Birds Up, O's Down for May 24
by duck on May 24, 2010 9:00 AM EDT
in Birds Up, O's Down
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PrintHere’s a weekly look at players making an impact, for good and bad, for the Orioles this week. All stats through Saturday's game.
Birds Up
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Cesar Izturis (SS) - Cesar had a pretty good week, going 6-for-17 with 3 walks as well. The defense is usually still there, with a notable exception or two this year, so any week Izzy is above .300 batting, I'll take it. |
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Luke Scott (1B/DH) - Luke is on another one of his streaks, batting over .400 for the week and and 2 HRs and 4 walks. A 1.273 OPS ain't shabby, either. |
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Nick Markakis (RF) - Nick's putting together a pretty nice month of May, following last week's .333 AVG with a week of .375. He got on base in half his plate appearances, and had a .917 OPS. By the end of the year, I'm betting he's right back to a .302 AVG and about 20 HR. |
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Adam Jones (CF) - Adam's struggling with the glove (including Sunday's miscue), but he's finding success at the plate, if not power. He was 7-for-22 for the week, and did have 2 HRs to bring his season total to 5. A little more consistency in fielding would be nice, though. |
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Craig Tatum (C) - Sure, he's only been in 2 games, but he's 3-for-4 and had an OPS of 1.500. Enjoy it, Craig, I doubt it will ever happen again. |
O's down
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Koji Uehara (RHP) - Stop this if you've heard it before. Koji had to come out of a game in Texas after 30 pitches after nearly having a heat stroke, then reported forearm soreness that will most likely end up with him being placed on the DL. Delicate Flower indeed. |
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Alberto Castillo (LHP) - Alberto earned his bus ticket to Norfolk after appearing in 2 games last week, and having a 54.00 ERA. He pitched to 7 batters, got only 2 out, and allowed 1 HR, 4 hits, and 1 walk while recording only 1 strikeout. Why he's still on the 40-man roster is still a bit of a question. |
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Ty Wigginton (2B) - The Ty Roller Coaster continues, as Ty went 6-for 28 over the week. Yes, he had 7 RBI, which is pretty tough to do on the Orioles, but a .563 OPS for the week from our best hitter this season? |
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Brad Bergesen (RHP) - Two starts, two Orioles losses, and 9 ER surrendered in just 11.2 IP. His WHIP was over 2.00 and his sinker just didn't sink. Get it together, Brad, or there's another bus ticket with your name on it. |
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Garrett Atkins (1B) - Atkins was .000/.167/.000/.167 for the week. He lost his 1B job to Luke Scott for the weekend against the Nationals, and Scott Moore's recall moves him even further down the depth chart. He's like a couch you put out on your lawn, free to any takers, and it's still there three weeks later. I doubt Andy MacPhail could give him away at this point, even eating his contract. |
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Yeah, I love that.
Everyone thought Baltimore was three easy wins and we got our ass kicked three times. - Dustin Pedroia, After the Red Sox got swept by the Orioles.
by BaltimoreSportsFan on May 24, 2010 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions
You just made me wear my Mr. Yuk shirt to Seattle today.
Inspiring
by HIO'sFan on May 24, 2010 6:51 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
And while it's still Brad's fault,
it’s unfortunate that Dave left him in for the 6th on Saturday (though our bullpen situation makes it understandable). He’d already thrown 99 pitches, from what I recall, and looked shaky all afternoon — and there was a perfect opportunity to pinch-hit for him in the top of the inning.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
Brad should not be on this list.
He had a great start and a crappy start. Not a great week, but not a yuk week either.
"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic
That bad start
was enough to earn a Mr. Yuk sticker
When you watch the Orioles every night, a beer after dinner turns into a six pack WAY too many times. Stacey
I don't think 6.2 and 3 ERs is great - and the rest of his line sucked.
He gave up 13 baserunners (10 hits, 2 bbs, and a HBP) to an awful Royals team.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
6.2 + 3ER is a QS
And I’ll always take that, given recent years.
"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic
I'd like to start a campaign to rename "quality start" as "adequate start"
I think its a useful benchmark, but its name implies much more than it is and lets uniformed sports announcers and writers heap praise on mediocre players.
I think it probably works as a decent benchmark for this reason
The 4.50 ERA is not quality, but, a pitcher for whom 6 IP, 3 ER is their ceiling will have many more starts where he doesn’t go a full six, or gives up more than the four runs.
Perhaps worth looking into, though. Are there really a lot of 4.50 ERA pitchers who just rack up the bare minimum to get the QS? I dunno. I do roll my eyes when it’s a 4.50 ERA but I feel like in the aggregate it works out.
I'm ready for a straight jacket. - Joe Angel, 4/17/10 (O's record: 1-11)
by Eat More Esskay on May 24, 2010 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions
on the O's of yesteryear it is.
"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic
Sure I'll take the results, but I think the results in this case were mostly due to luck and a shitty opponent.
You won’t get too many QS with a WHIP of 2. It was a pretty bad outing.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
I do hope we start seeing some more power from Nick soon.
I’m not really worried; way too early for that, and his OBP is back (.406!), which is the important thing. But his SLG is only .427 right now, so I’d feel a little better if he knocked a couple over the fence this week.
Of course, it’s still early; if you turn three singles into homers, he’s suddenly slugging .480. And even though he only has two homers so far, he’d only have to hit about one per week for the rest of the year to reach 20.
On a side note, both DRS and UZR are much happier with Nick so far this year (rating him a touch below average), which is also nice to see.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
I'd be ok with his usual doubles production
… but it seems like a lot of his hits are hard grounders. Like the rest of the team, he seems to have trouble getting good wood on the all, even though his eye and patience still get him on.
by fishoutawata on May 24, 2010 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions
20.7% LD | 45.5% GB | 33.8% FB
That’s a goodly proportion of line drives, but yeah, the FB / GB ratio could be higher. Interestingly, though, that distribution is very similar to what he had in 2008, but he just doesn’t seem to be pulling anything.
Camden Crazies did a post on this a week ago, by the way. I think it was linked in one of the Bird Droppings, but it was interesting enough it merits posting again.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
I could use a free couch, if it doesn't stink
But I guess that is Atkins problem…he smells of shit.
The future is not what it used to be.
Luke's hot streak may already be over.
2 for his last 12 (one of those being an infield single) with 4 ks and 1 bb.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
Yup. July 5th can't get here fast enough (1st Tigers series).
Make the world a better place; punch a Yankee fan in the face!
by PBR me ASAP! on May 24, 2010 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions
Free to good home: Atkins
Actually, I don’t think anyone cares if it’s a good home or not
Matt Wieters has a sustainably high BABIP
Western Acceptance Facility -- Hollins Ferry Rd
They’ve got big bins for stuff as useless as Atkins.
Has there ever been a cooler Oriole than Eddie Murray? I mean, just straight up cool. Like a bad, suave dude. You know what I'm sayin'. COOL. SC 7/24/08
by 33 on May 24, 2010 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions
should I start jones this week?
i have a potentially better option in marlon byrd or alfonso soriano, but if adam keeps this up i want him in.
also, is that pic on the bottom for atkins from 28 days later?
"Being an Orioles fan is like having Erectile Dysfunction"
"harden the fuck up mike gonzalez."
The Signing Bonus: We're back in business.
It's from a New York City blog
who’s name I can’t type in on school computers
When you watch the Orioles every night, a beer after dinner turns into a six pack WAY too many times. Stacey
who's = whose
zk will KILL me for that one
When you watch the Orioles every night, a beer after dinner turns into a six pack WAY too many times. Stacey
To be fair to Castillo, he's actually pitched pretty decent,
just gotten ridiculously unlucky. He has a 3.48 xFIP, but his HR/FB rate is an insane 44.4%, more than 3X league average, and teams have a .448 BABIP against him. He has an 11.37 K/IP and a 2.84 BB/IP. This is all in a small sample size, so he’s most likely somewhere in the middle, but I see no reason he should be DFA’d.
Well, that makes you a party of one I guess.
Ridiculously unlucky = ‘sucks’ to me. But the bigger issue to me is why do we need 3 lefty arms in the ‘pen? Hendo is the long man and Ohman (so long as his arm is still attached to his torso) is the ’specialist’. Plus, Castillo’s roster spot would be better spent on someone like Arrieta, imo.
Make the world a better place; punch a Yankee fan in the face!
by PBR me ASAP! on May 24, 2010 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions
im not arguing with any of that
except for the ridiculously unlucky = sucks. Baseball is driven by luck in small sample sizes, and his peripheral stats suggest that he should be a better pitcher than what he has shown so far. I’m not saying he deserves a spot on the big club right now, just that he isn’t completely worthless.
If he has a ridiciulously high HR/FB rate
isn’t he at least partly to blame for that? Leave a flat fastball high in the zone and you get what you deserve.
When you watch the Orioles every night, a beer after dinner turns into a six pack WAY too many times. Stacey
Yeah, but even when a pitcher hangs pitches or leaves his fastball up and flat,
hitters can make mistakes and miss them, or maybe the wind knocks it down, or maybe he makes the mistake to a hitter without much power. I’m not a real sabremetrician, but those are the kind of things that over a full season would balance out. He allowed 4 HR on 9 flyballs, that just isn’t sustainable. Hitters have much more control over how hard a pitch is hit and how far it will go than the pitcher does, but the best hitter in HR/FB over the last few years has been Ryan Howard at 30%.
It’s generally accepted by sabremetricians that ~12% of the flyballs that a pitcher throws will turn into homeruns, and anything too much more than that is getting unlucky
I’m not at anywhere near the level of the real sabremetrics people, so I hope this makes some sense and doesn’t read as a bunch of gibberish.
I read that sign on the couch as
“Take please not me, I’m infested,” which I then merely interpreted as incorrect english stating that the couch was in fact infested.
Atkins is just awful.
"He's a gazelle." -Adam Jones on Nolan Reimold.
FYI I hid Daniel's comment
which hid the comments attached to it. I know he meant no harm but I don’t really want to look at that every time I come into this thread.
gotcha
that was outta line, sorry if anyone was offended, i didn’t mean it like that
"Being an Orioles fan is like having Erectile Dysfunction"
"harden the fuck up mike gonzalez."
The Signing Bonus: We're back in business.
by danielreese05 on May 24, 2010 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions
no worries, man.
i know you were just playin’.
"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic
Mychal Givens
Not sure if anyone caught this today, but the O’s activated last years 2nd round pick (SS Mychal Givens) as a pitcher for Delmarva. I know there was talk he could go either way, but I thought they wanted him as a SS.
That's really surprising.
I was under the same impression.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." -- Earl Weaver
Makes sense
we totally have an over abundance of SS prospects anyway.
"things like locig and prrofreading are actually valued here" - zknower
HA!
"If they pitch to you, make them pay."
--Diamond Dave to the Phenom
by j.q. higgins on May 24, 2010 11:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Not one is can’t miss though. Pedro is back to reality, Miclat is hitting this year, but can’t stay healthy. Rosa commits too many errors and if Blake Davis or Andino was ready, they would be there already.
from steve melewski:
Wow, they do list him as a pitcher. That would represent quite a change and go against everything we’ve been hearing. I have to think it’s a mistake, but I’ll make a few calls. Just last week, Gary Kendall talked to me about his SS play at extended spring. Must be a mistake. – Steve
Update: He is not a pitcher, that was clearly a mistake, I did double check that one.
http://masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2010/05/checking-in-with-brandon-snyder.html
garrett atkins is a massive load of dung
that is all.
I don’t have much tolerance for stupid. Or cheese on food that doesn’t need it. -duck
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