A Weekend in KC
I realize this pic has nothing to do with the weekend series against the Royals, and in fact has nothing to do with Baltimore sports. But I found it by accident today and thought, damn, that’s a cool shot. In a lot of ways I wish we still lived in that America.
Meanwhile back in this one, the four-game set continues in Kansas City. Pitching matchups like so:
Adam Eaton vs. Zack Greinke tonight (yikes)
Rich Hill vs. Kyle Davies Saturday (woo-hoo!)
Koji Uehara vs. Luke Hochevar on Sunday (that dude’s ERA is 36.00)
My guess on the roster crunch is that Lou Montanez will be the odd man out when Rich Hill comes up. I can’t see the point in sending Reimold back down, and the truth is that Lou — as much as I like him — really is the spare part in this situation.
The Luke Scott-to-the-DL option is intriguing, but doesn’t that just push this thing off for a couple weeks? What’s really gained by that?
Regardless of how it shakes out, I’m feeling really good about this series. Have a good weekend, everyone.
Coolest picture ever.
When I was in Pitt last summer, I got one of those cool bumblebee hats. I am an Orioles fan for life, but that’s a damn cool hat
Coolest picture ever but worst jersey ever.
Maybe I’m the only one, but I can’t stand listening to Dave Johnson on the radio. It seems like every question he somehow has to mention his playing career
I get why a lot of people don’t like Dave Johnson on the radio, but for whatever reason, I can tolerate him pretty well. He at least is unabashed with his opinion. But yeah, he’s kind of a tool sometimes. Someone needs to tell old Tommy Davis to get a new catch phrase besides “Let me just say this”, though. Seriously, guy, you can say whatever you want. Just say it. I’ll let you. They’re alright dudes. But I think they should just let Playmakers do all the pre and post game stuff – how awesome would that be. They are hilarious and also down with The Plan while not being afraid to share their opinion also.
I hope they play this game.
Rain Delay Norfolk News:
Wieters hit another home run. So did Justin Turner.
Are we worried about Wieters throwing out only 4 or 23 base steal attempts (about 17 percent – info courtesy Steve Melewski)? That almost irks me more than any lack of hitting.
That’s 4 of* 23, not 4 or 23.
nuke pittsburgh
Hopefully this game spells the end for Eaton.
My guess is that they DFA Eaton tonight ahead of adding Hill. That way, you delay a decision on Reimold/Montanez/Pie and you have 5 days to figure out what starting pitcher to call up.
Back from Syracuse with your Norfolk news:
1) For all of the bad things I had to say about Buffalo, Syracuse is the exact opposite in every way. The stadium is clean, professional looking, has open concourses, a huge beer selection, good food choices (that hopefully won’t make me viciously sick like Buffalo’s), comfortable seats, and a knowledgable and friendly fanbase (from what I could tell). Big, big win for the fans getting to go there.
2) There were again a healthy number of Wieters Watchers closely examining his warmup session in the bullpen. When he crushed (and there was NO DOUBT) his first inning homer and then threw out a basestealer at second, the guy in the Nats hat behind me leaned over and asked “So, why isn’t Wieters in Baltimore?”. #32 was incredibly impressive, and as good as I’ve seen him (though that’s only 4 times now).
3) It was really amusing to see Andy Mitchell come in with his sidearm, upper 60s gas out of the pen.
4) I pondered earlier how on earth Jason Berken was getting away with scoreless innings despite having only 4 strikeouts. He added 5 to that total tonight but was getting hit pretty hard – I’m amazed no balls left the field for all of the 330 foot outs he was recording. Still, Berken changed speeds relatively effectively early on (ranging from 70ish to 93-94) with a couple of pretty good offspeed pitches. But his mound presence was not refreshing. He walked his last batter (with 2 outs in the 5th!) and slumped over and wiped away the sweat – I could see the frustration and anger and disappointment really clearly from my seat. Not impressive in any way, but Berken remains on my radar.
5) Justin Turner looked like he was cheating some on the fastballs, but I might be wrong about that.
6) The most noteworthy part of the night was when an SUV careened into left field and headed directly for Joey Gathright. Luckily he employed his biggest asset and leaped to safety.
7) The Tides swept away the Chiefs in four games, but Washington’s AAA team is really, really bad, so don’t take too much from it. How bad are they? Their leadoff hitter is Corey Patterson.
Scott to the DL, it is. Solid move – the Pie/Montanez/Reimold battle rolls on.
I’m looking for a big hit from Reimold tonight. Obviously you can throw out the past two games (debut, Greinke). Let’s see a nice, ringing double or an RBI single. A confidence builder.
Rich Hill tonight. On the one hand, I feel like he could put up a nice, solid performance. Maybe even a really good performance. On the other hand, I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if he comes up to the bigs and immediately can’t find the zone and is toast in 4 innings or less. Should be a much-talked-about game.
@Andrew – Also, thanks for the rundown, Andrew. Good stuff.
Hill looked good to me : 6 K, 2 BB, 0 HR in 5 and two thirds (88 pitches). He was probably hooked too quickly, but I can’t complain about that kind of performance to start the season at all.
Tonight, Hill was better than he was in any start in 2008 (His best start was April 4th against Houston, when he went 6 with 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, and a home run allowed). It was the best start Hill has made since his last game in 2007 at Cincinnati (6 IP, 1 BB, 4 K, 0 HR). In 2007 Hill was very good, of course, and the Orioles are betting on getting that pitcher instead of the 2008 version. Good start in that regard, but it is only one start.
Hill’s splits are:
Against RHB: 7 for 19, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 XBH (double)
Against LHB: 0 for 4, 4 K. Ouch.
The .368 BA for righties is marred by the .411 BABIP. So Hill was unlucky in addition to being pretty good – which balanced out because he stranded 3 (Baez stranded the 2 inherited runners) and got 2 double plays.
Looking at some batted ball types, Hill had 5 GB, 4 FB, and 4 LD (not counting the 2 bunts). That’s a lot of line drives (which makes the BABIP match the xBABIP, actually), but outside of that things look good (.625 GB/FB is above average).
Good, but not great, outing. Way better than anything Hendrickson can or has given us.
Very solid and encouraging start from Hill. Let’s make no mistake – the guy was wild at times. I’m not sure he gets away with only 2 walks against a more patient lineup and a stingier ump. But he made the pitches when he had to, and he’s got nasty stuff – no doubt. I’m not sure why he chooses to use such a ridiculous windup, though. That can’t be helping his control.
How about Luis Hernandez back in the bigs? Good for him.
I’m proud to say I called it on Reimold tonight – twice! He got my ringing double and my RBI single. Good for him, he was a big reason we won tonight.
Sherrill looked real good.
Ever since his job was in jeopardy, the Brim Reaper has been solid. Glad to see he’s back on track
@dan the man – Dan,I’m looking at Hill’s pitch f/x data and you would be surprised to see that the umpire only called 6 strikes outside of the zone all night (and 4 balls distinctly inside the zone), while the Royals only swung at 4 borderline pitches (all fastballs to right handers).
Interestingly, against righties Hill relied mainly on his heater (which averaged a scant 88 and touched 90…anyone know if that’s normal Rich Hill velocity?). The breakdowns are: 4 changeups, 13 curves, and 52 fastballs. Hill of course had considerably less success against the righties than the lefties.
Against lefties, Hill threw a total of 18 pitches, 8 of which were the devastating curveball (which nobody swung at) and 1 of which was that awesome sidearm slider (which was almost slow enough to be an epheus).
What’s it all mean? For one, the umpire wasn’t particularly helping Hill with the strikezone, and neither were the Royals (which is odd, because the Royals are rather hacktastic). For two, it will be interesting to see how Hill performs against right handers in terms of pitch selection, location, and results next time out in Washington (another weak-ass lineup, although with some bumps in it).
Baseball America has given Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman Prospect Hot Sheet status for the past week, mentioning specifically the benefit of Tillman not walking batters as much recently as a huge upgrade for him.
@Andrew – Man, nothing gets by you! Well I suppose it’s a good thing, then, that the umps and the Royals weren’t helping Hill out. I like that he tried to establish his fastball – he only threw his curve once or twice in the first inning and I think that’s going to be key for him. Maybe in years past he was throwing that curve too much early on and not zoning in? His velocity as far as I know tops out at like 92, but I might also just be pulling that number out of my ass. Tell you what, though, with that ridiculous windup of his, his fastball looks way faster than it really is.
What I really like was the fact that, as you said, this start tops any start of his from 2008. That’s huge.
LETS GO KOJI. I really want to get a W for this dude.
Sorry I haven’t been checking in — busy weekend. I saw Louis CK on Friday and, man, that shit was hilarious. Highly recommended show.
I’ve been keeping up, though, and I really like what I see. It may just be the Royals but this team desperately needs some solid road results. Here’s to getting Koji some run support today.
The way I see it, Orioles fans can’t really be saying “Well, it’s just the [fill in the blank]“, because there’s nobody (except the Nats) where the Orioles should really be considered a favorite in a series matchup this season. Maybe the Indians, but it’s close.
So, beating the Royals this definitively is very encouraging.
Let’s go Koji! He’s pitched too well lately to still only be 2-3. Hopefully we can hold on and keep this one for Koji
Dude has a problem with the 6th inning… man o man.
@dan the man – Well, a problem with pitching after 90 pitches. Today is a lesson for everyone who was bitching about last Sunday’s loss when Koji was taken out before he got to this point.
Frustrating.
Some hard luck there in the sixth, too. Mora gets interfered with on the way to a play he might have made, then Guillen smokes that liner just past Mora’s glove and it sticks in the corner. Koji wasn’t throwing that badly.
Gotta score here with dude on 3rd, no out.. come on.
Oh, Melvin.
NOLAN. We’ll take it.
I’ll take it. I guess. Reimold’s speed is certainly helpful, isn’t it?
Bottom line, he could have struck out or popped out and after Melvin in this lineup, I don’t trust anyone to be able to make productive outs.
Why did Cesar come out of the game?
Groin pull, apparently.
Well, that’s not how you want to start.
Damn, wtf.
Did you know that last year Jim Johnson had a slugging percentage against of .235 – third in all of baseball? His .382 so far this year is not encouragaing at all.
Yeah despite his decent ERA, he’s been responsible for at least 2 losses this year already. His velocity seems fine, as does his movement. Seems like he’s not getting strike 1 enough and that he isn’t getting his secondary pitches over for strikes.
I had no idea KC’s bullpen was so solid. If they had a little better lineup, they’d really be in business.
Just picked up Weaver On Strategy today – couldn’t believe I could even find it…does anyone know the title of a book (I don’t know the author) about one random game between the Brewers and the Orioles from back in the day? I’ve heard it’s good (possibly/probably from Neal) but can’t recall the title or author for the life of me.
Nine Innings by Daniel Okrent. I wrote about it here awhile back. It’s really great — you’ll love it.
@Andrew – Are you talking about Nine Innings?