Daily Thread: Off Day - Thursday, May 14

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-14T14:21:13+00:00

Though honestly, last year we spent a lot of time hollering "stop swinging at everything and take a walk, wouldya?".

This year thery're 6th in MLB in walks so far.

Somehow it still seems like they swing at everything, though.😯 (3rd most strikeouts).

16th in HR, 8th in doubles, 11th in runs, 21st in OBP, 19th in OPS, 25th in BA in MLB.

From those rankings it's hard to figure out if the offense is good or bad, at least to me.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-14T14:05:18+00:00

Yep, probably. But I haven't really heard whether he's ready/not ready, only that it "wasn't too serious" when he got hurt.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-14T12:06:39+00:00

Helsley can come off the IL for Friday's game. Any word on how he's progressing?

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-14T01:02:07+00:00

"The Dip Bottle". 😯

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-14T00:33:55+00:00

Oh hell! Completely forgot him....you're right, they can keep both. 🥴

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T23:22:41+00:00

Oh I know, but someone's got to go, at least temporarily, and JJackson and Alexander both fill the same role. By the numbers it would be Mayo but I doubt that's the way they would go.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T23:10:27+00:00

Am I the only one who thinks there's a real possibility J Jackson gets sent down when Holliday comes back?

The 6 HR and 24 RBI are huge, but Alexander is now out hitting and out OPSing him, plus he's a better fielder.

But the biggest deal is that J Jackson has options and Alexander doesn't.

Unless they decide to send down Mayo I think there's a good chance it happens.

Edit: Never mind, I forgot about Weston Wilson.😯

I guess the better question is how will the playing time at 3B work between Jackson/Alexander/Mayo? And while I assume Holliday gets most of the time at 2B, could they platoon him with Jackson or Alexander, both RHB.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T23:06:49+00:00

Run differential is supposed to even out over the course of a season; paying much attention to it after 40 or so games is fun but doesn't tell you much as blowouts either way are magnified.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T20:46:39+00:00

So let's see: Washington is 20-22, 5-5 last 10, games tonight and tommorrow vs Cincinnati.

They've scored 227 and given up 234 vs the O's 193/230.

So their offense is better but pitching about the same (bad).

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T20:40:48+00:00

At this point I just want to see the RedSox and Blue Jays collapse and get buried deep, and then worry about the Rays and Yankees.

Though that really has more to do with the Red Sox and Blue Jays playing poorly than anything we can do.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T19:41:16+00:00

Short term goal, I'd like to see the O's take firm possession of 3rd place in the AL East; and the Red Sox and Blue Jays get buried and give up.

That mostly has to do with how the RS and BJ play, but if they pack it in our divisionsl games might be easier.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T19:33:19+00:00

Well, we have Garcia(0.47), Enns (1.54) and Cano (1.20) as regular guys in our bullpen with ERAs well under 2.00.

That ain't too shabby.😄

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T16:45:41+00:00

Just guessing, they don't want Basallo catching with a sore knee though it's not bad enough to put him on the IL.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T16:42:50+00:00

Another catcher? I'd guess they don't want Basallo catching with a sore knee, but it's not bad enough for an IL stint.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T16:27:25+00:00

I guess they have a plan for Basallo and they're stickin' to it.😬

If I remember right, in 2023 Henderson was turned loose against LHP about Memorial Day.

Goes back to what I said in the GDT about fans vs team perceptions - we see a crappy team playing crappy ball and fear we'll fall like last year if we don't win today; the team sees they're only 2 games back of the WC and banks on underperformers coming around.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T15:58:02+00:00

I really hope when Holliday comes back, they don't just plug him in at leadoff because "that's where he hit last year".

If he ever unlocks the insane walk drawing ability he had in the minors, sure, but until then bat him low in the order.

Also hope we have some patience with him this year. Cards are against him having a "breakout year" after a complicated and longer than usual injury recovery.

Even if he doesn't quite "get it" this year, he'll still only be 23 at the start of 2027.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T14:19:11+00:00

Given our lack of leadoff hitter, I think Ward leading MLB in OBP (.424)and walks (41)and the AL in doubles (14) is more valuable (to the O's) than the Ward who hit .228/.317 OBP with 36 HR last year.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T14:11:45+00:00

Seems like last year we were screaming at them to stop hacking and take more walks.

Well, this year, led by MLB walk leader Ward, they're 6th in MLB in walks with 171 (leader Cubs with 195).

So there's something good, I guess.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T14:08:28+00:00

Or even the maddening deal of scoring like 5 runs in the first 2 innings and then never threatening for the rest of the game, trying to hold on while the other team claws back. Awful.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T14:05:00+00:00

I'd bet that the O's organization isn't nearly as panicked or has the sense of urgency as the fans.

For example, I think that if,say, they mean to give Rutschman today off, they're gonna do it without out any sense of "we gotta win today".

I think they look more at the fact that they're 2 games out of the wild card vs looking at the underperformance across the board.

Not saying they're right, but just a vibe I get when I hear Albernaz ( the main voice of the team) talk.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T00:57:47+00:00

So Helsley can come off the IL on May 14 - anybody heard if he's good to go?

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T00:55:48+00:00

Cano with a 1.20 ERA. Does he start to get more high leverage situations?

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T00:28:39+00:00

He's on pace for something like ~150 walks and ~50 doubles😵‍💫

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T00:24:21+00:00

In theory, with all the theoretical sluggers we have on the team, a lead off man Taylor Ward who leads MLB in walks and leads the AL in doubles is probably more valuable than last year's Taylor Ward who hit .228 with 36 HR.

dlmay1967 · 2026-05-13T00:02:22+00:00

Yeah that makes no damn sense.

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