Sixteen. Sixteen straight games in which the Baltimore Orioles have allowed their opponent to score at least five runs. That sets a new American League record, and is just four shy of the MLB record, held by the 1924 Philadelphia Phillies.
To add insult to that insult (we’re well past injury at this point), they’ve also given up 10 or more runs in FIVE of their last 10 games.
That’s bad!
Here’s some more ugly:
The O’s currently rank dead last in MLB in ERA (5.06), 26th in K/9 (7.24), 28th in BB/9 (3.82), 29th in FIP (5.23), and 29th in xFIP (4.95).
738 PA, 136 R, 200 H, 39 2B, 40 HR, .308/.379/.562
Would be an incredible offensive season. That's what the Orioles have allowed in June— Dan Hirsch (@DanHirsch) June 20, 2017
And yet, somehow, this man still has a job:
That’s Orioles pitching coach Roger McDowell, the man who has steered this ship directly into the iceberg.
Now, before you jump down my throat:
Is it Roger McDowell’s fault that Chris Tillman is pitching through a shoulder injury that he incurred (and decided not to fix) before he even took the job? Of course not.
Is it his fault that Ubaldo Jimenez is the same exactly infuriatingly inconsistent pitcher he’s been since he arrived in Baltimore? Nope!
Is it his fault that Dylan Bundy is struggling as of late, as he tries to work through his first full MLB season? Nah.
Is it McDowell’s doing that the entire cast of patchwork bullpen arms Dan Duquette assembled this offseason, from Richard Bleier, to Vidal Nuno, to Edwin Jackson, and more, have all been straight up garbage from the minute they arrived? No, it’s not.
Did Roger make Kevin Gausman forget how to repeat a delivery and lose all effectiveness of his best pitch, his splitter? Nahh….ehhhh, ya know what? I’m not absolving him of that one.
All of that said though, you can’t just replace the entire pitching staff. When you set a record for futility like the one described above, someone needs to be held accountable.
Say you’re a sales manager. Your division posts their lowest sales numbers in the history of the company this quarter. Does the boss replace the entire sales team? Or does she replace you?
That’s right – you’d better get to work updating that resume. It’s not your fault that your whole team forgot how to wheel & deal at the same time, but you’re gonna be the one to fall on the sword.
And while a small percentage of the Orioles’ pitching struggles can be placed at the feet of Roger McDowell this season – and whoever they bring in next probably can’t put any lipstick on this pig either – I just can’t see any rationale behind letting him remain as the team’s pitching coach for another day.
Oh, and do we remember this?
Remember that time Dan Duquette was a weirdo and wouldn't return Dom Chiti's phone calls? Fun. https://t.co/bg6epxhNrz
— Eutaw Street Report (@EutawStReport) June 20, 2017
Dan Duquette’s seat should be getting awful warm as well.
