though i hope the bullpen can equal last year’s performance i wouldn’t count on it. ever notice how frequently teams bring in new relief pitchers? for the most part your best pitchers are starters. those not good enough to start go to the bullpen. i would say since the game has changed over the last 10-15 years kids in h.s.and college are starting to specialize as relief pitchers more. no longer do starters pitch every 4th day and pitch deep into a game. now if a starter goes 6 innings and gives up 3-4 runs it’s considered a “quality” start. i don’t but that’s the way things have evolved. t bay had the best bullpen in baseball last year and in the first two games this year their bullpen hasn’t done the job. yesterday chen pitched well for 5 innings and then lost his command. chen is effective when hitters chase his fastball when thrown high and a little out of the strike zone. which then makes his off speed pitches more effective. he doesn’t throw hard and hitters see the high pitch better than a low pitch chen’s fastball is 90-91, not overpowering but it’s a hard pitch to layoff even though a high fastball out of the strike zone is a hard pitch to hit. when the location of his fastball comes down in the strike zone it’s easy to hit and it takes away from the effectiveness of his off speed pitches. ayala needs to keep everything down with good movement. yesterday everything was up, little movement and he can’t throw pitches by hitters so he wasn’t effective. strop was throwing 95 which is less than he usually throws. he lacked command of his breaking pitches..his fastball lacked good movement and location was bad and he got hit. i didn’t see hunter’s pitch to joyce but joyce must have seen it pretty well. o’s now 0-1 in one run games. baseball is 85% pitching and defense. o’s score 7 and lose. hitting is obviously important but overrated. it’s timely hitting that’s important. but you have to have good pitching and defense on a consistent basis to win.
Fred, hard to even mention “consistent” after 2 games, and the fact that Buck used ST to basically look at minor league players, and just get tans and minimal exposure for the vets.
Also we are playing one of the best teams in baseball on the road.
Very impressed with the Birds lineup so far. This is by far the best team we have had in decades.
Looks like great fun and entertainment for the entire summer and into the Fall.
We begin with a “killer” schedule, which could be misleading to those fearful and timid, but keep the faith, we have intelligent and seasoned leadership, and one of the most promising franchises in all of baseball.
mike, it’s possible but hard to imagine the bullpen repeating last year’s success. not saying they can’t pitch really well but look at the years most had. johnson pitched as well as you can, strop until the last 3 weeks was unhittable. patton was way above average, o’dea pitched off the charts. hunter and matusz became almost unhittable when he went to the pen. johnson was great. ayala was pretty good and was probably the weakest of the lot. i think they can win the east but it’s based on the fact roberts is back after last playing when lincoln was president. reimold played 16 games last year. mcclouth played in about 90 games last yeat. markakis missed 50 games. it was davis’ first full year playing. gonzo only pitched for a couple of months. tillman started the season in the minors, hammel missed about 12-14 starts, arrieta i think will have a good year. machado came up in august. if you have on demand go to raising hope i think on fox the march 28th show called burt mitzvah. really funny.
Fred, I did watch that Raising Hope segment by chance, while changing channels live. Wound up recording it and laughing my arse off.
Very cute and sudtley done.
The return of Lee Majors, which is what originally caught my eye, trying to figure out who that old familiar looking guy was.
Team looks solid, but I do not think Manny is long for the 2 hole. He is overmatched, but Hardy is as well. They are the 2offensive weak spots for now.
Nice interviewee before the game with Arrieta. He has gotten bad press, but he was very thoughtful and intelligent. With the best stuff on the staff. Look fir very good year from him.
And with Gausman, Britton, Matush et al in the wings, the only vulnerability appears to be the bullpen. But again many options available there with flexibility and depth.
It all looks good, and with Davis blossoming…look out!
lee majors is also in dallas on mondays. in regards to the o’s pitching, when the young guns are ready i can see the o’s trading hammel and or chen. chen is signed for 2 more years after this season making him attractive and hannel has value but his upside for the o’s may not be not be enough to overcome a spot for a bundy ,britton, or gausman
freddy from boca
though i hope the bullpen can equal last year’s performance i wouldn’t count on it. ever notice how frequently teams bring in new relief pitchers? for the most part your best pitchers are starters. those not good enough to start go to the bullpen. i would say since the game has changed over the last 10-15 years kids in h.s.and college are starting to specialize as relief pitchers more. no longer do starters pitch every 4th day and pitch deep into a game. now if a starter goes 6 innings and gives up 3-4 runs it’s considered a “quality” start. i don’t but that’s the way things have evolved. t bay had the best bullpen in baseball last year and in the first two games this year their bullpen hasn’t done the job. yesterday chen pitched well for 5 innings and then lost his command. chen is effective when hitters chase his fastball when thrown high and a little out of the strike zone. which then makes his off speed pitches more effective. he doesn’t throw hard and hitters see the high pitch better than a low pitch chen’s fastball is 90-91, not overpowering but it’s a hard pitch to layoff even though a high fastball out of the strike zone is a hard pitch to hit. when the location of his fastball comes down in the strike zone it’s easy to hit and it takes away from the effectiveness of his off speed pitches. ayala needs to keep everything down with good movement. yesterday everything was up, little movement and he can’t throw pitches by hitters so he wasn’t effective. strop was throwing 95 which is less than he usually throws. he lacked command of his breaking pitches..his fastball lacked good movement and location was bad and he got hit. i didn’t see hunter’s pitch to joyce but joyce must have seen it pretty well. o’s now 0-1 in one run games. baseball is 85% pitching and defense. o’s score 7 and lose. hitting is obviously important but overrated. it’s timely hitting that’s important. but you have to have good pitching and defense on a consistent basis to win.
· 11/12/2019
Mricklen
Fred, hard to even mention “consistent” after 2 games, and the fact that Buck used ST to basically look at minor league players, and just get tans and minimal exposure for the vets.
Also we are playing one of the best teams in baseball on the road.
Very impressed with the Birds lineup so far. This is by far the best team we have had in decades.
Looks like great fun and entertainment for the entire summer and into the Fall.
We begin with a “killer” schedule, which could be misleading to those fearful and timid, but keep the faith, we have intelligent and seasoned leadership, and one of the most promising franchises in all of baseball.
· 11/12/2019
freddy from boca
mike, it’s possible but hard to imagine the bullpen repeating last year’s success. not saying they can’t pitch really well but look at the years most had. johnson pitched as well as you can, strop until the last 3 weeks was unhittable. patton was way above average, o’dea pitched off the charts. hunter and matusz became almost unhittable when he went to the pen. johnson was great. ayala was pretty good and was probably the weakest of the lot. i think they can win the east but it’s based on the fact roberts is back after last playing when lincoln was president. reimold played 16 games last year. mcclouth played in about 90 games last yeat. markakis missed 50 games. it was davis’ first full year playing. gonzo only pitched for a couple of months. tillman started the season in the minors, hammel missed about 12-14 starts, arrieta i think will have a good year. machado came up in august. if you have on demand go to raising hope i think on fox the march 28th show called burt mitzvah. really funny.
· 11/12/2019
Mricklen
Fred, I did watch that Raising Hope segment by chance, while changing channels live. Wound up recording it and laughing my arse off.
Very cute and sudtley done.
The return of Lee Majors, which is what originally caught my eye, trying to figure out who that old familiar looking guy was.
Team looks solid, but I do not think Manny is long for the 2 hole. He is overmatched, but Hardy is as well. They are the 2offensive weak spots for now.
Nice interviewee before the game with Arrieta. He has gotten bad press, but he was very thoughtful and intelligent. With the best stuff on the staff. Look fir very good year from him.
And with Gausman, Britton, Matush et al in the wings, the only vulnerability appears to be the bullpen. But again many options available there with flexibility and depth.
It all looks good, and with Davis blossoming…look out!
· 11/12/2019
freddy from boca
lee majors is also in dallas on mondays. in regards to the o’s pitching, when the young guns are ready i can see the o’s trading hammel and or chen. chen is signed for 2 more years after this season making him attractive and hannel has value but his upside for the o’s may not be not be enough to overcome a spot for a bundy ,britton, or gausman
· 11/12/2019