SB Nation User Blog: OldBay83

Playoffs 2009-2010

OldBay83 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:25:12 -0000

Honestly, after a lot of internal debate, I've concluded that there is really only one way for the Ravens to return to their glory year: 2000.

It doesn't involve scrapping our cornerbacks for over-the hill CB's like the Broncos did.

Nor does it involve Cam Cameron re-writing the offensive playbook (although a few more carries for Sir L'Ron would be cool).

It certainly doesn't involve canning Mattson (although I believe the defense is allowing 17.1 pts per game - 4th in NFL - in spite of him, not because of him)

The only way to spark the flame: bring back FESTIVUS!

we all need this! Let's get it going.

Eerily similar on Lake Erie...

OldBay83 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:06:42 -0000

Are the Ravens running the risk of turning into the Eagles offense?

It can't be out of the question. A pass-happy first-half offense, piss poor clock management, and horrible timeout management riddled the entire first half. This, to me, had "Andy Reid" written all over it. Hey, that's the guy that Harbaugh learned the intricacies of offense from. How destructive it would be if Harbaugh and Cam Cameron turned the Ravens into the Philadelphia Eagles: passing 60 times a game, neglecting a destructive 3 back system consisting of an up-and-coming grinder in Ray Rice, a 2008 Pro-Bowl fullback (but certainly capable tailback) in L'Ron McClain, and a still-serviceable Willis McGahee.

Ok, ok, a bit extreme. Harbaugh knows better than that. Right? But I think we can all agree that over the past 9 games (including last night on Lake Erie) there were times, ooooh there were times, when it sure looked like the coaching staff forgot what got the Ravens to where they were last year, which I don't believe was a fluke run- it was successful smashmouth football. That's what works. Its so simple, and the personnel is there for a ball-control, grinding offense. Sure, Flacco has the ability to send a rocket downfield, but why expose that asset with play-action fakes that no one bites on the entire first half? Pound the ball down people's throats for 30 minutes, then try play action in the 3rd quarter when everyone is tired and looking for Ray Rice to get the rock. The benefits of this are two-fold as well. Running the ball and controlling the clock will keep an over-exposed secondary off the field, and keep an aging squad of blitzing linebackers and tackles fresh.

But, in the words of Dennis Miller, "that's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

The Jeremy Guthrie Situation

OldBay83 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:55:53 -0000

What do we do with this guy?

Nothing. I really just think he's having a bad (or "down") year. Most pitchers do. Let him walk out there every 5th day and throw between 5-7 innings and figure out what he has to do on his own. He's not the first solid pitcher to have to cross this bridge, and there will be better, more talented Oriole pitchers that will inevitably have to do the same. He stuck it out through getting shafted out of run support every start last season, so let's just get the guys back and remember that he really does belong at Camden Yards. He has yet to throw a season of 200+ innings. So if he gets over that hump this year, and stays healthy throughout August and September, lets call it what it is and chalk up his healthy, full season to progress in terms of increased stamina or whatever.

Mussina, 1996 - 4.80 era, by no means a good year for him. Gave up 31 home runs but still managed 19 wins because the O's were doing well. Prime example of a guy having a random down year

Jamie fucking Moyer, im not gonna pick a year or any specific example because I hate him. But how many bad years has this guy had? Shit the first 10 years of his career were probably "down" years.

Andy Pettite had an off year in 1999 (4.70 era, 1.59 whip - certainly no gem)

Beckett certainly didn't enjoy his first year in Boston, although many will reply to me that he was "adjusting" (well, maybe Guthrie is "adjusting" to added responsibility of a young rotation or the disaster that is the Bud Selig World Baseball Classic)

And the list goes on and on. Point is, let's take this for what it is at the moment, a bad year, if next year is just as awful, we can start calling for heads. There's plenty of baseball left in '09 and I'd say that Guthrie will probably get his ERA @ 4.70 and throw 200+ innings in his "bad" year. That's all it is.

Alright minions, now rip my opinions apart lol!

Upcoming Litmus Test

OldBay83 — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:53:36 -0000

Orioles will be tested in the two weeks ahead.

The next 10 games will be a great test to see if the Orioles have truly progressed as a team, particularly with timely hitting and solid pitching. The team has the opportunity to close out an already locked up three game series against the Nationals tomorrow, Sunday, afternoon. This will be the first test, can they win yet another Sunday afternoon game after already taking the series. Personally, I believe David Hernandez will, well he should, have a chip on his shoulder throughout this upcoming recall stint. He has something to prove and an opportunity to show he belongs.

That being said, the Orioles seemingly revitalized offense will play host to division rivals Boston to open up next week. A series that will close out with an afternoon getaway game on Wednesday featuring a HUGE test for Brad Bergesen against Beckett. The rookie pitcher's mettle will definately be tested. This series will be a perfect chance for the Orioles to show the beginnings of preparedness to compete in the AL east and it will be key to pick up a few wins against division teams.

Following the Boston series the O's depart for a six game west coast trip featuring Seattle and the Angels, two teams that have combined to give the Orioles fits this year. 0-2 against the Angels, albeit 1 loss was with Adam Eaton on the hill. Honestly, there's nothing overpowering about the Mariners or Angels offenses. The Orioles have faced much more potent lineups (Detroit, Texas when Hamilton was healthy and they were hitting, Boston) than these two teams and, by now, I expect them to be at least average. Let's face it, our pitching and defense is generally better than it was about a month ago.

This is their big chance to show what they can do. Trembely talks about how he thinks the team has improved. I agree with him, they have. Addition by subtraction has ridded the pitching staff of the likes of Adam Eaton and Jamie Walker and Mark Hendrickson has been hidden well enough in the bullpen where he doesn't do too much damage. The promotion of Bergesen, who seems like an intense guy who wants to win now, is welcomed to the rotation. Wieters will have the chance to break things open as it will be, I believe, his 2nd west coast trip, and Mora and the top 3 hitters seem to be awakening from their June slumber.

I don't know about anyone else, but I am really excited to see what happens the next 10 games. The team has improved so now we will see if they are up to the task of breaking out of the routine's we've become accustomed to the past couple years consisting of poor west coast trips and a habit of lying down to AL East teams. In reality, we caught a huge break in interleague play the last two weeks because Philly and NY Mets were pretty banged up, and Washington isn't very good. We let the Marlins get the best of us each night when we really should have at least won 1 game, and took 2 of 3 from a respectable Atlanta team with a good coaching staff. Now its time to test where the team is at mentally and physically. I think it can be done!

Trembley calling out Pie

OldBay83 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:44:34 -0000

Does anyone think this is a little bit weak on his part?

Adam Jones almost gets thrown out walking to first base on a single to right this past Sunday, Markakis has consistently, haplessly watched strike 3 on numerous occasions, while Adam Jones consistently, haplessly swings at strike 1. Luke Scott has gone cold (which is ok, we knew this is how he rolls), but we see more of him in left than Reimold. Hit-and-runs abound are going awry, but Trembley still orders them to be executed. Yet Dave calls out a guy's miscues (Pie) who plays about once a week, maybe even a week and a half, on the night that he contributed more offensively than Jones or Markakis. This bothers me. The struggles we've seen the last 3 games extended FAR beyond Felix Pie's gaffes. I felt like it was irresponsible of Trembley to call out a bench guy when the underlying problems stem from his starting fielders, namely at the top of the batting order. Making an example of a 4th (at best) outfielder is weak, Dave should call out the every night guys who are not as sharp as they should be or make more of an effort to avoid giving dugout signals for base-running plays that end up giving up outs on the basepaths.

I'd also like to go on record for saying that I agree with Earl Weaver that hit and runs are probably the worst plays in baseball. Any time you send a baserunner down the basepath at half speed waiting for ground ball contact and a batter shortening his swing to make contact even if the pitch isnt worth swinging at is a scenario where everyone on offense is at a disadvantage. I believe Earl said that himself.

Pitching statistics to date, 2009

OldBay83 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:51:13 -0000

Some statistics

It struck me to look into this so I figured I would post what I found. These are the statistics for the current Orioles pitching staff to date in their current roles. The only exception is that I calculated Hendrickson's stats as a reliever only - since he is a reliever now. Obviously, if you think I manipulated the numbers too much you can factor in his total season stats and everythings going to go up a fair amount in the bullpen stats. Either way, the current bullpen pitchers, overall, are having a successful year and the starters are kinda whatever. Here you go:

Rotation:	GS	W	L	IP	ERA	WHIP	BAA	SO	HR	ER
Guthrie	14	4	7	79.667	5.42	1.43	0.283	51	16	48
Uehara	11	2	4	60.667	4.30	1.25	0.268	45	6	29
Berken	4	1	3	19.667	7.32	1.78	0.313	8	2	16
Bergensen	11	4	2	71.333	3.79	1.26	0.266	33	9	30
Hill	6	2	1	26.333	5.81	1.63	0.253	23	1	17

TOTAL:	46	13	17	257.667	4.89			160	34	140

Bullpen:	GS	W	L	IP	ERA	WHIP	BAA	SO	HR	ER
Sherrill	0	0	1	25.667	2.45	1.17	0.227	23	3	7
Baez	0	4	1	34.333	3.15	1.02	0.179	23	3	12
Johnson	0	3	3	31.333	2.87	1.28	0.248	22	2	10
Hendrickson	0	0	0	15	4.20	too lazy	too lazy	10	2	7
Bass	0	4	1	43.667	3.92	1.4	0.273	29	8	19
Castillo	0	0	0	2.333	3.86	2.14	0.3	1	0	1
Albers	0	0	2	24.667	4.01	1.46	0.275	15	1	11

TOTAL:	0	11	8	177	3.40678			123	19	67

...This isn't awful. Honestly, I don't know whats to become of Castillo but if there's 2 better bullpen guys somewhere to plug in instead of them, or you cut Henrickson and put Uehara in the bullpen and bring up Tillman, its not a bad little pitching staff. Obviously, I'm not expecting several of these gentlemen (ahem....Sherrill, Baez) to continue their superb performances, but you have to admit, this is refreshing to look at for the time being. A bullpen that has been awkwardly effective. The starters still need to go deeper in games and Guthrie, well, should probably never pitch in a WBC again. You guys can pick this apart as I'm sure will happen, but I enjoyed considering these stats for a few minutes. Let's hope we can finish the job vs. the Mutts tonight.