Post-game pie-in-the-face safety protocol: The 2016 Baltimore Orioles

Widely predicted to finish last in the stacked 2016 AL East, with their first losing record for 2011 -- can they contend if Tillman and Gausman realize the potential they've always hinted at? If Dylan Bundy can hold his arm together long enough to contribute real innings to the major league team? If Jonathan Schoop can learn to take a walk? If Manny Machado is really the second-best player in the American League? If the Davis contract is a canny win-now move and not an expensive albatross?

Big ifs, Baltimore fans, big ifs.

mark trumbo in the outfield should be fun

can they contend

no

but now with added pedro!

The Orioles have had internal discussions about returning Hyun-soo Kim to the Korean Baseball Organization.

@Ken_Rosenthal 2h
Sources: #Orioles' Kim resisting minor-league demotion. Absent his consent, team must either keep him or release him and pay him entire $7M.

@Britt_Ghiroli
General reaction last night and tonight to Gonzalez was a lot of anger in O's clubhouse. Guys are upset, shocked by the whole thing

lol. team can't catch a break lately

Four games means nothing, I know, but I can't help but be heartened by the way the first pass through the rotation is looking.

5-0!

what rotation

"Who Is Vance Worley?" would be another good title for this thread

http://orig08.deviantart.net/a16a/f/2011/232/d/5/vance_the_vanimal_worley_by_timokreations-d478foc.jpg

what is the opposite of a safeword because mine is "Racing back is Trumbo...."

lol

Golden State Orioles

7-1 :(

Seems like I'm gonna have a lot of strong Mark Trumbo feelings this year.

who among us . . .

live by the trumbo die by the trumbo

CF A. JONES (STOMACH VIRUS) LEFT GAME TOP 7TH

not watching but this seems like the kind of thing you don't want to start a game with

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cgqh4niXEAAD1jk.jpg

never forget

if arrieta was still an oriole he wouldn't be good

― qualx, Thursday, April 21, 2016 10:57 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

why

mainly he was banned from using his cutter (or slider or whatever it is) and pretty much completely changed everything about himself when he switched to chicago. he also just seemed to hate his life here.

at this point i think it's fair to say that baltimore just plumb sucks at developing and nurturing young pitching. the entire approach, throughout the entire macphail/duquette eras. there's enough data at this point. put any HOF-track pitcher in baltimore at 22 and they'd be AAAA guys as long as they're here. good for arrieta for getting out.

Hyun Soo Kim lines a single into LF. Now 8-for-13 this season #orioles

Most surprising thing about this team is that they're 2nd in the AL in OBP; this was supposed to be an offense that mashed but struggled to get on base.

buck has to play kim everyday

no idea what happened but UGH

@JeffPassan
Yordano Ventura was 96-98 most of the night with his fastball. The single hardest pitch he threw was the one that hit Manny Machado: 99 mph.

Orioles shortstop Manny Machado charged the mound tonight after being drilled in the back by a 99 mph fastball from Royals starter Yordano Ventura in the bottom of the fifth inning.
This wasn’t a typical baseball scrum.
Machado appeared to land a punch to the side of Ventura’s face as both dugouts and bullpens emptied. Both players were ejected after being pulled apart..
Everyone should have seen it coming.
Machado took exception to an inside pitch from Ventura in his second at-bat in the second inning. He flied to left field on the next pitch, admiring the ball while walking up the line and then yelling at Ventura.
There were no further incidents until Machado batted again in the fifth after Hyun Soo Kim grounded out. Ventura buried a fastball into Machado’s back on his first pitch. Machado slammed his helmet to the ground and went after Ventura, who dropped his glove and cap.
First base coach Wayne Kirby was tripped as he reached the mound. Plenty of other bodies hit the ground, and the teams ended up on the right side of the infield as order slowly was restored.
Machado and Ventura were the only players ejected. Suspension to follow.
Ventura, who hit two Orioles in a Sept. 12, 2015 start in Baltimore, has been ejected three times in his career. Machado has been tossed four times.
The crowd kept chanting “Manny, Manny, Manny” throughout the fracas and after its conclusion.
Chien-Ming Wang replaced Ventura and Paul Janish pinch-ran for Machado with the Orioles ahead 5-1. Mark Trumbo hit a two-run homer and Chris Davis followed with a solo shot to send the crowd into another frenzy.
Trumbo has four RBIs tonight and 48 on the season to go with 20 home runs. The Orioles have gone back-to-back 10 times this season.
The Orioles already are missing shortstop J.J. Hardy, who remains on the disabled list with a fractured left foot. Now, they’ll have to proceed without Machado once the suspension is handed down.
Machado has played in 219 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the majors.
Ubaldo Jimenez has come back out for the sixth inning at 101 pitches.

yordano ventura, what a surprise

could say the same for manny, of course, but only one of them got hit with a 99mph fastball

Matt Wieters bringing some penetrating analysis: "It's important to win games because when it comes down to it at the end, the teams that are going to win the division and the teams that are going to make the playoffs are the teams that have won the most games."

nice game tho

Widely predicted to finish last in the stacked 2016 AL East, with their first losing record for 2011 -- can they contend if Tillman and Gausman realize the potential they've always hinted at? If Dylan Bundy can hold his arm together long enough to contribute real innings to the major league team? If Jonathan Schoop can learn to take a walk? If Manny Machado is really the second-best player in the American League? If the Davis contract is a canny win-now move and not an expensive albatross?

Big ifs, Baltimore fans, big ifs.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, March 8, 2016 1:39 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

How'm I doin'?

Tillman has been great (though not as good as his 10-1 record), Gausman has been mediocre (but much better than his 0-5 record.)

Bundy has turned in decent innings but hasn't been a major contributor.

Schoop has walked only 10 times in 271 plate appearances, yeesh.

Machado is the third-best in WAR in the league, just behind Donaldson and Trout.

Davis has been quality but not outstanding, still calling this a "canny win-now move" but the real test will be two years from now.

And yet they're contending!

pedro alvarez in the last 5 games is 8/20 w 6 homeruns

tongue-in-cheekish

https://theringer.com/zach-britton-mvp-best-case-2ec119a992ad#.d88sei82m

It feels really over right now.

yeah. the 'have no starting pitching' strat is finally gaining

*failing, autocorrect etc

I wouldn't worry too much--I think it'll be a three-way race right down to the final week. Toronto's starting pitching is really shaky right now too.

ok that's better

the thing about the starting pitching is, and i know i keep saying this, tillman, gausman, and bundy all COULD be authentically good pitchers.

keep in mind that gausman just owns the yankees for some reason

now i'm back to it's over

yeah, the Orioles will fade

every time i count this team out, they shock me. not ready to do that again, yet.

gausman continues to own the yankees, 6IP 8K 0ER

what is it about the 2 hole that makes managers think ah yes, this is the perfect spot for a bad hitter

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2016/09/12/adam-jones-orioles-colin-kaepernick-white-mans-sport/90260326/
Adam Jones on why protesting during the national anthem wouldn't work in MLB

http://deadspin.com/caleb-joseph-still-doesnt-have-an-rbi-this-season-1786534851

hadn't seen Britton throw a 9th til just now. 15 pitches, all 96-98 mph fastballs, 5 in the dirt. That movement is INSANE -- spitter-like.

How can they win a game like they did last night and lose a game like they did tonight? I don't get it. But of course I get it. This is how baseball is and this is how baseball's always been. But RRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

That throw from Bourn.

blowing hella chunks right now

offense has completely disappeared

this is just like the fucking royals alcs, i don't understand why a fundamentally good team has to just suddenly suck every day and in every aspect at the worst possible time

fuck baseball forever imo

I don't get it? Are the Orioles pissing away the season or hanging on to knock Toronto out in a wild card game? I truly do believe we can beat Toronto.

I could be wrong, but i think they're making the tournament.

Lindbergh on Caleb Joseph and blame for his 0 RBI

https://theringer.com/caleb-joseph-cant-buy-an-rbi-7d045924212a#.fsss6mxzv

feel like ubaldo cycles between horrendous and actually quite good more frequently than most pitchers

@keithlaw

Imagine claiming that you have Cy Young in your bullpen and then not using him in a critical game with the score tied in the 8th inning

jesus that's stupid

imagine claiming to be a smart baseball boy and admonishing a manager for bringing in a reliever with a 1.60 ERA

imagine being an ilxor and posting it in italics like it isn't fucking dumb as hell

His point is why lose the most important game of the season with less than your best pitcher on the mound.

The SP equivalent would be like the Giants playing in the wild card game and deciding to save Bumgarner for another game because Cueto is a really good pitcher too.

if brach hadn't shat the bed no one would be questioning it. I've advocated for bringing in britton in the 8th before but it's ridiculous to expect it when you have other shutdown relievers on hand. like, utterly ridiculous. there is at least one more game to play that would be just as important and then maybe another to break the tie, and then the wild card game. how much do you seriously want to lean on one arm before the playoffs have even started? why would there be any expectation that the tie would've been broken before the 18th inning? brad brach had a 1.60 ERA, are you kidding me?

if they had actually had a lead it would've made more sense, because that presumably would've been it. have him go 2 and make sure the clinch is in. but it was a tie game, could've gone 30 innings for all anyone knows. this is such manufactured bs

and i'm not sure why you'd compare starting pitchers pitching different games with relievers pitching within the same game, but i'm pretty sure the comparison would be "bumgarner should start the WC game and then he should start game 1 of the NLDS because he's the best"

or is this just griping over saving closers for the 9th instead of bringing them in willy nilly? like britton should've pitched the 8th and then brach the 9th? when there's every reason to believe the leverage situation would be just as high, if not higher, in the 9th? when you already have another reliever with a 1.60 ERA?

If you want to look at it another way, the Jays were in almost the exact same situation yesterday. They brought in their second best reliever (Grilli) in the 7th, hoping he'd get them at least a couple of outs in the eighth, but as soon as he got into trouble, Osuna was in for the two inning save. You could argue against that (bottom of the order coming up, what if Boston ties the game and it goes 18 innings, and so on) but fuck it, it's a must win game and you can't lose with less than your best pitcher in the game. I give Gibbons shit for how he handles the bullpen all the time but not last night.

And even if bringing in Brach was the right move, why didn't they bring in Britton sooner? Of course he never came in at all, because being down 5-3 with runners on apparently wasn't high leverage enough.

jason grilli decidedly isn't brad brach

buck left him in for the same reason most managers leave relievers in too long, he thought he'd get the next out. and in a tie game, you generally don't want to burn through your second best reliever before he can get an out. hindsight is great but if you replace brach with britton before the romine single and britton gets through the inning, you still have who knows how many innings left to play and you're down to the second string.

really if anything this just exposes a big flaw, which is the lack of relief pitching that can take down lefties. when your closer is also your only effective LOOGY, any team with decent lefties on the bench or switch hitters, like NYY right now, will pull this off. britton could've come in sooner but there's no guarantee the O's hitters get the lead, and then the same thing happens to brach in the 9th or 10th or 11th.

btw as i didnt see much of that game (or know the O's relievers well) i wasn't endorsing Law's position, tho keeping Britton entirely out of it does seem dubious

Managers change their reliever usage patterns in postseason all the time, as we've seen. Maybe Showalter won't get to.

time to bring out the "all" in "all or nothing"

"No one has been pitching better for us than Ubaldo."

‏@jaysonst
I should clarify that Buck did say that "except for Zach" no one was pitching better than Ubaldo. But I have a feeling that doesn't help

actually not sure you've ever read a post written by someone else