As the Orioles continue to play .500 ball through the first month of the season, Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the slugging woes, lack of offensive productivity and a near no-hitter to begin a road trip through Cleveland and Kansas City.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ recent struggles, including a no-hitter by Parker Messick and the team’s reliance on a depleted lineup due to injuries. They highlighted the underperformance of key players like Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, and Tyler O’Neill, and the impact of facing left-handed pitchers. Despite the bullpen’s strong start, the rotation, led by Dean Kremer and Grayson Rodriguez, has been inconsistent. They also noted the team’s defensive issues, particularly in the outfield, and the need for better offensive production from players like Jeremiah Jackson and Colton Cowser.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the Maryland Crab Cake Tour event at Koco’s on May 1 for the NFL Draft weekend.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the WNST Tech Service segment at Pizza John’s in Essex on May 7, wearing the new purple hat and a cheesesteak-and-gravy outfit while working off the meal at Planet Fitness.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the WNST Tech Service broadcast live from Lexington Market on May 13 for the Preakness Crab Races.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Coordinate and host Ivan Bates as a guest on the May 13 WNST Tech Service Crab Race broadcast.
Orioles’ Recent Performance and Upcoming Events
- Nestor Aparicio discusses the Orioles’ recent performance, including a no-hitter warning in Cleveland and the popularity of Maryland Treasures scratch-offs.
- Nestor mentions upcoming events, including appearances at Koco’s, Pizza John’s, Planet Fitness, and Lexington Market, and guests like Ivan Bates and Dick Girardi.
- Nestor reflects on the Orioles’ current struggles, including the impact of injuries to key players like Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, and Tyler O’Neill.
- Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Orioles’ recent game against Cleveland, highlighting the impressive performance of Parker Messick and the challenges faced by the Orioles’ lineup.
Impact of Injuries on the Orioles’ Lineup
- Nestor and Luke discuss the significant impact of injuries on the Orioles’ lineup, with Nestor noting the lack of key players like Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle.
- Luke mentions the challenges faced by the Orioles against left-handed pitchers, particularly the absence of key right-handed bats.
- Nestor expresses concern about the team’s current construction and the reliance on players like Jeremiah Jackson and Colton Cowser.
- Luke acknowledges the challenges but remains cautiously optimistic, noting the potential return of key players and the team’s recent performance.
Pitching Performance and Bullpen Strength
- Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ starting pitching, noting the underperformance of key starters like Dean Kremer and Grayson Rodriguez.
- Luke highlights the strength of the bullpen, particularly the emergence of Yennier Cano and the potential return of Keegan Akin.
- Nestor expresses concern about the team’s overall pitching performance and the need for better starts from the rotation.
- Luke emphasizes the importance of the bullpen in keeping the team competitive despite the challenges faced by the starting pitchers.
Defensive Challenges and Player Performance
- Nestor and Luke discuss the defensive challenges faced by the Orioles, particularly in the outfield with players like Colton Cowser and Coby Mayo.
- Luke notes that the infield defense has been relatively strong, with players like Jeremiah Jackson and Gunnar Henderson performing well.
- Nestor expresses frustration with the team’s overall performance, including the lack of consistent hitting and the impact of injuries.
- Luke acknowledges the challenges but remains hopeful, noting the potential for improvement as key players return and the team adjusts to the current circumstances.
Management and Lineup Decisions
- Nestor and Luke discuss the management and lineup decisions made by Craig Albernaz, noting the emphasis on platoon advantages and the use of players like Jonathan Rodriguez.
- Luke explains the collaborative nature of lineup decisions, with input from both the front office and the manager.
- Nestor expresses frustration with the lineup decisions, particularly the use of players like Jonathan Rodriguez in key roles.
- Luke defends the decisions, noting the challenges faced by the team and the need to make the best use of available players.
Future Outlook and Team Improvement
- Nestor and Luke discuss the future outlook for the Orioles, noting the importance of key players returning to health and the need for improved performance from the starting pitchers.
- Luke emphasizes the need for the team to get healthy and start playing better, noting the challenges faced by the current roster.
- Nestor expresses concern about the team’s ability to stay competitive if they continue to struggle with injuries and underperformance.
- Luke remains cautiously optimistic, noting the potential for improvement and the importance of staying focused on the long-term goals.
Upcoming Games and Key Matchups
- Nestor and Luke discuss the upcoming games for the Orioles, including a series against the Red Sox and the importance of key matchups.
- Luke highlights the potential for the team to improve their record against weaker opponents and the importance of staying focused on the games.
- Nestor expresses concern about the team’s ability to stay competitive in a tough division, noting the challenges faced by the current roster.
- Luke remains hopeful, noting the potential for improvement and the importance of staying focused on the long-term goals.
Community Engagement and Upcoming Events
- Nestor and Luke discuss upcoming community events, including appearances at local businesses and the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.
- Nestor highlights the importance of community engagement and the opportunity to connect with fans and supporters.
- Luke emphasizes the importance of staying connected with the community and the role of events in building fan support.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of supporting local businesses and the impact of community events on the overall fan experience.
Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks
- Nestor and Luke reflect on the overall discussion, noting the challenges faced by the Orioles and the importance of staying focused on the long-term goals.
- Luke emphasizes the need for the team to get healthy and start playing better, noting the potential for improvement and the importance of staying focused on the games.
- Nestor expresses concern about the team’s ability to stay competitive in a tough division, noting the challenges faced by the current roster.
- Luke remains cautiously optimistic, noting the potential for improvement and the importance of staying focused on the long-term goals.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Orioles slugging woes, bad beat, Parker Messick, lefty starters, injuries, bullpen performance, starting pitching, defense issues, lineup construction, Jeremiah Jackson, Colton Cowser, Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, Tyler O’Neill, Craig Albernaz.
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W n s t am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positive to get you through the weekend and into the spring and get ready for the NFL Draft next week. If you were on the W n s t tech service brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy. You got the no hitter warning on Thursday night as the Orioles went out to Cleveland, I was at Costa since monium All day handing these out. It turns out I think the boardwalk one is the most popular one because it’s orange. But these are the Maryland treasures scratch offs. We have a new batch. Will be at Koco’s on Thursday. Lots of great guests. We’re going to be on the first of May at Pizza John’s in Essex. The seventh of May, we move back to Timonium. We’re going to be a planet fitness, which Luke It allows me to get my funny hat. I still have my new year’s big old purple hat. I don’t know if it matches the new ravens uniforms or not, but I’m going to be wearing it on the seventh of May. And then the 13th of May will be at Lexington market, back at fayettely’s for the Preakness crab races. Ivan Bates is going to be my guest that day, as well as some other people. So I got great guests coming up. I had seven guests at Costas on Thursday, some political candidates. Pete came on talked about the races. I’ve had Dick Girardi on this week talking about the races. So Kentucky Derby is two weeks away. The draft is less than a week away in Pittsburgh, I do miss that commercial with Joe Flacco, and Luke is here to talk about how the Orioles were almost no hit and then almost won the game. So I Cleveland’s always something going back to Alomar and hitting the home run there, and that was only 30 years ago now, wow,
Luke Jones 01:37
yeah, and I’ll say this, people are finding out who Parker Messick is, and he was already off to a good start. I mean, I think his first start of the year, he threw six shutout innings against the Dodgers. He shut down the Braves in his last start, and the Braves are off to a great start this year. 112 pitches. What? I mean, he was impressive. And I do, I do want to give him his proper due. Now he’s not, you know, he was a top 100 prospect going into the year. He pitched some for Cleveland last year, but, man, I was impressed Now that said, no, never want to sit here and say, Oh, it’s okay to be no hit through eight innings in the way that the Orioles rallied, it reminded you a little bit of Yamamoto against them last year, the game where they ended up coming back and winning on 2131 night, so they almost pulled it off in that regard. But Messick was really good, and for the second straight day, they face a lefty. We talked about this after the finale of the Arizona Game against Eduardo Rodriguez, when they’re facing a lefty right now, this is where their injuries really show up, because you don’t have Adley rutsman in there, you don’t have Ryan mountcastle in there, you don’t have Tyler O’Neill in there, you don’t have Jordan westburg in there. So we’re seeing Jonathan Rodriguez hit cleanup. Which I get it? He who I get it? But I don’t get it. Let me rephrase that. Let me retract that. I don’t really get it, but okay, he hammered lefties in the minors, although Cleveland’s a team that you don’t think of as an offensive Juggernaut, and they gave up on him. So what does that tell you about what they thought about him? But they just, you know, you can’t be no hit going into the ninth inning. And you know, we can talk about Shane Boz, who was, but
Nestor Aparicio 03:22
by the way, I went to the game Wednesday, and I looked up and I’m like, it’s mostly in Norfolk lineup. I mean, I’m not giving Mayo the benefit of the doubt that he would even be in the big leagues if there weren’t injuries. So I, you know, I looked at that lineup on Wednesday and thought, my God, this is, I mean, Sam Hoff. It was just really Norfolk e outside of Henderson and Alonso. Like, really, like, cows are in there and these other guys that can’t hit the ball. But, like, it didn’t look like much on Wednesday from a lineup perspective. Like, well, it’s the B lineup, and they put cows are in the outfield and but I thought, what would the a lineup look like when you start to talk, and we went through this the other day, and you’re like, you’re giving up on them. I’m like, Dude, no Westberg, no holiday, no O’Neill, no like, down the no rushman, just down the line. I’m like, I don’t how you want me to believe in no offense Jeremiah Jackson, or you want me to believe that he’s going to be a 290 hitter all year and carry the team. I I mean, maybe Steve Pierce did that for five minutes from nowhere, you know? So I guess it’s possible. You know,
Luke Jones 04:26
I hear you. I’ll say what I said the other day, though. I mean, the westburg thing, absolutely, if we want to put holiday into that same camp at this point in time, short, but Richmond’s gonna be back. You know, it’s not a long term ankle
Nestor Aparicio 04:38
injury, but in the games where these guys are all gone. This is what you’re gonna get.
Luke Jones 04:42
And that’s why I said to you, even though I’m not nearly as down on them long term, like I’m not, I’m not jumping, I’m not abandoning my preseason prediction just yet. Is my point. But I’ve said this, and I said this even after they had won five of six, they’re not going to be firing on all cylinders for a while. I mean. Like, how could they, when you look at this, and I’m not, I don’t say that to make an excuse for the shoddy
Nestor Aparicio 05:05
well, they’re gonna get behind the eight ball, as they already have now, right, the under 500 thing, and I think they’re gonna stay there a while. And I don’t know how far underneath they’re gonna get. I don’t think they’re gonna come out of this at 20 at 30, or they’re gonna come out of this at 18 and 22 but like, I don’t feel like they’re built to to Okay, to win right this minute. Jonathan Rodriguez has been clean up, dude. Like, that’s we’re talking about. I mean, you were told me on Wednesday when I looked up that they might get no hit tomorrow, and I didn’t say, Well, hey, who’s pitching? But I’m like, I don’t know. I mean, I can’t blame this on I guess Elias will give him all the amount blame anybody. But, I mean, the injuries were, it’s very unfortunate. That’s all I’m saying.
Luke Jones 05:45
Sure I don’t disagree with that part of it, but I’m also not going to, I mean, for literally, four days ago, we were singing their praises about how they were playing, and suddenly, now, like it’s the season’s over. So, no, I mean, it’s this, is this is who they are right now. They’re, they feel like a 500 ish kind of team, and that’s how they’ve played. You know, they had a bad stretch, you know, they had the bad series in Pittsburgh, and then they win five of six. And now, you know, they lose two out of three. They’ve lost three straight now. So, I mean, it’s some of it is just, yeah, you let the season breathe, but yeah, they are really injured, and that doesn’t help. And again, especially, shows up on a night against the left handed starter. I mean, they had avoided left handed starters, and then you face back to back, even though, you know, it’s not as though they were horrible against Eduardo Rodriguez, you know, they scored some runs against him. He didn’t dominate them, but Parker Messick, I mean, completely shut them down. But as I said, I do want to at least acknowledge he’s done that against everyone he’s faced so far. I mean, this guy has a an era under one right now, so it’s pretty wild. So, or, I guess it just just snuck above one after the bullpen, giving up a couple runs after he left. But, but, yeah. I mean, it’s, this is not ideal right now. And I think this is maybe where we transition. Shane boss has been really mediocre so far. You know,
Nestor Aparicio 07:09
it’s been bad. The Bradish has been more toward mediocre, right? So, like, that’s,
Luke Jones 07:15
they’ve had one really good starter so far. You know, Trevor Rogers has been everything you would have thought, bad fifth inning against Arizona. Aside, he’s been excellent, you know, like in term, he’s been Trevor Rogers, everyone else you’re kind of waiting on right now. And I know, okay, Kate Povich pitched, well, you know,
Nestor Aparicio 07:33
Brandon young pitch? Well, Brandon young
Luke Jones 07:34
pitched, well, it’s funny. I always try. I always want to call him Brandon Lee. For some reason I don’t know if what we’re having
Nestor Aparicio 07:41
trouble with the Taylor wards and the Tyler O’Neill’s too.
Luke Jones 07:43
So, yeah, that’s true, Taylor and Tyler, yeah, yeah, so. But I mean, it’s they have a night where Boz, which it’s funny, because you think of this guy, he throws hard, his fastballs getting clobbered this year going into the night. And I think he actually improved in this regard. But teams are hitting, you know, batters are hitting 478, against his fastball right now. I mean, you saw now, I’ll say this. You don’t. I don’t care how good your fastball might be if you throw one right down the pike against Jose Ramirez. I mean, he’s going to hit up. It’s going to hit a home run. Guys, guys going to be a Hall of Famer. Probably, that’s how good, such a great player. He’s a great player. I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 08:23
it’s, he might be my favorite big league play, and the, I’d say the Indians, the Guardians, Lindor was another guy in that chain that I always love watching play, you know, yeah, yeah.
Luke Jones 08:32
But, I mean, Ramirez, he’s the guy that they signed, right? He’s the the guy that they kept long term, but he’s, he’s a phenomenal player. It’s funny because it still feels like he’s underrated. But I feel like anyone who knows baseball wouldn’t say he’s underrated at this point, when they
Nestor Aparicio 08:48
play in October, it’s because of him.
Luke Jones 08:51
I mean, well, I mean they pitch, but yeah, typically you look at their lineup and you say, all right, they have Stephen Kwan and they have Jose Ramirez. Other than that, you kind of look down the list, and I’m looking for by Aragon
Nestor Aparicio 09:03
Lofton, but they’re not there anymore.
Luke Jones 09:04
Yeah, Jim told me, and Manny Ramirez, but, but, yeah, I mean, I think you kind of look at how the Orioles are constructed right now, and we talked about it, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the bullpen. And, you know, we’ll see how long that continues and and I’m heartened by the fact that they’ve done it without some key guys out there. So I feel better about the bullpen. I don’t feel better about the offense because of all the injuries they have right now. And you know, you’re still waiting for members of the young corps, while you know someone like Jeremiah Jackson outplays most those guys other you know, Gunner excluded. You know, gunner is gunner, even though he’s cooled off after, well, Jeremiah Jackson did
Nestor Aparicio 09:44
it going back to last year. So I don’t feel like it’s that period we were talking a couple years ago when, because my buddies all went to the game, and it was like a day when Jorge Mateo went off
Luke Jones 09:54
against the game. Oh, yeah. I mean, you had, you had Mateo before that, you had Renato Nunez. Is right? Who, who go back and look, that’s why.
Nestor Aparicio 10:02
When you bring up Rico, Garcia and these guys in the bullpen, I’m like, All right, man, it’s been two weeks. And like, I need to see more body of work. And I feel like the Jeremiah Jackson things more body of work. I feel like, in some cases, the cows are thing is more body of work that we were, like, really profiling what guys aren’t and what we wanted them to be with the game on the line at the end of the game, that you could actually win the game. And I’m thinking, well, maybe this is a spot for him to come back after the no hitter and get the big hit, but you can only get the chance to get the big hit so many times and come up with runners in scoring position for the whole lineup, and be leaving runners in scoring position because you’re having bad at bats. And that’s not a trend. I mean, that’s more Jeremiah Jackson doesn’t have that bad, hasn’t had that problem, but all the guys flirting with Mendoza or worse, they’ve all had that issue of swinging at bad pitches, and a guy like Messick comes in and left hander mixes it up. D line up. Not a C lineup. I saw the C lineup on Wednesday. This is more B lineup, but, but either way, yeah, I’ll let you go on. I mean, I’m not down on them or negative. I just think it’s hard for them to win the way they’re constructed right now. And if this was the team coming out of spring training, I’d say, what is Angelo son, the team, you know, to some degree, because it’s just, it’s me, you know, because it doesn’t have all that spice of all the one ones and all the prospects and all the holidays and all the rush. I mean holiday rush when you get two one ones out of the lineup that you’re expecting 1000 at bats this year in the prime of their career, from West Bergen, because I like him more than either one of those guys. So this isn’t the real team, you know. So although
Luke Jones 11:43
I’ll stop you a little bit on westburg, because it’s like, I mean, it’s getting harder and harder to say that when he’s not available, right? I mean, he’s just not
11:51
available. Yeah, memories, right, either, right?
Luke Jones 11:53
So I, I would have agreed with you on westburg Two years ago, but it’s like, I mean, he’s not on the field. He wasn’t on the field for half of last year too.
Nestor Aparicio 12:00
So we talked about Grace’s
Luke Jones 12:02
potential, you know, I mean, I mean of the guy, of the guys you just mentioned. I mean, Jeremiah Jackson has been the real replacement for Jackson holiday, at least for now, right? They are not missing Jackson holiday in that way for now. Because, I mean, let’s face it, Jackson holiday is still one of those guys that to be determined. If he’s
Nestor Aparicio 12:21
Yeah, if Jackson holiday is going to be Joe Morgan or Robbie Alomar, and he’s really going to hit 292 and and and drive in 84 runs and hit 19 home run. Like, if that’s really going to happen for all of these effort rushman, for all these guys like cows, let’s go, dude. You know, we’ve got Pete Alonso for you. Henderson’s in his prime. Let’s go.
Luke Jones 12:43
I mean, I would say for a holiday, it is a little bit different, like these guys all need to be viewed for where they are in their career. He’s 22 Adley rushman is 28
Nestor Aparicio 12:51
you know what holidays 22 with an injury that you think slow healing, and I think’s like, a really hard injury. Well, it’s been,
Luke Jones 12:57
it’s been very slow healing. I mean, like, there’s no disputing that. I mean, like, we have two almost perfect comps who are both
Nestor Aparicio 13:05
playing probably because he was probably too aggressive from the get go, because that’s probably who the kid is, or
Luke Jones 13:10
they don’t know what they’re doing from a strength and conditioning standpoint. Well, that’s also possible. I’m starting to wonder that more and more because, I mean, this goes you heard me talk about that a lot last year, efflen’s
Nestor Aparicio 13:21
arm fell off last week, Batista’s arm fell off last year. Means his arm fell off. This is on. Elias is watching. I’m not Jason lock and for but I can play that on the radio.
Luke Jones 13:30
I’m not, I’m not even really talking about the pitcher injuries. Pitcher. Pitchers get injured everywhere in baseball. I’m at rushman
Nestor Aparicio 13:37
having core issues. You know, him having
Luke Jones 13:38
core issues last year. The number of hamstring issues they had last year. Now, a ham eight bone is not that, and I said that also I was being a little tongue in cheek there, but I do feel more and more every single guy is out longer than they say, or even as someone like me who just pays attention to injury types. You know, you look at this, you are very medical.
Nestor Aparicio 14:03
I’ll say that, like much more so
Luke Jones 14:04
than a long time. Yeah, and let me be clear, I’m just going off of information and comps and knowing how long players typically miss with a handmade phone, all of that. It’s not for me that this wouldn’t be the case. I wouldn’t say this if he were back and were kind of, you know, was just kind of struggling, and not because, like, Francisco Lindor got off to a terrible start for the Mets, right? So that part of it, but for me, the fact that he’s not even playing, that’s where it’s a little more of a red flag to me, like, what’s going on? Like, why is this? Why is he at this point? Let’s call a spade a spade. Why is he a full month behind two other guys who had the same injury as him at the same time? Right? That that just feels weird to me in that sense, but you know, to not dwell on him too much. They’ve got this whole batch of guys now who are hurt, and they have some other guys that are underperforming, and as. Much as the bullpen has been really good. And I hear what you’re saying on the bullpen. And look, bullpens are like that, right? Yen yer Cano came out of nowhere. I mean, he was a guy included in that Jorge Lopez deal, who you kind of looked at him. And I know for a fact that winter, there was a lot of talk about whether he was even going to be kept on the 40 man roster. And then he shows up three weeks into the season in 2023 and and two and a half months later, he’s pitching in the All Star game, right? So you never really know on that front. But the bullpen has over performed to this point. The rotation is underperformed. I mean, the rotation has been very meh so far.
Nestor Aparicio 15:37
It has, and I thought that was the strength of the team. It hasn’t just so we’re clear on where my 92 wins came from. My 92 wins came from five nights in a row, big league pitchers that are top three pitchers that every night are going to battle, and they’re only going to fart on you every third start or fourth start, and you’re not going to be having bullpens coming in in the third inning, and you’re losing six to one like I that’s been Basset story, that will be the fifth starter story, because, I mean, Kramer’s Kramer at this point, I say that, and I feel like the Seinfeld Kramer, but I hold more consideration for Boz and Bradish than what we’ve had. And if they’re going to be this, the team’s going to be. And for those of you on the radio, I’m pointing down my throat like I’m throwing up the whole thing’s going to go to hell in a hand basket if they don’t get better pitching. Like, that’s just a fact. Boz and Bassett need to be better because effluent doesn’t exist anymore, and Bradish better. Look more like the guy you and I think he can be than what we’ve seen, the bats aside and the injuries aside and all that. I need the starting pitching to be better, or I can’t believe. And right now, with the bats and the starting pitching starting to go down the wrong turn, I’m, I’m concerned about their operation, until I see two weeks of decent starts and and that means out of Dean Kramer too, because he’s now the guy. So what, you know, whatever that’s going to be, you know, that can’t be the night where we’re like, oh shit. He’s going to be gone three and a third, 84 pitches. He’s going to walk guys, going to hit guys, whatever. It’s going to be, like, it can’t for any of these guys. I mean, you don’t believe in Bassett, right now, do you?
Luke Jones 17:15
I’m not. He needs to be better, but I’m also not going to lose my mind over two starts. Okay, so, I mean, again, we are dealing with really small samples here, but yeah, they need to be better. I mean, they’re 21st in starter era right now. Now I’ll say this, the starting pitching hasn’t been, it hasn’t been an abomination, like it was early last year, like it
Nestor Aparicio 17:38
hasn’t been that’s why the bullpen hasn’t been an abomination, right?
Luke Jones 17:41
But I would just say like, they haven’t been getting great starting pitching by any stretch of the imagination, but they also haven’t been getting bombed either. I mean, Bassett did in Pittsburgh, right? I mean, he got, he was awful in Pittsburgh, you know, wasn’t very good his first start, but he was terrible in a second start. So they haven’t had many starts like that. But, yeah, they have to be better. I mean, they they have to be better across the board, other than, like, if the bullpen can continue to be this, especially considering they’ll get kittridge back, and should get him back very soon. Keegan Aiken has started a rehab assignment, so he’s he should be around the corner in the next week or so, two weeks, maybe at the most. So their bullpen should be, and I’m not counting Batista, because Batista was never part of this conversation for 2026 but their bullpen should be at full strength or has a chance to be at full strength very soon. So I am encouraged by that group. But yeah, they have to be better in every other way. There’s no question about that. They’re starting. Pitching needs to be better. I’m not like, I expect Dean Kramer. I’m like, I’m not looking at Dean Kramer that he’s good. Has to be better than he’s been the last few years. He’s a league average starter. I think you know what he is at this point. He needs to continue to be that as the number five starter. If he is, that’s a
Nestor Aparicio 18:54
perfectly I just want to see him battle better in the fourth and fifth inning, as opposed to get shoved out. That’s all.
Luke Jones 19:00
I mean, okay. I mean, he, he’s made one start so far this year, right? I mean, and it was a start that, if you watched it, there were good things to take away from it, but you can’t throw three pitches that leave the ballpark, right? I mean, I don’t care how great the the other 90 pitches Look, that’s not that you’re not going
Nestor Aparicio 19:16
to recover there. We’re 20 minutes into this, and about them getting no hit. And I would still say the biggest problem they have, that I know is a problem, is catching the ball. And I don’t think that’s going to get better. I think there’ll be nights where they hit the ball better. I think there’ll be nights where they get good pitching. I think there’ll be nights when you’re in love with the bullpen right now. There’ll be nights of bullpen falls apart. But I think the bullpen is showing me, I have more confidence in the bullpen than, to your point, than almost any other aspect of the team. The one thing that I know sucks is they’re not going to catch the ball and and for that, that’s when Dean Kramer falls apart, you know? Yeah, yeah. That’s that’s when bad things happen, when a double play ball gets booted, and now the bases are loaded and there’s nobody out instead. Of you know a guy on third and two outs, yeah, just as an example,
Luke Jones 20:04
yeah, I hear you. I will say this. I don’t think the infield defense has been bad. I’m not saying, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying there’s three gold Glover’s in there, either. But I think the issue has really shown up way more with the outfield defense so far. I mean, Jeremiah Jackson’s played a good second base for as much as Pete Alonso hasn’t really hit like Pete Alonso, he’s played a pretty darn good first base defensively. That’s not why you signed him to 150 plus million dollar contract, but you get my point. Gunner has been mostly fine at shortstop, third base. Mayo’s below average. But in all honesty, that’s not the part about his game that I’m concerned about right now, like the defense that he’s played, I would I could easily live with if he were hitting at all, and he hasn’t hit at all. So that’s where you look at it, But your point is well taken. And let me be clear, I’m not in not in love with the bullpen. Suddenly, I’m encouraged by it, because it’s of all the elements we talked about. It’s the one thing that’s exceeding expectations and is trending up right now, whereas you have everything else either looking as as problematic as we thought it could be. In the case of the defense, the offense has underperformed.
Nestor Aparicio 21:19
I mean Henderson, 213 Alonso, 200 Messiah 157, and two broke dude. Stop with the broken bat. So your name’s not Machado. I mean that I I just end that shit. I mean that that I don’t need any do
Luke Jones 21:35
it again last night, I’m asking. I didn’t see the other
Nestor Aparicio 21:41
day, but either way, I don’t, I don’t need to see it anymore. Mayo, 156, Alexander 227, beavers. 231, cows are 211 leoti Tavares is the you know well and,
Luke Jones 21:54
and what’s funny about what’s funny about what you just mentioned? See, you’re you look at batting average. I look at ops. Now, I know you do No, but I’m just saying, like cows are okay. You say 211 if he were slugging and had you know, you might say, okay, that might not. He’s slugging 237, right. Blaze Alexander, 227, batting average, okay? He has a an on base percentage of 292 and a slugging percentage of 250 I mean, Kobe Mayo is slugging, slugging 200 right now, right? So these aren’t just bad batting averages. These are guys that are not doing anything at all with the bat, right? At least in the case of someone like Pasay Oh, he’s hitting 157, he has hit a few balls out of the ballpark, so there’s at least something in there to point to. But some of these guys, I mean, Colton cows are hitting 211 with a 237 slug. Now that said, you can keep trotting out this right, right handed line. Put Colton cows are in the outfield. Hit him ninth. I’m fine. I don’t want to see Jonathan Rodriguez in the lineup, like, because he can’t, he doesn’t give you anything with the glove. Like, we’re basing this off of what he’s done at triple A a team like Cleveland, who is not a great offense, let him go. I mean, I just it’s tough for me to point to the defense. If it’s very clearly the organization doesn’t have any value for the defense, because, well,
Nestor Aparicio 23:20
they will, when Dean Kramer in the third inning and
Luke Jones 23:24
it screws, they don’t prioritize defense. I mean, they just don’t, you know? I mean, Craig Albernaz can say that, and that’s not to say they’re not working on it. I’m not saying they’re not attempting to.
Nestor Aparicio 23:35
We can cheat your defense, right?
Luke Jones 23:38
Yeah, well, you have guys that aren’t hitting or playing defense.
Nestor Aparicio 23:41
So I know this is where I’m sideways with my own thoughts that they could win 92 games because they’re a different team than the team that I was talking about. Okay, if all these guys
Luke Jones 23:51
going to be out the next two months, then you’re right, and they’re not going to win 90 games or 88 games or whatever. I mean, I mean, you’re
Nestor Aparicio 23:57
counting the rushman to come back, and that’s great, and, you know, but he better come back and look like the watchman from three years ago. He better look like a superstar.
Luke Jones 24:04
Somebody’s got to look like a superstar. I mean, I’m counting on that, because what’s the alternative? I mean, yeah, you have to count
Nestor Aparicio 24:11
on like Messiah breaking bats over his knees, which is not not what I want to see. I don’t like, I don’t like seeing immaturity, even from immature guys. But I think that’s the part of the leadership part where Albernaz is like, come on, we’re not doing that. But I don’t know. Albernaz feels like he’s got a lot of ballplayer in him. So, like, I don’t know that they coached that part of it. I don’t need think that they need to look like a corporate outfit, but I think they they need to play better. That’s all. They need to play better, healthier.
Luke Jones 24:41
Yeah, it’s, I’m not. I’m not going to fixate on him breaking his bat. And you if he’s done it more than I know he did it once. I don’t know if he did it more than once. Look, Bo Jackson broke his bat once upon a time. Chris Davis broke his bat. I don’t that’s, that’s a nothing burger for me, for right now. If that becomes a pattern of behavior, then that’s a different story. But. They have to, they have to play better. They have to play better, right? And they’re banged up right now. They need guys that are healthy to perform to the degree that they’re capable of performing like I don’t have any expectations for Jonathan Rodriguez, right? I mean, I don’t have any expectations for Weston Wilson. Weston Wilson, when he played that, you know, albeit what was a challenging play, but if you’re going to put him out in left field, he’s got to make plays for you that. Otherwise he’s of no use to being on the roster, right? But part of that is also, well, you’ve got all these guys hurt right now, so it’s kind of like getting mad at Rashawn Melvin when he was the sixth or seventh corner that was just kind of the last man standing for the Ravens a decade plus ago. So you know that they’re, this is what they are right now. I feel, you know, they’re a nine and 10. What? What? They’re nine and 11 right now, and or no, they are nine and 10, nine and 10. You know, getting ahead of myself. I don’t want to be too negative here, but that feels about right if you’re watching, like, if, if you didn’t know the final scores, and like, you didn’t watch the ninth inning of these games, and, you know, all the close games, you didn’t know how they ended, you’d say, yeah, they’re they look like a 500 team, you know, they they do some, you know, they’ve got some good players, but they have other guys that aren’t performing. They’ve got some guys hurt. They’ve had some guys who’ve really pitched well, and they’ve had a bunch of other guys who haven’t
Nestor Aparicio 26:22
pitched all that way. And you’ve also made the case that the teams they played were better than we thought they were, at least for now, and
Luke Jones 26:29
yeah, and I think because it looked like a week
Nestor Aparicio 26:31
early schedule, and maybe it wasn’t as weak as we thought it was in
Luke Jones 26:35
March, at least for right now and again. Some of that also goes to you know, how is a team playing when you’re playing, right
Nestor Aparicio 26:40
when you see them, they didn’t see schemes, and they still got swept, which is crazy. I mean, like,
Luke Jones 26:45
think back, think back to the the Orioles last year. Well, I mean, they beat the Dodgers in early September. Was that a reflection suddenly on, you know, on the, I mean, the Dodgers still won the World Series. So it clearly didn’t. Was it too much of an indictment on that
Nestor Aparicio 26:58
Kansas City, Boston and then Houston, and then they go to New York. So, you know, I don’t know where they’re going to see these teams. We don’t think much of the Red Sox right now, right? So, yeah, it’s just who you play is. Also you can’t go two and seven in the next nine, because all these guys are hurt. Because that’s what I’m talking about. They feel like they can start to fall down the mountain here, a little bit on this, on this road trip, and that’s what I’m concerned about. It’s fair going into the weekend, into the NFL Draft, when they’ve already lost a couple in a row, if they lose a couple more in a row, and you know, we come back here after the NFL draft, and the Ravens have drafted this and made this trade for that, and signed this center and, like, drafted a guard and all the stuff that we’re going to do, and we wake up and they are seven, I don’t know, 11 and 17 or 13 and 21 because that’s the way that March happens. And then that’s just really, really bad, because at that point, it’s not like when’s holiday or Richmond coming to rescue them, it’s, oh, my god, baz ambassador. No good, because that’s what it’s going to feel like to me. Because if those guys are better, they’re going to have a chance to win. They’re going to kick the ball around, but they’re going to hit the ball in the seventh or eighth or ninth inning, and some besides going to break up a scoreboard instead of a bat. One, you know, because they have that ability, but that’s, that’s their kiss of death, is he’s hitting 157 but he’s hit a couple. Of home runs. Well, he’ll probably hit 182 the next three weeks and hit a couple of home runs. Because, like all of these guys, have holes in their swings. You mentioned they have holes in their gloves. All of these guys, these guys don’t. They’re not selective. They don’t take pitches, they don’t work counts, they slug. For the most part, that’s they slug. And even the guys, these Rodriguez and these guys they bring up, they’re just hoping that they hit a home run tonight. They’re not thinking they’re going three for four and working account and walking. You know what I mean, like, there’s none of that here holiday to me, could be that at various points they’ve wanted rushman to be, that cows are ain’t ever going to be that.
Luke Jones 29:02
I don’t necessarily, I think you’re making a broad statement. They’re 10th in the in the major leagues and walk rate right now. They’ve actually done that a little bit better than I thought. They haven’t hit for power like, they haven’t hit for power like people like, we always like, in a general sense, we kind of, oh, well, these guys are trying to hit home run. They’re not hitting home runs. That’s why they’re not when you’re not slugging and you’re not hitting for power, in the modern game, there are very few teams that can score runs without doing that. I mean, that’s it’s just, well, I got no
Nestor Aparicio 29:32
hit on Thursday night for ratings. They weren’t touching the ball, okay, but I’m doing a lot of warning track power.
Luke Jones 29:39
But my point is they’re they’re actually 10th and walk rate. They’ve actually worked counts and done more of that than I thought they would have. In some cases, that has not been the problem. They’re not hitting for any power. That’s that’s honestly been the problem. They haven’t done it like that’s their profile, and they haven’t done it right. Strikeout rate, their ninth, ninth worst in the majors. But it’s not like some you know, out of the ordinary, like you look at teams one through or teams looking at it right now, the sixth worst strikeout rate in baseball is 25% of the time. 20 it is 21.8% of the time. Like it’s team strikeout, right? I mean that that’s baseball,
Nestor Aparicio 30:19
yeah, but when you do it with two runners on you leave the lob problem.
Luke Jones 30:22
We’re just not doing Yeah, but the problem isn’t that, like they need to hit for power. These guys profile was that, and they’re not doing that, and that’s why they’re struggling to score runs. You know, I, I don’t know how else to say it. They they’ve got to produce, and they have to hit. This is now, you know, I don’t want this to be going on two calendar years where we’re going to say, Oh, well, they’re going to hit the ball. They didn’t do that last year, right? And okay, in some cases it was because of injuries, but there were guys that just plain underperformed. So, you know, that’s where I look at someone like Jeremiah Jackson and say, Look, we can keep waiting for the young core to produce more steak than sizzle. Jeremiah Jackson’s doing that right now. So good. And he’s 26 and he’s a former, you know, not like a he wasn’t a one one, or a top five pick, or anything like that.
Nestor Aparicio 31:17
But I’m giving him the Steve Pierce role.
Luke Jones 31:19
Is that fair? I mean, I play him until he’s him and Tavares right now. Play them until they stop producing, like just every day they’re in the lineup, until they don’t produce. You know, my my point about cows are has been about the defense way more like because at least he’s going to give you that. I want them to start hitting. I want Kobe Mayo to start hitting. I want beside to hit more consistently, like go down the list. Yeah. I mean, I hear all
Nestor Aparicio 31:44
that, but when they hit the ball toward kauser, he’ll
Luke Jones 31:46
catch it. I agree with that. He’ll catch it. And that, that’s what, that’s the part to me where I look at this and say they’re not prioritizing defense, because he’d be out there again against the lefty. I’d hit him 10th if that were allowed, right? The worst you could do is, you could do is, you know, the best you could do is hit him ninth in those scenarios. I’d still play him, because I want his defense out there at the very least. So that’s me conceding something that. No, it’s not ideal. But while you’re missing Tyler O’Neill, I mean, that’s kind of where, where they are right now. I mean, they, they’re missing four bat, right handed bats that they’d love to have in there against left handed pitching. I mean, that’s just the truth. So we hadn’t it hadn’t shown up because they hadn’t played any lefty lefty starters. And now, back to back games, they play lefty starters, and it’s like, Oh, wow. This is, this is the lineup right now. It is. You know, it’s a little little bit of shell shock when you
Nestor Aparicio 32:38
look at it, by the way. One thing that is interesting to me is how Elias is working the edges of making deals. I mean, we’ve made five or six deals since season started. Feels like they’re all little, they’re all it feels like he’s on the phone all day trying to, like, get rid of Chase, like it’s just
Luke Jones 32:59
surprised by that one. I mean, I, I know Chase. I mean, they had abandoned him as a starter, but this is a guy a year ago was still regarded as their best or their second best pitching prospect, and just feels like they felt like it was a quick hook in terms of giving up on the idea of maybe him becoming a reliever. For you, I don’t know. I mean, you know, it’s fine, but Elias makes these deals. I mean, I, I get an email for every roster move that they make, and I could just, I could do a Google, you know, a Gmail search on Orioles trades, and you would just find so many of these trades where it’s like, Wait, that guy was in the Oriole system, and they traded them for
Nestor Aparicio 33:43
that guy. But it feels like that that’s what they’re up all night. Him and Eve are up all night doing is, is trying to figure out how to move chairs on the Titanic. I mean, like, literally, like, I don’t. It feels like there’s a lot of activity in that department during the season to move chairs around literally. And I don’t. And that’s not it makes them look busy. I get I don’t know, but I don’t know how that helps. But when I see a deal like that, I think to myself, the part of me that non locking for a part that thinks Elias might be a genius, to think, well, they believe that guy’s going to be in a bullpen in June and helping them. That’s why they made the deal, because they feel like they need help. Now, sure or not, we’re not waiting on next year. We’re not waiting on he’ll be a fourth starter in 2028 No, no, no, no, no. Like we need, we need to win this year.
Luke Jones 34:31
And I don’t, well, these aren’t the moves to do that. I mean, I I understand the point you’re making.
Nestor Aparicio 34:38
That’s why I’m saying they’re moving chairs on the Titanic right. I don’t think these are big things, but they are.
Luke Jones 34:43
They’ve always made these kind of moves. Like, every year they’re making moves like this. There’s always a churn of the back of the 40 man roster, slash veteran minor league,
Nestor Aparicio 34:54
because they’re trying to find a Yani or canoe, or they’re trying to find a
Luke Jones 34:56
Jeremiah, and they have found guys like that. So like, I’m. I’m not opposed to that, but I’m not moved by Oh, like Elias is trying to do this, or listen, as long as they don’t
Nestor Aparicio 35:05
trade Nestor Herman. I mean,
Luke Jones 35:07
because I would say this, I mean March 29 I got an email March 29 at 517 so this was the first Sunday of the season. The Orioles have made the following roster move, acquired outfielder Jonathan Rodriguez from the Cleveland guardians in exchange for Carter rusted and optioned him to triple A Norfolk. Jonathan Rodriguez is in the majors right now because they’ve had multiple injuries to their 26 man position roster, or 13 man. It wasn’t
Nestor Aparicio 35:33
even worthy of a W NSC text, but now that guy’s batting freaking clean up.
Luke Jones 35:37
Yeah, yeah. Which again, I mean, with a creek, love that right there, see that right there, people would be losing their minds if Brandon Hyde were still the manager. And that’s why I keep telling you, like you need to look higher than the manager for these lineups. Yes, literally speaking, the manager writes out the lineup. And I am not saying the manager doesn’t have influence. Let me be clear, all
Nestor Aparicio 36:03
the old people like me that talk about wins and batting average and those things, we see it as Earl Weaver, Cal Ripken, senior, Frank Robinson, filling out the lineup card. And it’s just that’s not baseball now. It’s just not and there’s a
Luke Jones 36:14
collaborative effort the manager ultimately, like, look, a lot of this is getting into semantics, right? Yes, the manager literally takes his pen and writes.
Nestor Aparicio 36:23
But who do I hold responsible? That’s a big problem with Katie
Luke Jones 36:26
Briggs in general at the organization. I mean Mike Elias, president of baseball operations, that covers everything, right? Or, if you want to go higher and say ownership, because ownership ultimately made the decision that Mike Elias should get a promotion last year, right? So, but I mean, I mean, it’s those things are, a lot of those things are collaborative, and they do that by, you know, that’s by design, in some ways that are helpful, but, yeah, to be more cynical about it, it does provide a little bit of cover then, because there is kind of a Okay, was that the front office? Is that their, you know, their predictive modeling. You know, they’re different, you know, looking at this or that, you know, the manager does have influence, still, from the standpoint of, hey, he’s had a rough This guy needs a day. His kids are sick. He was up all night. You know, his wife sick. You know, some you know, the family had to leave town because of a family emergency out on the West Coast, you know. So there’s always those elements that the manager is going to be more plugged in on than the front office. But you know, some of the same complaints about Brandon Hyde’s lineups we’re seeing with Craig Albernaz. That’s what the organization wants, right? They believe in platoon advantage. I think that’s obvious. I mean, it’s why, you know, that’s why Jonathan Rodriguez is hitting cleanup, even though he has no semblance of a track record in the major leagues and isn’t a top prospect or anything like that. But hey, he’s right handed and he hit left handed pitching in the minor league So yeah, we’re gonna hit him clean up. Not saying I agree with it. Let’s be clear. But it’s but it is also, in fairness, like, what do you want the lineup to be right now? Because in fair, you know, Colton kauser doesn’t hit left handed pitching, even though I’d still rather have him out there for his defense. Dylan beavers is still, you know, unproven in that regard, right? And I think beavers, I think they there was actually someone asked about beavers after the game on Thursday night. I think he’s been sick the last couple days. They said. So he’s kind of been under the weather, and so they’ve been playing a little short, little more short handed than they already are, right? So point is going back to everything. They’ve got to get healthy, and they’ve got to start playing better. I mean, there’s this isn’t complicated, right?
Nestor Aparicio 38:39
There are very better, hit better, feel
Luke Jones 38:41
better when you have the number of guys that they have on the injured list right now. There are very few teams in baseball that have the organizational depth to truly survive that the Dodgers that might be it, right? I mean, Yankees
Nestor Aparicio 38:55
try every year.
Luke Jones 38:56
I mean, you know, and again, I mean, I’m, look, this isn’t me saying, Oh, they need to be 100% healthy, because that’s not realistic. Not realistic either. But they’re really banged up right now. There’s no doubt. So, yeah, nine and 10 hovering around 500 not throwing a parade for it isn’t making me suddenly think they’re going to be a 96 win team at the end of the day, or anything like that. But, you know, I think for where they are right now, hanging around 500 you can live with but to your point, and I wholeheartedly agree, you don’t want this to start turning sideways like it did last year. And suddenly you look up and you’re 14 and 22 then you’re starting to have, then you’re looking at the standings and saying, Okay, where are the Yankees right now? Okay, where’s, you know, Tampa Bay’s off to a really good start. I don’t think the rays suddenly, I’m thinking they’re going to win 100 games, but maybe they are better, right? Toronto might be worse than we thought. Boston might be worse than we thought. Tampa Bay may be better. Boston is worse than
Nestor Aparicio 39:52
you thought. You get to beat them up next weekend.
Luke Jones 39:54
So that’s important. So we’ll see or or the Red Sox will start to, you know, start to find. Footing, right? I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 40:01
it’s draft weekend, by the way, for everybody looking at the Red Sox,
Luke Jones 40:03
it’s still so early. Tears still so early, and that’s why I’m not losing my mind about any of this. But yeah, I’m not, I’m not panicked, but I’m not impressed. Take the
Nestor Aparicio 40:14
weekend off, and let’s worry about the draft. All right. I mean, we got things to worry about around here. Orioles are in Cleveland this weekend. If there’s any breaking news, Luke will have it first on the wnst tech service that is brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordon energy. Also our friends at Farnham and Dermer. They are the comfort guys. They kept me comfortable when I had a pipe burst here two weeks ago, and certainly this 85 and 90 degree weather, I needed them to HVAC and AC me down in the fifth row of section 48 on Wednesday afternoon. But if you’re thinking about air conditioning this summer, because we’re getting there, get them out and have them inspect it, clean system out, make sure that you don’t wind up calling them on June when it’s 98 degrees. So far in a derma we’re appreciative of the comfort. Guys, my friends at GBMC, I’m walking on Friday. I’m walking a mile in their shoes, in my shoes and our shoes in the afternoon. We’re gonna be doing the Maryland crab cake tour next Thursday at Koco’s. That’s the 23rd on the first of that’s the day of the draft on May 1. We’re gonna be back at Pizza John’s in Essex, Luke’s wearing the hat, and I’m look. I’ll be wearing the cheese steak and french fries and gravy on the seventh of May. I’ll work it off at Planet Fitness. We’ll be at simonia doing that. And I’m really looking forward to having Angel back on, wearing my funny hat, and then on May 13, it is the crab races at Lexington market. Ivan Bates is coming down. I told Ivan people I’m like, Hey, you’re going to be in this competition for this crab thing. But if BJ surhoff shows up, run, because BJ takes it seriously if he shows up. So I’m looking forward to seeing him and Polly as well. The Lexington market crab races are may 13. We’re doing the show from there. And by the way, don’t tell anybody but the fishmonger’s daughter, I got one of those special little invite things. They’re this close to opening. I swear. They’re going to be open, like in a week or two. So I’m going to go sample some fair but I’m not allowed to talk about it on the air, because it’s, it’s quiet thing, but it’s in Catonsville. And by the way, my dude chips enough from enough’s enough is playing in Catonsville on Saturday night. So anything that gets me over to Catonsville, Beaumont, El Guapo, State Fair, fishmonger’s daughter, chips enough. I’m all down for it. So big rock and roll weekend. By the way, I had Kurt Newman for the bodines on this week, I had Brian Adams guitar, Sarah McLaughlin’s guitarist on. We’ve had honeymoon suite around here in April wine. I’ve had the Triumph guys on, and they’re playing next month, and they’re back out on the road. So there’s some rock and roll going on. There’s some baseball going on, and the purple switcheroo on the jerseys, and the NFL Draft next week. I’m back for more. He’s Luke, I’m Nestor. We are W N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore. Positive. You.
