The Birds kicked off the second “half” in fine form, taking two of three from Tampa. Around the AL East, Boston also took two of three from the Yankees, while Toronto lost two of three in Oakland. So the Birds head to the Bronx with a 2.0-game lead on the Sox, and a 3.0-game cushion on the Jays. They’ll miss Tanaka, who pitched last night, so hopefully three-of-four is in order.
Let’s hit the links.
Despite the Numbers, Dylan Bundy Showed Some Promise on Sunday
Dylan Bundy made his first MLB start on Sunday, and while he looked good at times, he also gave up three home runs (one of which was some B.S.). The O’s scored, he coughed it right back up; he turned in several 20-plus-pitch innings; he walked the number nine batter who was hitting under .200 – it’s like he was trying to fill up his “O’s Starter Bingo” card. Carroll County Times’ Peter Schmuck weighs in.
An Alternative Starting Pitching Solution
Is the solution to the O’s starting pitching problem behind the plate, rather than on the mound? A very interesting thought from Camden Depot’s Elie Waitzer, who says that more playing time for the defensively-superior Caleb Joseph (especially when it comes to pitch-framing) could actually move the needle a bit. Given Buck’s crush on Matt Wieters, I can’t imagine this happening, but it’s a fun thought experiment nonetheless.
Speaking of pitchers you’d rather have Caleb catching than Matt, Sports on Earth’s Anthony Castrovince says that Kevin Gausman is the Birds’ X-Factor in the second half. Gausman takes the hill tonight in New York, looking for his first road win in a long, long time.
Gausman has success vs. Yankees, but still looking for first road win in 464 days. https://t.co/WaIVr5cQCN pic.twitter.com/pZGVhDKtto
— NBC Sports Orioles (@NBCSOrioles) July 18, 2016
Chris Davis isn’t Pulling the Ball as Much This Year
Camden Chat’s Alex Conway checks in on Chris Davis, who had a pretty miserable Sunday after racking up a few doubles earlier in the Tampa series. It seems as though Crush isn’t pulling the ball as much this year – at first blush, that would seem to be a good thing to me; Davis always seemed to be at his best when he was launching balls to left-center. However, as is often the case, what the numbers say and what my eyes tell me doesn’t quite line up. Davis should probably try to pull the ball a bit more, based on the numbers presented here.
Discussing Bundy, Alvarez, & Hardy
Some more musings on Bundy, from Baltimore Sports and Life’s Chris Stoner. Chris also touches on Pedro Alvarez (good!) and J.J. Hardy (not bad!).
And in Ravens news…
Knee-Jerk Reactions: Ravens, Tucker Reach New Deal
The clock was hurtling towards the new league year on Friday, and many Ravens fans were nervous that the team and franchise-tagged kicker Justin Tucker could reach a new deal, especially after some ominous words from Legatron’s agent earlier in the week. It got done. RSR staff react to the news here.
Tony Lombardi answers a question from a reader who is frustrated that the Ravens seem to be copycats, rather than ever creatively scheming their own designs.
