There doesn’t seem to be a 2023 Orioles thread so if it’s OK with everyone, I’ll get it rolling.
As a Sox fan who has lived in MD for 25 years now, I’ve witnessed up close the general futility that is the O’s. But that is changing . . . (Which does not fill me with any sense of joy).
Clearly the strength of the team is their offense, including base running (19 out of 20 on SB attempts).
Adley Rutschman has quickly established himself as one of the best Cs in the game (Os fans are now having Matt Wieters flashbacks). He’s slashing .373/.467/.627, hit a walk-off HR yesterday and has convinced my 9-year old Sox loving son that he should have a Rutschman jersey.
Ryan Mountcastle is the alternate universe Bobby D— mashing dingers (6 of them to the tune of of a .679 slugging % & a .972 OPS).
They’ve got a solid top to bottom mid to late 20s line-up (Ramos Urias, a GG’er at 3rd who put up a 3.6 WAR last year is fighting for playing time with the #1 prospect, the aptly named Gunnar Henderson).
But (and there’s always a but with the Os), their starting pitching is, and I realize I’m using a very technical term here, hot boiled ass. They’ve got a team ERA of 5.49 which is 12th in the AL. Aside from Kyle Gibson & Felix Bautista there’s not much there there. Though top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez is up and looks like he will be a keeper.
A team on the rise, though I think the Sons of Larry Sheets are not yet convinced.
As a Sox fan who has lived in MD for 25 years now, I’ve witnessed up close the general futility that is the O’s. But that is changing . . . (Which does not fill me with any sense of joy).
Clearly the strength of the team is their offense, including base running (19 out of 20 on SB attempts).
Adley Rutschman has quickly established himself as one of the best Cs in the game (Os fans are now having Matt Wieters flashbacks). He’s slashing .373/.467/.627, hit a walk-off HR yesterday and has convinced my 9-year old Sox loving son that he should have a Rutschman jersey.
Ryan Mountcastle is the alternate universe Bobby D— mashing dingers (6 of them to the tune of of a .679 slugging % & a .972 OPS).
They’ve got a solid top to bottom mid to late 20s line-up (Ramos Urias, a GG’er at 3rd who put up a 3.6 WAR last year is fighting for playing time with the #1 prospect, the aptly named Gunnar Henderson).
But (and there’s always a but with the Os), their starting pitching is, and I realize I’m using a very technical term here, hot boiled ass. They’ve got a team ERA of 5.49 which is 12th in the AL. Aside from Kyle Gibson & Felix Bautista there’s not much there there. Though top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez is up and looks like he will be a keeper.
A team on the rise, though I think the Sons of Larry Sheets are not yet convinced.
