Wednesday Bird Droppings

Here

Is 2131 and beyond seriously suggesting that the Orioles DON’T NEED NICK MARKAKIS? Because he isn’t leading the team in homers, RBI, runs scored, or stolen bases, and because his pep talk hasn’t resulted in more wins? Because Juan Samuel called that particular win “flawless”? Because Corey Patterson – COREY FUCK ME PATTERSON – did a good job the other night while Nicky was off for the day? At least he says that Corey is “not a piece in the future most likely” (emphasis mine).

Look, what’s the best, nicest way to put this? I don’t want to be a prick, I really don’t. But when someone says something like “[Nick] is not all that impressive this season” and that “the true offensive production is just not showing” by citing runs scored, RBI, home runs, and stolen bases, all I can take from this is that this is an opinion I can safely ignore until it becomes substantially less dumb.

How about something that matters, like wRC, where Nick Markakis leads the team by a full 10 runs over second place Luke Scott? Or wOBA, where he’s in second behind Scott? Or something a little more digestible perhaps for the less mathematically inclined, like OBP? Yup, Nick’s our best player at getting on base. He’s just 0.1 WAR points behind Luke Scott for team lead. No, he doesn’t steal a lot of bases, but he’s actually been smart enough not to waste resources like Adam Jones and Cesar Izturis, who are a combined 10 for 20 (that’s 50%…that’s not just bad, that’s really, really bad – but Cesar does have more stolen bases than Nick, so he must be a better baserunner, right?).

Ugh. I don’t know the person who wrote that stuff…but suggesting trading away literally our only great young player is basically like saying “hey, let’s rebuild forever”. And I keep having to go back and reread that article, because I simply cannot fathom how someone can seriously think that Nick Markakis isn’t a cornerstone of this franchise because Corey Patterson went 0 for 2 on the night that Nicky had off.

only took a quick glance at the roster and didnt really recognize any names besides Mummey. Who else is worth watching?

Melewski:

Here are the number of Triple-A starts some young O’s hurlers made before their Major League debuts:
Arrieta – 28
Bergesen – 2
Berken – 5
Hernandez – 11
Matusz – 0
Tillman – 18

Some of the above pitchers have struggled badly in the big leagues. Was it because they didn’t get in enough starts and innings at Triple-A?

Going only by the stat sheet, Zach Britton just may be ready for the Majors. In several interviews with him, he sure has seemed mature enough to handle it.

So in the end, I’ll say I’m in favor of Britton coming up for four or five big league starts to end his year. He probably won’t go much over 170 innings for this season.

At this point, though, I can’t honestly say that would be the best move for his future development.

OK, first of all, it isn’t “some” of those guys who have struggled at the major league level. As starters, to a man, every single one has struggled badly.

Second, you can’t say that bringing up Britton is the best move for his future development, but you’re in favor of it? What the Deepwater Horizon kind of logic is that?

But I’ve been keeping track of the 88 O’s vs the 10 O’s (as have a number of people). The 10 O’s are currently one game behind the 88 O’s, but I noticed today on B-R that the 88 O’s went 14-15 in August. Could anyone possibly imagine the Orioles doing such a thing? They play the following teams:

KC – 1
LAA – 6
CWS – 7
CLE – 3
TBR – 3
SEA – 3
TEX – 4
BOS – 1

Follow that up with a Sept/Oct in which the Orioles play two series each against every AL East team plus Detroit, and yeah, there is no way they are getting to 54 wins.

I was just remember and reading about some of the shit he did. Hilariously retarded.

at this dude who is listening and singing along to Shania Twain two desks over from me. YOU ARE NOT IN YOUR OWN OFFICE WHERE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU, JERKOFF!

….Selig dodges the bullet again!

With all the talk of our young pitchers struggling, I decided to look at some other top pitchers first years as a regular starter. Here’s what I found:

Pitcher A
1987 5.61 ERA, 1.638 WHIP, 76 ERA+, 4.3 BB/9
1988 3.18 ERA, 1.249 WHIP, 114 ERA+, 2.9 BB/9

Pitcher B
1989 4.82 ERA, 1.512 WHIP, 82 ERA +, 5.4 BB/9
1990 3.65 ERA, 1.338 WHIP, 109 ERA +, 4.9 BB/9

Pitcher C
2004 5.43 ERA, 1.503 WHIP, 80 ERA , 4.1 BB/9
2005 3.79 ERA, 1.218 WHIP, 111 ERA, 2.3 BB/9

A is Greg Maddux, B is Randy Johnson, and C is Cliff Lee. Granted, our young starters are doing worse than any of these guys first seasons as regulars, but looking at stuff like this helps me stay positive for the young arms.

Of course, there a number of examples I found of guys who were great right out of the gate like Mike Mussina, Pedro Martinez, and to a lesser extent Tim Lincecum.

Sorry for the lack of ‘advanced’ stats – I just pulled what I could off of B-R.com

Jim (WV): To date, the Orioles have only signed 1 of their first 10 round picks. They still need to sign: Manny Machado, Daniel Klein, Connor Narron, Dixon Anderson, Matt Bywater, Wynston Sawyer, Parker Bridwell, and Clayton Schrader. Who in this list do you see not signing?


Jim Callis: I don’t know particulars on every one of those guys, but most of them are going to be over slot deals, so they’re not imminent. The Orioles were aggressive in the draft this year and I expect them to be again this year. They’ll sign most of those guys, and they’ll get Machado done for sure.