The Beer Is Brewing, The Trash Is Flying, and The Race For The Pennant Is On!

[BrianMDTX]

King Felix II! 

[throttleplate]

 

 

Jordan Westburg wasn’t in Triple-A Norfolk’s lineup this afternoon. He’s headed to Baltimore.

An industry source confirmed that the Orioles are selecting Westburg’s contract, in time for Monday night’s series opener against the Reds at Camden Yards.

MLB Pipeline ranks Westburg as the organization’s No. 3 prospect behind infielder Jackson Holliday and outfielder Colton Cowser, and 46th in baseball.

Westburg, 24, has been pounding on the door this year, batting .295/.372/.567 with 15 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs and 54 RBIs in 67 games with Norfolk. The Orioles answered before the calendar turned to July.

The club is just 4 ½ games behind the first-place Rays and owns the second-best record in the American League at 47-29.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias noted in spring training that Westburg was close to being ready. The 30th-overall pick in 2020's draft out of Mississippi State lasted until the final cuts and batted .306/.368/.510 with five doubles, a triple and a home run.

Westburg has made 33 starts at shortstop this year, 18 at third base, six at second, five in right field and one in left.

The outfield is set in Baltimore, but Westburg could move around the infield.

Jorge Mateo doubled, scored twice and stole his 21st base today, but he’s batting .224 with a .622 OPS. Adam Frazier has posted a .228 average and .674 OPS.

Manager Brandon Hyde has praised the middle infield defense, but shortstop and second base rank 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in the majors in OPS. And there was no motivation to keep Westburg in the minors, after he was chosen as the organization's Minor League Player of the Year in 2022 and kept mashing this year.

Gunnar Henderson, formerly the top prospect in baseball, can move between shortstop and third. The Orioles will find at-bats for Westburg.

A corresponding 40-man roster move is pending.

 

 

[Jar11591]

https://www.immaculategrid.com

[throttleplate]

O"s soak the Reds 10 to 3.

Westburg scored his first run on Austin Hays’ bases-loaded single following two more walks from Reds left-hander Brandon Williamson. His first RBI came on a bases-loaded, fielder’s choice grounder in the third. His first hit was a single into left field with the count full in the fifth.

Chants of “Wes-ty, Wes-ty” grew louder for the quiet rookie.

Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann covered three innings out of the bullpen to earn his first win since May 8, 2022, and the Orioles claimed their 18^th series opener with a 10-3 victory.

Westburg finished 1-for-4 after another fielder’s choice in the seventh and a bouncer in the eighth with the count full again, and the Orioles moved a season-high 19 games above .500 at 48-29. They also climbed within four of the idle Rays.

 

[BrianMDTX]

Westy had a heck of a cheering section at last night’s game. O’s on pace to win 100 games. Whodathunkit? ?

[Jar11591]

Can anybody even touch the Braves right now? Doesn’t seem like it. We’re firing on all cylinders. Stopped Cincy’s win streak and took 2/3 from them in Cincinnati, then swept the first place Twins in short order. And we’re #1 in the power ranking. Even Tampa has nothing on us right now. Been a Braves fan my whole life. Never do I remember seeing an Atlanta team so dominant. Even in the days of Smoltz/Maddux/Glavine or Chipper/Andruw/Sheffield. And doing it all without our 2 top SP. 
 

Soroka back on the bump tonight. If he can find his old form, it won’t even be fair to the rest of the league anymore. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

36 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Can anybody even touch the Braves right now? Doesn’t seem like it. We’re firing on all cylinders. Stopped Cincy’s win streak and took 2/3 from them in Cincinnati, then swept the first place Twins in short order. And we’re #1 in the power ranking. Even Tampa has nothing on us right now. Been a Braves fan my whole life. Never do I remember seeing an Atlanta team so dominant. Even in the days of Smoltz/Maddux/Glavine or Chipper/Andruw/Sheffield. And doing it all without our 2 top SP. 
 

Soroka back on the bump tonight. If he can find his old form, it won’t even be fair to the rest of the league anymore. 

Their offense is so dominant that it's covering up for some of their big pitching holes.

 

From an offense perspective alone, I'd agree with you.....best Brave's offense I've seen ever.    On the other hand I've seen them have significantly better pitching, and defense.    

 

They'll keep looking good until the Fall, at which point they will have hopefully solidified their rotation and bullpen in order to make a run at the WS.   

 

Marlins are going to give the Braves some problems as they are a contact team, I imagine Soroka will give up 3-4 runs tonight.   

 

Either way, their amazing offense, and Acuna finally maturing into the man and player he should have been a year or two ago makes them must see TV in my book.  

[gim]

2 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

Can anybody even touch the Braves right now?

Well, let's be serious.  They just swept the Twins at home in a 3 game series.  Not exactly earth-shattering competition.

 

The "first place" Twins are easily in the worst division in the entire league.  They have led that dumpster fire of a division most of the season hovering around .500.

[Jar11591]

15 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Well, let's be serious.  They just swept the Twins at home in a 3 game series.  Not exactly earth-shattering competition.

 

The "first place" Twins are easily in the worst division in the entire league.  They have led that dumpster fire of a division most of the season hovering around .500.

20-4 in the month of June, 9-1 their last 10 games, 1st across all the power rankings, Elder leads the league in ERA, Strider breaks a K record every time he pitches, Acuña is the clear MVP favorite, Olson leads the league in HR, they have over 20 HR more than the next best team, over a .500 record against .500+ teams which is a huge indicator. They can only play the teams on their schedule. The Braves are clearly ahead of every other team in the league, all things considered. And all the power rankings confirm! This A-train is speeding down the tracks and mangling everything in its path. And they may have 9 guys go for 20+ HR. NINE! And honestly they have an outside chance at 10 guys because D’Arnaud and Murphy are raking right now. This team is historically good. And remember, this is without their TOP 2 starting pitchers. 21 game winner Kyle Wright, and one of the best LH SP in the game, Max Fried. 

[Jar11591]

1 hour ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Their offense is so dominant that it's covering up for some of their big pitching holes.

 

From an offense perspective alone, I'd agree with you.....best Brave's offense I've seen ever.    On the other hand I've seen them have significantly better pitching, and defense.    

 

They'll keep looking good until the Fall, at which point they will have hopefully solidified their rotation and bullpen in order to make a run at the WS.   

 

Marlins are going to give the Braves some problems as they are a contact team, I imagine Soroka will give up 3-4 runs tonight.   

 

Either way, their amazing offense, and Acuna finally maturing into the man and player he should have been a year or two ago makes them must see TV in my book.  

The biggest issue is the bullpen, and of course the couple spots in the rotation seem to be up in the air. Strider has calmed down after 2 bad starts, Elder is simply dealing, and Morton is eating innings just like he is supposed to. Getting Wright and Fried back will be huge. But I think before the deadline we have to address the bullpen issue. Minter has been getting knocked around, Iglesias is far from a lights out closer right now, and McCugh has not looked good. Yates has been a godsend of stability for our pen. But with Morton, Elder, Strider, Wright, Morton, Fried, Soroka and A. S-S (unfortunate initials) all healthy and dealing, somebody is gonna be on the block. Soroka seems like the most likely candidate. Even Allard had a good start the other day. They say you can never have enough SP, but we have the potential for 8 quality arms and no room in the rotation. Doing a 6 man rotation takes the ball out of Elder’s and Strider’s hands (and potentially Fried and Wright) too often. Good problem to have, but we have an abundance of SP and a weak pen, so decisions are gonna have to be made. Gonna be sad to see anyone go, but the reality is someone will have to. We need a lights out pen guy. Atlanta has always had good bullpens, and I trust Anthopolis to do what it takes. Guys a brilliant GM. 

[gim]

24 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

They can only play the teams on their schedule. The Braves are clearly ahead of every other team in the league, all things considered.

I agree.  The record, stats, and rankings all bear it out and indicate they are playing the best ball.

 

I just wouldn't go pounding my chest over a home sweep of the Twins, or any other team in the Central.  Its bad.  Believe me, they are the home team here and they play the other teams in that division a lot.  Repeat, Its bad.  lol

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Just now, gimruis said:

I agree.  The record, stats, and rankings all bear it out and indicate they are playing the best ball.

 

I just wouldn't go pounding my chest over a home sweep of the Twins, or any other team in the Central.  Its bad.  Believe me, they are the home team here and they play the other teams in that division a lot.  Its bad.

This Marlins series will be quite telling, they're super hot, and again they play a brand of baseball that gives the Braves fits hitting for contact.   

 

Mets should have been like the Marlins this year.   

 

 

[Jar11591]

2 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I just wouldn't go pounding my chest over a home sweep of the Twins, or any other team in the Central.  Its bad.  Believe me, they are the home team here and they play the other teams in that division a lot.  Repeat, Its bad.  lol

Fair enough lol hard to believe how bad that division is and how strong the AL East is. If I’m not mistaken, no team

has ever won a division with an sub .500 record. This year might be the year. 

[gim]

5 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

If I’m not mistaken, no team

has ever won a division with an sub .500 record. This year might be the year. 

I can't confirm that.  I could easily see Cleveland or Minnesota winning the division and finishing under .500.

[TnRiver46]

You know what usually happens to the best regular season teams, right? Have we forgotten about the Mets last year??

[AlabamaSpothunter]

19 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

You know what usually happens to the best regular season teams, right? Have we forgotten about the Mets last year??

Yeah it's a long season.......some years the best team from start to finish wins it, other years a team like the Braves in 21 win it when they were below .500 at ASG break.   

 

Ultimately it's all about that October magic, capturing lightning in a bottle at the end of the season.   Phils last year were a good example sans not winning it.   

[Jar11591]

Braves hang a quick 5 spot on the Fish in the first 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

37 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Braves hang a quick 5 spot on the Fish in the first 

Statistically speaking, this is likely the best first inning offense in the history of MLB.  

[TnRiver46]

Pirates with a walk off? I bet @galyonj’s cat was pumped 

[galyonj]

50 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Pirates with a walk off? I bet @galyonj’s cat was pumped 

 

The bottom of the ninth last night was very stressful for the animals. They knew dad was excited, though. The cats handled it a little better than the dogs did.

[throttleplate]

Orioles need pitching help and they have no one player in the minors whom can compete against major league hitters. Rodrigeuz is the best chance but he is still struggling to throw strikes with his fastball and his splitter and will remain in norfolk untill he can command his pitches and go more than 5 innings with a reasonable pitch count.

The O"s may well be swept by the Twins who for some uncanny reason own us. Twins are 21 wins and 6 losses against us the past few years.

 

[Jar11591]

20 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Statistically speaking, this is likely the best first inning offense in the history of MLB.  

And they just posted 6 in the first inning today. Insane!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, Jar11591 said:

And they just posted 6 in the first inning today. Insane!

That kid's head is still spinning in the locker room, he's like what just happened.....The Braves 1st inning offense just happened kid ?

[Jar11591]

@AlabamaSpothunter they are the ERA destroyers ? 

[throttleplate]

O"s avoid a Twinkie sweep, win a tight one.