To all those who keep saying Mora might be traded. he can't be traded because he has absolutely no value. He is past his prime and average defensively and a poor baserunner.

Yesterday was case in point. We had send and third and one out and first base open. Usually your 5 hitter is a big RBI guy and feared by the other team. Did the Phils even think of pitching around him? I don't think so. Not for a guy who has what..... a couple RBIS in his last 30 games.

The first thing to go at the end of a career is the power.

Then Reimold comes up next inning and leads off with a home run.....again. There is your number 5 hitter on this team.
This is just to pint out that Melvin is a number 7 or 8 batter at this point and the longer it takes the O's (Trembley) to move him the more rallies that will be stifled. I hope he goes on a tear and proves me wrong, but I think almost half a season is enough time.
Again, you could not get anything for Mora in a trade.

The Phils home record is bizarre. The dimensions fit their slugging style, the city went completely bonkers for them last season, Ibanez was getting 'Ra-UL!' chants routinely after game 5 of this season, etc etc. But the road record is even more amazing. What's the all-time record for road wins in a season? My guess would be the 2001 Mariners with 59.

This should be the current everyday lineup lineup

Roberts
Markakis
Jones
Huff
Reimold
Scott
Weiters
Mora (rather see Wiggington here)
Andino

i wouldnt bat reimold 5th yet. he has only been in the major leagues for a month. Let him continue to have success in the 7th or 8th spot. Allow the pressure to be on the veterans. We can bat him 5th in September, he will be ready for the spot next year. Keep him hungry and pressure free in the 7th spot for now.

Me thinks this year's NL East may be the most overrated division in sports outside the NFC East. The Mets? Come on, they're a joke. Outside of Beltran they have nothing. When your number 4 hitter has 4 homeruns, you're in trouble. Put these clowns in the AL and they'd be bringing up the rear. The Phillies, last year's Champs, 2nd worst era in the NL and an atrocious home record. The Braves? They were good 10 years ago. The Marlins may be the best team in the East. Great break for our O's...the OVER hyped, OVERrated NL East!!!

the diamondbacks have a worse home record than the phils also, 14-23 (.378) ...phils are 13-20 (.394)

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Pete's reply: My bad. I went over the standings twice and missed that. Must be losing it. I'll fix.

There is absolutely no reason with a left handed pitcher on the mound tonight to start Scott over Reimold. All Trembley wants to do is placate the veterans on this team. Jones and Markakis should both be taking their turns on the bench to if this is the way Trembley wants to play it. I think what we have in Reimold is another Joe Rudi. Want to comment Pete?

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Pete's reply: I'm not one to question the day-to-day lineup decisions that often, except in late September and in the postseason. The manager has more to consider than just who's pitching and what's best for that particular game. Remember, there are bumps and bruises you and I don't know about and matchup stats some times that favor someone you might not expect. But, in a vacuum, not knowing any of those things and not having to worry about whether I'm overplaying a guy, yes, I would take Reimold right now over Luke against a lefty.

Pete,

Just goes to show you, if we played in any other division we would probably be in the upper half of the division in lieu of cellar dwellers in the AL East! We've got some nice momentum going, Bergersen, Berkin and Hill look like fine middle of the rotation guys who could win 12-16 games a year. Koji seems like he starts fatiquing after the 4th or 5th and may prove to be worth more pitching 5-6 innings a week from the bullpen. Guthrie has to soon snap out of his funk. His stuff is too good to be just a .500 or less pitcher. I would imagine the next call up will send Koji to the pen (which will be a good thing)!

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter everyday!

When do you think Crowley's finally gonna sit down with Adam Jones and give him a lesson on pitch selection? I'm tired of seeing him get up there, swinging at first- and second-pitch breaking balls like he thinks they'll be meatballs down the middle. And I've seen way too many times lately, Markakis, Roberts and Jones have been whiffing on fastballs. I don't know if they're guess hitters or if they look for a pitch, but they're getting crossed up and being overanxious. It frustrates me to no end to see Markakis or Jones swinging through heat on the first pitch, and then chase a low-and-away slider on 0-1 or 1-1. First of all, you don't swing through a fastball if you're swinging at the first pitch. Second, you don't chase that low-and-away pitch in the first place!

Thank goodness we have Jesus, I mean Matt Wieters, and Nolan Reimold to pick up some slack. (Three straight games with a game-changing hit for Wieters!)

It seems that Adam Jones is reverting back to the hitter he was last year, with a lack of plate discipline. He's been swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. It's no coincidence that his average has been on a nosedive since he's been swinging at bad pitches. We want the Adam Jones of a month ago back! I also agree that Mora is not a #5 hitter...bat him 2nd, 6th, 7th or 8th, but not 5th.

Reimold another Joe Rudi? yeah, wow, really good comparison, moreso than the Gary Roenicke ones to me. And of course he should be starting against another lefty. But rookies and quiet guys get the short end with Trembley, probably because they won't squawk to the media folks.

Hi Pete,
Can't stand reading a few of the posts on your site. Some are complete morons, like Michael who made a post 6-20 @1:02 p.m. It's very easy to criticize a batter when he doesn't see the ball, as in slump. This clown is criticizing Jones, Markakis and Roberts, three of the best in baseball. On top of that, criticizing Crowley is absurd.

Leon S, I think that was more that I was making... They are in a slump, and they need to get back on track. Whiffing on fastballs, and chasing low-and-away breaking balls, when you're ahead in the count is not how you break out of a slump.

Markakis and Roberts are my two favorite Orioles, but that doesn't make them above criticism. When they're in slumps, they need to find what's going wrong and fix it. Markakis has been one of the hardest players to strike out in his years in the bigs, but even he has been victimized by the K's lately. Is it deeper than their pitch selection? Perhaps. But no one can deny that they are missing the pitches that they need to hit, and chasing the pitches that need to be let go.

That being said... Why does a slumping player deserve immunity? I'm above the "omgz jones suckz," and I'm simply trying to give my analysis of what is going wrong.

I'm not sure how criticizing Crowley is absurd. Who are you supposed to look at when the entire team is in a tailspin offensively as they were to start the month, only 2 players hit homeruns in the span of almost 10 days, and your #5 hitter has 2 RBI's since May 14? A lot of it is the players, but it's not absurd to ask if it's more than that. It's absurd to boycott the team until he's fired, but you sure take a look since he's the only constant.

The Phillies are a decent NL club this year, so far not great yet. I think that their w/l record at home will improve before the season is over.

The Orioles played in front of an fired up Phillies crowd in a hitter friendly ballpark. Though that may not be as big of an advantage for them given the fact two of their opponents on this homestand are the Blue Jays and Orioles from the AL east, two teams that are used to playing in a very similar enviroment in Boston. That's not to take anything away from the Phillies beating the Rays at home last season, but it just looked like the Orioles went in to play ball.

What happened amidst all of the excitement and drama going into last year's world champions homefield, the Orioles came with pitching between Hill and the bullpen and held a good offense at bay, and the Orioles showed their offense.

Let's see if the Orioles can play better then the home team for another round.

Pete,

I'm a tad perplexed as both a supervisor at work and a manager of baseball teams for more than 15 years, in neither instance did I find it successful to "make people happy"! Dave Trembley is the manager, the field boss and the only people he needs to make happy are Andy McPhail and Peter the Great and to some degree the fans of Baltimore (to avoid a coup de te). I also know it's important to keep bench players sharp, BUT with a lefty going and sitting Riemhold one of our hottest hitters and Wieters, making people happy (see Luke Scott) doesn't seem to be the top priority. I'm certain just an average manager would suggest that Luke stay on the bench to bat against a right handed relief pitcher.

Dave needs to firm up and put his best team out there!

How bout that O's bullpen? Trade Baez......he stinks. This team will never ever be anything as long as they strand 14 runners while bringing in the likes of Baez for the sole purpose of giving up 3 run homers to guys with the flu. The Phils have the flu and the O's have the stinks.

oldetoys,
You probably should have watched the whole game instead of being a prick on here.

oldetoys firmly put his foot in his mouth. Probably an overrated Phillies fan. Going for the SWEEEEP tomorrow oldetoys...watch the whole game next time before prematurely flapping your gums.

oldetoys firmly put his foot in his mouth. Probably an overrated Phillies fan. Going for the SWEEEEP tomorrow oldetoys...watch the whole game next time before prematurely flapping your gums.