West Coast Baseball
I see two good things.
First, the Mariners are arguably (is it even arguable?) the worst team in baseball and there’s no reason we can’t take two of three (at least). Second, we actually know who will be pitching for us. Garrett Olson takes the mound tonight against Jarrod Washburn. He’ll be followed in turn by Jeremy Guthrie and Daniel Cabrera (assuming his appeal hasn’t been decided yet). Needless to say, we won’t be seeing Erik Bedard this time around, as he’s nursing a bad hair day (I know, cheap shot).
Come next week, I’m going to be real interested in seeing how they handle what would have been Liz‘s turn. Hayden Penn has to be the favorite but it’s still an open question.
With the Birds at 51-56 I can’t say my optimism has completely returned, especially with a road series in Anaheim coming up. Nevertheless I’m encouraged by the fact that, once again, they were able to right the ship when all hope seemed lost.
We’ve been saying all year that this season would be a success if we managed to avoid the classic late-season meltdown. Well, it’s August 1st and “late-season” is just around the corner.
I think I’ll leave this thread as the top post for at least today and tomorrow and let the action rock in the comments. Onward and upward.
UPDATE: Brian Burres has been sent to Norfolk and Alex Cintron has been activated from the DL. Because, of course, we have no use for pitching depth.
Weird…
Ya know, this team is actually really good when the pitching comes together.
Spoke too soon.
Can’t we just have ONE GOOD GAME?
One without surprises?
Good Lord! I just checked out the boxscore on ESPN, 8 run 5th for the Os?? Olson goes 8 scoreless innings and then coughs up FIVE RUNS in the 9th?!
Crazy. Man I wish they could play these Independent League teams more often.
Did anyone see what Scott Boras’ asking price to lock up Texeria is. 10 years/230 million. Yikes. that would make him the 2nd highest paid player. with a hometown discount I would think we would have to come in with an offer of like 10years/210 mil. see if he bites. But if the angels dont pay him what boras is asking for, I wouldnt be suprised to see him go to the yanks @ 10-12/275-300mil. Hank steinbrenner is dumb enough to throw money like that around.
Someone should send Tex a care package including a bushel of crabs, case of natty boh, boardwalk fries w/old bay and vinegar, 5 pounds of Boogs BBQ, cal ripken rookie card, joe flacco jersey, and a note that reads “theres no place like home”
wake up mike… tex is not that good where he’s worth that much.
31 years old, .302/.359/.553 68R 22HR 72RBI 9th season $8M/yr
28 years old, .284/.394/.506 64R 20HR 79RBI 6th season $21M/yr
Aubrey Huff and Mark Teixeira are basically the same damn player at a third of the cost. Spend some money on pitching and forget about Mark. Like Tejada, adding him to the roster isn’t going to make this franchise a contender.
Tomas: I’m sure you’ve realized it by now, but those 5 runs in the 9th, while most of them were credited to Olson, were all given up by Cormier. What a game for Olson though, eh? And he leads the O’s in wins, I think. Crazy.
How bout Payton with the bases loaded? Also crazy.
I agree with Greg. Especially since every time we sign a hitter for big money it doesn’t work.
well, 2 of 3 ain’t too bad, even though it’s against the Mariners. How about Guthrie’s complete game. Magnificent.
too bad Cabrera could not keep the leads we kept getting him.
Now off to LA and the Angels, which is clearly going to be a tough go.
However, I think we’re going to win a couple of games against the Angels. . .just a hunch.
that would be a nice way to end the road trip and the journey back to and beyond .500 baseball.
I’m mostly pleased with the Seattle series. I never assume a sweep, because sweeping is hard to do (especially on the road). And the excellent starting pitching was nice, since it’s about to stop suddenly.
Why on earth are we running Sarfate out there against the Yankees and the Angels? If it’s just to fill the rotation spot, I guess I get it, but there’s got to be someone more capable or with some future in the rotation. I don’t want to see Liz and Burres again any time soon, but this is like forfeiting, even more so if we’re running out Chris Waters in his debut tomorrow night. Let’s just hope Olson can salvage a game and continue his run. I always liked him, once he stops nibbling he looks great.
Still, someone convince me Sarfate starting is a good thing. I’m totally open to arguments, but this guy wasn’t exactly lights out in the ‘pen, why would he be any good in the rotation?
That’s been my whole argument. I’ve said it before on this board that Sarfate used to be a starter before someone figured out that he can’t control himself ala Daniel Cabrera and put him in relief because he’s less likely to do damage to a game in limited innings. He’s a pitcher that this club needs to get rid of, it’s pitchers like him that are going to keep this team out of contention. Same with Walker.
If I had a bullpen strictly consisting Bierd, Johnson, Sherrill, Bradford I MIGHT be able to sleep at night. Unfortunately Walker, Cormier and Sarfate make this team a little too interesting in relief. We’ll see next year if Ray and Baez come back in any sort of useful capacity.
count me in as a Sarfate supporter. . .as stated before, he’s a tremendous assortment of tools. However, he MUST get his pitches under control since walks will kill ya’ !!
However, I think Kranitz can get Sarfate’s head on straight, get him some confidence and composure, and convince him to trust his stuff.
Obviously, it’s results that count, and thus far, yes, his results are mixed at best. However, I trust the judgment of kranitz and Tremblay. . .after all, this guys’ still comparatively young and inexperienced.
if it’s true what Rick says, he has a tremendous assortment of tools…but needs to get some confidence and composure
then I’d like to re-ask Andy’s question:
why in hell do you have him make his first two starts against the yankees and Christopher Lloyd powered Angels (the only reasonable explanation for their dominance and the texiera trade)
Worth mentioning, that this is one of the few times I disagree with Trembley all season. And I recognize DT doesn’t have many other options, maybe ANY other option.
IMO, these are the worst two possible teams for him to face off against in his cherry-popping starts, and we lined them up back to back. Freakin’ cruel. Double suicide mission.
I am unconvinced, because he hasn’t given any indication that he might develop into a quality major league starter. Heck, I’m on the fence whether or not he’s a quality major league reliever. If his name were Hayden Penn (who is 4 years younger, by the way), we’d be saying he’s a bust and needs to be traded based on these results.
I have a question for rick – and I really, honestly, don’t want to sound like a dick (I’m only a dick to Joe the Guy), so don’t take this the wrong way at all – but at what point to you stop blindly trusting the organization’s decisions and start saying “Why are you doing that? That doesn’t make any sense”. Now, hey there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being an optimist, but tonight, what kind of performance would make Sarfate a success in your mind? 5 innings, 5 runs or less? That doesn’t sound too appealing to me, and that still seems like a best case scenario. And at what’s the timeline on Sarfate hitting his stride as a starter?
Hey, and again, I’m not like calling anyone out or nothin’, but you’re parading around here saying we’re gonna take 2 of 3 from the Angels on the road when we have Sarfate, Mr. F, and Olson pitching against Saunders, Garland, and Santana and I just don’t see it.
I don’t disagree with trying Sarfate out as a starter, either. I don’t necessarily think he will succeed in that role. But he has succeeded in that role in AAA, and what better time than right now, having lost Loewen and Liz, to see what you’ve got in this guy? There’s certainly no harm in it. You can’t pigeonhole yourself with players when you haven’t even exhausted all the possibilities. That’s not being smart with your money.
Suicide mission it may be, but it’s no worse than sending Liz out against Torri Hunter, who seems to hit a 3-run home run off the guy every time. Penn isn’t ready. He was dominating AAA before, and he needs to get back to that before he’s called up.
There’s some interesting and potentially shattering news floating about today.
Matusz apparently frequents several Oriole blogs. If you’re reading, hey, we’re looking forward to Brian Matusz day in Bowie. And Joe Jordan is out there talking to him, so you have to assume that Matusz is the top order of business nowadays. I’d be shocked if something isn’t worked out before this weekend.
Adam Jones just might have a broken foot/ankle/etc. That would be terrifyingly bad. He’s out for a CAT scan, never a good sign. Without him, and an outfield of everyday Jay, I think I might throw up…
I’m looking forward to more late night baseball, though. It’s always great to fall asleep to baseball, if you ask me.
my faith in the O’s brain trust is based on their decisions and demeanor to this point in the season, and thus, my faith that they see in Sarfate what I see – the potential.
agree that breaking in against the Angels and Yankees ain’t the easiest road, but. . .might as well prove yourself against the best.
success in this start tonight: 5+ innings, no more than 2 walks, no more than 3 runs; I realize those are not Cy Young numbers, but they would satisfy me tonight.
hoping Adam Jones is not a bad as decribed above. His progress has been remarkable; a true talent.
I just wish it was not west coast baseball. . .tooooooo late when I’ve got to answer a 0530 wakeup. But I KNOW I’ll check the score when I get up to whiz in the middle of the night. . .true fandom.
Sooooo…you probably noticed some ch-ch-changes here in the comments section. The old anti-spam system freaks out (or outright disappears) with the latest version of WordPress, so it was time to upgrade. This new one is probably going to be a little more stable. That’s the idea, at least.
Plus, I get to choose my own words for the image box and you’ll no doubt be familiar with them. I realize it was easy to be in the habit of just typing “orange” every time but, alas, we must move on.
If anybody has any feedback on this system or is having any trouble with it, please do let me know.
O’s-Angles thread on the way a bit later, and the new poll is up too. Plus I might have a semi-big announcement later in the week.
Plus plus: loved the games over the weekend, but I’m deeply worried about this Jones thing.
And yeah, if you’re out there, Brian Matusz, chime in!
Thanks, all…
Well, I’ll be heading out to see the Baysox and the B-Mets tomorrow. I loathe the city of Binghamton on multiple levels, but my best friend lives there and goes to a lot of B-Mets games (he’s a Mets fan), so this is a matter of personal glory and shame.
Tonight Tillman is dealing: 9 Ks, 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 BB, 5 IP. Sounds pretty good to me.
Anyway, I thought Neal was setting up a Bowie outing for nowabouts. Anyone up for it tomorrow night?