struggling with his control this year this year, with a 4.7 BB/9. His WHIP is 1.66 As Chris Stoner mentioned, he also has a very low GO/FO ratio. I'm looking for guys to get on base in front of the home-runs, so, with the exception of Reynolds, I believe this team should be taking pitches and working counts.
Moore is averaging less than 6 IP per start. Hellickson is averaging 6, but has a WHIP of 1.3. If they patiently work these guys, I have a feeling they can force the Rays into using the bullpen early. Going into Sunday's matchup, you're putting a lot of pressure on Shields to pitch more than seven innings.

3) I also like Flaherty. Problem is, he's not significantly much more than a singles hitter. Does that make him and Andindo a redundancy, two singles guys? I guess we'll see. I'm looking for extra-base hits from the both of them to prove they belong in this lineup.

[Oriole85]

5) Flaherty’s numbers are not attractive (6 for 31, 1 bb, 11 k’s), but I still like what we have seen from him. You have to remember that not only is he adjusting to the Majors, but he is also adjusting to sporadic playing time. He blasted his homer in the 1st game of the double-header yesterday, and he had a great approach on his PH single in the 9th of the 2nd game. He also added a fine catch in LF. The MASN announcers have relayed comments from Showalter several times this year, that the O’s see Flaherty as an eventual everyday Major League player. While I think he probably projects best at 2nd, the current opening is at 3rd. Flaherty played 102 games in the Minors at 3rd (and another 111 at SS). Maybe he needs to be getting some additional starts at the hot corner, allowing the O’s to see his defense there regularly, and determine if his bat is going to play. He struggled in 176 ab’s in the PCL last year, but he did have success in the AA Southern League (302 ab’s, .907 OPS, .305 baa, 20 doubles, 14 homers, 66 rbi, 40 bb’s, 55 k’s.)

I don't see it, I'm sure he's a nice guy and hard worker, but I look at him as another Blake Davis, Matt Angle, Kyle Hudson, etc. I doubt he sticks as anything more than a utility. I'm not surprised Buck is saying that. It probably helps his self-confidence as well as his value. All that being said, I have no problem with the O's playing him everyday for the time being unless they make a trade or someone tears it up in the minors.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I don't see it, I'm sure he's a nice guy and hard worker, but I look at him as another Blake Davis, Matt Angle, Kyle Hudson, etc. I doubt he sticks as anything more than a utility. I'm not surprised Buck is saying that. It probably helps his self-confidence as well as his value. All that being said, I have no problem with the O's playing him everyday for the time being unless they make a trade or someone tears it up in the minors.

I have my doubts as well, but I'm missing the comparison to Davis, Angle, Hudson. None of them put up a season like Flaherty did last year in the Southern League.

[BSLChrisStoner]

DRaysBay: The Process Versus The Orioles
http://www.draysbay....w-mlb#storyjump

[You Play to Win the Game]

DRaysBay: The Process Versus The Orioles
http://www.draysbay....w-mlb#storyjump

That was a nice read - the author did a real nice job being objective and providing solid analysis on the O's pitching. Now I have to go look up what in the heck SIERRA means. Ugh, stupid SABR, always making my head hurt.

[You Play to Win the Game]

I don't see it, I'm sure he's a nice guy and hard worker, but I look at him as another Blake Davis, Matt Angle, Kyle Hudson, etc. I doubt he sticks as anything more than a utility. I'm not surprised Buck is saying that. It probably helps his self-confidence as well as his value. All that being said, I have no problem with the O's playing him everyday for the time being unless they make a trade or someone tears it up in the minors.

I can see where you're coming from in terms of what we've seen from Flaherty this year (in a very limited samplesize), but his track record suggests that there's more potential there for him than the guys you mentioned. Like you, I'd like to see him play more so we can figure out what we have there.

[bhrusty]

What I want to see this weekend? 24 innings

[BSLChrisStoner]

Using homers from Jones, Markakis, and Johnson; the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 4-3. With the win, Baltimore moves 1 game ahead of the Rays for sole possession of 1st in the American League East.

The Good:

1) With the bases loaded and none out in the 2nd, Eveland got Rodriguez to hit into a double-play. Eveland threw a nice hook to get Johnson in the 3rd. He got Upton to pop-up with the bases loaded to end the 4th. He fielded his position well on the 5th inning come-backer from Joyce, allowing him to run down Scott on the bases. With minimal control, he still found a way to keep the O's in the game.

2) Nice play from Flaherty going towards SS in the 1st. It was nice having confidence he would make the play (albeit a routine one) on the grounder from Molina in the 8th.

3) Hardy had an excellent play to end the 1st, going deep in the SS, and showing off the arm to get the fleet of foot Upton.

4) Jones tied the game at 1, blasting his 10th hr deep to LF in the 2nd.

5) Betemit lined a single into RF in the 2nd.

6) Johnson lined a single to CF in the 3rd. He walked in the 5th, and stole 2nd, getting into scoring position. In the 7th, Johnson had his 1st hr since 5/5/10, giving the O's the 4-3 lead.

7) Great job by Wieters holding on, and recording the out on the collision from Rodriguez. in the 5th.

8) The O's pulled within 1 at 3-2, on Markakis' 6th homer of the year in the 6th. This was Markakis' 3rd hr in 4 games. Markakis lined a single into RF for his 2nd hit in the 8th.

9) O'Day had a very quick 7th inning.

10) Davis singled past the shift into CF in the 7th.

11) Strop plowed through the Rays in the 8th, striking out Rodriguez on a nasty breaking ball.

12) Johnson mowed through Jennings, Zobrist, and Pena for his 10th save in the 9th.

The Bad:

1) Eveland walked Scott to lead off the 2nd. He compounded that, by hitting the next hitter - Keppinger. His walk to Zobrist in the 3rd created issues. In the 6th, Eveland issued a 2 out walk to Zobrist. In his final line, he was charged with 6 walks in his 6 innings. 1 was intentional, and he hit 2 others. Beyond the walks, he went deep with a lot of other hitters overall.

2) Davis hit into a double-play to end the 2nd.

3) Scott's double sliced away from Jones, but Jones got turned around. It was an extra-base hit, which probably should have been an out.

4) Flaherty was 0 for 4, with 2 k's.

The Ugly:

1) In the 4th, Eveland walked Joyce with 1 out, which was followed by successive singles from Rodriguez, Molina, and Johnson. After the intentional walk to Zobrist to load the bases, Eveland hit Pena, forcing in Tampa's 3rd run.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Thanks for not including my reverse jinx under "bad".

[Coker]

The Good:

Coker's mancrush on Nick Johnson finally comes through!

[Tyler Bingaman]

I have not stopped listening to "The Pretender" since I learned it was Jim Johnson's entrance song.. still enjoying the O's victory.

[Chris B]

Oh my, what a win at the Yard! Great atmosphere tonight!

I gotta say, I couldn't believe Johnson tied it up in the 7th. I've been dogging him all season, and he finally came through. I also didn't think Eveland would pitch so well. I'll gladly take 6 IP and 3 ER from him. The bullpen was dominant as usual, throwing only 19 pitches to get 9 outs. That is damn impressive.

I'd love to take this series. Let's hope the Birds can get it done tomorrow.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Oh my, what a win at the Yard! Great atmosphere tonight!

I gotta say, I couldn't believe Johnson tied it up in the 7th. I've been dogging him all season, and he finally came through. I also didn't think Eveland would pitch so well. I'll gladly take 6 IP and 3 ER from him. The bullpen was dominant as usual, throwing only 19 pitches to get 9 outs. That is damn impressive.

I'd love to take this series. Let's hope the Birds can get it done tomorrow.

Did seem like a great atmosphere. I was pretty excited coming back. Winning the series today, and having a chance to play for a sweep tomorrow would be huge.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Helped by 5 Tampa Bay errors, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Rays 5-3. With the win, the O's improve to 22-12, and move two games ahead of Tampa in the AL East. The O's also claim another series win, moving to 8-3 in all series played.

The Good:

1) Following the lead-off walk to Zobrist, he got ahead of Rodriguez, and got Rodriguez to hit into a double play. In the 3rd, he k'd Rodriguez with a perfect 93 mph fastball on the black. He had not been helped to start that inning, with Betemit's error. Matusz did a very good job to get out of the inning, with the O's maintaining the 2-1 lead. Matusz was a bit fired up on his k of Keppinger to start the 4th. He ended the 4th, getting a fastball by a great fastball hitter (Scott). Nice game for Matusz, could have been better with some better defense behind him. 5.2 ip, 7 hits, 2 er, 1 hr, 1 bb, 5 k's. He threw 95 pitches, 64 for strikes.

2) Leading off the O's first, Andino doubled to deep RCF.

3) Wieters walked in the 2nd.

4) Tolleson tied the game at 1, with his 2nd inning double. He would advance to 3rd, and Wieters would score to put the O's up 2-1, when Guyer misplayed the ball in LF.

5) Markakis walked in the 3rd. With another patient ab, Markakis walked again in the 5th. That walk loaded bases.

6) Hall worked a walk in the 4th. In the 5th, he held Gimenez to a single, getting to the ball quickly in LF. In the 8th, Hall homered to right, giving the O's an insurance run.

7) Good ab from Hardy in the 5th, singling into LF.

8) Jones put the Birds up 4-1, with his single back through the box in the 5th. This would chase Moore from the game. In the 7th, he again singled up the middle.

9) Davis pitched around him a bit, but Betemit walked to again load the bases in the 5th.

10) Replacing Matusz, Ayala got a big strikeout out of Joyce to end the 6th. In the 7th, Ayala fielded his position well on the Rhymes bunt attempt.

11) Strop entered in the 8th, and got Upton to chase leading off the inning. He overwhelmed Molina to end the inning.

12) For the 2nd straight day, Johnson locked things down in the 9th, and grabbed another save - his 11th.

The Bad:

1) Matusz went 3-0 to Zobrist to start the game, after getting even, he walked him on a pitch high and away. The HR allowed to Guyer in the 2nd, was on a change-up left right down the middle. Would have bee nice to see him go another inning or so, but his defense did not help him out.

2) The O's should have had Upton picked off to end the 1st. Matusz delivered a bad throw to Betemit. Betemit had the ball stuck in his glove.

3) Hardy did not advance Andino, after Andino's double in the 1st.

4) Andino was thrown out attempting to steal 3rd in the 1st. With Markakis and Jones coming up, you can't get thrown out if you are going to go.

5) With runners at 1st, and 2nd and none out in the 2nd, Betemit struck-out, failing to advance them. Leading off the Rays 3rd, Rhymes reached 2nd when a ball when through Betemit's legs. Tolleson was rightfully charged with the throwing error in the 6th, but Betemit could have knocked it down at 1st.

6) The O's were up 4-1 in the 5th, when Wieters batted against Davis with 2 runners in scoring position and 1 out. Wieters got the fly-ball, but it was to LF, and not deep enough to plate Markakis.
6a) Wieters was 0 for 3, and is now 2 for his last 18, and 0 for his last 12.

7) Hall struck out with the bases loaded to end the 5th.

8) In the 6th, Guyer grounded to Tolleson at 3rd. Tolleson tagged 3rd for the force, but threw short to Betemit at 1st. This allowed Tampa to put two runners into scoring position, and bring up Luke Scott.

The Ugly:

None. Not the prettiest game, but the O's did what was necessary (and took advantage of the Tampa Bay errors) to win.

[DJ MC]

Am I the only one annoyed that Showalter took Matusz out when he did?

[bnickle]

I keep waiting for not being able to do the little things to hurt us but the BP keeps picking us up late. I thought for sure not being able to turn that DP in the 6th with the low throw/ non pick and resulting Scott hit for 2 RBI would come back and bite us but Ayala, Strop and JJ get it done again.

3 days in a row for Strop and JJ so you'd have to think they are unavailable. Gonna need Pomeranz and O Day to step up if needed late tomorrow.

[Coker]

After the loss, Evan Longoria was able to share his thoughts on the O's with the rest of the world.

[quote]Evan Longoria ‏ @Evan3Longoria
I love all these Os fans now diggin themselves too! Just don't get too obnoxious, it can sometimes be a bit excessive.[/quote]

Other people responded:
[quote]Christopher James ‏ @ChrisMonroe12
@Evan3Longoria they're bandwagon fans this is the first time they have been alright in years[/quote]
[quote]Dan ‏ @DanDeming8
@Evan3Longoria Suddenly seem to be a lot more O's fans these days. Don't worry, they'll all be gone by August. #Pretenders[/quote]
[quote]Joe DeSetto ‏ @desetto
@Evan3Longoria What O's fans? That is just the abandoned Red Sox bandwagon that has never been to either city.[/quote]

How quickly we've gained "bandwagon" status amongst the AL East rivals.