00:00The ebbs and flows of $1.62, but the Orioles' flow brings them back here, Ryan, to Camden Yards
00:06for the first time in over a week, and the city connects.
00:10It's happy 410 day, which is the area code, of course, of Baltimore City
00:15as we celebrate the history of the town as we're coming up on the 250th anniversary
00:20of the United States of America, and Baltimore, of course, is where the Star-Spangled Banner was written.
00:27And I can get into some other stuff, too, but first of all, good to see you.
00:31What's happening?
00:31Good to see you, and thank you for the history lesson on this Friday.
00:34How about that?
00:35And a lot of things shaking.
00:37A lot of things shaking, but I'm good, Bob.
00:38It's great to see you.
00:39And, of course, we have Nolan McGraw on the other side of the glass,
00:42and we were talking earlier 6-6 through the first 12.
00:45Yankees lose last night, so the Orioles are two games out of first place.
00:49We're not standings watching yet unless they were seven games out of first place,
00:54and then you're, like, kind of pushing panic buttons.
00:56But here they are, and for the most part, they haven't really played all that great
01:02for an extended period of time.
01:04Yes, they have the three-game positive streak moving here, but they've had some issues.
01:09They've had some injuries that have been well-documented.
01:13So how thankful, I guess, should the Orioles be that even though they've got a lot of guys
01:20hitting below the Mendoza line, they've had three quality starts over 12 games
01:25all by the same guy that they are where they are right now.
01:30Yeah, I mean, the Orioles at this moment, and we talked about this yesterday,
01:38they're having trouble scoring some runs.
01:40They're averaging under four runs a game.
01:42They are bottom third in team ERA.
01:47Runners in scoring position hasn't been great.
01:49And yet, when you look up at this, the Baltimore Orioles sit at 500,
01:53which many teams in the American League can say that they are not there.
01:57You know, actually, the Yankees, going into everything, or going into last night,
02:02and they still currently are.
02:03The Yankees are the best team in baseball in the American League.
02:07Let me preface that.
02:07In the American League, Bob, at 8-4.
02:11Cleveland and Texas are the only two other teams.
02:14Actually, I take it back.
02:16Minnesota, they're over 500 right now.
02:19Feel that pain, Detroit.
02:21So now there's four teams over 500 in the American League,
02:25and then the Orioles are the one team at 6-6.
02:28So, yeah, for the Orioles, not playing well because they haven't played well
02:32for the first two weeks of the season.
02:34That's just being honest, but they are right in the thick of it.
02:39It's better to be where they are instead of the Detroit Tigers,
02:42who are 4-9, or the Seattle Mariners, also at 4-9,
02:46a couple innings away from going to the World Series last year.
02:50So it's always context.
02:52No, it's not pretty.
02:53No, it hasn't been what Oriole fans would like the standard to be.
02:57Pitch well, play good defense, score a bunch of runs,
03:01but yet they're finding ways to win even at some of their worst,
03:05and I think that's something previous teams haven't done, Bob,
03:09and I still love the fact they got eight jacks on the season,
03:12four by Gunnar Henderson, and in years past,
03:15this offense has been dependent on winning games,
03:18whether the ball leaves the yard or not.
03:20They haven't left the yard too much so far,
03:22and they're finding ways to win.
03:24And I think there is something important to be said about that
03:27through the first two weeks.
03:28All right, I'm going to bring it to the negative,
03:29and we're going to start with the offense and individual players first.
03:33Kobe Mayo, great spring, great September, 2025.
03:38Four hits, hitting $1.33 early in the season.
03:43What has changed for him?
03:46I mean, you were a professional baseball player yourself.
03:49Thanks, Bob.
03:50Yeah, but when you watch him now, opposed to what you saw in spring training,
03:55granted, you're not taking on major league pitching the entirety of your Florida stay,
04:01but still, I mean, when you're raking, you're raking.
04:04Why the struggles here early?
04:07And Basayo, Alonzo, Kauser, I mean, he's not the only guy living in that territory right now.
04:14And here's the reality of it.
04:16It's not just those guys.
04:17Every team has players exactly like the ones that you just mentioned all across baseball.
04:22Every team has those guys that are struggling.
04:24And then there are some guys that are swinging the bat pretty well.
04:28But I'll start with Kobe since you asked about Kobe Mayo.
04:33Kobe, in my mind, yeah, you felt good.
04:36You were trying to earn the right to be the opening day third baseman, which he earned it.
04:41And I thought he had some really solid at-bats to start the year, but he had some bad luck.
04:47It just wasn't falling, having some good approach.
04:49But it wasn't hidden grass, and you get that note up there, hit in the box score, and it builds
04:57confidence.
04:57So I think when those numbers aren't reflecting some of your at-bats, you start to press.
05:02And then you start to hear other people talk about, well, this guy's supposed to have a really strong bat.
05:08Where is it?
05:09And then you feel that you've got to go out there and hit that five-run home run, which, again,
05:15it's impossible, by the way.
05:16I just want to clarify that.
05:18But you feel like you've got to do more.
05:19So that's what I think Kobe Mayo is.
05:21He's pressing, Bob.
05:22I don't think there's anything that I'm seeing that's wrong.
05:24But I think he's just a little bit in his head.
05:26The other guys, like Pete Alonso, I'm not worried about him.
05:29He's been there.
05:30He's done that.
05:30You're going through it.
05:32Sam Basayo, young player.
05:34He's still trying to learn how to be a big leaguer.
05:36That's fine.
05:37Colton Couser, on the other hand, got off to a good start.
05:40But then it's back to what the scouting report is for him, get him in situations where he's going to
05:45chase off speed, throw him a ton of off speed, specifically change-ups.
05:49And he's swinging over top of it and out in front.
05:51So while Colton was off to a good start, he's going to have to make an adjustment because there's more
05:56of a scouting report out on him than any other player of the young guys, Basayo or Mayo.
06:02So it's a long-winded answer, Bob.
06:05Everyone has different reasons.
06:07Kobe pressing.
06:08Couser has to make adjustments.
06:10And Basayo is just trying to figure out how to be a young kid in the big leagues.
06:12And Basayo, you know, upside is immense.
06:15Couser had the—look, probably should have won rookie of the year in 24.
06:20Didn't.
06:20But since the start of last year, when he broke his thumb sliding into first base, he hasn't been able
06:26to get it back together.
06:27And correct me if I'm wrong, Ryan, his K rate wasn't this high at the minor league level, right?
06:32Wasn't he more of a—you know, a little more patience at the plate.
06:36Up here, he's Rob Deere.
06:37There's a reference for you.
06:39Yeah.
06:39I mean, when you get to the big leagues, overall, you've got to find what your strength is.
06:47And, you know, the funny thing is if we go through all these guys, if we start with Kobe Mayo,
06:51the Colton Couser, and Basayo,
06:54Kobe Mayo was known for a good eye around the plate, would strike out a little bit, but a high
06:58-average guy.
06:59The funny thing with Couser, Couser went into the draft of his class and I think was in the top
07:05five in contact percentage.
07:06He just didn't strike out.
07:08And he struck out a little bit more in the minors, but still a high-average guy.
07:12Now the number's pretty astronomical.
07:14And then there's Sam Basayo, who always could have a little bit of the strikeout, but he's so young, so
07:18you can't—don't have a ton of data.
07:20But the data that you have is power, average, can be through the roof, but he doesn't have maybe the
07:26seasoned at-bats that Couser has, Mayo has, and their little track record.
07:30So, yeah, Bob, I wish that there could be one way that a player, how you hit in the minors,
07:36it's going to translate to you in the big leagues.
07:38And I'll give one example because I talked to him recently, and he's a Maryland Terp, former Maryland Terp.
07:43It was Brandon Lau, and the Orioles just saw them in Pittsburgh.
07:46And I asked Brandon, I said, so when you got into pro ball, you were a high-round pick, I
07:51think third round.
07:52What changed?
07:53You weren't a big power guy.
07:55And he goes, no, I wasn't.
07:56I could hit for some average.
07:58But I also thought I had it figured out.
08:00And I had a coach tell me I had to work on these things, and if I do it right,
08:04I can be in the big leagues.
08:05I can get by in the minors, but if I want to really accomplish something, I got to change these
08:10things.
08:10And then I have to learn to adapt.
08:12And Brandon Lau has turned into a power hitter, and he's had to adjust, but he's proven who he is.
08:18The other three that we mentioned, Couser, Mayo, Basayo, Bob, they haven't proven who they are yet.
08:24And that is the only part that we can know is they have to figure that out, and time will
08:30tell how well they figure out what they can be at the big leagues.
08:32Trippin' it with Ryan.
08:33It's April the 10th.
08:34The Orioles are back home, taking on the Giants and Diamondbacks, coming up over the next homestand.
08:39What's more likely to happen, people?
08:41You get in here at 4105A31057.
08:44Orioles finish above .500 or below .500 as they wrap up April.
08:48And as Nolan has said, it would help the cause.
08:50Well, I mean, it makes common sense.
08:52It would help the cause to finish with a big April because they have a string of games coming up
08:56back to back to back to back when they hit the road.
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