There were not many signs of life in Pittsburgh this weekend for the scuffling Baltimore Orioles, who were swept by the Pirates and are headed to to frigid Chicago with ice cold bats. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss with disgust the Orioles lost Easter weekend at The Confluence.<\/p>\n
[ ] @Nestor Aparicio \u2013 Prepare and bring the promised scratch-off ticket merchandise (Harlem Globetrotters and new Maryland Treasures boards, including the Boardwalk, Horse, and Bridge options) to the upcoming Maryland Crab Cake Tour stops, ensuring they are available by Friday and at the May 23 Kokos Pub event.<\/p>\n
Orioles\u2019 Early Season Struggles and Upcoming Events<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio discusses his excitement about wearing a Luis Aparicio throwback jersey and mentions the Maryland crab cake tour, including events at Faidley\u2019s, Costas, and Koco\u2019s Pub.<\/p>\n
Nestor highlights the support from GBMC, the Maryland lottery, and Farnan and Durham for the crab cake tour.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles\u2019 disappointing 3-6 start to the season, emphasizing the need for better performance from the pitching and defense.<\/p>\n
Nestor expresses frustration with the team\u2019s sloppy play and lack of consistent hitting, comparing it to last year\u2019s struggles.<\/p>\n
Concerns Over Pitching and Defense<\/p>\n
Luke Jones notes that the Orioles have lost five of their last six games and highlights the poor performance of Chris Bassett, comparing it to Kyle Gibson\u2019s struggles last year.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the lack of consistent pitching and defense, with examples of hard contact and missed opportunities in recent games.<\/p>\n
Luke mentions the importance of starting the season well, given the team\u2019s psychological and mental well-being, and the need for improvement across all areas of the game.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke reflect on the challenges faced by the team, including the impact of the Pirates\u2019 electric atmosphere and the need for better performance from the young players.<\/p>\n
Leadership and Team Dynamics<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the lack of leadership within the team, with Adley Rutschman and Pete Alonso being the main figures expected to step up.<\/p>\n
Luke expresses concern over the team\u2019s overall performance and the need for better leadership and consistency from the players and coaching staff.<\/p>\n
Nestor highlights the importance of the young core players, such as Rutschman, Henderson, and Mountcastle, in driving the team\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
Luke mentions the need for better performance from the bullpen and the defense, with specific examples of missed opportunities and poor play.<\/p>\n
Impact of Early Season Struggles<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the potential long-term impact of the team\u2019s early season struggles, comparing it to last year\u2019s performance and the need to avoid a similar downward spiral.<\/p>\n
Luke emphasizes the importance of starting the season well to build momentum and avoid the negative vibes that can affect the team\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke reflect on the challenges faced by the team, including the impact of the Pirates\u2019 young pitching and the need for better performance from the Orioles\u2019 starters and relievers.<\/p>\n
Luke highlights the importance of consistent performance from the team\u2019s key players, such as Rutschman and Ward, to drive success.<\/p>\n
Upcoming Games and Future Outlook<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke discuss the upcoming games against the White Sox and the challenges the team will face, including the cold weather and the need for better performance from the pitching and defense.<\/p>\n
Luke emphasizes the importance of the team\u2019s upcoming games and the need for better performance to avoid a similar downward spiral to last year.<\/p>\n
Nestor and Luke reflect on the team\u2019s overall performance and the need for improvement across all areas of the game to drive success.<\/p>\n
Luke highlights the importance of the team\u2019s young players, such as Rutschman and Henderson, in driving the team\u2019s success and the need for better performance from the coaching staff.<\/p>\n
SUMMARY KEYWORDS<\/p>\n
Orioles, Pittsburgh, Chris Bassitt, Adley Rutschman, Pete Alonso, pitching, defense, sloppy play, bullpen, Ryan Mountcastle, Taylor Ward, Brandon Hyde, Maryland crab cake tour, GBMC.<\/p>\n
SPEAKERS<\/p>\n
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 00:01<\/p>\n
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 tau Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. I am wearing my Luis Aparicio. It\u2019s my brand new 59 throwback, man. So I figure, you know, if the oils are going to go play on the south side, I\u2019m going to get my Mitchell and nest out. Maybe I\u2019ll even find Todd Radom around here. We\u2019re going to be doing the Maryland crab cake tour three times, setting up more than three times. Surely, just three on the schedule right now. We\u2019re going to be at faidley\u2019s on Friday, as the San Francisco Giants come to town. We will be at Costas in Timonium on the 16th, that\u2019s next Thursday, and then the 23rd the following Thursday, end of the month. We\u2019ll be at Koco\u2019s Pub. I will have the remnants of the Harlem Globetrotters, but I do have the Maryland treasures. I will have a fresh batch of those, including the boardwalk one and the horse one and the bridge one and all that stuff in my bag on Friday as we get down the Fade. These all are brought to you by our friends at GBMC as well as the Maryland lottery. And Farnan and Durham are the comfort guys that brought me great comfort when my wife had a busted pipe on Wednesday morning and I was in in Minnesota where they lost power over the weekend for their baseball game and gave away cheap beer. The beer is not cold right now. Luke Jones, happy post Easter to you. Happy WrestleMania week. I know it\u2019s big times around the the Jones house, in addition to the big holidays, but you know, I wanted it to go better than three and six to start the season, dude, especially against these kinds of teams in this circumstance, and Bassett taking the ball off the backside, and the bats being cold and the gloves being a disaster. I inked an emergency column this out of all of this, but I know you are not heartened by the brand of baseball we are seeing right now, Luke,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 01:49<\/p>\n
yeah, and this is where we have to remember, we\u2019re nine games in. If you equate it to football, it\u2019s basically one game on the schedule, right? But it\u2019s not a whole lot to take away where you say, all right, they\u2019ve lost, you know, they\u2019ve lost five of six. They\u2019re three and six. They\u2019re not off to the start. They want to be overall. But you could point to this, this, this and this to feel great about. There\u2019s not a whole lot of that going on right now. I mean, Trevor Rogers, I thought Shane boss pitched well on Saturday. You know, they\u2019ve got a couple guys in the lineup swinging the bat pretty well, but it\u2019s just a lot of stuff that, frankly, to put it bluntly, reminds me a lot of last year, right? I mean sloppy play, shoddy defense, so some mistakes on the base pass, or just getting guys thrown out on the base<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 02:37<\/p>\n
pass, decisions, not thinking ball.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 02:39<\/p>\n
Yeah. I mean, just a lot of stuff that just not hitting contra in contrast to what the expectations were. And I<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 02:47<\/p>\n
keep thinking the same thing, like they\u2019ll hit, that that\u2019s one thing. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll ever catch the ball. Well, I don\u2019t know if the pitching will ever get organized, but I feel like they\u2019ll hit, dude, I spent 162 saying that all summer last year, and you kept shooting me down, until such point they were, Woe be gone. And dude, three and six, and what we\u2019re seeing the signs of life for this, and the manager getting thrown at just pu it stinks right now.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 03:10<\/p>\n
Yeah. I mean, it just it has not been a good start to the season. And you and I talked all off season, all winter, regardless of the moves made or the moves not made, or whatever the vibes were at Spring Training, right? I mean, all that, all the narrative stuff that you talk about, because you know that not every grapefruit league game matters, right? You know that this final score, the final record in spring training, doesn\u2019t matter. I mean, it\u2019s the process of getting ready. But we talked about it over and over, the idea that this team, from a psychological standpoint, from a just a mental well being standpoint, needed to get off to a good start and look, I\u2019m not going to sit here and act like three and six is three and 15 right, or six and 14 or something like that. I mean, we\u2019re not at that territory yet, but it\u2019s hard to like what you\u2019ve seen right now at this point. I mean, it\u2019s just again, other than a few individuals. I mean, you\u2019re not really seeing any specific area of the game where you say, all right, they\u2019re doing well there, or they\u2019re doing well there. I mean, you know, look at Saturday\u2019s game, and as I told you, and as I think I alluded to last week, I did some traveling, you know, at the start of this series, but still able to follow along the internet and cell phones are amazing thing in that way.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 04:29<\/p>\n
I remember I went to South Carolina as a kid. We had to listen to Bal I don\u2019t, I know, right?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 04:33<\/p>\n
You\u2019d be holding your breath if you could get the game on the radio. So it\u2019s a little bit different in this day and age, especially when your brother in law is gracious enough to drive your family members as where they\u2019re going. But, you know, I look at a game like Saturday, where there was a lot of hard contact from the Orioles early in that game, they had a big opportunity in the fourth inning where they, you know, where they did score, they could have scored more, but you see that, you see Friday. I mean, Bradish gives up four runs in. Second inning, and you\u2019re already in an early hole there, and then just Sunday. I mean, you know, Chris Bassett kind of a different discussion right now, as awful as he\u2019s, I mean, he\u2019s looked awful. He\u2019s looked Kyle Gibson bad so far. And I\u2019m not talking Kyle Gibson in 2023 I\u2019m talking Kyle Gibson in his few starts that he made for the Orioles last year where they just threw in the towel. He\u2019s been that bad. So you fall behind early on Sunday, again. Bad defense. Jeremiah Jackson can\u2019t cover first base properly on a bunt, right? I mean, just, there\u2019s just a lot of sloppiness and for all the talking in the spring, and I know Pete Alonso talked about this, you know, as he was, kind of summing up the weekend that, you know, you can scrimmage these things, and you can do the PFPs, and you can take infield and do all the things you do in spring training. And it can look good on the backfields in Sarasota. Same way we talk about it with the Ravens in training camp, the backfields in Owings Mills. It\u2019s one thing to kind of kind of go through. And, you know, Jair Alexander can look really good in practice, like he did the first week last year, before he started getting hurt and and we know how that went, but it\u2019s a different animal when the lights come on and you\u2019re playing for real and they just, you know, and I\u2019m not even, I\u2019m not ready to say that it\u2019s Craig Albernaz or the coaching staff, because, Like, we spent the first two months last year blaming Brandon Hyde, right? I mean, Brandon Hyde has nothing to do with the Orioles now, and we\u2019re still seeing very similar things. So, so it just needs to be better. I mean, I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t have a like, some genius elixir here to offer. They just need to be better across the board. It just, we said this after the home stand, even that, you know, okay, was three and three nothing to panic over, but nothing really to be impressed about. And certainly that applies when you get swept in Pittsburgh. And I will say this, I think the pirates, I don\u2019t know if the pirates are going to be good. I\u2019m not going to sit here and say they\u2019re going to be a wild card, anything like that. I will say, I think they\u2019re interesting. And I thought that before the season. I do think they have, you know, starting with Paul Skeens, who they avoided over the weekend, I do think they have some really enticing young pitching. I do think guys like Ryan O\u2019Hearn have been added to the mix there to make them better. So we clearly saw that it\u2019s not just a case where you roll the ball out and play and the pirates are just going to lie down right, especially with the Conor Griffin debut on Friday. I mean, you didn\u2019t have to watch the entire game to see what the atmosphere was there. I mean, it was electric. I mean, it was<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 07:28<\/p>\n
200 bucks to get in, yeah. I mean,<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 07:31<\/p>\n
it was a big deal there. So, and then<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 07:32<\/p>\n
Sunday, like, you know, there was friends<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 07:34<\/p>\n
and family, right, right here, right, yeah. I mean, I and cold, yeah, yeah, exactly. And, you know, I mean, for people who celebrate Easter, but maybe they\u2019re not thinking about going to a ball game the first Sunday in April. But I\u2019m<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 07:46<\/p>\n
wearing my South Side 59 Aparicio throwback. It\u2019s going to be 38 the next two nights in Chicago. Your own energy. The Wednesday is going to be maybe a little better, like 60, but like, it is going to be frigid, frosty. You\u2019re going to have to whatever you\u2019re doing, blow on the baseball, if you\u2019re the pitcher, feeling the seams, the bat, the crack, the sting, wherever it\u2019s good, you\u2019re going to hear everything, because there\u2019s going to be 3200 people in Comiskey. I mean, it\u2019s, these are the games here where you wake up and you\u2019re four and 11 or something. No bueno dude. No bueno at all.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 08:25<\/p>\n
No question. I mean, and it\u2019s not over reacting, because it happened last year, right? I mean, we saw firsthand. I mean, look, when they were 16 and 34 right? A week after they had fired Hyde. I think we all said it at the time. I don\u2019t think anyone actually thinks, from a true talent level standpoint, from an eyeball test standpoint, that this is a 320, winning percentage baseball team, but when you play that way for 50 games, it\u2019s all she wrote. It\u2019s over. You\u2019re not digging yourself out of that hole. We saw this last year, and we saw it the rest of the way. From that point on, they played much more like a 500 ish kind of team. I mean, they were, well, they got better<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:07<\/p>\n
starts on the on the front end.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 09:09<\/p>\n
But the point is, when you get off to that bad of a start, I mean, it\u2019s it\u2019s over, right? And you cannot have anything remotely close to that happen again. And I\u2019m not ready to say three and six is remotely close to 16 and 34 but you don\u2019t want those thoughts creeping into the back of your mind and, well, you think already<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 09:27<\/p>\n
Easter, and what happened last Easter, and then on this Easter, and I know you\u2019re running around doing all your family stuff. You got people at the house and like all that stuff, but Bassett gets hit. They\u2019re underwater. It\u2019s cold as hell. The other pitchers throwing strikes, at least, is ready to, you know, come after you, and the managers getting himself thrown out because they\u2019re quick pitching them. And it felt, it felt bush league. It felt it felt amateur hour. It felt like now we\u2019re going to bring Kate Povich in, and that went. That was the best part of the day to say anything. He saved them. Yeah, but I mean, save them for a bullpen start on a 38 degree night in Chicago, I guess. But just none of it, not none of it, situational, hitting, drawing walks, working pitchers, working counts, thinking ball thrown to the right bases get getting thrown out on the base, pass, steal. It like just kind of all the way around. The starts haven\u2019t been crisp. I mean, and I the leadership part of this, where you have a rookie manager on the back end of this right now, felt a little falling down the mountain for me in the post game where Bassett looked like George the animal steal, and nobody\u2019s got answers, and it felt morgy in Pittsburgh after a three game sweep. And I don\u2019t know how they dust off or where they are, where the leadership is here with Alonzo or with Gunner Henderson or rushman or Taylor Ward, I don\u2019t you know. I don\u2019t know where the leadership is. Alonzo\u2019s getting paid to be the leader, but like this feels to me to be a kind of urgent for what it is, or this early in the year, given where this organization\u2019s been and what they\u2019ve spent and Bassett not looking good, efflin being gone, Dean Kramer\u2019s not even up yet. Bradish getting roughed up.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 11:22<\/p>\n
I Yeah. I mean, I\u2019m not panicking, and I\u2019m not changing what I thought about this team nine games in, right? I mean, I think it\u2019s important nine games, right? We\u2019re talking about the midway through the fourth quarter, or 10 minutes, you know, five minutes to go on the fourth quarter of the first game of the season, if it\u2019s the NFL, right? I mean, that\u2019s what we\u2019re talking about here. But that said, again, I just, I don\u2019t like how it\u2019s looked, and that, for me, is where it feels too much like last year, considering we talked, we noted in the season opening series how much the opening day roster is different, right? I mean, how it was only, what, six guys now we know a couple guys are, you know, Gunner Henderson was hurt, and then playing Toronto last year. I mean, obviously we know a West Bergen holiday. We\u2019re on the IL to start the year, and all that. You go through all that, all those already off<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 12:15<\/p>\n
the roster, right, right?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 12:16<\/p>\n
But we can\u2019t do this, right? And efflin is getting a second opinion in text, you know, I mean all that. So we know it\u2019s, it wasn\u2019t quite as drastic as what that opening day factoid was, but there\u2019s been a lot of change, right? They didn\u2019t just maintain the status quo here. I mean, other than, I suppose, the young core, and this is kind of where we go back to at the end of the day, are these guys good enough? Right? I mean,<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 12:41<\/p>\n
you said that two, three years ago, and you\u2019re like, if the rushman Henderson cows are cursed at Westberg holiday, if this era doesn\u2019t bloom in some sort of spring fashion, it can\u2019t be a late July bloom, because too many guys will be gone, and they\u2019ve already started onboarding money, you know, like from Eric Getty\u2019s perspective and from from Rubenstein\u2019s perspective, you know, they\u2019re built to win now with the Pete Alonso\u2019s and Henderson under wraps for value at least.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 13:15<\/p>\n
Yeah, I mean, they the urgency has to be there. There\u2019s no doubt about that. So again, I\u2019m not ready to. I\u2019m not jumping off ship just yet, by any means, but I\u2019m concerned. I mean, I don\u2019t there\u2019s not enough going on right now. Where you say, all right, Pittsburgh played phenomenal baseball, and they got clipped by a run, right? I mean, there was a lot, there\u2019s a lot<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 13:39<\/p>\n
Saturday game away, and that lobbyists of like the difference between us feeling better about them than worse. I mean, it\u2019s<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 13:47<\/p>\n
you look at it, you can look at it through this lens and say, All right, you know, I thought Shane Boz pitch Well, I mean, I liked what I saw from Shane Boz overall. But a couple things to point out. One, he made a fielding error, and that kind of led to the only run that he gave up and and then I go to, what was it? It was, I believe, the fifth inning when he issued two, two, about walks that drives up the pitch count. He can\u2019t get through six. And then there\u2019s the trickle down effect on the bullpen, right? We talked a lot about the bullpen, and that\u2019s where you just look at it ending to Costa<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 14:18<\/p>\n
sentimonium right around that point in the game, that seventh inning, and I\u2019m like, Man two, one, they got to get nine outs. Here we go. And how are you<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 14:27<\/p>\n
doing it, right? I mean, you\u2019re just, I mean, that\u2019s, I\u2019m not even saying that to be facetious, like, how are you doing it, how are you getting to the ninth inning there. And, I mean, I like Anthony Nunez. Nunez, you know, I was talking about him during spring training when he makes an arrow on the tapper, like, man. Like, I don\u2019t care who it is, like rook to help yourself there, rookie or 14th year pitcher. Like, you\u2019ve got to do that there. I mean, that\u2019s just such a critical play. And he swung the bat well, but Dylan beavers has looked awful defensively. I mean, awful. And he\u2019s not the only one. One, but, man, I want, I\u2019d like to have his bat in the lineup. But, man, forget about any talk about him playing center field. Can you handle a corner out outfield spot? And the answer has been a no so far this year, right? So you\u2019re just seeing way too much of that. I mean, Kobe Mayo had setbacks defensively over the weekend, and look, he has to hit, and he hasn\u2019t hit so far. So that\u2019s, that\u2019s the bigger concern for me with him right now. We kind of expected Kobe Mayo to have some hiccups defensively, right? But you just look at it collectively, and<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 15:34<\/p>\n
it just, it just hasn\u2019t cost, right? I mean, you know? I mean, you boot a ball in the third inning, next ball, you double play ball, you get out of the inning. It\u2019s like, it\u2019s, it\u2019s just, it\u2019s chalk, you know? But like, if it opens up the three run inning and you throw the ball in the dugout and pitcher starts to labor, just, I don\u2019t and the pitching is not good enough right now, dude, like not the starting, not the relief pitching, what came out of Norfolk was good enough on Sunday afternoon, but in a general sense, we never felt at any point in Sarasota there was an embarrassment of arms in the organization that was going to be necessary. You know, for those you took the under 92 I\u2019ll remind everybody, I\u2019m the idiot that took 92 at this point, for those people who were betting against them, that was an indictment on the depth of the pitching in a general sense, that even if the starters held up, who\u2019s coming in, who\u2019s getting those nine outs in a two, one ball game on a cold day in Pittsburgh?<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 16:38<\/p>\n
Yeah. I mean, it\u2019s you heard me talk about the bullpen a lot. I mean, so far Saturday aside. I mean, I I like what I\u2019ve seen from Ryan Helsley. You know, he hasn\u2019t been my concern overall. I mean, the problem is, can you get to him with the lead in the ninth inning, right and and when he\u2019s out there, you still have to defend and I\u2019m so you\u2019d like to have a challenge in your pocket when he\u2019s out there, right? I mean, that that ended up being a big play right there where he couldn\u2019t, couldn\u2019t challenge the two, two pitch that should have been strike three, a reminder of why you need to be smart with your challenges, not just for the Orioles any team, right? I mean, they\u2019re that tactical part that you and I talked about last week, and<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 17:17<\/p>\n
it feels like there\u2019s guys urinating them away early every night across the league. Yeah. I mean, I expect, I mean, I don\u2019t<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 17:22<\/p>\n
think that\u2019s been a major problem for the Orioles, per se, but, man, you see it, and then you see that there\u2019s a big call. That\u2019s why. I mean, we haven\u2019t had this in baseball, obviously, but that\u2019s why, for years, I\u2019ve just, I would cringe when a head coach in the NFL would challenge a play that\u2019s worth five yards in the first quarter, right? I\u2019m just saying, like, even if you think it, you\u2019re 100% right and 100% confident like that, you lose that, and then you\u2019re, you have a you\u2019re already down the one at that point in time, the rest of the game. I mean, it\u2019s just the juice isn\u2019t worth the squeeze in some of those spots. But it\u2019s just, I\u2019m just I don\u2019t like, I just don\u2019t like what I\u2019m seeing so far, and it has way less to do with three and six and way more how it\u2019s looked in the process of playing three and six. Every team in baseball is going to lose lose five of six at some point. Right? We understand that. So I\u2019m trying to be measured in that way. And I think everyone needs to be measured in that way. However, this team lost its benefit of the doubt when you have a 2025 campaign like they just had. I mean, it\u2019s just the truth, and that might be unfair to Craig Albernaz, and that might be unfair to Pete Alonso and go down the list<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 18:37<\/p>\n
Elias, though, but for<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 18:38<\/p>\n
those who\u2019ve been here and this fan base on just how they\u2019re going to feel, in terms of the vibes of this club. It\u2019s just, it\u2019s just what it is. You could, you could complain about it, but it\u2019s just the reality of it. So again, you don\u2019t want to panic. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s panic time, but let\u2019s go like, let\u2019s start seeing some more consistent signs here, right? I mean, they\u2019ve got a couple guys swinging the bat, you know, like he didn\u2019t play on Sunday, obviously. But overall, Adley rushman swung the bat very well coming out of the gate, right? And I think part of that, that isn\u2019t necessarily an answer right now, but I think long term, I like in terms of the prospects of him being able to do this over a full season. I like that they\u2019re giving him off days. I like that we\u2019re not in the territory of, oh, when Adley is not catching, make him the DH, right? Because I think that just, I think that runs a catcher into the ground, and I\u2019m not making an excuse for him. You know, I\u2019ve been hard on Adley rutsman For two years now. I absolutely have been, I haven\u2019t been someone that just shrugs it off and say, Oh, he\u2019s just in a slump, right? It\u2019s been a year and a half of him looking the way he looked. So I like that he\u2019s swinging the bat well coming out of spring training. But I also like that Craig Albernaz is saying, No, you\u2019re our starting catcher. You\u2019re not our starting catcher, slash, part time. DH, and I hope. Hope that continues. I\u2019m not saying there isn\u2019t a scenario at some point this year where, you know, they\u2019re facing a starting pitcher who he has fantastic numbers against and and it\u2019s the day game after a night game or something like that, and he can\u2019t. DH, or, you know, two other guys are banged up on the 26 man roster. Well, the other<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 20:16<\/p>\n
issue they have is, what\u2019s the switch ad on the<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 20:18<\/p>\n
catchers too? Sure. I mean that DH, yeah, that\u2019s always a catch for sure. Or, yeah, that\u2019s always a challenge there. I mean, that\u2019s, that\u2019s kind of a challenge for them anyway, when you know you\u2019re in a position where you know beside DHS a lot when, when he\u2019s not obviously spelling rushman, so that. But that is, that\u2019s something that can be challenging. It can be a blessing if it works in terms of both guys swinging the bat at a high level. But it can also be one of those things where you have to take pause and say, All right, what\u2019s our bench situation going to look like? What\u2019s, you know, we don\u2019t want to be in a position, you know. Are we going to pinch run for someone? Are we going to lose our DH then, right? I mean, so there are other considerations there when you do that, but you know, not to fixate too much on that. I just, I want to see more. It\u2019s been nice to see Taylor Ward come alive with the bat after, you know, he was pretty bad the first four games of the season. He swung about well, since then.<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 21:11<\/p>\n
But the other thing is about the lefty, righty issue that they have that\u2019s almost on a historic level here, where mount Castle is not getting at bats, and they just aren\u2019t. They\u2019re not getting starting pitching matchups that allow maybe the kind of variety we envision in some sort of 7525 way.<\/p>\n
Luke Jones\u00a0 21:32<\/p>\n
Yeah, I mean, they haven\u2019t faced lefty starters. So that said, this is why I didn\u2019t know why I didn\u2019t understand why you were keeping Ryan mountcastle, right? I mean, I thought that even before, frankly, I thought that even before they signed Pete Alonso, because I just, I don\u2019t think he\u2019s been, think he\u2019s been good enough the last couple years. And you kind of see, even with this lineup not performing to this point, you\u2019re not really looking at logical spots where you say, Yeah, I want to get Ryan mountcast, but, but I just said, I mean, they haven\u2019t faced lefty starters, so that can change, and, you know, will change at different times in the season. But I, you know, I just, you look at the numbers right now. I mean, like I said, Taylor Ward swinging the bat, well, Adley rutsman swinging the bat. Well, I mean, Pete Alonso has been, let\u2019s call spade a spade. Peel ANZ has been really bad so far at the plate. I mean, it\u2019s not hitting for any power. I mean, he\u2019s struck out a lot. He left a lot of guys on base the first couple games of this series. Again, it\u2019s nine games. But for a team that needs to get off to a good start, in the context of what happened last year, in the context of the Yankees are off to a good start. I mean, at least Toronto is not off to a blistering start. So I mean, really, it\u2019s only the Yankees off to a great start in this division right now, but looking at it through that lens. But also we talked about the schedule on paper. Yeah, I gave the pirates 30 seconds of oxygen saying, I think they\u2019re an interesting team, and maybe they\u2019ll be better than people think, and maybe that franchise is galvanized now with not just having Paul schemes, but, you know, Conor Griffin, this 19 year old stud who had an RBI double in his first at bat. And you know, they\u2019re viewing him in the way that Orioles fans were excited when Matt weeders arrived, or Adley rutsman arrived, right? I mean, we know what kind of energy a team can can have in those spots. So look, not saying the pirates are 100 loss outfit this year or anything like that. They might be pretty good, but at the same time again, that\u2019s just disheartening weekend. I mean, there\u2019s just no other way to put it, and they just did not play very well overall. And you know, I mean, any better starting pitching. To your point. I mean, Bradish was not good, you know. And obviously, the second run, second inning, he gives up four runs. I mean, that was it, right there. You know, he got a lot of swing and miss. I thought that was interesting. But you\u2019re his misses have been bad misses so far this year, right? I mean, where he\u2019s just not command, when he\u2019s not getting the ball where he wants it to go. It\u2019s getting way too much plate, and that\u2019s why his numbers have been what they\u2019ve been. As I said before, I thought Boz pitched well that that was encouraging to me, other than you need to field your position a little bit better, right? So, but he he certainly gave them a great chance to win, but they didn\u2019t take advantage of some earlier opportunities in that game didn\u2019t tack on, and then we saw the bullpen have its issues and defense have its issues again. Then Sunday was just lousy, right? I mean, Sunday was you see Kate Povich coming in in the third inning and nothing. No disrespect to Kate Povich, because he was actually one of the very few bright spots on Sunday. But when Kate Povich is coming in in the third inning. Go, go, enjoy Easter dinner. Yeah, it could have<\/p>\n
Nestor Aparicio\u00a0 24:45<\/p>\n
gone a lot worse than it actually. Well, I want to talk about the pitching. Luke Jones is here. He is Baltimore, Luke, we\u2019re getting the Maryland crab cake tour out this week. On Friday, we\u2019ll be at Fayette Lee\u2019s the following Thursday, we moved to Costa since morning, I will shave by then, and they\u2019ll have the Stanley Cup playoffs are rolling. As well, World Cups right around the corner in 60 days too, uh, also on the 23rd we\u2019re Koco\u2019s pub with Marcella. I\u2019m really looking forward to getting back over to lauraville and doing it\u2019s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I have these Harlem Globetrotter scratch offs, but I\u2019m going to have the Maryland treasures by Friday, so I\u2019ll have the boardwalks and the the bridges and the horses and all that good stuff up and running. Also, our friends at GBMC and I do have my doctor\u2019s appointment coming up later on this month, and Farnan and Dermer they I had a plumbing appointment that was an emergency one last week inside of our place. You need the comfort, guys, they have kept us comfortable. Big shout out to Zach Dermer and that crew there. We\u2019ll do some pitching, we\u2019ll do some more offense. We\u2019ll certainly do some more defense. And when we\u2019re talking about Brandon Hyde around here, you know it\u2019s not going well for the Orioles right now. He\u2019s Luke. I\u2019m Nestor. Stay with us. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore. Positive. You.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There were not many signs of life in Pittsburgh this weekend for the scuffling Baltimore Orioles, who were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-666305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-orioles","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-orioles","10":"tag-baltimoreorioles","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-orioles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116357639851453695","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}