Episode 87: I Was Told There Would Be No Math

Published by Bird's Eye View at July 21, 2014

Leading Off

Welcome to the “second half’ of the Orioles’ season. After the excitement of the 2014 BEVy Awards, the guys are happy to settle into their regular schedule. This week’s show features Mike Petriello from FanGraphs, and a look back at the weekend in Oakland.

After reviewing the Medical Wing and Drink of the Week, it’s time for the TWotT:

@Groovatron3000 joins the segment of Birdland who rues the Pretender.
@DaveColePhoto puts too fine a point on Chris Davis’ struggles.
@JohnHeymanCBS makes us beg for mercy.
@susanslusser shows us Josh Donaldson, being a decent guy.
@DSzymborski reminds us how Uggla it might get in San Francisco.
@MLBonFOX tells us that Scott Boras has a solution: give him more money.
@baseball_ref helps lift the stain.

I Was Told There Would Be No Math

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The Bird’s Eye View podcast has been known to argue about stats. Scott trusts what he can get out of a calculator, whereas Jake trusts what he can see with his eyes. OK, that’s too simplistic. The real truth is that Scott believes that baseball analytics has evolved to the point where advanced statistics can be used to explain current performance and predict future performance. Jake thinks that statistics are useful, but the pendulum has swung too far in favor of the nerds.

To help them duke it out (again), the guys chat with Mike Petriello, whose FanGraphs article The Orioles Don’t Care About Our Expectations details the improbability of the Orioles’ perch atop the AL East in 2014, and notes that the Birds might just make it to October – whether the fine folks at FanGraphs respect them or not.

Mike Petriello provides statistical insight and a dispassionate look on the Orioles, their chances, and whether or not Jake is simply too dumb for baseball.

Oakland Stroke

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Oh, I’m sorry – did you think this was going to be easy?

The Oakland series was… disappointing. With whatever it was that the Orioles did on Sunday, blowing the save in Friday’s game loomed even larger. A pleasant surge of offense on Saturday was not enough to save what was a long weekend of Orioles Tragic.

The second half of the season was supposed to be brutal, and so far, it’s living up to the hype. The Orioles are in the midst of a 10-day west coast trip, and return home to play tough opponents at Camden Yards.

Buckle up, Birdland, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Fantasy Boss

The guys declared a Fantasy Boss truce last week, as the All Star break ate up most of the week. Scott still has a commanding 9-4-2 lead, and for his stat this week, he picked RA/9 (runs allowed per nine innings).

Jake went with Wei-Yin Chen and Scott chose Chris Tillman.

Who will own it?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

GBUeyes Who had a great week? Who had a tough week? Who made us ashamed to be Orioles fans? Find out in this week’s GB&U. The guys run through their Good, Bad, and Ugly for the week. Be sure to drop us a line and send us yours.

Blowing the Save

Most podcasts try to end on a high note – the perfect coda to a quality program. That’s just not our style. Each week, we’ll end on a weak note, blowing the save with an item that didn’t quite fit into the episode, or something they simply need to get off their chests. It’s our version of taking the ball and pulling a Kevin Gregg.

Notes and Nags

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