Skipper made right moves with bad results, plus other notes

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

August 08, 2021, 2:54pm

Comments

There is no doubt it was a frustrating weekend in Birdland. The Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays were tied 5-5 in the eighth on Friday, the O's were down 5-3 in the eighth on Saturday and they led 5-3 in the eighth on Sunday. But they gave up 16 runs total in the eighth innings of those games and lost all three.

It is pretty remarkable for a team to score that many runs that late to win all three games. But the Rays improved to 11-1 against the Orioles this year and to 6-0 at Oriole Park, where they have scored 63 runs in the six wins.

In the first five innings of the games with Tampa Bay, the Orioles outscored the Rays 13-8. From the sixth inning on, they were outscored 23-2.

The bullpen collapsed, and while some fans may do this, I can't blame manager Brandon Hyde for that. The O's skipper got some criticism yesterday between my blog, Twitter feed and radio show.

The frustration for the fans is clear and understandable. But Hyde used Cole Sulser, Paul Fry and Dillon Tate. Those were probably his three best high-leverage relievers at his disposal yesterday. Tyler Wells, Tanner Scott and Hunter Harvey were out hurt.

"Just the whole room in there is disappointed, discouraged, just because we are so inconsistent in our bullpen," said Hyde. "It's just disappointing. Sometimes our guys are pretty good out there and sometimes we're not. Just can't be afraid of the strike zone. You've got to be able to attack hitters. Like I've been saying for three years, sometimes our guys do it and sometimes they don't and that's why we have a ton of losses like this."

Sure, Hyde may have extended Jorge LÃ³pez - who already had thrown 100 pitches - for a few more hitters. Or maybe Sulser comes out to pitch in the eighth. But he gave up a homer in the seventh. It's not like he rolled through a 1-2-3 inning. I guess some can assume that if the manager had just done something different, the result would have been different as well.

Keep in mind that during the last five games the O's bullpen has allowed 36 earned runs over 19 2/3 innings. It's not like there is a hot hand to go to right now. No matter who you would choose to blame.

Minor matters: On another, more positive front, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez was among the players and topics I discussed Sunday during the MASN television "O's Xtra" pregame show.

The report from a scout on his latest outing was that it was just as strong as the outing looked in the box score and on video. Facing Somerset, which leads that league in home runs and in team OPS at .776, Rodriguez fanned nine in 4 2/3 scoreless innings on Thursday, allowing just one hit. His fastball touched 99 and 100 mph in that game, where it sat from 95 to 98 mph. His velocity is up from his outstanding 2019 season.

Over 16 starts between high Single-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie, he is 7-1 with a 2.27 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. Rodriguez is throwing about 50 percent fastballs and 50 percent secondary pitches as he continues to develop four solid offerings. He is on pace to throw between 100 and 110 innings during this season.

Right now a promotion to Triple-A seems unlikely, but remember he is just 21 and has already moved up once this year. He is clicking at Bowie with pitching coach Justin Ramsey. It's been a great season for Rodriguez.

We also discussed Aberdeen catcher Maverick Handley yesterday. He throws runners out while stealing his own bases at a great rate. Handley, who may be the O's best catching prospect not named Adley, has caught 43 percent of basestealers this year while stealing 12 bases in 13 attempts himself for a 92 percent success rate. Impressive. He is not a fast runner, but is a smart one.

There are eight catchers on the O's farm this year with 80 or more plate appearances. Handley's 12 steals lap the field. The other seven have combined to steal seven bases this year.

He also has a respectable .737 OPS, which ranks fourth among those eight catchers behind Adley Rutschman (.909), Cody Roberts (.773) and Brett Cumberland (.739).

Handley has a plus arm producing pop times to second base often between 1.85 and 1.95. He is also a solid receiver and blocker of pitches who calls a good game and works well with the scouting reports.

We also discussed corner outfielder Robert Neustrom, who began play Sunday second on the O's farm with 63 RBIs, behind only Jordan Westburg with 65. Neustrom, who gets 55 and 60 grades from scouts for his power tool, has hit .279/.364/.481/.844 between Double-A and Triple-A in 80 games with 19 doubles, three triples and 11 homers. He had an .831 OPS with Bowie, and it is .897 in 18 games with Norfolk.

The O's have a long list of minor league players they will need to add or consider adding to the 40-man roster in November ahead of the Rule 5 draft. Neustrom now must get such consideration, and that might not have been the case on opening day back in May.

Click here for the YouTube video from the MASN Orioles site of my pregame appearance on Sunday.

And in case you missed it last night, Rutschman is movin' on up. He got promoted from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk and will join the Tides for their home series starting tomorrow versus Memphis.