2024 Season | Series #36 | Orioles @ Guardians | Aug. 1-4, 2024

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Rocchio is indeed the whipping boy.

And he even socked a HR from the right side, which may be his better side. Maybe we should get Freeman some reps there because guess what? Schneemann doesn't seem much better in the box, and I'd rather have Rocchio's defense.
 
catcher and backup catcher combine to go 2 for 9 -- with 6 rbi's
 
Well, this should ease the feeling of what will likely be a loss tomorrow. Carrasco was solid in his last outing but it’s hard assume he replicated that - I mean I would love to quote myself and tell myself to get fucked if I’m wrong.

All hail the magnum dongs
 
Pitch, slug and play adequate defense. They did that tonight and beat one of the best teams in the league handily.
 
Awesome win punctuated by three home runs which put eight runs on the board. 11 hits and 5 walks - gotta love it! This Thomas guy is fitting right in.

Fry finally went deep after going 0-for-June and 0-for-July in the home run department. Rogers got a swing-and-miss on a high fastball so he came back to it with two strikes and this time Fry didn't miss.

Josh Naylor with five excellent at-bats; two line drive singles, two walks, and a line drive out. Both walks were on close pitches on 3-2 counts. Vogt is a genius for recognizing that Nayor needed a rest and benching him for the entire Phillies series. Since he came back he's been the old Josh Naylor; 6-for-11 with two walks. His chase rate has dropped way down and he's getting ahead in counts. He looks like a completely different hitter.

Brother Bo hit two balls hard that were outs before the three-run jack. He had three good at-bats out of four. Maybe he's about to get hot, which he occasionally does. With the schedule getting very tough now would be the perfect time for it.

Lively came through with a typical Lively start; 6 innings, 2 runs. I was surprised Vogt left him in to face Santander for the third time when another home run makes it a 5-4 game in the 6th, but Lively made a great pitch and got a pop-up on a breaking ball out of the zone.

Hosey is on fire! Four home runs in the last three games and he kicked in a double and sac fly just for yuks. The O's may be pitching around him the rest of the series. That Kwan/Thomas/Hosey/Josh guantlet at the top of the order is looking very impressive.
 
Game 2 preview:

Cookie Carrasco takes the ball Friday against Dean Kremer, a 28-year-old right-hander with a 4-7 record and a 4.20 ERA. Lifetime Kremer is 26-27, 4.32, so he is settling in as a career journeyman. He does have a 3.05 ERA on the road this year, so I won't be surprised if he pitches well.

Kremer has had some difficulty with left-handed hitters (.781 OPS) versus righties (.598). I know Vogt will stack the batting order with lefties. Of Kremer's 14 home runs allowed 10 have been to lefties even though both sides have the same number of at-bats. I predict 8 lefties and Lane Thomas will start for the Guards.

The first three times through the order opponents are hitting .149, .268, and .267/.907 against Kremer, so it's a matter of being patient because the more you see his pitches the easier they are to hit. Kwan is 3-for-5 against him.

This is a big start for Carlos. He was lit up for six runs in each of his last two starts. We need him to pitch fairly well considering how thin we are at starting pitching with Bibee down, McKenzie and Allen in the shop for repairs, and Boyd and Cobb not quite ready yet.

Carrasco has not faced the Birds this year. He has handled them well in the past except for Henderson who is 3-for-3 with a home run. Eloy Jimenez is 3-for-9 with a home run and a double. The rest of them are hitting .154 off him.

The Guardians have scored 23 runs in the last three games and it appears the bats are coming around, especially Jose and Josh. Thomas has hit the ground running in the 2-hole going 3-for-8 with two doubles and a walk. The Guardians have won 7 of 9 and have momentum.

Now it's a question of whether the starting pitching, which is being held together with duct tape and chewing gum, can hang on until Bibee gets back and Boyd and Cobb are ready to go.
 
MGMT said:
Well, this should ease the feeling of what will likely be a loss tomorrow. Carrasco was solid in his last outing but it’s hard assume he replicated that - I mean I would love to quote myself and tell myself to get fucked if I’m wrong.

All hail the magnum dongs
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I think cookie would be useful in the pen in long relief. I think he would eat innings but we have to get him out of the rotation. Hopefully Cobb or Boyd can do that .
 
avs2000 said:
I think cookie would be useful in the pen in long relief. I think he would eat innings but we have to get him out of the rotation. Hopefully Cobb or Boyd can do that .
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Unless I'm mistaken, the problem with Cookie has been the first inning or so. He seems to settle in for 2-3 innings after that so I'm not sure how well he would be out of the BP. I wouldn't remove Avila from his role because I think he's done a damn fine job and is one of the main reasons this BP hasn't been fully spent.
 
On a more random note, someone who might know more tell me if I am wrong: Was it just me or did Noel slam a pint and just swing at everything last night outside of the walk he drew? I’m contradicting myself a bit but it seemed that besides the BB he was just swinging at everything.
 
CDAV45 said:
Unless I'm mistaken, the problem with Cookie has been the first inning or so. He seems to settle in for 2-3 innings after that so I'm not sure how well he would be out of the BP. I wouldn't remove Avila from his role because I think he's done a damn fine job and is one of the main reasons this BP hasn't been fully spent.
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Issue is Avila is 3.19 ERA with us and 4.06 FIP (so some luck). Cookie is 5.68 ERA and seems to be wearing down (May best month). But, by inning, 3rd is best,followed by 1st (for ERA and BA). 3.79, 7.11,2.37,7.64 on ERA BA is .200,.329, .206, .324. If they want to keep Avila for next year (untap his potential more), you can't put Cookie in pen over him. Cookie is only kept if you may want him for spot start but even then if we DFA him, will anyone claim him? Probably not. You can say, keep warm in AAA and we may still use you if there is an injury (think there is enough good will).
 
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