We knew that the bullpen of the Baltimore Orioles was always going to be a work in progress but we’re starting to see some signs that Mike Elias will need more help. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Birds loss to the Seattle Mariners to begin a few weeks of West Coast ball at Camden Yards.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ recent struggles, including a three-game losing streak against the Mariners. They highlighted specific issues such as poor pitching performances, defensive miscues, and base-running mistakes. Kyle Bradish’s subpar outing and Trey Gibson’s back injury were noted. The bullpen’s reliability was questioned, with Anthony Nunez’s recent struggles and the absence of Ryan Helsley. Offensively, key players like Gunnar Henderson and Colton Cowser are underperforming, with the team averaging only six hits per game. The conversation concluded with a discussion on the need for bullpen reinforcements and the potential for young pitchers like Trey Gibson and Brandon Young to step up.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Organize and run the Maryland Crab Cake Tour event at Sorrento of Arbutus this week and manage Maryland treasures giveaways with sponsor mentions
- [ ] Cover Orioles games and related coverage at Oriole Park at Camden Yards all week and report breaking news on WNST AM 1570 as needed
- [ ] Attend the mandatory mini camp (Purple Smoke) in Owings Mills over the next couple of days and provide on-site coverage
Orioles’ Recent Performance and Losses
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles’ recent performance, noting a three-game losing streak.
- Luke Jones highlights specific issues in recent games, including poor pitching performances and defensive mistakes.
- The conversation touches on the impact of individual players’ mistakes, such as Gunner Henderson’s error and Jackson Holiday’s ill-advised glove flip.
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones express frustration with the team’s fundamentals and decision-making on the field.
Defensive and Managerial Issues
- Nestor Aparicio criticizes the Orioles’ defensive play, calling it “piss poor” and blaming the manager and general manager for player selection and training.
- Luke Jones acknowledges that the team had been better defensively in recent weeks but is now regressing.
- The discussion includes the impact of managerial decisions, such as the decision to pull Trey Gibson in the fifth inning and the use of Anthony Nunez in high-leverage situations.
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the overall lack of consistency and poor decision-making by the team.
Bullpen and Relief Pitching
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the bullpen’s struggles, noting the absence of key relievers like Ryan Helsley and the unreliability of others like Tetris and Kramer Efflin.
- Luke Jones highlights the need for another high-leverage arm, mentioning Rico Garcia’s strong performance but acknowledging the overall inconsistency of the bullpen.
- The conversation includes a discussion on the potential for Anthony Nunez to improve and the need for a reset for him.
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones express concern about the bullpen’s ability to support the team in the long run.
Offensive Performance and Lineup Construction
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles’ offensive performance, noting that key players like Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holiday, and Colton Cowser are underperforming.
- Luke Jones defends Colton Cowser’s recent performance, pointing out his improved batting average and home run totals.
- The conversation includes a discussion on lineup construction and the challenges of balancing left-handed and right-handed hitters.
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones express frustration with the team’s overall offensive consistency and the need for better performance from key players.
Overall Team Outlook and Future Prospects
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the overall outlook for the Orioles, noting the team’s struggles and the need for improvement in multiple areas.
- Luke Jones highlights the potential for young players like Trey Gibson and Brandon Young to develop into key contributors.
- The conversation includes a discussion on the importance of the upcoming trade deadline and the need for the team to address its bullpen and defensive issues.
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones express hope for the team’s future but acknowledge the challenges they face in the short term.
Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome, all. We are W N S T A M 1570 Towson Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, possibly getting the Maryland Crab Cake Tour back out on the road. I’m looking forward to giving the Maryland treasures away. We’ll also be paying homage to our friends at GBMC for sponsoring us, as well as Farnin and Dermer, keeping everyone comfortable, especially when it’s 90 degrees around here. As the summer heats up, make sure you have them nearby for your HVAC needs. This guy was nearby at Oriole Park of Camden Yards on Monday night as the Orioles returned home to Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Take on the Seattle Mariners. It, this is going to be an interesting couple of weeks here, taking on these West Coast teams, and seems you don’t see much, or don’t know a whole lot about things you may have seen playing the playoffs last year, in various cases, Manny Machado coming to town this weekend, and Tatis, and all of that stuff, but I don’t know, it’s it’s falling apart a little bit last week, hadn’t it? I mean, it’s getting a little, a little more sloppier again,
Luke Jones 1:00
a little bit more, you know, losing streaks, we’re talking about this week. Yeah, I mean, not the last week, I mean, really just three straight losses, right? I mean, it’s, it’s that quickly where you inch your way back up closer to 500 closer to 500 you’re back within two, and then you lose three straight, and you look up in your back, Charlie Brown with the football, is that what this is, I mean, look, it’s the ebb and flow of a baseball season. I’ll hear that, but for me it’s really how they’ve lost the last couple, specifically. I mean, Saturday, you know, Bradish didn’t pitch well, right? It was pretty cut and dried, and I understand other things happened in the game, but if you were just explaining it to someone who didn’t watch it, you just say Kyle Bradish wasn’t very good, but we talked about it a lot. Sunday’s game, obviously, so much focus on the call, but also the fact that Gunner Henderson booted a ball in that inning. Jackson Holiday had an ill-advised glove flip, right, and that was part of what was a meltdown in that inning. So I wrote about the defense. I mean, yes, we could sit here and say all day it was a bad call. I think it was. I think it was one of those calls that was so bad that if it was made the other way, I don’t think anyone was talking about it. That’s how bad the call is, you know. So you have that, you come home, Trey Gibson’s on the hill, they put Chris Bassett on the aisle with the back issue. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens there. I mean, it sounds like they’re weighing options. I don’t know if that’s, you know, getting an injection, something along those lines, where, you know, maybe it helps him for later in the season, but you get an injection in your back, it’s probably going to be, hey, you’re going to be shut down a little bit longer than if you just rest for a start or two. So, we’ll see about that, but the point is, you’ve got a rookie out there making one of his earliest starts as a major league baseball player, you got to score some runs, and they didn’t really do that, and I’ll acknowledge Emerson Hancock is a really talented pitcher, good pitcher, so you’re not necessarily expecting to go out there and hang six or seven runs on the board, but you’ve got to score some runs. They didn’t, and then, and for me, this is the difference between a loss and then getting really frustrated with how they’re playing again. The eighth inning, right? They have guys on base, it’s a six to three game, you have runners at the corner. Samuel Bisayo is pinch hitting, he hits a deep fly ball to center field. Julio Rodriguez, who you and I know has a very strong throwing arm. Right? I mean, anyone who’s even a casual baseball fan knows what kind of foes he has out there playing center field. I mean, plays Alexander gets thrown out at second base, and to make it even worse, he gets thrown out at second base before Jackson Holiday scores. So, what should have been a six to four game with a runner on first base, and you’re flipping over to the top of the order, you’re out of the inning, and it’s six to three, and they’re
Nestor Aparicio 4:02
not a heady baseball team, not in any way. I mean, fundamentally, defensively, thinking wise, cut off, man, you know when to run, when not. Just, it’s, it’s piss poor. I mean, it has been for two months, and I don’t blame that on the manager, the general manager. You know how they seek these players, what they’re training players on, but they’re just steam makes a lot of mistakes, not just physical, mental
Luke Jones 4:27
too, no question about it. But they had been better, they hadn’t been doing that as much the last few weeks, right? And that’s where you’re hoping, okay, new manager, mostly a new coaching staff player. Well, that’s when the
Nestor Aparicio 4:39
talent wins out right when you’re hitting home runs, that you know that’s what all of the Colton cows are supposed to hit home runs. You three of them in a week, you might not hit one for three more months, but like for a week you see that flash and that potential for whatever the strength is, the bat, but it’s not the glove, and it’s certainly not the um. Um, the baseball IQ, you know, I mean, just in a general sense, as overall it’s not a Buck Showalter team, that’s all I’m gonna say.
Luke Jones 5:11
Oh, I mean, and, but, like I said, they had been better in those areas over the last few weeks, you weren’t seeing guys thrown out on the bases, you weren’t seeing as many defensive miscues, right? I mean, not saying they were playing Gold Glove caliber defense, but they’re playing better defense. That’s why what happens on Sunday is that disappointing. That’s why what happens on Monday night is kind of infuriating when you watch it. I mean, it’s just.. it’s baseball 101 when you’re in a position where you’re down multiple runs, you cannot get thrown out at second base. If it’s a one-run game, in that situation, at least I can understand it from a standpoint of you’re trying to get the time aggressive position right. It’s aggressive, you still don’t like it, you still have to recognize Julio Rodriguez as a center fielder, and he made a great point. He made a great throw, you know. I’m not suggesting that, and Craig Albernaz even pointed out this after the game, and, and, and he towed the line well with not throwing Blaze Alexander under the bus entirely, but making it clear that we, that’s not the right play, but you look, go back and look at that, there is no one covering first base with the way that Seattle’s defense was aligned for the cut off plays and everything, so if you’re Blaze, that play is right in front of you. When you see right away that Julio Rodriguez’s throw is online, do a 180 and run back to first base, right? And no one’s there, and you get back and the run is scored. It’s six to four, and Taylor Ward’s coming up as the potential tying run, right? I mean, no harm, no foul. And earlier in the inning, Jackson Holiday was tagging, you know, tags up and goes to second base. It was a close play, but that throw was offline, right? You have to be able to see that it’s right in front of you, it’s right in your line of sight as you’re running towards second base. If that throw is online, you cannot risk it. You’ve got to get back if that throw is eight feet to the left of second base, then great, then you make it, but you have to be 100% sure you have to be, because you cannot get thrown out there because you’re in a position at that point in the game, and you can say, well, I’m trying to get in this scoring position, well, you only have four outs left at that point in time in the game, and when you give one of those away, I mean, you’ve just, and making it even worse, you get thrown, you get tagged out before Jackson Holiday scores. I mean, that’s disastrous, right there. That’s absolutely disastrous, and it’s really the same kind of thing on the bases as what we saw defensively from the Orioles in the sixth inning in Toronto. Once, how to
Nestor Aparicio 7:44
lose a ball game when you have a chance to win it.
Luke Jones 7:46
Exactly, I mean, that’s the old, you know, the old adage, and it’s not baseball sports in general. More games are lost than one, right? These last two days for the Orioles, these were, they lost, these were games where they had an opportunity, and you know, we haven’t even gotten into the decision to pull Trey Gibson in the fifth inning, which I really didn’t have a major problem with. He competed. I like what I see. I think there’s potential there, but the one thing that we have to acknowledge is Trey Gibson’s not striking anyone out at this point in time, right? He’s not missing bats, and if you were watching how the fourth inning looked, how the fifth inning was looking, Seattle was starting to square him up a little bit more. So I had no problem with pulling him. However, we’ve talked about this a lot. Anthony Nunez was a great story in April, I think. If you watch Anthony Nunez on any given day and you just ignore the results, you just watch pitch by pitch, he has good stuff. I have some conviction that I think Anthony Nunez eventually is going to be a really good high leverage reliever. I mean, he could be their closer two years. Well, it’s always weird when you talk about a
Nestor Aparicio 8:53
position player making that switch, because
Luke Jones 8:56
there’s a lot to that, right? I mean, he’s still very new to pitching as a professional, like, period,
Nestor Aparicio 9:01
raw, so yes,
Luke Jones 9:03
but the numbers since late April have been really ugly, right? I mean, like, really ugly. So there’s a position where I understand it’s the fifth inning. I didn’t necessarily love him. Every time he comes
Nestor Aparicio 9:18
in, he’s given a run up, right? At least, I mean,
Luke Jones 9:20
right, I mean, it feels like the only time that that he’s giving you clean production is when he’s coming in and bases empty and he’s starting a new inning, so that right there lends itself to the idea that probably not the best spot there, and, and therein lies the problem, Rico Garcia can’t pitch five innings a night, right, or or can’t pitch in three different high leverage situations a night, so some of that is they just, they really miss Ryan Helsley at this point in time, because if you had Helsley, who’s locked in for the ninth inning and save situations, you can deploy Rico Garcia, maybe even in that situation, because you see it’s a big situation, right, I mean, but. You know, in that case, Nunez, he walks Julio Rodriguez, and that’s that’s really what Albernaz pointed to in saying, like, that, that was more so even than the Grand Slam, that was the, the at bat that really kind of turned that inning, you know, in the favor of Seattle doing what they ultimately did, which is nail or hitting a home run or hitting a grand slam, but you know that’s the situation, if you pull your starter there in that spot, and again, the decision to pull Gibson, I didn’t have a problem with that, I didn’t like, I didn’t like Nunez being the guy that you’re turning to there, just because
Nestor Aparicio 10:34
it’s early,
Luke Jones 10:35
he hasn’t been very reliable, I mean, he just hasn’t, and part of the issue there is, you know, any manager in Buck Showalter would do this back in the day. If not him, then who? I hate to be flippant and say anyone else, because it’s not.. I don’t, I don’t necessarily feel that way. The problem is I don’t have an abundance of options that I’m overly confident in in this bullpen at this point, but well, this,
Nestor Aparicio 11:00
it’s June, and they’re under 500 and they’ve struggled pretty much from the beginning, you know. Other than a little seven and three here, and again, it’s been two and a half months. I’ve been playing baseball to get to that point. The bullpen was the thing we talked about most of the year, and I’m telling you, what, dude, if we’re in week 10 and the Ravens are six and four, and we’re still talking about their center, right? You know what I mean. That’s where we are with the bullpen, which was look holiday once he got healthy, was going to play. Same thing with Westberg, if he was, if he got healthy, he was going to play. We, you know, Colt Kauser is going to play because he’s the only guy with a glove in the outfield, right? Like, I mean, Tyler O’Neill’s not getting cut because they give him too much money, you know. They have all of these things are sort of locked into the bullpen, was the thing all along that Elias said to everyone in February and March. It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine. And it was fine in April, right? For a little, little bit, yeah,
Luke Jones 11:59
it was good. It was good the first four or five weeks, and since then it hasn’t been in. Look, that coincides very much with Ryan Helsley, right? I mean, Ryan Hesley has been on the IL since late April. Tetris
Nestor Aparicio 12:09
has been unreliable, and he, well, I mean, just go through all of these guys that have had injuries, and then pile on Kramer Efflin, pile on, you know? Now you get another starter out, right? So, with Basset, right? So, like, all of these, these pitchers are missing time, but the bullpen wasn’t good to begin with, like, oh, you know, you, we can make a case for Bradish or Rogers, any of the starters, Bassett, Ephlin, any of those guys. I looked at them and said they’re all veteran guys, June will wake up, it’ll be okay. That I don’t know, Basset might not be okay. Efflins not coming back. Westberg’s gone, like, so all these pieces that we talked about in February as being 92 wins. I keep going back to that. The bullpen was always the shakiest part, so I don’t know that we should be shocked that we sit here in June and say they’ve had one injury to their closer and the whole thing’s a mess on when they’re starting a quad, a pitcher that they never wanted. Trey Gibson’s never supposed to start games this year, let alone get him out of the game in the fifth inning, and we’re, you know, like he’s giving them innings. They all are Brandon Young, all those guys are giving them innings that they didn’t see in February, put the bullpen. Oh no, bullpen was never very good. The bullpen was always the place that you and I believe, well, that’s where they’re going to be dealing in the trade deadline, you know. July, they’re going to need to get some relief pitching, because what they have is probably not going to work out. And I mean, they’re not even, they’re not really contending right now to be dealing into getting relief pitchers in six weeks, they better play better, but you mentioned outfield, you mentioned outfield glove, third base, you know, things that they could go and acquire if they’re going to be an 87 win team along the way, the bullpen better be like,
Luke Jones 13:58
oh yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 13:59
if they’re going to play games in August and September, they’re going to have any significance at all. It’s got to be better than this, sure, personnel wise.
Luke Jones 14:08
Obviously, you need Ryan Helsley back, there’s no question about that. But yeah, they’re going to need another high leverage arm, because as great as he’s been, and he’s been phenomenal, you and I, and everyone has been saying, where would the Orioles be without Rico Garcia, I mean, he’s, you can make a, you can make a strong argument for him as the most valuable player on the team. I mean, I’m not, you know, I mean, he’s in that school. I said
Nestor Aparicio 14:28
that in February, he’d be more valuable than Gunner Anderson.
Luke Jones 14:31
But to go back to your original point, how we were talking about the bullpen in February, if you had told me Rico Garcia was going to be what he, what he’s been, I’d say great, good, like that, they need someone to emerge like that, by and large, and not so much of late, but overall, Cano has been has bounced back from where he was last year, at the very least. So it’s not as though it’s been a failure across the board in the bullpen, but you’re right. I mean, How many times I was a broken record over the winter. I was a broken record during spring training, saying they need more bullpen, you know, they need more bullpen arms, they need another high leverage arm or two in that bullpen, and that’s when
Nestor Aparicio 15:09
you like their rotation,
Luke Jones 15:10
sure, that’s
Nestor Aparicio 15:11
when we had five, yeah, big league starters, not three,
Luke Jones 15:14
so, but, but you just look at the state of it right now, and look, it’s not to say that guys haven’t had stretches where they’ve pitched well, right? I mean, it’s not as though they’ve.. I wouldn’t sit here and say that they’ve had a bullpen that’s been an utter disaster. I think that would be hyperbole. We’ve, we’ve seen even good teams have really, really bad bullpens at various points in seasons, and everything. They’ve had hiccups, they’ve had issues, they’ve had times where you’ve had to turn to someone that you really don’t want to do that, right? I mean, I’m certainly not going to sit here and say it’s been a good bullpen, but it hasn’t been a disaster. But when you’re trying to look at this, and again, the fifth inning on Monday night was a prime example of this. I mean, you need to have better than Anthony Nunez in that spot, I mean, his, his ERA since late April is just over eight again. I have some conviction that I think Anthony Nunez is going to be a good relief pitcher. Six weeks of an eight ERA is
Nestor Aparicio 16:13
a ticket to Norfolk, dude,
Luke Jones 16:15
exactly, exactly. And that’s where I even look at it through the lens of what would be so bad about doing that, in terms of not even like, hey, we’re punishing you, right? A lot of times fans and media almost talk about sending someone down partly as punishment, right? Like, you just don’t want to see that guy play anymore. But I think in this case it could be constructive and say, like, Anthony, fuck you, you’ve done some really nice things. You, you were sent to the minor leagues with three weeks left in spring training. I mean, like, it was never the plan for him to be on the opening day roster. You’ve absolutely exceeded expectations in that way. However, you know we know this hasn’t gone well for the last five weeks. I mean, that it’s been a lot of, at best, choppiness, and at times just plain bad. Go to Norfolk, we want you to work on A, B, and C. Give yourself a chance to exhale. We’ve used you, we’ll flat out admit, we’ve used you way more in high leverage than we’d like to. That’s just the state of our bullpen, and Helsley being out all that. Go down, you’re gonna be back in a couple weeks, right? That’s our plan. You do it, you do these things, you’ll be back in two and a half weeks, three weeks, you know, at worst, you’ll be back by the all-star break, right? I mean, like, some something online, like that’s the idea that I’d be back for the pennant race, we might get into, right? That’s the message that I’d be saying, because frankly, and this even goes to what we were just talking about, because of the arm that he has, and because of the tools and the stuff that he has. I would argue that even if you go out and get another high leverage arm or two, you need the version of Anthony Nunez that flashed in the first month of the season. He was really, he was impressive, and I think if you can add that guy back into the picture, then that’s going to make the bullpen that much better than for the rest of the year, so I’m not saying that that’s going to happen, but man, I’d have to be taking a long look at that at this point in time, and just saying, you know, let’s talk about a reset here, let’s talk about giving you a chance to exhale, you’ve been through a lot, you’re a young guy. Just a few years ago, you were still an infielder in professional baseball, right? I mean, this is this pitching thing is very new for you. Let’s take our foot off the gas here. Let’s get you down to Norfolk. We want you to work on this and this. We’re gonna, we’re even gonna, you know, we’re gonna ease up on your workload a little bit, because that’s a consideration too, right? He’s pitched a lot. I mean, he’s.. it’s not as though he’s been someone who’s pitched once or twice a week. I mean, he’s pitched a lot, and that’s a consideration for any young pitcher, let alone a guy that is still quite new to pitching. So I almost feel, in fact, I was even talking with someone in the press box, kind of as that was happening on Monday night, and we kind of said, you do wonder if a reset for him, even just for a couple weeks, you know, the 15 day minimum might, that might do him some wonders to just exhale, get yourself together, work on a couple things, throw a couple of bullpens, maybe go get into plenty
Nestor Aparicio 19:19
innings up here in August and September, for you,
Luke Jones 19:21
yeah, I mean, think about it, good or bad, regardless of how the season continues, regardless how the season finishes, assuming he’s healthy, I mean, Anthony Nunez, you want him to be part of that, because again, I am a believer in him, big picture wise, but it’s not happening right now, it’s just there’s been too much of that, and you know, some of that’s also on Craig Albert, as we’re they, they’ve continued to try to give him opportunities in high leverage, and I get it, you only have so many options, and the raw stuff that he has with that, you know, with the sweeper, with with the change up, the high ve low fastball, I mean, you see the stuff he’s got stuff that can play. Against righties and lefties, I’ve been saying that to you since the first time I’ve watched him in spring training, you know, in an outing where, you know, forget about the hitters, just look at the stuff, you can see he has ability, so I can understand it to a point, but an 80 ra over his last 18 appearances is an eight ra over his last 18 appearances, and one thing that has kind of stood out, and that’s why you know, you even go back to Monday night specifically, he wasn’t walking people early on, you know, the walks have ticked up, you know, he’s had situations where he’s had some issues throwing strikes more so over the last month than how he looked early on, and that was a Monday was a perfect example that he comes in, and I get it, it’s Julio Rodriguez, you know, you don’t want to just throw one right down the pipe, you know, it’s but at the same time he walks them to load the bases, and then you’re in a position where not a horrible pitch that was thrown there, but I think if you kind of read between the lines of how Craig Albernaz talked about it after the game probably didn’t love the pitch selection there, going fastball rather than change up or sweeper, and well, Naylor hits a, you know, just barely over the scoreboard, right? It’s not like he hit one on the Utah street, but what’s not like you don’t know he’s capable, sure, sure, so you know, I mean, it’s it’s tough, but I also go back to the big picture topic, which is you don’t really have enough high leverage arms that you really trust in the bullpen right now. It’s too many of these guys right now are a box of chocolates. I mean, you feel great about Rico Garcia, and he’s given up a couple runs here of late. Of course, he wasn’t going to have a 0.3 or 0.5 era all year. I mean, we need to give him a little bit of grace with how great he’s been, but the rest of these guys, I mean, it’s it’s very much the Forrest Gump, you know, box of chocolates. I mean, guys will be really good at times, and then other times you’re you’re scrambling to get the next guy warmed up because you’re just not liking what you’re seeing, so a frustrating couple days here, you know, the three games I’m down on the hitting by the way, you mean you just done 15 minutes on the bullpen,
Nestor Aparicio 22:09
but like I wake up and it’s the middle of June and Henderson sitting 220 and holidays hitting 212 and cows are sitting 230 and Alonso sitting 230 like six hits, you know what I mean, like how many games you’re gonna win with six hits.
Luke Jones 22:24
Seriously, that’s fair. And I’ve, I’ve sang a lot of, you know, I’ve offered a lot of compliments for Pete Alonzo of late, but Monday night, not a, not a good outing, not a good night for him, when you consider the fact that he stranded two on one base in the fifth inning, and he struck out looking with the bases loaded in the seventh. I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 22:47
well, Kauser’s leaving guys on base. I mean, what’s he doing back clean? I mean, I don’t, I don’t understand. I again, I don’t, I’m not allowed to talk to the managers and stuff like that, but like the way lineups are constructed these days, I just, after watching the game for 50 years one way, for 150 years one way, this last seven to 10 years of lineups and and strategy, I just, I don’t know what a 345, represents anymore, because it feels like 123, is 345 kind of, sort
Luke Jones 23:22
of. Well, first of all, Adley Ruchman had the night off, Visayo had the night off. I, I don’t know this, I get the sense because Ruchman DH on Sunday, I think he might be a little banged up. I was gonna say,
Nestor Aparicio 23:34
why is that a good idea in either one of them? And I know,
Luke Jones 23:36
I don’t think that was, I think that’s
Nestor Aparicio 23:38
banged, because
Luke Jones 23:39
it, but because they had to be, you know, so, so that’s part of it. I think you’re trying to, you know, you’re trying to have some lineup balance, right? I mean, Taylor Ward’s a righty, Gunner Henderson’s lefty, Peter Lonzo is a right hander, ideally there you’re putting a left-handed bat there. So, who else do you want to put there? I mean, Leoti Tavarez hasn’t hit much of late, he’s, you know, Jackson Holiday. Well, the whole lineup hasn’t hit much of lead. That’s my, that’s my point. Who’s the hot hitter? Who’s hot? Who’s great right now? Who do you feel good when they come up to the plate? I mean, Colton Cowser has actually swung the bat really, really well the last couple weeks. I mean, like, let’s not, like, because they’ve lost a couple games in a row here, let’s not just default to, like, everything stinks, you know. Colton Cowser, just in a general sense, maybe it’s him, and I like him, the person he seems like a nice fellow, and the moo, and like the cow, and all of that, but I, I’m not confident,
Nestor Aparicio 24:31
I’m just saying, as a fan watching it, you just, I’m just not confident, that’s all. He has not given me any confidence, I mean, for the last two runs, for the last two weeks, he’s
Luke Jones 24:39
batted 317 with four home runs and 1000 ops, that’s that’s that’s answering your question now. Does that mean I think he should be the cleanup hitter moving forward? No, but in a single night, that’s that’s why you know, like,
Nestor Aparicio 24:51
okay, well, don’t be shocked when he’s over five with seven runners and left the scorpions, that that doesn’t shock,
Luke Jones 24:58
have, but have you watched the last two weeks? He swung the bat really well. I know
Nestor Aparicio 25:01
he’s, but does that, that means trade him, you know? I just, I don’t see the game in him in the way, over five years of watching this, that I’m feeling like he’s going to emerge into this rookie of the year all-star kind of guy. I mean, I hope so, for him and for the team, but
Luke Jones 25:23
well, I’m just answering your question. I mean, you asked why he’s hitting cleanup because he’s been one of their absolute best hitters over the last two and a half weeks, that’s why, and that’s the sample size, and you’re going right left, right left, you’re giving me all the reasons. Yeah, I mean, I’m not, look, I’m not sitting here saying that I, when I saw that lineup, I’m not sitting here saying, oh my gosh, it’s about time they put Colton Cowser cleanup. I’m just telling you why they did it, right? I mean, and, and he has been one of their best hitters over the last few weeks, and, and overall, their offense has been much better over the last month, but yes, they still have their share of nights where they leave guys on base and they don’t come through, and in the case of Monday, they run the bases inexplicably, that’s something that had been more of an April thing, that they had kind of hadn’t been many examples of that, so they
Nestor Aparicio 26:10
lose a lot, and we come here after they lose, and we bitch about all sorts of things. Sure, I mean, starting with the ball pen, sometimes it’s a starter, sometimes it’s the defense, sometimes it’s striking out too much, sometimes it’s six hits and 15 left runners left, don’t score, like some of that’s
Luke Jones 26:23
just baseball, but, but also, yeah, like that’s why I said these last three games, like this three game losing streak, Saturday to me was more run of the mill, that Braddish just wasn’t very good, right, like it’s there were other things that happened in that game, but Bradish was not very good, I mean, it’s just period, but Sunday, I mean, you had a four nothing lead, and yes, everyone wants to complain about the call, and complain about the call, and complain about the call, and I think it was, it was a terrible call, but they also had two substandard plays from their middle infielders that they asked a lot of, and their defense was poor, and on Monday night, yeah, it’s not ideal that Trey Gibson, first of all, that he’s starting. I wouldn’t call him a quad guy, because I think he’s a real, like, I think he’s someone they have some real expectations for over the next, but in their, in their rematch, they would prefer to not have questions right now. No, no, I, and I agree with you, I just, I just didn’t want to use that characterization, because I think he’s more than that, whereas a year ago I would have, I would have actually said Brandon Young is more of a quad A guy, and Brandon Young has exceeded expectations big time this year. So, there’s an example of, you know, you’re hoping what Trey Gibson’s doing right now will lend itself to success later on this year, next year, the year after that, when there’s probably a decent, you know, at least a pretty solid chance that he’s part of their rotation a couple years from now, you know, maybe as a fifth starter, fourth starter, whatever, but, but yeah, ideally right now, no, of course not, right, ideally they, we’d still be talking about a six man rotation, ideally, right, remember how much we talked about that in spring training, and that lasted all of three innings from Zach Eflin before he’s, you know, his elbow shot, so it’s tough, but I would also say, and I’ll echo what I said to you coming out of the Toronto series Monday night, another example of, yes, you’re going to lose some games, yes, you were going to lose some series, I didn’t expect them to play 667 ball or anything like that, the rest of the way, but this is also the danger of why it’s so suboptimal to fall eight games under 500 in late May, because you’re in a position where you either need one of two things to happen, you either need to have a three week stretch where you’re unbeatable and like you just go nuts, you know, you go 17 and three, or something like that, or you just have to be very consistent and steady win a series, win two out of three, win two out of three, split win two out of three, right, that’s that’s difficult to do, as this team hasn’t been
Nestor Aparicio 28:59
consistent at much of anything, you know, I mean, I’m two and a half months into this.
Luke Jones 29:02
They had a good two weeks, and that’s about all you can really hang your hat on at this point in time. Now, the good
Nestor Aparicio 29:08
two weeks took walk-off home runs by, you know, there were some miraculous.. it wasn’t about pitching getting in defense, no,
Luke Jones 29:17
no, no, no, you’re wrong on that. Go look at what their starting rotation era has been over that stretch, you’re talking about like top three in baseball. No, I’ll disagree with you 1,000% on that. I, I just, I don’t like that, that mindset, because then we could also go through and, well, this thing went wrong in this game, they, well, they really should have won that game. If we’re going to play that game where you say, well, these wins should have been losses, well, then these losses should have been wins, right? No, they, they played good baseball for two weeks, and they pitched really, really well. In fact, the pitching was kind of leading the way. So, that said, that said, is that going to continue? Well, I would say this for as great as the starter ERA had. Has been over the last two and a half weeks or so, they’ve also been like 29th in strikeout rate. That right there tells you not, not to say that you can’t be successful there, but what are you going to need if your pitchers aren’t going to miss bats? You better defend well, right? Sunday was an example of that defense breaking down. So, no, I mean, it’s look, they’re not a, they haven’t been a very good team, clearly they’re also not a terrible team either,
Nestor Aparicio 30:31
their record feels kind of appropriate, right, but when they lose three in a row, and the problem is quite a starter, converted infielder blowing up in the bullpen in June. Nobody can hit the ball, you know. Decisions, inexplicable, as you call it, inexplicable decisions that you know. Yeah, I’m embarrassed that I had 92 wins on them. You know what I mean? Like, I just.. I want to see them crawl and get better, and I, what I want to see is the Brandon Young’s and the Trey Gibson’s move into becoming the next Dean Kramer, move into becoming two of the guys that are going to be in the rotation next year, because they’re stepping up to make that move the way Bradish did three years, you know, like when you’re starting these guys, it’s not the throw away, and I don’t want to say Cade Povich or Chase McDermott last year, but these guys that are just a body, because you’ve got to get through it, which is what Suarez felt like, kind of, sort of a couple years ago, and he’s still pitching here, right, but there is a point where, like, the younger guys, the Quad A guys, I call them, yeah, I want to see them survive this and do well and make the next start through, because Zach Ethlin’s not coming back to save the team, and Chris Bassett, despite the money, might not be the guy coming back to save the team,
Luke Jones 31:59
yeah, yeah, that’s fair, and just I was a little harsh in how I responded to you, but I just, for context of what I was saying, since may 20, the Orioles have the sixth best starter ERA in Major League Baseball. However, if you look on the flip side of that, talking about the starters again, 20-ninth in strikeout rate, so has there been some good luck probably baked into that when you kind of look at those two extremes, yeah. Well, especially the
Nestor Aparicio 32:25
fact that your defense stinks and you’re letting them hit the ball, right?
Luke Jones 32:28
But that’s the big thing, where you say, okay, is the defense, which has been, you know, Sunday aside, the defense overall the last month compared to the first month has been better.
Nestor Aparicio 32:38
How about this dude, if everybody in the lineup made contact, 27 outs, 27 contacts, could they play flawless ball for 2027 times? The ball gets hit out into play, are they going to make that play 27 times? I don’t think so. So, so, for me, but that’s got,
Luke Jones 32:56
that’s that you could kind of say that about all teams, and I mean everyone strikes, but
Nestor Aparicio 33:00
across the no, no, no, I mean, no, I mean, I’m talking about defensively.
Luke Jones 33:04
Oh, you mean defensive? Well, defensively,
Nestor Aparicio 33:06
you’re letting them put the ball and play this outfit, this group, and on any given night, it could be a Sam Huff behind home plate, or it could be pick your outfielder of choice that you don’t like with a glove, that if, if you’re going to let them put the ball, if you don’t have six strikeouts or eight strikeouts,
Luke Jones 33:24
I mean, the
Nestor Aparicio 33:25
other outs are all going to be the ball’s going to go up in the air, and somebody’s got to catch it, field it, throw it, catch it again, or wherever it is. I don’t love the way this team plays that way when they have their best guys on the field, let alone Jackson Holiday playing third base, or Kobe Mayo playing third base, that in a general sense they’re going to make errors, and so when, when pitchers aren’t striking out 29th and putting the ball in play, that is when on Sunday you have a pitcher with one earned run but gave up five, you know, and it’s all we aren’t run worked great, yeah, well well, you’re pitching a contact and your guys can’t catch the ball enough that if they’re going to hit the ball 25 times out, they’re going to screw it up twice, or throw to the wrong base once, or cost you another an extra base that’s going to cost you sac fly that’s going to be unearned. So, I think we could play that game all day. The real story is five games under 503 losses in a row, and a bunch of hitters who are underperforming in Moss, and a bullpen that’s overtaxed. Right? I mean, that I’m not being a jerk, that’s five under 500 that’s not a good enough team right now. That’s as I see it in early June, that’s my 10 week assessment on the baseball team.
Luke Jones 34:43
I mean, I’m not going to sit here and say that it’s that it’s been a good team, it hasn’t been, but you know, to go back to just the point you were making. I mean, it’s why teams are so obsessed with velocity and spin, right? Velocity and spin, because missing bats, you don’t have to worry about your defense, other. I guess your catcher catching the ball right, so I mean that’s the thing, but Who do the Orioles really have that missed bats? I mean, Kyle Bradish at his best, Kyle Bradish hasn’t struck out a ton of guys this year, Shane Boz, same with him, I mean they strike out more than some of their other pitchers, but you know Trevor Rogers isn’t a strikeout guy, Brandon Young, as good as he’s been, hasn’t really been a high strikeout, it’s one of the reasons
Nestor Aparicio 35:21
you didn’t love Trevor Rogers as a general one was like he doesn’t, he has a profile as an ace, he doesn’t strike people to be able,
Luke Jones 35:28
right, and that’s why I said all along, like, now let me be clear, I wasn’t at all suggesting I thought Trevor Rogers having a six plus ERA was, that was not in my mind whatsoever, but it’s why no, he’s not going to have a sub two era like Terry Scoob, again, like he’s not that kind of pitcher. The guys that have that kind of ERA consistently are the guys that strike out 13 per nine innings, or or something crazy, you know? Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, like go go back and think Pedro in his prime. So, but yeah, they don’t have many guys like that, and they don’t have many guys like that in the bullpen either, they have a couple, Nunez actually has been one of those guys that can get swing and miss, and again, that’s why Albernaz keeps trying to go to him, because he does fit that profile, but the overall results haven’t been good enough, and yeah, you’ve got a team that with flaws and imperfections and certain areas that they’re just plain bad, and other areas like their offense, which is is pretty good overall when you look at the entire body of work relative to the rest of the league, but it’s very inconsistent and not nearly as consistent as you’d like it to be, or as it needs to be. So, yeah, that all kind of adds up to a team that, oh, you know, as we’re approaching Flag Day here, they’re five games under 500 you know, not horrible by any means, not out of it by any means, but a team that, as more time goes on, you start to question, you know, is what they did the last two weeks kind of the best they can do, is that the jumping off point, or is that kind of the best they can do, and you know, if that’s the best they can do, then yeah, they’re probably going to be this team that hovers around 500 a few games under 500 and probably not be much better than that, barring some improvement in some of the areas that we talked about that have broken down the last couple nights.
Nestor Aparicio 37:14
Orioles trying to climb the mountain down at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Luke will be on it all week. We are on mandatory mini camp, as well, the Purple Smoke out in Owings Mills here the next couple of days. Luke will be on that as well. Any breaking news comes to you first on the WNSD tech service. It’s all brought to you by Coal Roofing and Gordian Energy. We’re going to be getting the Maryland Crab Cake Tour back out on the road, Sorrento of Arbutus this week, Maryland Lottery, GBMC, and Farnham and Dermer putting us out on the road, he’s Luke, I’m Nestor. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking, Baltimore positive.
