We’re 10 games in and the vibes aren’t great
Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! I hope you had a nice weekend. If you watched all of the games in Kansas City, it was probably a frustrating one.
I have a few things to say about yesterday’s game, specifically. Paul Folkemer wrote up the 4-1 loss, so check it out if you haven’t yet seen the grisly details.
Now, the lineup. I understand that one of the goals of the off-season was to shore up the team’s performance against left-handed batters. A number of the team’s regulars bat left-handed, so I get it. But the lineups this season against lefty pitchers have been…woof.
Cedric Mullins was abysmal against lefties last year, but with Colton Cowser on the IL there aren’t a lot of options to play center field. The second-best option is Ramón Laureano, but with Brandon Hyde’s desire to get as many righties in the game as possible, he went with Jorge Mateo in center field and Laureano in left field. That’s not to mention the fact that Mullins has been the hottest bat on the team so far this year.
The decision backfired almost immediately and resulted in runs scored by the Royals. Mateo misplayed two balls in the game. I do not blame Mateo for this. He’s not a center fielder. Why was he out there? And Mateo had success against lefty pitchers last year, but over his career not especially.
If you really want to give Mullins the day off, put Laureano in there and keep Heston Kjerstad in left field. He’s been swinging a hot bat lately and if you never give him a chance against any lefties, how will you see what he can do? Ditto Jackson Holliday, who we all think and hope will be a star. Stars don’t sit against lefties!
Anyway, the lineup was terrible. Laureano, Mateo, and Gary Sánchez combined to go 0-for-8. They were in there just because it was a lefty on the mound.
And I say all of this before pointing out, as Paul did in his recap, that Kris Bubic has reverse splits over his career. In 81 career games, lefties are OPS’ing .900 against him. Righties are at .755 in 98 games. It’s a much lower number of plate appearances against lefties, 327 to 1251, but still. It’s not nothing. It’s worth seeing what the regular stable of batters can do against him. I think Bubic would agree with me that he’s no Randy Johnson.
That wasn’t the only frustration of the weekend, for sure. But it’s what’s on my mind right now. Yes, the Orioles are a lefty-heavy lineup. But is this really the best way forward?
Tonight the Orioles start a three-game series in Arizona. Brew some coffee tonight, because we’re staying up late! Game time is 9:40 pm. They will miss Corbin Burnes, who pitched against the Nationals yesterday.
Links.
Orioles’ right-heavy lineup backfires in Kansas City clunker – The Baltimore Banner
Paul Mancano’s game story with quotes from Brandon Hyde on his righty-heavy lineup.
‘We can play a lot better baseball’: O’s struggles continue in KC set – MLB.com
It was not a banner weekend in Kansas City.
Observations on what we’ve seen from the Orioles – BaltimoreBaseball.com
This was written before yesterday’s loss, but Rich Dubroff has a look at what’s happening with this team so far.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies, including Tom Phoebus (b. 1942, d. 2019). Phoebus was born in Baltimore and grew up less than two miles from Memorial Stadium. He pitched for the Orioles from 1966-70 and pitched a no-hitter in 1967.
Also born on this day is Ricky Bones (56), who had an 11-year MLB career as a pitcher. He appeared in 30 games with the Orioles in 1999.
On this day in 2017, the Orioles traded a PTBNL to the Colorado Rockies for Miguel Castro. The relief pitcher appeared in 183 games with the Orioles from 2017-2020.
In 2019, New York Yankee Gary Sánchez hit three home runs against the Orioles in a 15-3 Yankees win. If that Sánchez wants to show up tonight in Arizona, that would be very cool with me.
And one year ago today, the Orioles lost 3-2 on a walk-off by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dean Kremer pitched seven innings with one unearned run allowed. Ryan Mountcastle had a three-hit day with two doubles. In the ninth inning, Yennier Cano loaded the bases with no outs but looked to have gotten himself out of it with a double play ball. But Gunnar Henderson made a two-run throwing error to give the Pirates the win. That’s not a fun memory.