It's all the Orioles fans seizing onto the only hope they've had with their team for the past 10+ years. While I think all but the most rabid Orioles fans will admit that their team will cool down eventually, as they're playing way above their heads, I will freely admit that they're playing very well. Indeed, most of their position players (Wieters, Jones, Markakis, Reimold) are quite talented, it's just the pitching that's garbage.
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Official MLB 2012 Season Thread
- Thread starter tennisace
- Start date
Remind me of the Orioles pitcher with 40 strikeouts, a 2.00 ERA, and 4 wins.
Hammel only has one of those, strictly speaking (38 K, 2.09 ERA). Allow me to point you to his career stats, including a 4.85 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and middling strikeout rate; further, notice that he has no seasons with more than 10 wins. And that was in the NL, not the AL. If his numbers are this good in another month, then I'll believe -- until then, he's just another player with a hot start. Don't forget it's the AL East, he's pitched decently against New York and Boston once, but I'm not putting any money on it happening again.
PROSPECTS????? Who needs prospects when you re-sign La Gua Gua for a third stint....
And I swear to you that that's not perjury.
And I swear to you that that's not perjury.
You know what, Tejada wasn't as bad last year as everyone thought. Even though his batting stats weren't great, he had a sum UZR of 4.0, so at least he was still decent with the glove. It's a minor league deal, the O's are investing almost nothing. He probably won't be much more than a late-inning defensive replacement.
I think I found moi...
From the second series of the year at TOR. But I just found it. You only live once.
From the second series of the year at TOR. But I just found it. You only live once.
On a somewhat related note, I'd like to rant very briefly about my ailing fantasy team. I traded for Chris Young on the day before he suffered his shoulder injury, and I also traded for Cory Luebke just before he was scratched with his arm stiffness that's most likely going to lead to Tommy John surgery. Terrible luck. I currently have five players on the DL -- Young, Luebke (holding until TJ is the definite diagnosis), Longoria, Youkilis, and Stephen Drew. Argh.
Longoria and Youkilis are particularly frustrating. Longo can't seem to go a season without sustaining some injury that costs him at least a month. I drafted Youkilis because my roto league counts OBP as one of the stat categories, but it seems like he might be stuck in a timeshare for playing time even after he returns, and of course he'll probably keep missing games with nagging injuries.
Longoria and Youkilis are particularly frustrating. Longo can't seem to go a season without sustaining some injury that costs him at least a month. I drafted Youkilis because my roto league counts OBP as one of the stat categories, but it seems like he might be stuck in a timeshare for playing time even after he returns, and of course he'll probably keep missing games with nagging injuries.
Quite impressed with Captain Morgan today with his four jacks. Looks like he wants a good payday this offseason.
The most impressive thing is that he did it against the force which is O's pitching. That's big leagues bra. That's big leagues.
You guys think the O's are going for real?
The most impressive thing is that he did it against the force which is O's pitching. That's big leagues bra. That's big leagues.
You guys think the O's are going for real?
Great power display by the likes of Josh Hamilton and Carlos Beltran this evening. Now if only a certain other Mendoza liner we don't miss get hi$ act together...
The Red Sox suck maybe I'll come back when the Celtics are over.
They can't win with Bobby V. He's already cost them several games this year taking forever making pitching decisions. Keeping the Sox out of games that they could have a chance in, and blowing games that they should be sealing up. Even though they have a top 3 offense, they can not hold any lead. Even against the Royals. ugh fml
Why was Bard out there in the 8th inning today? wtf? pitch count wasn't too high but it's really hard to get the same hitter out after he's seen you 3-4 times already. Especially when you're Bard and you only have 2 pitches. This team is just so....boneheaded this year I can't stand it.
They can't win with Bobby V. He's already cost them several games this year taking forever making pitching decisions. Keeping the Sox out of games that they could have a chance in, and blowing games that they should be sealing up. Even though they have a top 3 offense, they can not hold any lead. Even against the Royals. ugh fml
Why was Bard out there in the 8th inning today? wtf? pitch count wasn't too high but it's really hard to get the same hitter out after he's seen you 3-4 times already. Especially when you're Bard and you only have 2 pitches. This team is just so....boneheaded this year I can't stand it.
I just dont understand how you decide to pitch to a guy who is 4/4 with three HRs. I would sweat bullets as I intentionally walked hin because I was afraid he would still somehow crush it.
Yeah, not enough Ks, injured last year, undersized, boring team. I can see why no one is talking about him. Sports media care more about whether you look like an All Star than whether you play like one.
His stats are impressive. He just found that he can get people out more efficiently without always going for the K. I've always held that a truly perfect game would be 27 pitches.
His stats are impressive. He just found that he can get people out more efficiently without always going for the K. I've always held that a truly perfect game would be 27 pitches.
Sorry to say this and I don't mean to offend, but this right here is the typical Red Sox front-runner response. Sorry to say, but I'd prefer that people with your attitude hop off and never come back. We're the Red Sox, not the Yankees. Fans like you are whats ruining this teams immage in baseball.
You leave and give up. Us real fans will be here when you change your mind and start praising the people you now mock.
this post is a response to Wikey, ButteredToast just posted while I was typing it up.
Nope, not quite. Striking out people eliminates a human factor of the game, the luck that goes into hitting. There is no way to ensure that you aren't going to get hit when you leave the ball in play. You'll generally see people with low strikeout/low walks do well, but there's a certain ceiling to their success unless they can strike more people out.
People will always claim that pitchers like Roy Halladay/Mariano Rivera are pitchers who were successful without striking out a lot of people. But looking into their stats reveals that whenever they were striking out more batters, they were doing better. That's just the nature of the game. When Halladay got his K/9 up to the 7 range, instead of the 5.5 range it had been in 06/07, he made the jump into GOD TIER instead of just being a great pitcher.
Another telling thing with Cueto is that while he's pitching well, he's also getting lucky. His 90% LOB rate is wayyy out of line with his career rate, and he's been fortunate in the amount of fly balls that he's been letting out of the park. He's probably gonna regress to a < 3.50 ERA range, which is still good!
Essentially, Cueto is a good pitcher, who's been lucky. If he wants to get into the next tier, he's going to have to strike out more batters. That's simply a matter of fact. This is no slight against him. It is just incredibly difficult to be considered an elite level player in this game. Don't let small sample size and stats easily affected by this full you (ERA)
Nope, not quite. Striking out people eliminates a human factor of the game, the luck that goes into hitting. There is no way to ensure that you aren't going to get hit when you leave the ball in play. You'll generally see people with low strikeout/low walks do well, but there's a certain ceiling to their success unless they can strike more people out.
People will always claim that pitchers like Roy Halladay/Mariano Rivera are pitchers who were successful without striking out a lot of people. But looking into their stats reveals that whenever they were striking out more batters, they were doing better. That's just the nature of the game. When Halladay got his K/9 up to the 7 range, instead of the 5.5 range it had been in 06/07, he made the jump into GOD TIER instead of just being a great pitcher.
Another telling thing with Cueto is that while he's pitching well, he's also getting lucky. His 90% LOB rate is wayyy out of line with his career rate, and he's been fortunate in the amount of fly balls that he's been letting out of the park. He's probably gonna regress to a < 3.50 ERA range, which is still good!
Essentially, Cueto is a good pitcher, who's been lucky. If he wants to get into the next tier, he's going to have to strike out more batters. That's simply a matter of fact. This is no slight against him. It is just incredibly difficult to be considered an elite level player in this game. Don't let small sample size and stats easily affected by this full you (ERA)
Totally agree with moi here. His babip is .258, which is quite low, showing quite a bit of luck. His K's numbers have dropped compared to years past, but his BB/9 is very low at 1.5 which shows that he is learning to pitch like an ace.
A guy to watch out for in the future, but not there yet. If he can get more ground balls to turn more double plays in key spots (only has 1 DP this year with a GB/FB of .81) and can cut down ''on the HBPs (a league leading 5) while increasing his K/9, he'll be considered to be "God class." Considering that he is only 26, chances look good that he can reach this season pardon any major setbacks.
A guy to watch out for in the future, but not there yet. If he can get more ground balls to turn more double plays in key spots (only has 1 DP this year with a GB/FB of .81) and can cut down ''on the HBPs (a league leading 5) while increasing his K/9, he'll be considered to be "God class." Considering that he is only 26, chances look good that he can reach this season pardon any major setbacks.
The sample size isn't small...if he had pitched just two more innings last season I believe he would've had the ERA title.
I agree that he cant strike people out as well as the elite pitchers though. He's still excellent at making people hit into easy outs though. I think hes a top 15 pitcher....not 27th like ESPN has him >_>
I agree that he cant strike people out as well as the elite pitchers though. He's still excellent at making people hit into easy outs though. I think hes a top 15 pitcher....not 27th like ESPN has him >_>
The SSS was directed towards this year specifically, with his 1ish ERA. Last year he didn't pitch a full year either, and we already saw his ERA starting to go up at the end of the year.
I still think being top 15 is a bit generous, but man, with his command, if he can improve his K/9 just to seven, he'll being having a few good years for the Reds! Unfortunately, that'll be the hardest jump, because Ks are thing the aspect most determined by your natural ability. I haven't read the scouting reports yet, so I can't comment more than that.
I still think being top 15 is a bit generous, but man, with his command, if he can improve his K/9 just to seven, he'll being having a few good years for the Reds! Unfortunately, that'll be the hardest jump, because Ks are thing the aspect most determined by your natural ability. I haven't read the scouting reports yet, so I can't comment more than that.
I think pitching wise I only dropped Leake and the real Chris Carpenter.
But even if I did, my rotation of Weaver, Freak, Kennedy, Price, Helickson, Garcia, Bard, and Big Bud Norris don't really miss him too much.
But even if I did, my rotation of Weaver, Freak, Kennedy, Price, Helickson, Garcia, Bard, and Big Bud Norris don't really miss him too much.
I wasn't trying to make it sound like throwing Ks wasn't important. I was just commenting that for a guy like him understanding his skills and playing to his strengths to such great results is impressive. Not everyone has 9 K/9 stuff and it's important for the guys who don't to play to their strengths instead of trying to be something they're not.