"We Are Better"

[pitbull]

Right, the Orioles are 0-4 against the Yankees this year.

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[Slidemaster]

Losses don't count if they're by smaller numbers of runs.

[larsanderson]

Losses don't count if they're by smaller numbers of runs.

Do the wins count if its 3-2 or 2-1?

[Joy in Mudville]

Losses don't count if they're by smaller numbers of runs.

A loss is a loss but five come from behind wins in April is impressive by any standard. The bullpen has been excellent. Adam Jones and Matt Weiters are the real deal. Hardy will find his offense. The bench has made some critical contributions to winning games. Reimold is showing promise. Andino has become a very solid player.

Hamels, Hunter, and Chen have all been very good. Arrieta has been good. Matsuez has shown improvement and pitched his best game of the season this weekend.

I don't think anyone would have expected the O's to be 14 and 9 at this point in the season.

[Slidemaster]

A loss is a loss but five come from behind wins in April is impressive by any standard. The bullpen has been excellent. Adam Jones and Matt Weiters are the real deal. Hardy will find his offense. The bench has made some critical contributions to winning games. Reimold is showing promise. Andino has become a very solid player.

Hamels, Hunter, and Chen have all been very good. Arrieta has been good. Matsuez has shown improvement and pitched his best game of the season this weekend.

I don't think anyone would have expected the O's to be 14 and 9 at this point in the season.

Sure, they've overperformed, which nobody expected, but does anyone actually expect this to last? Is our starting pitching really in the top 5 in baseball? Is our bullpen really number 1?

Come on, surely nobody can actually believe that.

[Byng]

Sure, they've overperformed, which nobody expected, but does anyone actually expect this to last? Is our starting pitching really in the top 5 in baseball? Is our bullpen really number 1?

Come on, surely nobody can actually believe that.

I do, the bullpen is equal to, or better than any in the American league and as for the offence, Reynolds and Hardy haven't even started to hit. We have as brutal of a schedule over these next two stands as any in baseball and I fully expect to get through them playing .500 ball, including the series over 'your' Texas Rangers!

[Slidemaster]

I do, the bullpen is equal to, or better than any in the American league and as for the offence, Reynolds and Hardy haven't even started to hit. We have as brutal of a schedule over these next two stands as any in baseball and I fully expect to get through them playing .500 ball, including the series over 'your' Texas Rangers!

It must be nice to be able to deny reality. I'm far less optimistic.

[funkateer]

Sure, they've overperformed, which nobody expected, but does anyone actually expect this to last? Is our starting pitching really in the top 5 in baseball? Is our bullpen really number 1?

Yep, right now it is, pretty much....and since the stats cannot reflect the future and only reflect what has happened thus far, our pitching really is this good.

Come on, surely nobody can actually believe that.

I do. If what you're asking is "surely nobody can believe that the team will continue, for the next six straight months, to play at exactly this same level of baseball"....well, you're right, this would be unlikely, for ANY team to do this. All teams have ups and downs, slumps and tears over a season; seemingly no one allows the O's these things, however, because for over a dozen seasons they've ended up last in their (extremely tough) division.

Just as I don't believe the Orioles were or are fated to finish last for the rest of eternity, I don't see why one year it can't start to click and they can start to "turn it around"....it's happened before, even with Oriole teams. Do you realize that if they can just avoid going into a death spiral, and instead just see their playing level go down to "mediocre" for the rest of the season, they are almost certainly NOT going to finish last this year, and will probably finish above .500.....?

[bmore_ken]

they are almost certainly NOT going to finish last this year, and will probably finish above .500.....?

Are you taking bets on that?

[Slidemaster]

Yep, right now it is, pretty much....and since the stats cannot reflect the future and only reflect what has happened thus far, our pitching really is this good.



I do. If what you're asking is "surely nobody can believe that the team will continue, for the next six straight months, to play at exactly this same level of baseball"....well, you're right, this would be unlikely, for ANY team to do this. All teams have ups and downs, slumps and tears over a season; seemingly no one allows the O's these things, however, because for over a dozen seasons they've ended up last in their (extremely tough) division.

Just as I don't believe the Orioles were or are fated to finish last for the rest of eternity, I don't see why one year it can't start to click and they can start to "turn it around"....it's happened before, even with Oriole teams. Do you realize that if they can just avoid going into a death spiral, and instead just see their playing level go down to "mediocre" for the rest of the season, they are almost certainly NOT going to finish last this year, and will probably finish above .500.....?

That has been the case many years in this run of failure. the result has always been the same. I fully and completely embrace being one of those people who makes fun of the team because the grind of losing is so frustrating. And I'm absolutely one of those that isn't ready to believe that what I'm seeing is sustainable, because we've been fooled before. Don't mistake that for being upset they're winning because it means I'd be wrong. I want to be wrong. Unfortunately I'm right more often than not with regards to the team's fortunes.

[Byng]

Yep, right now it is, pretty much....and since the stats cannot reflect the future and only reflect what has happened thus far, our pitching really is this good.



I do. If what you're asking is "surely nobody can believe that the team will continue, for the next six straight months, to play at exactly this same level of baseball"....well, you're right, this would be unlikely, for ANY team to do this. All teams have ups and downs, slumps and tears over a season; seemingly no one allows the O's these things, however, because for over a dozen seasons they've ended up last in their (extremely tough) division.

Just as I don't believe the Orioles were or are fated to finish last for the rest of eternity, I don't see why one year it can't start to click and they can start to "turn it around"....it's happened before, even with Oriole teams. Do you realize that if they can just avoid going into a death spiral, and instead just see their playing level go down to "mediocre" for the rest of the season, they are almost certainly NOT going to finish last this year, and will probably finish above .500.....?

Fact: "Of the 11 times before this season in which the Orioles won at least 16 of their first 25 games, only once have they not finished with a winning record -- in 2005."

[AntiMoon]

It's nothing we haven't always known: Need to go 32-40 against East. 5-1 against Tor is encouraging. Need to win a game in NY and 2 in Bos to avoid the usual collapse

[Jimmy Jazz]

It's nothing we haven't always known: Need to go 32-40 against East. 5-1 against Tor is encouraging. Need to win a game in NY and 2 in Bos to avoid the usual collapse

Precisely. What I see right now is a team that can probably consistently beat the bad to middling teams in the AL West and AL Central (which is an improvement in itself) but which hasn't demonstrated it can beat the contenders.

[18-87-44-29]

Welcome to last year!

[weird-O]

I think they are better at aspects of the game that lead to more wins. They get hits in RBI situations and they don't lay down in the late innings. They actually come back.

on the other hand, their offense is weak. and while Hardy and Reynolds will probably heat up, Davis and Riemold will probably cool off, so that will be a wash. while I am fully enjoying this first month of good baseball, one month is not enough of a sample size for me to say they are for real.

this is a team of career unproven talents and back up players with a few proven players mixed in. that is always a recipe for mediocrity. once in a great while, you get a "why not" type team. but the odds aren't good.

the pitching is doing very, very well, but again I have to look at it from a logical perspective. on paper, the various careers of the O's SPs don't suggest this is who they will be for 6 months.

so I'm going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

[Far from home]

Right, the Orioles are 0-4 against the Yankees this year.

Keep Trolling...

This is a better team.
It's not going to count for anything at the end, except for a better overall record, but this a team that will win much more than the 60 a lot of people across the country predicted.

[Byng]

This is a better team.
It's not going to count for anything at the end, except for a better overall record, but this a team that will win much more than the 60 a lot of people across the country predicted.

Exactly! We have more depth and more interchangeable parts than most teams in baseball. Reynolds continues to struggle at 3rd. but plays very well defensively at 1st. base, plus he will eventually take off at the plate, hopefully coinciding with when the current home run leaders on the team cool of a little from their hot start to take up the load. The revolving door at DH is not producing the hits one might have hoped for a month into the season but it is allowing us to rest players more and in doing so avoid the injuries sometimes incurred when having to keep players on the field when not totally fit.

Outside of Gregg the bullpen has been lights out plus we have depth in the minors with a number of very good relievers ready to come up when needed.

Nobody expects the O's to be a playoff team this season but some of us did predict, against the majority of posters, the sort of improvement the O's are showing. We would all have been pleased for the O's to be playing .500 ball at the beginning of the season and many laughed at the new GM predicting that we would. I note that the majority of posters that predicted that the 2012 O's are a far worse team than the 2011 O's are starting to eat their words.

[weird-O]

Exactly! We have more depth and more interchangeable parts than most teams in baseball. Reynolds continues to struggle at 3rd. but plays very well defensively at 1st. base, plus he will eventually take off at the plate, hopefully coinciding with when the current home run leaders on the team cool of a little from their hot start to take up the load. The revolving door at DH is not producing the hits one might have hoped for a month into the season but it is allowing us to rest players more and in doing so avoid the injuries sometimes incurred when having to keep players on the field when not totally fit.

Outside of Gregg the bullpen has been lights out plus we have depth in the minors with a number of very good relievers ready to come up when needed.

Nobody expects the O's to be a playoff team this season but some of us did predict, against the majority of posters, the sort of improvement the O's are showing. We would all have been pleased for the O's to be playing .500 ball at the beginning of the season and many laughed at the new GM predicting that we would. I note that the majority of posters that predicted that the 2012 O's are a far worse team than the 2011 O's are starting to eat their words.

easy, it's still April (since they haven't played today yet). that's a long way from the finish line.

I'm not hoping for a collapse, quite the opposite. a big part of their success will be the pitching staying at or near this level of quality starts. if the BP has to start coming in for the 4th-5th inning most nights, the wheels will fall off real quick. that's not pessimism talking, that's just how baseball works. no BP can carry a weak starting rotation for 4-5 months. they get tired and burned out.

it all hinges on the pitching with this team, unless the bats start cranking out 6-7 runs a game. that would allow Buck to stick with a struggling starter.

[Byng]

easy, it's still April (since they haven't played today yet). that's a long way from the finish line.

I'm not hoping for a collapse, quite the opposite. a big part of their success will be the pitching staying at or near this level of quality starts. if the BP has to start coming in for the 4th-5th inning most nights, the wheels will fall off real quick. that's not pessimism talking, that's just how baseball works. no BP can carry a weak starting rotation for 4-5 months. they get tired and burned out.

it all hinges on the pitching with this team, unless the bats start cranking out 6-7 runs a game. that would allow Buck to stick with a struggling starter.

Arn't Chen and Hammel a pleasant surprise? Pretty good additions I would say by a GM that was ridiculed for making the Guthrie trade and picking up players on the International market which many on this board described as the leftovers in the Far East that nobody else wanted. Seems like DD might be a better evaluator of under the radar pitching/baseball talent than many gave him credit for.

If memory serves me correctly, my friend, you were among that group?

[weird-O]

Arn't Chen and Hammel a pleasant surprise? Pretty good additions I would say by a GM that was ridiculed for making the Guthrie trade and picking up players on the International market which many on this board described as the leftovers in the Far East that nobody else wanted. Seems like DD might be a better evaluator of under the radar pitching/baseball talent than many gave him credit for.

If memory serves me correctly, my friend, you were among that group?

your memory serves you very well about the Asian guys, I don't know if I specifically commented on Hammel and Lindstrom. but I remember how I felt after looking at their numbers, so if I did comment it would have been with skepticism.

don't worry, I won't hide from my comments. but since you decided to call me out for it, how'd your Prince Fielder to baltimore prediction work out?

I'd rather see the team do well than be right. but is one month enough time to evaluate the team's season?

if these guys continue to pitch like this, I'll be happy to sing his praises. I'll sing them now for the first month.

that reminds me, I need to follow up on the 17 yr old softball player. that one still makes me laugh

if DD built a team that finished in 3rd place, I'll put full faith in him for the future. but at some point a break out team needs to fortify. and we all know the challenges that presents to any Orioles GM.

fingers crossed