There is no joy in Birdland. Let’s get right to the links.
Can Adam Jones be Counted On in the Three Hole?
Adam Jones had a chance to win the game for the Orioles on Sunday, batting with Jimmy Paredes on second base and two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning. Jones struck out on a pitch nowhere near the strike zone, and looked awful doing so. While Jones’ end-of-year numbers will look pretty much exactly like what we expect from him, Joshua Sadlock of Baseball Essential digs a little deeper and finds some troubling trends in AJ’s peripherals.
What WPA Teaches About the 2015 Orioles
The Orioles could have really used a clutch hit from Jones in that AB, but Jones is far from alone in coming through in the clutch here in 2015. Did you know there’s a stat for that? WPA (Win Probability Added) attempts to quantify a team’s chances of winning the game from one AB to the next. Both O’s hitters and O’s starting pitchers are putting up lower WPA than they have lately. It’s nice when the stats match what your eyes are telling you – that this team just doesn’t have the “magic” in them.
We’ll Win the World Series in Six!
Dan Clark of The Big Leagues Daily runs through the roller coaster of emotions he (and most every Orioles fan) has gone through this year, starting back in February and leading up to this very disappointing August.
It’s National Dog Day, So Maybe These MLB Pups Will Cheer You Up
Bryce Harper named his poor dog “Swag,” because of course he did.
