Orioles, Mariners, Guthrie, Runs
A busy day today meant I didn’t get a chance to post a game thread tonight. Perhaps that was for the best? The Orioles fell to the Mariners 4-1.
Looking at the numbers, I see that Jeremy Guthrie took another loss, going 6 innings to the tune of 6 hits, 3 ER, 2 K, 0 BB. He gave up two homers, both to Jose Lopez. Guthrie’s season ERA sits at 5.52.
Since I didn’t see him pitch it’s hard to judge a line like that. It’s certainly not terrible, but it’s hardly inspiring. All in all Guthrie is pitching a hell of a lot more like a #4 or #5 starter than he is like a staff anchor. If we’re disappointed by that, I wonder if it has more to do with our expectations than it does with Guthrie himself.
On the positive side, how about Danys Baez and Matt Albers? 3 innings between them, zero runs and just 1 hit.
Add it all up and you have what we call “mixed results.” The story of the night, though — and the story in general right now — is the offense.
Over the past 10 games, the O’s have scored just 17 runs, or 1.7 per game. No surprise: during that time we’ve won just two games.
And did you know that Baez is leading the team with four wins? Yeah.
To be frank, I’m not going anywhere with all of this. It’s simply observational. The O’s are neither worse nor better at this moment than what I expected, and the positive developments so far (Reimold, Bergesen, the call-up of Wieters, etc) remain inspiring.
Mainly, I just wish they’d start losing better. I have a hunch you all know exactly what I mean by that.
This isn’t Guthrie’s fault really. He made a QUALITY START. He put the team in a position to win. Sure, he didn’t look pretty tonight… or in the past several starts, but the offense is accountable here.
At the risk of sounding pugnacious by Loss Column standards, the Orioles baseball team isn’t very good at playing baseball.
@Chris – NEWS FLASH
@neal s – Not to be confused with a MUPPET NEWS FLASH.
I watched most of the game last night.
Guthrie certainly looked better. It would seem, however, he’s got this little guy living out in the bullpen. He likes to eat. A lot.
Here’s a cliche for you. The Orioles seem to be putting good wood on the ball, but they’re hitting them right at the other team.
The lack of team walks may also be pretty telling.
Nothing is hurting this team like the lack of walks. You can talk about Guthrie and the rookie and whatever all you want, but the team is not scoring because its on base percentage has driven off a cliff.
You know what else is hurting this team? Batting Melvin Mora fifth. He’s 37 years old and is slugging .325 (OBP is also .325). First inning last night, they had a chance to set the tone and get to Felix Hernandez:
Roberts doubles, Jones walks.
Markakis hit the hell out of the ball, but it was a loud out to CF.
Huff cued a grounder down the line that could have been extra bases if not for a good smother by Branyan at 1B. At the least, he moved the runners.
Mora up with two RISP, falls behind on some ugly swings and then hits a weak nubber. Inning over, and the O’s only threatened once more in the game.
I think Trembley’s going to have to face facts. I’m sure Melvin will throw a hissy fit if he gets bumped down to 7th or 8th, but it’s absolute lunacy to have him in the heart of the order ahead of guys like Scott and Reimold.
If you’re looking for signs of life from the offense, Roberts went 3-for-4 and Wieters had another multi-hit game. It’s still a small sample size, but his average is at least above the Zaun line now.
@Kevin B – I agree so many times over my head has popped off. It is a crime that Mora is batting ahead of any of the regulars despite his OBP being lower than everyone else’s…except for one.
And I think this is another problem. Aubrey Huff is not going to repeat his fluke year. He’s at .320/.439 right now, and that is not acceptable out of a number 4 hitter. It’s time to seriously switch Huff and Scott and Mora and Reimold in the batting order.
Of course, batting order doesn’t really matter (an ideal lineup gives a team an extra win over a random, reasonable lineup over the course of a year), but it’s frustrating to me to see Trembley keep running these guys out there regardless of performance and age because they hit really well in the second half of last year.
I’m really starting to lose my confidence in the man a little this season in terms of strategy (I think is fantastic in terms of player motivation, although if the team continues to bumble through fundamentals I think you have no choice but to put the blame on the coaching staff).
We better win tonight.
Dear Ravens,
Think you’re so hot in this town because you’ve got a Flacco?
Well guess what?
We just got one of our own.
Love,
The Orioles
hahaha damn, you guys are good. I was just coming here to post the Mike Flacco bit. Awesome.
Per Roch, the Orioles have promoted Tim Bascom, Troy Patton, and Jake Arrieta up one level. The Tides got a respite from the roster destruction the Orioles put them through by making their rotation mean something again (assuming Hernandez gets shipped out):
Tillman-Arrieta-Patton-Hernandez-Pauley
Yes, please.
Dave Stockstill mentioned a few weeks ago that mid to late June would see a lot of promotions, and I think these are just precursors. In the next Break Up the Baysox, I’ll have a gander at potential promotees.
I could be down with releasing Hendrickson and sticking one of Berken or Hernandez in the bullpen. Doubt that happens, though.
Yeah we better knock Olson around tonight or we’ll have egg on our face for that trade. Plus, damnit, he’s just not that good. I desperately need to see some offense, I’m BORED of this team right now.
I have the same fear about Huff – right now he’s looking a lot more like ’07 Aubrey than ’08 Aubrey. And we have to question whether or not Mora’s year last year was a fluke as well. He absolutely should not be batting 5th right now, it’s criminal.
@dan the man – I think we already have egg on our face, from that not-delicious egg pie we tried to eat in april.
saw flacco video; the kid can hit, and he’s the potential to be a real “sleeper” find in the draft.
guthrie’s just throwing meat up there, and getting predictable results. little or no movment on his fastball, and slider hangs way too often.
roster move for Koji: dump Hendrickson.
beat Olson tonight like a drum.
Weiters’ bat is coming around; he’s MUCH more comfortable at the plate.
bergesen is now the staff ace by default, since he’s pitching better than any other starter.
pitcher they drafted in 1st round is a horse.
Andino has looked pretty solid with the glove lately.