Life is just a fantasy
Can you live this fantasy life

I hope history will reflect that he lost to the early season Orioles, the team that often does well before collapsing in June and through August (with a spoilerific resurgence in September).

idesofmarch: I hope history will reflect that he lost to the early season Orioles, the team that often does well before collapsing in June and through August (with a spoilerific resurgence in September).

QF sad T

I think the O's are serious business this year. Wouldn't be surprised to see them competing for one of the two wild card slots. The Yankees' path to the postseason has very little margin of error in terms of possible injuries and slumps. Tampa will battle too. The Sox won't compete. The Who Jays?

I know the Orioles fade every year (and by "fade", I mean "forget how to play baseball for 4 months"), but 2012 feels different. The pitchers that have had rough goings the past few years (Arrieta, Matusz) are pitching better (yes, even Matusz). Wieters is finally starting to look like the premier catcher he was hyped as (even though he's still slower than a speeding slug). And hey; we stopped pretending Guthrie was an ace!

That's it. Pass me the Orange Kool-Aid. It's time for some...

OK, so let me get this straight:

1) Don't DL Swisher and effectively play with a 24 man roster for a week or so
2) Carry 13 pitchers, leaving 11 available position players (because Swish is inactive)
3) Have Edurardo Nunez and/or Raul Ibanez "play" the outfield because of a lack of bench depth
4) Keep Nova in the game too long instead of using those extra bullpen arms

Brilliant.

Rex_Banner: OK, so let me get this straight:

1) Don't DL Swisher and effectively play with a 24 man roster for a week or so
2) Carry 13 pitchers, leaving 11 available position players (because Swish is inactive)
3) Have Edurardo Nunez and/or Raul Ibanez "play" the outfield because of a lack of bench depth
4) Keep Nova in the game too long instead of using those extra bullpen arms

Brilliant.

To be fair, Nova actually got out of a few really tight spots early on in the game, so they probably thought he was good to go. The 7th inning was his downfall, but if you look at his other wins, he wasn't far outside of his normal ERA. The big difference was that the Yankees didn't bail him out by scoring 20 runs like they normally do when he's pitching (partially due to the injuries).

degenerate-afro: Rex_Banner: OK, so let me get this straight:

1) Don't DL Swisher and effectively play with a 24 man roster for a week or so
2) Carry 13 pitchers, leaving 11 available position players (because Swish is inactive)
3) Have Edurardo Nunez and/or Raul Ibanez "play" the outfield because of a lack of bench depth
4) Keep Nova in the game too long instead of using those extra bullpen arms

Brilliant.

To be fair, Nova actually got out of a few really tight spots early on in the game, so they probably thought he was good to go. The 7th inning was his downfall, but if you look at his other wins, he wasn't far outside of his normal ERA. The big difference was that the Yankees didn't bail him out by scoring 20 runs like they normally do when he's pitching (partially due to the injuries).

I think Girardi left him in hoping that the Yanks would rally and get him the win. I would've considered pulling him after the HR to Markakis, but I can get by with letting him face Jones. After he hit Jones, though, there is no way you let him face Wieters.

Homer Nixon: I think the O's are serious business this year. Wouldn't be surprised to see them competing for one of the two wild card slots. The Yankees' path to the postseason has very little margin of error in terms of possible injuries and slumps. Tampa will battle too. The Sox won't compete. The Who Jays?

I'll revisit this come the All-Star break.

Bmore O's: Homer Nixon: I think the O's are serious business this year. Wouldn't be surprised to see them competing for one of the two wild card slots. The Yankees' path to the postseason has very little margin of error in terms of possible injuries and slumps. Tampa will battle too. The Sox won't compete. The Who Jays?

I'll revisit this come after the All-Star break.

FTFY

Don't forget about 2005. Go into the All-star break in first place then free fall from there.

bgddy24601: Currently, the best way to get a greenlight is to submit an article about

1) The Orioles, or
2) The Avengers

/off to find an article comparing the O's 25 man roster to the Avengers

Today there has been:

1) A Royal-Tigers article
2) A Twins-Angels article
3) A Brewers article
4) A Blue Jays - Rangers article
5) An O's - Yankees article

That's not a bad spread of teams. I'm not sure what the complaint is.

Yesterday was Buck Showalter's 1,000th win. It's not unusual for an article about a significant career accomplishment. The article on Sunday was a troll.

Wieters is coming...

degenerate-afro: bgddy24601: Currently, the best way to get a greenlight is to submit an article about

1) The Orioles, or
2) The Avengers

/off to find an article comparing the O's 25 man roster to the Avengers

Today there has been:

1) A Royal-Tigers article
2) A Twins-Angels article
3) A Brewers article
4) A Blue Jays - Rangers article
5) An O's - Yankees article

That's not a bad spread of teams. I'm not sure what the complaint is.

Yesterday was Buck Showalter's 1,000th win. It's not unusual for an article about a significant career accomplishment. The article on Sunday was a troll.

Now we have a Pirates/Cards thread as well. Seems like Baseball is the topic of the day.

degenerate-afro: That's not a bad spread of teams. I'm not sure what the complaint is.

And Braves-Phils. In fact, you'll get two of those threads!

/unless they respond to my mocking of their repeats

mjones73: fatalvenom: Troll

Here you go.

[www.fangraphs.com image 640x496]

Came for Trollioles picture, leaving.

mjones73: Amusing - Baltimore held the Yankees to a .183 average (17 for 93) and three runs and three extra-base hits in the series.

No, I am not amused at all.

theincrediblemoo: Wieters is finally starting to look like the premier catcher he was hyped as (even though he's still slower than a speeding slug).

Wieters was so over-hyped coming into the league, he didn't have a chance. Defensively, he has been great since the get-go, top 4-5 in the league, but his offensive numbers are just starting to catch (no pun intended) up defensive abilities.


funk_soul_bubby: Life is just a fantasy
Can you live this fantasy life

Nice one man band reference.

The O's pitching has been great this year, which is something that could not have been said for Baltimore for the last 15 years.

The starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 3.35, 8th best in the majors.
The relief pitchers have a combined ERA of 1.73, the best in the majors.

Harv72b: Broktun: The O's pitching has been great this year, which is something that could not have been said for Baltimore for the last 15 years.

The starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 3.35, 8th best in the majors.
The relief pitchers have a combined ERA of 1.73, the best in the majors.

So far this season, Kevin Gregg is the only Orioles pitcher with an ERA above 5 (7.94 in 5.2 innings).

Of the 27 pitchers the O's used last season, only 11 finished the season with an ERA below 5, and 4 of them pitched 30 or fewer innings.

Two Orioles starters are currently in the AL's top 20 for ERA: Jason Hammel (4th) and Jake Arrieta (20th); Wei-Yin Chen would be 6th with a 2.22 mark but is 2/3 of an inning short of qualifying.

I know that this is not sustainable, but it's remarkable even so.

Let's not talk about Kevin Gregg. . .he is terrible.

Johnson has been lights out as the closer. The only thing that has slowed him down this year has been food poisoning.

Just so all the starters don't go into a slump at the same time, the O's should be OK. There are enough really good arms in the bullpen to help out the starters.

Reynold is not very good. I could handle his strikeouts last year because of the power. He is also, to put it mildly, a defensive liability.

I am also concerned about Reimold's back. He was having a very good start to the season.

Oh well. . .hope springs eternal.

Rex_Banner: I think Girardi left him in hoping that the Yanks would rally and get him the win. I would've considered pulling him after the HR to Markakis, but I can get by with letting him face Jones. After he hit Jones, though, there is no way you let him face Wieters.

QFT; I have no idea why he didn't get pulled after plunking Jones.

..and OF COURSE it's the Yankees that give the Royals their first home win

/3 game slide for the Yankees
//possibly lost Mo forever too, today