I hate to be the negative Nellie around here, but....

[docjj]

While I am enjoying the winning as much as anyone else, I see great cause for concern.

First, the starting pitching has lots of question marks. Hunter has been awful, and Matusz not much better. Hammel, arguably our best starter, is now hurt with a knee issue. Britton is still out for another few weeks. Eveland is a question mark.

The Bullpen, which has been truly awesome all year, has been overused. Lindstrom, one of our best, is now out with injury.

Finally, the offense has been getting it done with smoke and mirrors all year. There is a ton of dead weight on this roster. Chris Davis has been awful, Mark Reynolds even worse. Plus, there are a lot of other fairly useless guys clogging up the roster- Bill Hall, Nick Johnson, Endy Chavez, Steve Tolleson. I know some of these guys have been pressed into duty because of injury, but a good club might have ONE of these types of guys on the roster, not 4-5....

I'm afraid it's going to all come crashing down to earth any day now.....

[OriolesRedskins28]

I don't know I see a lot of positives. The rotation will improve in talent and depth when Britton does return. The bullpen has been fantastic and has depth in AAA (Pomeranz, Neshek, Socolocovich). The O's are great up the middle: Wieters, Hardy, and Jones are doing great and Andino is a good enough 2B. Corner OFs are solid in Markakis and Reimold. I'm fine with the rotating DH situation.

But like you said the corner infielders leave a LOT to be desired. I just wish the O's could get a passable 3B. I would like to see a Flaherty/B Hall platoon at 3B. Both play solid defense and with their platoon splits they might just add up to a decent third baseman. If nothing else the defense at third will be VASTLY improved over the embarassing Reynolds and Betemit.

[osforlife]

Explain to me how Chris Davis has been horrible..?

[birdwatcher55]

Add me to the list of the concerned about our starting pitching. Assuming the White Sox fall out of it quickly, I would look at Jake Peavey and see what it would take to get him. He could be our real wild card IMHO

[birdwatcher55]

Explain to me how Chris Davis has been horrible..?

Pitching aside, he's been nearly non-existent since last Sunday when he struck out 5 times

[osforlife]

Explain to me how Chris Davis has been horrible..?

Pitching aside, he's been nearly non-existent since last Sunday when he struck out 5 times

Everybody goes through slumps. He's hitting the long-ball, playing good defense, and getting on base a fair amount.

[birdwatcher55]

Davis' fielding, in particular, has been lousy. Last night he cost us a run or two with his glove. Have to think that his future will be DH or somewhere else at this point when Reynolds gets back.

[osforlife]

Davis' fielding, in particular, has been lousy. Last night he cost us a run or two with his glove. Have to think that his future will be DH or somewhere else at this point when Reynolds gets back.

Going into yesterday's game, his fielding % was .992.

[Matt P]

I don't think they will compete down to the wire but then again I didn't think they would improve on last years record before the season started (while still possible they would have to really collapse). The bullpen is being over worked, the hitters aren't getting on base, and the corner infield defense is atrocious. They lead the league in HR (or at least they did before last night when I last checked) but I'm pretty sure more than half of the HR have been solo. A HR is a HR but it would really help out if people could get on base.

So many question marks going forward it can make ones head spin. So many potential solutions it can also make ones head spin. I hope they can keep it up and make some moves at the deadline to improve the team and stay in the race and make the playoffs but I am not going to hold my breath.

[CSPitt17130]

Going into yesterday's game, his fielding % was .992.

That doesn't tell the whole story though. The misplay last night didn't count as an error because an out was recorded, but it should have been a double play and it cost them a run on the next batter. A lot of throws in the dirt that are close to routine for other first basemen he doesn't make and those errors aren't charged to him. He's definitely not a good defensive player.

[osforlife]

Going into yesterday's game, his fielding % was .992.

That doesn't tell the whole story though. The misplay last night didn't count as an error because an out was recorded, but it should have been a double play and it cost them a run on the next batter. A lot of throws in the dirt that are close to routine for other first basemen he doesn't make and those errors aren't charged to him. He's definitely not a good defensive player.

Errors are mostly given on routine plays that should have been made. He is making the routine plays for the most part and difficult plays are another story. I think we could agree that he's an average defender.

[CSPitt17130]

Errors are mostly given on routine plays that should have been made. He is making the routine plays for the most part and difficult plays are another story. I think we could agree that he's an average defender.

No, I don't agree. I just explained how multiple mistakes have been made that didn't count against his fielding percentage. There are plenty of routine plays he isn't making that aren't being charged as errors for one reason or another.

[osforlife]

Errors are mostly given on routine plays that should have been made. He is making the routine plays for the most part and difficult plays are another story. I think we could agree that he's an average defender.

No, I don't agree. I just explained how multiple mistakes have been made that didn't count against his fielding percentage. There are plenty of routine plays he isn't making that aren't being charged as errors for one reason or another.

Well, I think I'll go with MLB baseball here on that if he isn't making routine plays, he'll be charged with errors. According to MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, with an exception of Monday night, he'd been at least making most of the routine plays.

[CSPitt17130]

Well, I think I'll go with MLB baseball here on that if he isn't making routine plays, he'll be charged with errors. According to MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, with an exception of Monday night, he'd been at least making most of the routine plays.

I just explained how he could not make a routine play but still not be charged an error. I don't think MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL would disagree with that. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL also uses stats like Wins and Saves but those don't necessarily tell how well a pitcher is pitching on many occasions. If you want to base your opinion of his defensive ability on fielding percentage, I think you're leaving out a lot of the whole picture. Remember, catching routine throws from infielders, something most high school baseball handle rather easily, count towards his fielding percentage, so it may be skewed.

[Matt P]

Another game going at least 15 innings (writing this message in the top of the 15th) ... oh boy.