The Birds lost a tough one last night, as Chris Tillman’s sparkling 7-inning, 2 ER start was wasted. Not only did the team end up losing, but they did so in 12 innings, so the good start didn’t even keep the bullpen fresh. The O’s suddenly turned into the team that everyone feared they’d be this year – the one that struck out way too much and could only score on solo home runs. Here’s hoping it was just a one night thing, but they’ve scored three or fewer runs in five of their last seven, and are 1-4 in those games.
Come back, #TacoBellLineup. We miss you. To the links…
The Heart and Soul Behind the Orioles Pitching Staff
Tim Brown of Yahoo! profiles Orioles pitching coach Dave Wallace. It’s a great piece, with Wallace giving insight as to what keeps him going at 68 years old and after nearly 50 years in the game. Much of it is watching guys like Brad Brach resurrect their careers, or youngsters like Kevin Gausman mature.
FanGraph’s The Birchwood Brothers, who write about fantasy baseball, say that Mike Wright may be a good pickup going forward. Apparently they don’t think his spot in the rotation is as tenuous as many O’s fans do.
What Happened to Brian Matusz?
Ryan Pollack, writing for Camden Depot, tries to figure out what the heck made Brian Matusz so awful all the sudden. Graphs ahoy! Basically, he stopped throwing strikes, and batters stopped chasing balls. When they chased strikes, they crushed them. This is all a recipe for disaster, which is what we saw. The bet here is that he becomes a serviceable starting pitcher somewhere in the NL – not Jake Arrieta by any means, but still good enough to annoy O’s fans.
Bird’s Eye View Episode 165: O’s, Bohs, and Ice Floes
Speaking of Matusz, Jake of Bird’s Eye View has been campaigning to put him on an ice floe for years now. While he and Scott were recording Monday night’s show, it happened! The guys are also joined by Rob Shields of Baltimore Sports and Life to talk about his piece (linked here the other day) on O’s who may be gone shortly.
A Decision Must be Made Regarding Kim
In yesterday’s Word on the Street, I said that Hyun-soo Kim should start against Doug Fister, but that I wasn’t holding my breath. Of course, he wasn’t in the lineup. What’s he doing on this team? In his weekly guest column at MASN, Dillon Atkinson says it’s time to stop the charade of even having him on the team. Offer an MiLB assignment again, or try to work out a deal to send him back to Korea. I have a thought that the other DA didn’t float though – why not try to trade him? There were reportedly many teams interested in him before the Birds signed him, so perhaps one of those squads would be willing to give him a more fair shake than Buck has. Whatever they decide to do, it should happen soon.
And in Ravens news…
Ray Lewis is out at ESPN, so what’s next for #52? Adam Bonaccorsi of Russell Street Report throws out some options for Ray-Ray in a light-hearted funny piece. Where would you like to see Lewis go next?
