Latest / Birdland Territory / Tough start to an important Orioles' homestand

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Tough start to an important Orioles' homestand · Birdland Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: Well, it's not the greatest start to the Orioles home
0:10
Speaker 1: stand as they lose to the Mariners Monday night six
0:13
Speaker 1: to three. And now some concern here is things have
0:17
Speaker 1: quickly turned south for the Orioles. They won ten of fourteen,
0:21
Speaker 1: they were surging, they were eight and three in their
0:24
Speaker 1: eleven game run against the Al East, and now suddenly
0:27
Speaker 1: three straight losses, and that would last night is not
0:30
Speaker 1: going on the resume tape. That was not the performance
0:32
Speaker 1: yours we're hoping for to start an important homestand Birdland
0:36
Speaker 1: territory with you, with Steve, Brad and Tim and let's
0:40
Speaker 1: start with that. Should there be concern level? Can you
0:43
Speaker 1: quickly go from hot to cold this fast? It's been
0:47
Speaker 1: three rough days in Birdland.
0:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know.
0:51
Speaker 3: I think it's just kind of the way the team's
0:53
Speaker 3: been playing this year is they can get hot for
0:55
Speaker 3: three or four games and then kind of now look
0:58
Speaker 3: the greatest for three.
0:59
Speaker 2: Or four games.
0:59
Speaker 3: It's just seems to be that type of year so far.
1:02
Speaker 3: They just can't get the train headed downhill. To say
1:06
Speaker 3: it's just it's frustrating. I think last night's loss was
1:09
Speaker 3: frustrating too. Just opportunities across the board on the pitching
1:13
Speaker 3: side and on the offensive side, and just not able
1:15
Speaker 3: to convert. And unfortunately, now they've lost three in a
1:18
Speaker 3: row and find themselves five or six games under five hundred. Again,
1:21
Speaker 3: it just kind of seems like they can't get out
1:23
Speaker 3: of a little bit of a rut. So, I don't know,
1:25
Speaker 3: it just kind of seems to be the style and
1:28
Speaker 3: the way the season has gone so far to this point.
1:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess when you look back over this three
1:34
Speaker 4: game stretch like Saturday, it bradish didn't have it, and
1:38
Speaker 4: that happens over the course of a full season. Sunday,
1:41
Speaker 4: of course, we talked a lot about the miscall in
1:44
Speaker 4: the sixth inning that really went a long way and
1:46
Speaker 4: changing that game. And I think what was really frustrating
1:50
Speaker 4: about last night's game, guys, was, Gosh, the Orioles had
1:54
Speaker 4: so many chances later on in that game, despite giving
1:57
Speaker 4: up the Grand Slam, which is obviously the ultimate moment
2:00
Speaker 4: momentum shift in that moment, like Pete had a basis
2:04
Speaker 4: loaded situation where he was up three to zero in
2:06
Speaker 4: the count, you know, one out, and the Orioles weren't
2:09
Speaker 4: able to push any runs across there because Pete ended
2:12
Speaker 4: up striking out on the abs challenge, and then Cowser
2:16
Speaker 4: ended up grounding out. Jackson Holiday misplayed a ball at
2:20
Speaker 4: second base. You had the kind of bizarre situation in
2:25
Speaker 4: the eighth inning where Blaize Alexander trying to tag up
2:28
Speaker 4: from first to second and then that took a run
2:31
Speaker 4: off the board. Jackson Holiday not crossing home played in time.
2:35
Speaker 4: It was kind of a lot of late inning mistakes
2:38
Speaker 4: that really did the Orioles in last night.
2:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they got to step it up here because
2:43
Speaker 1: they're playing a Mariners team that's gotten hot. They are
2:46
Speaker 1: ten and three since May twenty fifth. In that time
2:49
Speaker 1: they have an MLB best two eighty one eer. We
2:53
Speaker 1: always see the Mariners with good pitching, especially starting pitching.
2:57
Speaker 1: They've got it again. The Orioles have to match. And
3:00
Speaker 1: in these three losses, by the way, the Orioles are
3:02
Speaker 1: three for twenty with runners in scoring positions, scoring just
3:06
Speaker 1: eleven runs. So that offense that was averaging nearly six
3:09
Speaker 1: a game has had a three game slow stretch here.
3:13
Speaker 1: Let's go back to the play you talked about Tim
3:17
Speaker 1: and after the game, Albernaz and you were in there
3:20
Speaker 1: would praise Blaze Alexander for the aggressiveness he showed, but
3:25
Speaker 1: he thought he should have seen the throw coming into
3:28
Speaker 1: second online and gone back to first, which was unoccupied.
3:32
Speaker 1: The first baseman was off the bag for a cutoff.
3:35
Speaker 1: Is that how he explained it.
3:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, Look earlier in that inning, it was a very
3:41
Speaker 4: similar situation where he was followed up asking Jackson holiday
3:46
Speaker 4: tagging up because it was the double tag where there
3:49
Speaker 4: was a runner on first and second. Both of them
3:51
Speaker 4: went to second to third. But I think he got
3:54
Speaker 4: to know the situation. You got to know the player,
3:58
Speaker 4: hoy Or Rodriguez, and that was a heck of a
4:01
Speaker 4: throw by him to nail Blaze at second base. But
4:05
Speaker 4: Albert has kept saying in that postgame press conference, he's
4:08
Speaker 4: all about being aggressive, but you gotta understand the situation.
4:12
Speaker 4: And in that situation, no one's covering first base, So
4:15
Speaker 4: once you read that throw, you can almost walk back
4:19
Speaker 4: to first base and you're fine. So he likes the aggressiveness,
4:24
Speaker 4: you just gotta understand the time and place.
4:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think two also there.
4:31
Speaker 3: You know, with it being so deep in the outfield,
4:34
Speaker 3: there's no shot at home plate, so the throw has
4:37
Speaker 3: gotta be going towards second base there and if you
4:39
Speaker 3: if there's any doubt in your mind, you just can't
4:41
Speaker 3: even make it remotely close because that's a big run there,
4:44
Speaker 3: two to three run. You know, difference there late in
4:47
Speaker 3: the game is so big for the closer and for
4:49
Speaker 3: the relievers that they have. It makes a big difference there.
4:52
Speaker 3: So you just got to the most important thing was
4:54
Speaker 3: making sure that run scored, even if you're being aggressive.
4:57
Speaker 2: I know what he's saying.
4:58
Speaker 3: I like the thought behind it, but like you're saying,
5:01
Speaker 3: with having nobody at first base, you just have to know.
5:04
Speaker 4: And I think the other thing about this situation, guys,
5:08
Speaker 4: is all right, let's just assume Blaze gets to second
5:11
Speaker 4: and that run scores by Jackson Holiday.
5:14
Speaker 2: It's still a six to.
5:15
Speaker 5: Four ball game.
5:16
Speaker 4: Blaze isn't the time run, he's not the go ahead runs.
5:19
Speaker 4: He got to be extra cautious about being safe.
5:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, some decisions that didn't work after the Orioles, and
5:27
Speaker 1: it felt like they were daylight in a hour short
5:29
Speaker 1: all night. Even the last run by the Mariners. I
5:31
Speaker 1: thought Jackson Holliday could make that play up the middle,
5:34
Speaker 1: it popped out of his glove that led to another
5:36
Speaker 1: run scoring. So there's just little things all night that
5:39
Speaker 1: just the Orioles didn't make the play, where for a
5:42
Speaker 1: couple of weeks they have been making the play. Let's
5:46
Speaker 1: talk about starting pitcher Trey Gibson. He gets called up
5:49
Speaker 1: earlier in the day, Chris Basset goes to the il
5:52
Speaker 1: low back discomfort and Gibson might get a shot here
5:56
Speaker 1: now about. You know, Bassett could be out Whi's got
5:59
Speaker 1: to be out fifteen days. They pro rated it a
6:01
Speaker 1: couple days backdated in a couple of days, but this
6:04
Speaker 1: could be two or three starts, maybe more, we'll see.
6:08
Speaker 1: So I thought it was a quick cook. I didn't
6:10
Speaker 1: think he was throwing dominant ball. I've seen Trey Gibson
6:12
Speaker 1: pitch better. But he was throwing scoreless ball on fifty
6:16
Speaker 1: eight pitches. So the math was adding up well. But
6:19
Speaker 1: the skipper would say he thought he was getting behind hitters.
6:22
Speaker 1: There was a little loud contact that inning, and Brad,
6:26
Speaker 1: what did you see there? It split second call for
6:29
Speaker 1: Albert as he went to the pen and it didn't
6:31
Speaker 1: work this time.
6:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, and just kind of walking it back and kind
6:35
Speaker 3: of looking at where he was at the pitch count.
6:37
Speaker 3: It almost felt like it was a premeditated They didn't
6:39
Speaker 3: want him to face the lineup for the third time
6:41
Speaker 3: through it. That's the only way I can kind of
6:43
Speaker 3: look at it. Yeah, the contact was a little bit harder,
6:45
Speaker 3: but it was all singles. There was a humpback liner,
6:48
Speaker 3: there was you know, a single through the whole. I
6:51
Speaker 3: just didn't see a lot of hard contact. There wasn't
6:53
Speaker 3: he was falling behind hitters, but it wasn't like he
6:56
Speaker 3: was giving up these hard contacts doubles in the gap
6:59
Speaker 3: home runs. It just kind of felt like a quick
7:01
Speaker 3: cook at sixty eight pitches, I was assuming when you
7:04
Speaker 3: go back and look at it, I almost thought it
7:06
Speaker 3: was eighty eight. The way they kind of reacted that
7:08
Speaker 3: inning to get them out of there so quick. Sixty
7:10
Speaker 3: eight pitches is just not a lot for a starting
7:12
Speaker 3: pitcher to think that he's losing his stuff or that
7:16
Speaker 3: he should be out of there there. It just kind
7:17
Speaker 3: of felt to me that it was almost premeditated. And
7:20
Speaker 3: it goes to show how much runs are the premium
7:22
Speaker 3: this series and what they think of this, the Mariners
7:25
Speaker 3: pitching staff as a whole, is that they think that
7:27
Speaker 3: you know, one one game, they got to get their
7:29
Speaker 3: one of their better relievers in the game and kind
7:31
Speaker 3: of keep the game right there at one to one.
7:33
Speaker 2: But to me, I thought it was a little bit quick.
7:35
Speaker 2: But obviously I.
7:36
Speaker 3: Think there was some game planning behind the scenes that
7:38
Speaker 3: maybe was discussed before the game started.
7:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think Craig Albernas was mentioning that fact after
7:44
Speaker 4: the game too, Brad, and the fact that knowing that
7:47
Speaker 4: runs are going to be at a premium, And it
7:49
Speaker 4: was also who was the next batter, And I think
7:52
Speaker 4: Julio Rodriguez being up next really played a big, big
7:55
Speaker 4: role in Trey Gibbson getting that early hook.
7:58
Speaker 5: But I'm with both of you, guys.
8:01
Speaker 4: I think in that fifth inning he was getting hit
8:04
Speaker 4: a little harder.
8:05
Speaker 5: But sixty eight pitches.
8:07
Speaker 4: I don't know if there's been, you know, some recent
8:10
Speaker 4: instances where maybe the starter has been in a little
8:13
Speaker 4: too long and you get burnt and maybe you're kind
8:15
Speaker 4: of overthinking there a bit. And Gibson this is only
8:19
Speaker 4: his third start, so maybe you're being extra cautious with him.
8:22
Speaker 5: But it did seem a little quick.
8:26
Speaker 1: Good to me too, And you know, I think if
8:28
Speaker 1: you're going to trust this kid to come up and
8:30
Speaker 1: pitch in Yankee stadium for his debut against Rice, and judge,
8:35
Speaker 1: you can trust him in the fifth inning at home
8:37
Speaker 1: against Julio Rodriguez, obviously dangerous hitter, but he didn't in
8:42
Speaker 1: this case, and he went with Nuniez who's struggling, and
8:45
Speaker 1: he struggled again after. He was better after, but the
8:48
Speaker 1: damage was done. Let's talk about Nunez coming up in
8:51
Speaker 1: a moment. He's got some struggles going on right now
8:54
Speaker 1: after a great start to his season. Birdland Territory with
8:57
Speaker 1: you today.
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Speaker 1: Seatkeek Leo. Start the homestand losing to the Mariners six
10:02
Speaker 1: to three, suddenly now five under a chase to get
10:05
Speaker 1: to five hundred is really an uphill climb, and so
10:08
Speaker 1: they got knocked back a bit here. So here's the math.
10:12
Speaker 1: Albernas was thinking about, you know, do you go change
10:15
Speaker 1: up there to nailor The slugging percentage against the change
10:20
Speaker 1: up for Anthony Nunyez is two point fifty eight and
10:24
Speaker 1: the slugging percentage against his four seemer is four sixty nine.
10:28
Speaker 1: So he seemed to really want the change up there,
10:30
Speaker 1: which he throws almost exclusively to the left. And I
10:34
Speaker 1: mentioned on the show before Brad that when I was
10:36
Speaker 1: a much younger guy and I would second guess the
10:39
Speaker 1: minor league team I was covering Aberdeen at the time.
10:42
Speaker 1: Dave Schmid once said to me, Steve, it's seldom about
10:45
Speaker 1: the pitch selection. It's almost always about the pitch location.
10:51
Speaker 1: But in this case, Naylor hit out of pitch. It
10:53
Speaker 1: was in a pretty good spot. It may not even
10:55
Speaker 1: have been a strike, but then the question was to
10:58
Speaker 1: pitch selection. This is where one of those instances occurred.
11:03
Speaker 1: And so Brad, that must have got to be frustrating
11:05
Speaker 1: for a relief pitcher to know if I had gone
11:08
Speaker 1: with a different pitch, maybe I would have had a
11:10
Speaker 1: different result.
11:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was always one of the biggest things for me.
11:14
Speaker 3: That was the most frustrating part, what kept me up
11:16
Speaker 3: at night, was just thinking about I've.
11:18
Speaker 2: Thrown another pitch there. Should I have thrown in a
11:20
Speaker 2: different location.
11:21
Speaker 3: It's just it's so frustrating as a pitcher to get
11:24
Speaker 3: beat on one pitch or a pitch that you're trying
11:27
Speaker 3: to get to the next pitch with. And to me,
11:30
Speaker 3: it just Nunia's has been getting beat to lefties with
11:33
Speaker 3: his four steamer going in and I think that's that
11:36
Speaker 3: might be kind of the thing lefties are looking for
11:38
Speaker 3: right now, if he comes in hard, you take a
11:41
Speaker 3: big swing because it's most likely going to be a
11:42
Speaker 3: four steamer, or if you get beat on the sweeper
11:46
Speaker 3: as a hitter, you kind of tip your cap. But
11:48
Speaker 3: to me, it's just I haven't seen many relievers in
11:51
Speaker 3: particular throw almost exclusively pitches to certain sides of the plate.
11:56
Speaker 3: With Nunia's it's the change up and the fur seamer
11:59
Speaker 3: to lefties. To Righty's it's the sinker and the sweeper.
12:02
Speaker 3: I know those are analytically almost opposite pitches and you're
12:05
Speaker 3: kind of tunneling them off of each other.
12:08
Speaker 2: But he's got such good stuff.
12:09
Speaker 3: I would just love to see the data behind all
12:12
Speaker 3: this stuff that he just has too many good pitches
12:14
Speaker 3: to only throw two pitches to each side of the plate.
12:17
Speaker 3: And to me, it's with this change up and with
12:19
Speaker 3: the sweeper, I just feel like you got to figure
12:21
Speaker 3: out a way to be able to throw both of those,
12:24
Speaker 3: especially the big league level of these hitters are too
12:26
Speaker 3: good that if you're only throwing almost two pitches exclusively
12:29
Speaker 3: to one side of the plate, you're just not using
12:31
Speaker 3: your full potential and your full gamut. That's available to you,
12:36
Speaker 3: and last night he unfortunately got beat. I didn't think
12:38
Speaker 3: the location was bad, but I just think at this
12:40
Speaker 3: point left these are kind of zeroing in on.
12:43
Speaker 2: If he goes in hard.
12:44
Speaker 3: It's going to be a four seamer and you can
12:45
Speaker 3: and especially it came the yards with a short porch
12:47
Speaker 3: the right, you kind of take a big swing and
12:49
Speaker 3: you take your chance.
12:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, And that's kind of what Craig Albernas was saying.
12:54
Speaker 4: He wasn't necessarily putting down the location or even putting
12:58
Speaker 4: down his four seam in general, but he was basically saying,
13:02
Speaker 4: man like his sweeper and his changeup, like those are
13:05
Speaker 4: just such great pitches where maybe you go there in
13:08
Speaker 4: that area. And I thought Craig Albernaz, you know, he
13:11
Speaker 4: was kind of talking more walking Holyo on five pitches
13:17
Speaker 4: is probably would really hurt Nunez to get to Naylor,
13:20
Speaker 4: to get to that situation. But Brad, you said it
13:24
Speaker 4: then Albernaz said it last night too. This is someone
13:27
Speaker 4: that has electric stuff, and this is someone that got
13:32
Speaker 4: off to a fantastic start to the season, but it's
13:36
Speaker 4: been a rough goal of it of late. You know,
13:38
Speaker 4: his last nineteen innings, he's allowed seventeen earned runs, and
13:42
Speaker 4: Albernaz was saying, like last night sort of encapsulated this.
13:47
Speaker 5: Run that Nunez has been on.
13:49
Speaker 4: Just the inconsistency, because look, you walk Rodriguez, you give
13:53
Speaker 4: up the Grand Slam to Naylor.
13:55
Speaker 5: He retires his last seven batters.
13:57
Speaker 4: You know, he was kind of rolling after that point,
14:01
Speaker 4: but the damage was already done.
14:04
Speaker 1: So he was a real surprise making the roster and
14:08
Speaker 1: then pitching as well as he did early. We're talking
14:11
Speaker 1: about right hand or Anthony Nunie is throwing ninety six,
14:14
Speaker 1: showing a pretty good change up the left, showing the
14:17
Speaker 1: dynamics sweeper at times, swinging this stuff, and if you
14:20
Speaker 1: look at his stackcas Page, he still looks pretty good.
14:24
Speaker 1: But the eye test is telling us something different. Right now, Tim,
14:27
Speaker 1: you referred to the numbers. His first twelve games as
14:30
Speaker 1: Vra was one thirty five. Since late April it's eighth
14:34
Speaker 1: five and he's allowed a combined thirty two hits and
14:37
Speaker 1: walks in nineteen innings. It's definitely changed for him. So
14:42
Speaker 1: now here comes a decision for the Orioles, and I
14:44
Speaker 1: want to hear your guys thoughts. You can ride it
14:47
Speaker 1: out with a young inexperienced pitcher and hope he works
14:50
Speaker 1: through it, or you can reset option to triple A,
14:54
Speaker 1: which is also not going to help his confidence, because
14:56
Speaker 1: how does that build your confidence? You just lost your
14:59
Speaker 1: roster spot. But sometimes it works. What a tough call
15:05
Speaker 1: for the team, I think with this young talented pitcher.
15:08
Speaker 1: What do you guys say?
15:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it is a tough call, and I
15:12
Speaker 3: think it's it's one of those things where he is
15:15
Speaker 3: a true rookie, Like he got put on the roster
15:18
Speaker 3: kind of last minute. He was, like we talked about
15:20
Speaker 3: early on, he was sent to the minor league side
15:22
Speaker 3: on the other side of town in camp and still
15:25
Speaker 3: made the opening Dave roster. I think he's had a
15:27
Speaker 3: lot of stuff thrown his way. Like you said, he's
15:29
Speaker 3: a super talented pitcher. I just I just think he
15:32
Speaker 3: has steps as any young pitcher would to figure out
15:36
Speaker 3: how to pitch at the big league level and how
15:38
Speaker 3: to have sustained success. It's really hard to put together
15:40
Speaker 3: six months, and it took it takes everybody years. I mean,
15:44
Speaker 3: there's there's a handful of pitchers in the big leagues
15:46
Speaker 3: that figure out how to be a high end reliever
15:49
Speaker 3: from the beginning and not have any hiccups and get
15:51
Speaker 3: sent down.
15:52
Speaker 2: So I think it is a decision they might have
15:54
Speaker 2: to make here. I think maybe reset would be good.
15:56
Speaker 3: But at the same time, he is such a valuable
15:59
Speaker 3: arm in that bullpen. He can do so many different things.
16:02
Speaker 3: It's just kind of hard at this point of the season.
16:04
Speaker 3: It's such a critical stretch. Where are the spots to
16:07
Speaker 3: find him to get him back on a roll. And
16:08
Speaker 3: if he doesn't have success again now he gets this
16:11
Speaker 3: conference hurt even more. And I just think it's a
16:12
Speaker 3: tricky situation to try to find these spots for relievers
16:16
Speaker 3: been there before. It's not a comfortable spot to be in.
16:19
Speaker 3: You know, you're struggling, you know you have all these
16:21
Speaker 3: things coming your way. You're trying to figure it out
16:23
Speaker 3: on the fly, and it's just not an easy spot
16:25
Speaker 3: for the team and for him right now. And I
16:27
Speaker 3: just I think I am I'm really high on him.
16:29
Speaker 3: I think he has everything you need to have to
16:32
Speaker 3: have success at the big league level.
16:34
Speaker 2: He's just running some hiccups here.
16:35
Speaker 3: And I think anybody, no matter how talented, no matter
16:37
Speaker 3: how confident you are, runs into these situations early on
16:40
Speaker 3: in your career.
16:42
Speaker 4: That's the thing. Like, long term, I'm super this could
16:46
Speaker 4: be someone that could potentially close out games, you know,
16:49
Speaker 4: in a year or two. He has that type of
16:51
Speaker 4: dynamic arm. But he's twenty four years old. You know,
16:55
Speaker 4: this is the first run in the majors and this
16:58
Speaker 4: is his first string of adversity. I think if you're
17:02
Speaker 4: the Orioles, you do have to consider all options. I
17:06
Speaker 4: think at the bare minimum, you need to find some
17:09
Speaker 4: low leverage spots to just get him in to hopefully
17:12
Speaker 4: have those good outings to build some confidence. But guys,
17:15
Speaker 4: unfortunately for them, and he's been out for a while.
17:17
Speaker 4: At this point, this is where the Hellsley injury really
17:21
Speaker 4: hurts them, because if Helsley was here, it slots everybody
17:25
Speaker 4: back down a rung and maybe that would really help
17:28
Speaker 4: Anthony Nunyaz.
17:29
Speaker 5: At this point, it's.
17:33
Speaker 1: A tough decision, and I mean, this kid's got a
17:35
Speaker 1: lot of talent, and so they have to somehow find
17:38
Speaker 1: ways to get him right. The problem happens, you want
17:42
Speaker 1: an eight one game to get him an inning or two,
17:44
Speaker 1: and that game never comes. You play ten straight games
17:47
Speaker 1: are all tight and you can't hide relievers. So baseball
17:50
Speaker 1: has shown this over. If you're one of those seven
17:53
Speaker 1: or eight guys, you have to be ready to go.
17:55
Speaker 1: So we'll see how the Orioles ride it out here
17:58
Speaker 1: and try to get Anthony Nunya going because we've seen
18:01
Speaker 1: the immense talent he has and when he can bring
18:03
Speaker 1: to this bullpen. Helsley, by the way, is getting close
18:06
Speaker 1: to rehab, maybe real close, and so hope, I mean,
18:10
Speaker 1: knock on wood here won't be too much longer. They
18:12
Speaker 1: really could use him back on the roster. It's Birdland
18:18
Speaker 1: Territory with you today for Daily Dinger's Segment presented by
18:27
Speaker 1: FanDuel and these upcoming games here, if you're gonna make
18:31
Speaker 1: a wager on an oriol to hit a home run,
18:34
Speaker 1: Colton Cowser is not a bad pick, so he's gonna
18:36
Speaker 1: be mine here for Daily Dingers. For the rest of
18:39
Speaker 1: this series against Seattle, they're gonna see three right handed pitchers,
18:42
Speaker 1: so he should get a lot of starts, maybe three
18:44
Speaker 1: starts here, and guys, here's the math on Colton. He
18:48
Speaker 1: had one homer his first forty one games, he was
18:50
Speaker 1: slugging two fifty. He hit five in his last sixteen games.
18:54
Speaker 1: He's slugging six't eighty two. His ops is over one
18:58
Speaker 1: thousand in this stretch. Anything you saw that turned it
19:02
Speaker 1: so dramatically for Coping Cowser.
19:06
Speaker 3: They had talked about his working on mechanics, and I
19:08
Speaker 3: think they kind of simplified his leg kick.
19:11
Speaker 2: I believe that's what they were talking about.
19:13
Speaker 3: And I think it's just getting that firm foot down
19:15
Speaker 3: earlier to allow him to be able to recognize off
19:17
Speaker 3: speed pitches, which he was really struggling on. And now
19:20
Speaker 3: that I'm not necessarily saying that he's he's still kind
19:24
Speaker 3: of struggling against off steed pitches, but I think he's
19:26
Speaker 3: able to lay off ones that he's just not able
19:28
Speaker 3: to do any damage or do anything with.
19:30
Speaker 2: And I think that's been the difference.
19:31
Speaker 3: He's been getting in more fastball counts and laying off
19:34
Speaker 3: those nasty breaking balls that earlier in the season he
19:37
Speaker 3: was kind of just waving at. So I think it's
19:39
Speaker 3: just been getting that firm foot down earlier, being able
19:41
Speaker 3: to recognize and just using his natural talent, which is
19:44
Speaker 3: getting that to the baseball. And when he does, he
19:46
Speaker 3: hits the ball a long way. He hits the ball
19:48
Speaker 3: really hard when he's able to be on time. And
19:51
Speaker 3: last night we saw he just missed that one to
19:53
Speaker 3: right field. It almost seemed like the ball just wasn't
19:55
Speaker 3: caring like it normally does at Cammon Yards.
19:57
Speaker 2: I thought that one was gone.
19:58
Speaker 3: We saw Visio the way he dropped his bat there
20:01
Speaker 3: in the eighth inning or seventh inning.
20:03
Speaker 2: He thought that was a whole run.
20:04
Speaker 3: I don't think I've ever seen a reaction like that
20:06
Speaker 3: where you dropped the bat and it lands in front
20:08
Speaker 3: of the warning track. So I just think Colin cows
20:11
Speaker 3: A right now is just getting more on time. He's
20:14
Speaker 3: recognizing all speed pitches and kind of getting to more fastballs,
20:17
Speaker 3: which is definitely his strength.
20:19
Speaker 4: I think sports are all about making adjustments, right and
20:23
Speaker 4: Colden Kowser his rookie year, it finished second in Rookie
20:27
Speaker 4: of the Year voting, and the pitching made the adjustments
20:31
Speaker 4: where he's always been able to match fastballs. But as
20:34
Speaker 4: you were just saying, Brad, the breaking pitches, the off
20:37
Speaker 4: speed pitches.
20:38
Speaker 5: But what you've.
20:39
Speaker 4: Seen in this recent stretch where Cowser's been really, really good,
20:42
Speaker 4: even with an zero for five last night, at the
20:45
Speaker 4: last twenty one games sit in three twenty seven. He's
20:48
Speaker 4: got NOPs over one thousand, but Sunday is a good example.
20:52
Speaker 5: The home run that he hit.
20:54
Speaker 4: It was on a slider, and even though you look
20:57
Speaker 4: at the batting average against break pitches, it's not great.
21:01
Speaker 4: It's a one to seventy five below the Mendoza line,
21:05
Speaker 4: but he is slugging off of them now. He's got
21:08
Speaker 4: a four to twenty five slug Three of his six
21:10
Speaker 4: home runs have came off breaking pitches, so pitchers can't
21:15
Speaker 4: always default to all right, I'm not gonna throw cold
21:18
Speaker 4: in the fastball at this point, and then it opens
21:21
Speaker 4: him up to hit those fastballs that are coming because
21:24
Speaker 4: he's hidden over three hundred against those fastballs. I also
21:28
Speaker 4: just think from a confidence perspective, you know, just the
21:31
Speaker 4: back to back days where he had the walk offs
21:33
Speaker 4: and just how emotional that was and how happy the
21:36
Speaker 4: team was for him, and we were talking about that,
21:39
Speaker 4: just what he means to this clubhouse contributing m guys.
21:44
Speaker 4: I think getting more consistent run is also helping him
21:47
Speaker 4: because he got off to the really tough start and
21:50
Speaker 4: was kind of marginalized to a little bit of a
21:53
Speaker 4: part time player, especially when Dylan Beavers was still healthy.
21:56
Speaker 4: Where Beavers has been on the il now for multi
22:00
Speaker 4: weeks and Kwser has been the one to benefit.
22:04
Speaker 1: It's interesting to look at some of these metrics because
22:07
Speaker 1: even with a string of four hundred foot home runs
22:10
Speaker 1: that had exit velocities of one to ten ish, he
22:14
Speaker 1: still rates real low in stats like hard hit and
22:17
Speaker 1: exit velocity. It just surprises me. Maybe that's all stemming
22:22
Speaker 1: from the poor start he had and it's just a
22:25
Speaker 1: carryover and this is going to normalize, But right now
22:28
Speaker 1: those numbers are still not great. Forklser, even as we
22:32
Speaker 1: see him hitting one hundred and ten four hundred and
22:36
Speaker 1: twenty feet, we saw it. It's happened in the last
22:39
Speaker 1: few weeks, but the math for his season is still
22:42
Speaker 1: low on that. So we'll see how that's going to
22:44
Speaker 1: play out. Hey, head over to fandel dot com slash
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23:14
Speaker 1: You know, as we lament the Oriols loss on Monday night,
23:18
Speaker 1: I went back and looked at my scoreesheet when I
23:19
Speaker 1: got home. Last night, Taylor Ward and Gunner Henderson were
23:23
Speaker 1: on base four times each eight times in ten plate appearances.
23:29
Speaker 1: They scored a combined zero runs. They were on base
23:33
Speaker 1: all night and didn't score once between them. So I
23:36
Speaker 1: think that shows you the Ooral offense had a tough
23:39
Speaker 1: night against a good pitching staff. And so man, if
23:43
Speaker 1: stuff like that's gonna happen, it's hard to win when
23:45
Speaker 1: guys get on base eight times and can't come in.
23:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, and once again it kind of goes down to
23:51
Speaker 3: hitting with the runners in scoring position. It's kind of
23:54
Speaker 3: been there there when they were struggling there after the
23:57
Speaker 3: first six weeks of the season. That was really the
23:59
Speaker 3: thing that stood out was the shooting themselves in the
24:02
Speaker 3: foot on the bases or in the field and not
24:05
Speaker 3: hitting with the runners in scoring position. And it just
24:07
Speaker 3: kind of seemed to creep up again last night. They
24:09
Speaker 3: had tons of opportunities and they just weren't able to
24:13
Speaker 3: get those runs in. Yes, the sackfly from Pete, but
24:15
Speaker 3: it's just the multiple run innings have seemed to ben
24:20
Speaker 3: not following them here lately. They get a ton of opportunities,
24:23
Speaker 3: guys on base with less than two outs and just
24:25
Speaker 3: not able to move them forward, and it's kind of
24:27
Speaker 3: been I think the last three games here has kind
24:29
Speaker 3: of been the issue. They had that four run inning
24:32
Speaker 3: up in Toronto, but after that, really nothing from the
24:34
Speaker 3: offensive side and just not able to get anything going.
24:37
Speaker 2: Then last night, I.
24:37
Speaker 3: Felt like they had base runners every single inning and
24:40
Speaker 3: just not able to cash them in. And unfortunately those
24:42
Speaker 3: lead the losses, especially against good teams.
24:44
Speaker 2: I mean, this Manners team was.
24:45
Speaker 3: One win away from going to the World Series last year,
24:49
Speaker 3: so really good team.
24:50
Speaker 2: They're starting to.
24:51
Speaker 3: We know they have good starting pitching and when you
24:53
Speaker 3: get to the bullpen last night, they were a little shaky,
24:55
Speaker 3: a little wild, but that bullpen is not somebody you
24:58
Speaker 3: want to face down in the game.
24:59
Speaker 2: Late.
25:02
Speaker 5: What was it brash? He had no idea where he was.
25:04
Speaker 2: Throwing that moment.
25:07
Speaker 4: For any better to be in the box last night,
25:10
Speaker 4: But honestly, that that inning, Steve sort of perfectly illustrates
25:16
Speaker 4: what you're talking about. Taylor warred almost because his head
25:18
Speaker 4: taken off and they gets hid in his ribs and
25:21
Speaker 4: then Gunner he comes back from two on the count
25:24
Speaker 4: to work a walk in a really nice at bat
25:27
Speaker 4: and I hate.
25:27
Speaker 5: The single outpeep, but it's such a.
25:30
Speaker 4: Bizarre stat for him with how great he's been with
25:34
Speaker 4: runners in scoring position bases loaded in his career. But
25:37
Speaker 4: we were talking yesterday in the press box, he's now
25:40
Speaker 4: just one for ten with a basses loaded situations. And
25:44
Speaker 4: that one hit was that walk off from from a
25:47
Speaker 4: week ago where the Orioles were trailing four runs heading
25:50
Speaker 4: into the ninth inning. That was just such a big
25:53
Speaker 4: big spot there with bases loaded, one out, you're down
25:57
Speaker 4: three runs at that point and did not push another
26:00
Speaker 4: run across.
26:01
Speaker 5: It was a big gup punch.
26:04
Speaker 1: So the Ools were ten and four their prior fourteen
26:06
Speaker 1: home games until Monday night. So I want to ask
26:09
Speaker 1: the guys if a three game mini slide will turn
26:13
Speaker 1: into a major slide, which would be exactly what we
26:16
Speaker 1: don't want as the Ools have this big homestand continuing
26:19
Speaker 1: at Camden Yards.
26:23
Speaker 9: Big Bad Morning Show Vinnie and Hani Inside Access Live
26:27
Speaker 9: on YouTube weekdays six till six, Search Baltimore one O
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26:41
Speaker 1: So, guys, I will take the optimistic side here, Sunshine, Steve.
26:44
Speaker 1: We know how now I feel about the Oriols that
26:47
Speaker 1: this will pass, and this three game losing streak, including
26:52
Speaker 1: the Sunday loss, it's much discussed in Toronto, will pass.
26:57
Speaker 1: But they got to elevate their game. Man. The Mariners
27:01
Speaker 1: are playing top notch right now. They have a rotation
27:05
Speaker 1: that's among the best in baseball. They gotta find a way.
27:09
Speaker 1: So if those first two guys get on base eight
27:12
Speaker 1: times tonight, they got to score a couple of runs. Here.
27:15
Speaker 1: What do you guys see happening after a three game slide.
27:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just think it's been it's kind of going
27:22
Speaker 3: back to when they went on a slide earlier in
27:23
Speaker 3: the season. I feel like it's one or two plays
27:25
Speaker 3: that have been the difference in these these three games.
27:28
Speaker 3: And like you said, Bradis wasn't his best that the
27:31
Speaker 3: first game, so you kind of chalk that up. The
27:32
Speaker 3: starting rotation has been so good that it's just baseball
27:35
Speaker 3: that's going to happen. But the last two games, you
27:38
Speaker 3: feel like you got to have one of them, to
27:40
Speaker 3: lose both of you, I feel like they could have
27:42
Speaker 3: had both of them, but to lose both of them
27:44
Speaker 3: is kind.
27:45
Speaker 2: Of it hurts. You feel like you gotta at least
27:47
Speaker 2: split those games.
27:48
Speaker 3: You got to find a way to win one of
27:50
Speaker 3: those games, and you just got to hope that the
27:53
Speaker 3: middle of the lineup just kind of gets these runs in.
27:55
Speaker 3: Last night, once again we've kind of talked about. To me,
27:59
Speaker 3: having Adli and Bess both out of the lineup really
28:02
Speaker 3: shows their depth is being challenged across this roster. To
28:07
Speaker 3: not have either of those guys in the lineup last night,
28:10
Speaker 3: to me, is it hurts.
28:12
Speaker 2: It takes a big bat out of the middle of
28:13
Speaker 2: that lineup.
28:14
Speaker 3: And not to say the guys that are in the
28:16
Speaker 3: lineup can't get it done, but to me, it's just
28:19
Speaker 3: at this point of the season, in this critical stretch,
28:21
Speaker 3: you kind of have the guys in the middle of
28:22
Speaker 3: the lineup in the lineup. They're they're they're your best hitters,
28:25
Speaker 3: and I just I would love to know the reason
28:29
Speaker 3: behind all this. I know they're both catchers. I know
28:30
Speaker 3: you want to get them rest and everything, but it's
28:32
Speaker 3: just it takes a big bat out of the middle
28:34
Speaker 3: of the lineup, and when you get Gunner and Taylor
28:36
Speaker 3: on base as much as they did last night, not
28:39
Speaker 3: having those two bats in the lineup, I felt like
28:42
Speaker 3: really showed up last night.
28:44
Speaker 5: Yeah, I completely agree, Brad.
28:46
Speaker 4: I was very surprised to see both of those guys
28:48
Speaker 4: out just considering it, you know, back to back losses.
28:51
Speaker 5: You're starting the home stand.
28:53
Speaker 10: Look and Sam maybe he was banged up, but he
28:56
Speaker 10: ended up pinch hitting last night in the eighth inning,
28:59
Speaker 10: and and you're coming off a day game someday, So
29:02
Speaker 10: it wasn't like I don't know that that was a
29:04
Speaker 10: little curious.
29:05
Speaker 4: But tonight seems big for me, right, Like, you have
29:09
Speaker 4: a you're on a three game losing streak, and now
29:12
Speaker 4: it's Trevor Rodgers on the mound, and Rogers, I think
29:16
Speaker 4: we can say, is at least turning the corner a
29:20
Speaker 4: bit over these last three starts. But you're going up
29:23
Speaker 4: against this tough Seattle team, and I believe Logan Gilbert's
29:27
Speaker 4: starting for them. This seems like a critical spot because
29:31
Speaker 4: you definitely don't want this losing streak to go to four,
29:35
Speaker 4: and you definitely don't want Rogers to regress.
29:38
Speaker 5: If he can at least continue this up.
29:43
Speaker 4: That he's been on where at least he's been flashing
29:46
Speaker 4: of late.
29:47
Speaker 5: I think that that would be big.
29:50
Speaker 1: It feels like a big game. When don't they When
29:53
Speaker 1: do we watch the Oros one night and say we
29:55
Speaker 1: don't care what happens and it really doesn't matter. No,
29:58
Speaker 1: it matters every night. And the climb to five hundred
30:02
Speaker 1: is challenging when you fall five back as they have now.
30:06
Speaker 1: They could go five and one the rest of this
30:08
Speaker 1: homestand we'd feel great about it, and they still would
30:11
Speaker 1: not be at five hundred. So it's a tough, uphill
30:14
Speaker 1: climb and the Oils are still facing it. They were
30:17
Speaker 1: playing great baseball, folks, and suddenly they're not. And so
30:21
Speaker 1: is it a blip on the radar or a bigger issue.
30:23
Speaker 1: We're going to find out a lot more on this
30:25
Speaker 1: homestand hey, thanks for tuning in today. We're with you
30:28
Speaker 1: three times a week here with our thirty minute shows,
30:31
Speaker 1: and please subscribe, follow us on the podcast channels as
30:35
Speaker 1: well if you're just checking out the audio portion of it,
30:38
Speaker 1: and so we'll see you next time on Birdland Territory