Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of O’s links. Since Monday was a holiday, we have an extra day of weekend reading to catch up on. Speaking of weekends, it was a frustrating one in Birdland, but at least it was bookended by a couple high notes.
The O’s bats came alive on Friday night, erasing a 3-0 deficit to Marlins to win the opener in Miami 8-5, only to fall into a dormant slumber for the remaining two games in South Florida. Another great start by Mike Wright was wasted on Saturday, as the O’s fell 1-0 in 13 innings, and they managed only two runs in Sunday’s loss. Things looked bleak going into Monday’s game against the suddenly world-beater Houston Astros, who had ace Dallas Keuchel on the mound. The Birds touched up Keuchel for two two-run home runs (tripling his HRs allowed on the season in the process), and gave him the first blemish on his previously 6-0 record in 2015.
A 2-2 weekend isn’t quite what any of us had hoped for, but a series win (or, dare I suggest, a sweep) against Houston would go a long way to getting some good vibes going in Birdland again.
Let’s hit the links.
Why Doesn’t Manny Machado Walk More?
Manny Machado is a bit of an oddity at the plate – the rare player who the metrics say is very patient, but who takes very few walks. Ryan Romano of Camden Depot tries to figure out why.
@ClaudeCat17 has a recap of Monday’s game from a fan’s perspective, which is what we prefer around here. No offense to the guys who grind out game summaries night in and night out – those absolutely have their value as well – but for me personally, I like some emotion in my game stories. Claude always brings it.
The Potential New J.D. Martinez?
Man, wouldn’t that be nice? Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs says that Jimmy Paredes reminds him a bit of a guy that terrorized AL pitching last season (and also struck fear into the hearts of O’s fans during the ALDS), J.D. Martinez of the Detroit Tigers. Here’s hopin’ that “Swingin’ Jimmy” can keep up his early season hot streak.
Can We Guess Which AL East Team you Root For?
Many of us are back at work after the long weekend, so a little bit of fun is in order. MLB’s Cut4 put together a little quiz to try to guess which AL East team readers root for. I’ll be honest – it’s really easy to manipulate this quiz to make it come out Orioles. Whatever. Take it anyway.
Brian Matusz Ejected, Suspended 8 Games, Appeals
There are countless negative terms to describe Brian Matusz’s career in Orange, and you can now add “cheater” to that list. Matusz was caught with a banned substance on his arm during Saturday’s extra-inning affair, and was subsequently suspended eight games. He is, of course, appealing, but the Birds will be a man short on their roster for however many games it ends up being, thanks to Brian being too obvious with something all pitchers do, and new Marlins GM/manager Dan Jennings being a horse’s rear end.
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One Response
Matusz cheated and should drop his appeal and take his suspension like a man. Also in my opinion, managers, media, and fans should quit offering the excuse that it’s ok because everyone does it. Everyone doesn’t do it and it’s cheating, plain and simple.