OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: New season of plundering begins

[cookthebooks]

pretty nice way to start this one off especially after a bad taste in your mouth game like last nights

 

[Scandale du Jour]

pretty nice way to start this one off especially after a bad taste in your mouth game like last nights

Gotta close the door though.

 

[wheelz87]

Great start.
Davis off the schneid.
Gray over 30 pitches.

 

[cookthebooks]

i absolutely love a quick bottom half of the inning after forcing other teams starter to throw a ton of pitches out of the gate back in the top half. they should be able to get their hooks into the bullpen real quick if they stay patient

 

[WickedWrister]

The clipping anytime something crosses in front of the digital ad boards is soooo annoying

 

[WickedWrister]

Michael A. Taylor batting .478, second only to Mookie Betts

 

[Rave7215]

Michael A. Taylor batting .478, second only to Mookie Betts

Gotta keep batting him 9th to set up for the top of the lineup - Shelton Logic

 

[WickedWrister]

Gotta keep batting him 9th to set up for the top of the lineup - Shelton Logic

Hard to complain when Connor Joe is doing this!

 

[Scarecr0w]

I haven't watched since 2015 or 16 but I've been following them since and started watching again this year.
Are they better a better team now than last year when they had the good start but fell off a cliff?

 

[BusinessGoose]

I haven't watched since 2015 or 16 but I've been following them since and started watching again this year.
Are they better a better team now than last year when they had the good start but fell off a cliff?

I think some guys are playing above average

It doesn't feel like there should be much of a cliff drop off from what the team has been so far. They've just outmatched the opponents so far. They aren't going to challenge the top teams.

 

[WickedWrister]

Quality start for Martin Perez. Super efficient

 

[Rave7215]

I haven't watched since 2015 or 16 but I've been following them since and started watching again this year.
Are they better a better team now than last year when they had the good start but fell off a cliff?

Overall? Yea, they're better. They have legit major league batters throughout the whole line up. The Bulllpen is pretty insane. The biggest red flag is starting pitching. It may be a ticking time bomb and the offense is over producing to cover for it, which won't last. They basically need to hold on until help arrives.

The team's attitude this year is much improved. This team does not have any quit in them. They battle hard. It's still early but if nothing else, it'll be a fun team to watch all year.

 

[sovietsanta87]

I haven't watched since 2015 or 16 but I've been following them since and started watching again this year.
Are they better a better team now than last year when they had the good start but fell off a cliff?

They’re a deeper team than last year. In a league where you have young HOF level talent, I’m not sure we have that guy in our lineup. Some toolsy players but raw with some warts. But they’re better than last year and certainly worth watching.

 

[Ulf5]

:curse:

 

[Rave7215]

I know Chapman is a weird dude but is amazing watching him pitch out of the pen for us.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Michael A. Taylor batting .478, second only to Mookie Betts

Haven't watched enough baseball recently to know exactly who he is, but color me impressed.

 

[WickedWrister]

161-1

 

[Ulf5]

Unleash the Beast!

 

[Coastal Kev]

Great series win. Raise it

 

[td_ice]

What a road trip! 6-1

Raise it!

 

[BusinessGoose]

*6-1

 

[DJ Spinoza]

This was a nice game from the perspective of handling business. I only caught it on the radio, but it seemed like we had a combination of some nice luck and good patience/working counts to jump on Gray and then never look back.

Perez shouldered some reliable innings, we kept adding on as needed, and just took control of the second extremely winnable game on paper to cement the series W. There are probably some individual things to nitpick here or there, but it's a team sport and we got the job done. The homestand figures to be tough, so I think it was important to keep the vibes in good shape and seize the 5-2 start.

Baltimore is extremely good- better than us- but they are beatable. We'll miss Burnes but also hard to feel a ton of confidence in the starters at the moment and Jones has to face off against Rodriguez. Feels like if we're to have a chance to win the series, we'll need Jones to really step up and then for us not to miss any opportunity that comes along, and then take one of the winnable games vs. Wells and Kramer.

I think this team is a good bit better than last year's, particularly because last year we lost Cruz immediately and didn't have some of the other young talent. We'll see the extent to which players come along and how things hold up over the longer haul. I think there's still a fairly sizeable floor for the team just because the starting pitching is still pretty weak. If the offense all goes ice cold for 3 weeks, I think things could get ugly. The starters feel like a group where every guy might go 5 IP, and some of them a really nice 5+ IP, but after that it's a bit unknown, and although there are good arms in the pen and some intriguing new guys like Ryan, that's not a great formula over the long run. Perez being able to get into the 6th vs. weaker opponents will be important, and Keller basically needs to be able to do it every time.

 

[Fogel]

I think Jones, Skenes and Chandler are all pitching.

 

[Empoleon8771]

You could say it's flooding a bit in Pittsburgh

 

[OnMyOwn]

that’s a shame. I went to the opener last year and while it was a bit cold, it was gorgeous in and around the stadium.