Tag Archives: Grayson Rodriguez

Podcasts

Episode 379: Only the Good Win 101 Games

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Leading Off

The Orioles are AL East champions, and enter the playoffs as the #1 seed in the American League. Make no mistake: the Orioles are having a very, very good season, and this is incredibly fun.

Drink of the Week

Join us for the Drink of the Week, and let us know how you’re consoling yourself as you watch the O’s. Find us on Untappd

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This Week on the Twitters

Around the Bases

First Base: We won the freaking AL East!

Scott correctly predicted the date that the Orioles would clinch the AL East, because holy-freaking-Rainman-Batman!

Remember when we thought the Rays had run away with the AL East back in April? Spoiler Alert: they had not.

Second Base: ALDS Roster

Do we need Jorge Mateo? Do we need Ryan McKenna? Do we need Kyle Gibson?

We don’t know, but we absolutely need some Tums.

Third Base: Playoff matchups

This did not happen the way we thought it would. No AL Wildcard series ended up going to three games. Beyond that, we take a look at what our feels tell us about the optimal World Series matchups that include the Baltimore Orioles.

Home Plate: Prognostication

Is anyone picking the O’s?

Who are WE picking?

Fantasy Boss

Jake wins! Jake took the under for the Orioles/Red Sox series (set at 2.5 wins), and the Orioles won 1 of 3. That brings the score to 10-8 in Scott’s favor. Scott has graciously/foolishly agreed that Fantasy Boss should run all the way through the Orioles’ final playoff appearance, which means that the next couple of weeks and series are critical for Fantasy Boss.

For the ALDS, the category is dongs (what else?). Jake took Cedric Mullins and Scott took Gunnar Henderson.

Remember our two active FB Wild Cards:

Next player to hit a well-off HR

  • Jake selected Adam Frazier
  • Scott took Gunnar Henderson

Next Oriole to hit a 450+ foot HR

  • Scott selected Gunnar Henderson
  • Jake took Austin Hays

Who will own it?

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.

Tweet us your selections @birdseyeviewbal with #OsGood, #OsBad, and #OsUgly.

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.

Your Turn

Love it? Hate it? Confused? Let us, and other listeners, know! As always, we appreciate the support.

Please leave a rating and review for our show, wherever you get your podcasts, whether it be Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify, or… wherever!

You can email the show – contact at birdseyeviewbaltimore dot com

Get connected: you can find us on social media:

Podcasts

Episode 377: Tin Can Confessional

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Leading Off

Scott is on assignment, so Friend of the Program, Zach Wilt, sits in as a guest host. Jake seems to be recording from the bottom of a tin can, but the conversation was a blast, nonetheless.

Drink of the Week

Join us for the Drink of the Week, and let us know how you’re consoling yourself as you watch the O’s. Find us on Untappd

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This Week on the Twitters

Around the Bases

First Base: State of the Pitching

The starters have been going way to short, and the relievers have been going too long. We discuss each of the starters, and whether or not things are likely to get better (or… could it be worse?).

Second Base: Weathering the Storm

It might be more accurate to say that Orioles fans, rather than the team itself, have weathered the storm after a disappointing Cardinals series and frightening start to the Rays series. But after having survived that stretch of games, it’s possible that the fans will be a bit more “battle tested,” so they don’t destroy one another during the playoffs.

Third Base: NL-style management

Brandon Hyde had some late-game theatrics over the last week, with some inventive bullpen management including a series of double-switches. The manager’s National League roots (and access to Fredi Gonzalez) really came in handy. Hopefully pitching performances don’t necessitate NL-style management too much for the remainder of the season. But for now, it’s nice to know it’s a muscle he can flex.

Home Plate: Soak it in. | Meh.

The Orioles’ marketing team has had so few misses this season, but Jake is not a fan of the “Soak it in” campaign. Maybe it will grow on him, but this is no “We Won’t Stop.”

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.

Tweet us your selections @birdseyeviewbal with #OsGood, #OsBad, and #OsUgly.

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.

Your Turn

Love it? Hate it? Confused? Let us, and other listeners, know! As always, we appreciate the support.

Please leave a rating and review for our show, wherever you get your podcasts, whether it be Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify, or… wherever!

You can email the show – contact at birdseyeviewbaltimore dot com

Get connected: you can find us on social media:

Podcasts

Episode 374: Picture Imperfect

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Leading Off

The Orioles went 6-3 in their nine-game homestand, which is… well, it’s imperfect, but it s what winning clubs do.

Drink of the Week

Join us for the Drink of the Week, and let us know how you’re consoling yourself as you watch the O’s. Find us on Untappd

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This Week on the Twitters

Around the Bases

First Base: The post-Felix bullpen

Who can you trust? Now you see Brandon Hyde’s problem… we review the current construction of the bullpen, the possible future construction of the bullpen, and which players can be counted on to take on the late innings in a pennant race.

Second Base: The fan experience

Jake went to a couple of games this week (remember the “I want to go to as many games as I can while remaining married” comment?), and talks about the crowds on Saturday and Tuesday nights.

Third Base: The Return Trip

There was a time when the Orioles brought up young, can’t-miss talent, and still managed to screw them up. Now the Orioles are promoting MLB-ready talent (Gunnar, Adley), but they’re also bringing up players who aren’t ready, and are being sent down to the minors.

Most importantly, they’re making the return trip. And they’re coming back as dependable major leaguers. The organization is doing something right, and we should enjoy it while it’s here.

Home Plate: Handling imperfection

The Orioles are a good team, but they are imperfect. And fans need to embrace that imperfection. Our understanding is that even the ’27 Yankees lost games occasionally. The Orioles are winning games at an impressive clip, and will be good but imperfect for the remainder of the season.

Perhaps we, as fans, should learn how to handle that?

Fantasy Boss

Fantasy Boss is getting tighter! A win for Jake this week means that the contest goes to 8-5 in Scott’s favor.

Last week’s stat was wOBA, and Jake’s pick (Austin Hays) squeaked one out over Scott’s pick (Cedrick Mullins).

This week’s category is strikeouts by a reliever. Scott went with DL Hall and Jake took… well, Jake (Webb).

In addition, Scott laid down the gauntlet with an additional Wild Card:

Next player to hit a well-off HR

  • Jake selected Adam Frazier
  • Scott took Gunnar Henderson

The other active Wild Card is:

Next Oriole to hit a 450+ foot HR

  • Scott selected Gunnar Henderson
  • Jake took Austin Hays

Who will own it?

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.

Tweet us your selections @birdseyeviewbal with #OsGood, #OsBad, and #OsUgly.

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.

Your Turn

Love it? Hate it? Confused? Let us, and other listeners, know! As always, we appreciate the support.

Please leave a rating and review for our show, wherever you get your podcasts, whether it be Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify, or… wherever!

You can email the show – contact at birdseyeviewbaltimore dot com

Get connected: you can find us on social media:

Podcasts

Episode 366: Hicksville

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Leading Off

May comes to a merciful close, and the Orioles are limping into June – both figuratively and literally. We’re here for it, though. Thanks for a great month, O’s.

Drink of the Week

Join us for the Drink of the Week, and let us know how you’re consoling yourself as you watch the O’s. Find us on Untappd

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This Week on the Twitters

Around the Bases

First Base: Aaron Hicks… but why?

The Orioles signed Aaron Hicks. For… reasons. An organization that is noted for being stacked with prospects signed a guy who had been released by the Yankees for not being good enough to play in the AL East.

Yay?

Second Base: The inevitable slump

The Orioles were apparently playing an unsustainable brand of baseball? Weird. The O’s are 5-5 in their last 10 games. But that’s not the real story. The real story is the loss of Cedric Mullins on top of the Orioles not playing their best baseball. Can the Orioles be only-OK for enough time to start firing on all cylinders? We’ll see.

We thought May was going to be a disaster. It wasn’t. Let’s see how much margin of error the team has bought itself.

Third Base: Rotation Management

We’re not gonna lie: we hate the way the Orioles rotation has been set over the past week or so. It’s not so much the demotion of Grayson Rodriguez that we hate. It’s the fact that the demotion had no backup plan. It’s the fact that it led us to a bullpen game, when the bullpen has been a mess. Whereas it’s easy to play MMQB, it’s also apparent that there were much better ways to go about managing the rotation.

We’re allowed to be critical of a good team. We’re allowed to be supportive while also stating that the roster management in the rotation has been subpar. Let’s just hope the Birds have something else up their sleeves in five days.

Home Plate: WHERE IS THE CAVALRY?!?!

Whether it is the rotation or the situation in the outfield, the Orioles are making moves that do not indicate that they’re an organization with the best farm system in baseball. Either you have the pieces to survive a rough patch in a season in which you’re trying… or you don’t.

And the Orioles have proven that they’re trying. Just not this week.

Fantasy Boss

Scott Magness in Fantasy Boss. You cannot stop him, you can only hope to contain him.

And this week, Jake did not contain him.

Scott notched another win, correctly predicting that Adley Rutschman would out-OBP Cedric Mullins (.419 to .269). His lead is now an astonishing 6-0.

This week’s category is an over under – set at 1.5 – of Orioles home runs during the lone game that offers Dongs After Dark opportunities.

Scott took the under and Jake took the over.

Who will own it?

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.

Tweet us your selections @birdseyeviewbal with #OsGood, #OsBad, and #OsUgly.

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.

Your Turn

Love it? Hate it? Confused? Let us, and other listeners, know! As always, we appreciate the support.

Please leave a rating and review for our show, wherever you get your podcasts, whether it be Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify, or… wherever!

You can email the show – contact at birdseyeviewbaltimore dot com

Get connected: you can find us on social media:

Podcasts

Episode 360: Pretty OK

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Leading Off

The Orioles had the kind of week that made Scott flee the country, and in the meantime, friend of the show Ryan Blake was kind enough to step up to guest hosting duties. We’re sure that the BEV pitiful performance in Orioles Family Feud won’t come up. Not at all.

Drink of the Week

Join us for the Drink of the Week, and let us know how you’re consoling yourself as you watch the O’s. Find us on Untappd

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This Week on the Twitters

Around the Bases

First Base: The Pitching

Look, the pitching has not been… it has not been good. Whether you’re starting about the starters or relievers. Whether you’re talking about new acquisitions or returning players. There are simply very few pitchers for the Baltimore Orioles who have not been weapons-grade terrible for this early start to the 2023 season. We talk about whether things are as bad as they look, and if not/so, whether they might improve.

Second Base: Is Jorge Mateo for real?

Jorge Mateo is entertaining to watch – a player whose defense and speed makes him electric on the ballfield. If only he could get on base often enough to make that incredibly entertaining. What’s that you say? HE IS GETTING ON BASE? Well, consider us entertained.

Third Base: Heston Kjerstad is too good

Kjerstad is definitely too good for AA Bowie. It is only a matter of time before he gets a promotion to Norfolk, and guest host Ryan Blake says it’s not out of the question that Kjerstad could be patrolling the outfield in Baltimore, come September. If this is a problem, it’s a great problem to have.

Home Plate: Is everything… OK

With the very prominent pitching woes

Fantasy Boss

OK, this is a weird one. Scott offered Jake additional time, and he might be taking it. Neither Jake nor Ryan could determine whether the Dong Bong had been out in Chicago, and so the question is this: is the Dong Bong a home-only affair? It looks like we’re going to need more time to see whether Scott can take his early lead to 3-0. We’re calling this one incomplete.

In Scott’s stead, Ryan selected 100+ mph exit velocity.

Jake took Anthony Santander (for reasons?), whereas Ryan took Gunnar Henderson, for Scott.

Who will own it?

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.

Tweet us your selections @birdseyeviewbal with #OsGood, #OsBad, and #OsUgly.

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.

Your Turn

Love it? Hate it? Confused? Let us, and other listeners, know! As always, we appreciate the support.

Please leave a rating and review for our show, wherever you get your podcasts, whether it be Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify, or… wherever!

You can email the show – contact at birdseyeviewbaltimore dot com

Get connected: you can find us on social media:

Podcasts

Episode 359: Dong Bong

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Leading Off

The Orioles are a bit up and down this season, as is our reaction to their newest home run celebration. Don’t tell the Fun Police, but we plan on enjoying this discussion of this week in Orioles Baseball.

Drink of the Week

Join us for the Drink of the Week, and let us know how you’re consoling yourself as you watch the O’s. Find us on Untappd

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This Week on the Twitters

Around the Bases

First Base: Dong Bong

Love it or hate it, the Dong Bong got your attention this week. We love that the Orioles had reason to celebrate in the dugout. We’re a little split on how they went about it. Let’s just agree that baseball is fun, and there’s no way that the phrase “Dong Bong After Dark” won’t be one that we use too much on this show.

Second Base: Why are we bothering with replay?

Jake’s basically just whining here, but if we aren’t committed to getting replay right, and we’re concerned about the length of games and pace of play, why not… do away with replay? If we can’t get it right, and we don’t insist on umpire accountability, why keep up the charade?

Third Base: What is going right, what is going wrong?

With some series in the books, we look at what is going right and what is going wrong so far in the Orioles’ 2023 season. Sure, this is still a case of SMALL SAMPLE SIZE, but things are never as good or never as bad as they seem. We break down the ups, the downs, and the surprises in between.

Home Plate: Grayson Rodriguez

First of all: what are the Baltimorons to call him? Secondly, can we all chip in to buy his dad some antacids? And lastly, what have we seen so far from the Orioles’ highly touted pitching prospect that they seemed to have brought up to the majors only with presented no other choice?

Fantasy Boss

The first week of Fantasy Boss was an unmitigated disaster for Jake, and Scott is loving it. Cashing in on both the week’s category (Jorge Mateo’s K%) and the WILD CARD activated by Kyle Gibson pitching seven complete innings, Scott is up to a comfortable 2-0 lead.

In keeping with this show’s theme, Scott has chosen the Dong Bong – will it survive the week, or will the powers that be nix it in favor of “good taste?” Jake said “yes, the Dong Bong” will be gone by the recording of the next show. Scott, gets the alternative.

Who will own it?

But wait! There is a WILD CARD in place. Jake asked which Orioles starter would be the first to pitch through 7 innings. Scott took Kyle Gibson and Jake took Dean Kremer. Whichever pick clicks first will award the corresponding BEV host with a WILD CARD Fantasy Boss point.

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.

Tweet us your selections @birdseyeviewbal with #OsGood, #OsBad, and #OsUgly.

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.

Your Turn

Love it? Hate it? Confused? Let us, and other listeners, know! As always, we appreciate the support.

Please leave a rating and review for our show, wherever you get your podcasts, whether it be Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify, or… wherever!

You can email the show – contact at birdseyeviewbaltimore dot com

Get connected: you can find us on social media: