About last night, dear
It is getting increasingly difficult to discuss the Orioles in a meaningful fashion. Last night, the O's hit SIX home runs (two by Miguel Tejada) against Tampa Bay and still lost when the Baltimore bullpen gave up 11 runs in the eighth inning.
Incredibly, a string of four relief pitchers managed to exceed the bullpen's own low point -- in a single homestand, no less -- established when it gave up 10 runs in a single inning just a week ago against Texas. The final tally last night was, 15-8. The Orioles' losing streak stands at seven. And what we're imaging here is this: What if comedian Bob Newhart were the bullpen coach who answered the telephone when manager Dave Trembley called for help?
RRRRIIINNNGGG: Hello, Orioles bullpen, it's your dime. Oh, hi, Dave, how are you? Oh, not so good, huh. Sorry to hear that Dave. ... Yeah, we can hear the booing out here, too. Well, you know what I say -- just as long as they stay in the stands (chuckle). ... No, I guess it's not so funny. ... So, what can we do you for you, Dave? ... You need a pitcher. Well, Dave, I know that's why we're here, but this is the fourth time this inning. You know, it's not like there's a pitcher under every rock, Dave. ... What's that? Leo says he sometimes wonders whether some of ours crawled out from underneath one. ... Well, OK, let's see what we have here. ... A left-handed pitcher? No, Dave, we don't have any left-handed pitchers left. ... But I do have a groundskeeper here who is holding a rake in his left hand. I'm not sure about his breaking ball, but if you need a baseline freshened up, he's a dazzler, I'll ya. ... Yeah, well you have a good one, too, Dave. Bye.
* And in places where baseball games count, the Yankees began what may be a futile quest to catch the Red Sox by beating Boston, 5-3, in the first game of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium. Andy Pettitte won his sixth game in August as Johnny Damon bedeviled his old team with a two-run homer that broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the seventh. Pettitte, in his six starts covering 42 innings in August, has given up 11 runs. Eleven runs. That number sounds familiar. Except in Pettitte's case, it is a month's worth of starts. The Yankees are still seven games behind AL East-leading Boston but just a game behind Seattle for the wild card.
Comments
Hey Bill. I guess one way of dealing with the sub-par(to put it lightly) performance of the O's 'pen is with humour...
This doesn't fix anything, however, and I'm about as frustrated as I have ever been. That's saying a lot, considering I've been a fan since the mid 60's and have seen the O's through the glory and gory days.
The only semi-dependable guys in the 'pen are Walker and Bradford but we need another 3-4 guys that can pitch in relief. I ran some numbers on the '3 stooges-Baez, Bell and since departed Shuey. They combined for 100 IP, 177 baserunners and an ERA of 7.47. That is UGLY..
Shuey was released and replaced by Birkins whose ERA is over 9, so help may be limited with this trade-off.
I guess the only solution is to use Burres/Olsen/Birkins and keep Baez/Bell away from any game that is remotely close. I'd like to see Baez released too but their are likely 19 Mill reasons why that won't happen.
I try to be optimistic but right now, I can't see much to be positive about-not when we've given up 85 runs in the past 7 games and with a steady diet of contenders the rest of the way things can even get worse!
Thoughts???
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Terry,
The real, real discouraging thing about all this is that the team did spend a lot of money on the bullpen. My take on it is a little radical. First, find another home for Daniel Cabrera. Six-inning starts are the root of the problem for all of this and that Cabrera's average. Ad it always will be, I fear. His stuff is tantalizing but, you know, he started these two debacles and leaving when he did opened the door. Six innings (even fewer lately) from a big, strong guy like that is not nearly enough. So, assuming the starting pitching is a strength next year, and here's the heresy, I say forget pitch counts and have these guys throw their seven innings. Bedard does it fairly regularly. Guthrie WAS doing it earlier. Trachsel has gone seven just once in his last 10 starts. Look, I know it flies in the face of conventional pitching wisdom but when relief pitching is this weak, not just here but throughout the majors, what else are you going to do. See, this is why I went with the humor today. If I start talking about this seriously my blood pressure goes up.
-- Bill O
Posted by: TerryP | August 29, 2007 9:38 AM
Hi again Bill. Good suggestion about the starters going longer. I think the pitch counts are over-rated, especially for a young horse like Cabrera. I wouldn't mind seeing him traded-how about sending him to Tampa for Carlos Pena? They are starved for pitching and seem to have enought bats to sacrifice one. This would fill our need for a 1B and we could still keep Millar to face tough lefties. Maybe that is wishful thinking on my part, giving up a 30 Hr guy for an inconsistent pticher but maybe Tampa might bite.
I think part of our relief problem is having Ray go down. This had a ripple effect. In a perfect world, we have a starter go 7 or more, send in Bradford and/or Walker and then have Ray close. Now we have one less arm,forcing us to use guys that aren't effective.
On a final note, point well taken re: $$$ spent. Walker and Bradford have been decent overall but what were the O's thinking, giving Baez almost the same $$ as those 2 combined? There's the real $19 Mill mystery!!!!!
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No answer on Baez, other than it was a bad evaluation. As far as Pena is concerned, geez I wouldn't do it if I were them -- although he might just be having a career year. Maybe with some other arms involved you could get him. I had floated Cabrera, and a bunch of other players, including a minor league arm, for Teixeira but we saw where Texas went with that one. He's only averaging an RBI a game with the Braves, sheesh.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: TerryP | August 29, 2007 11:18 AM
Good rendition of a Newhart sketch. You have a good ear for that.
Maybe Newhart could pitch the eighth? It's worth a try.
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Thanks, as I kid Iistened to that old "Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart" album about a hundred times. I was going to have our bullpen coach yell to some fans, "Same to you, fella." But I wasn't sure how many folks would get it.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Drew | August 29, 2007 12:15 PM
Bill. Good Job on the Newhart spoof.
Thats one way to deal with this sorry season.
So much for the prized bullpen that was overhauled in the off-season, that was supposed to be a strenght. Granted too many times the starters are leaving early has not helped their cause. Call me stupid. I am still holding onto hope that Cabrera can be fixed. The kid has talent. I never expected much from Traschel since he was an emergency replacement at the last moment. How does Trashel's stats stack up against other #5 starters around the league?
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Thanks on the Newhart thing. It came to me in a sugar-induced vision after eating too many jellybeans while watching the Devil Rays kick that last field goal. The Trachsel question is beyond my ability to research -- mainly because identifying who the No. 5 guy is in each team's rotation is a little problematic, the distinction is passed around so much.
-- Bill O.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Captain Jack | August 29, 2007 4:17 PM