Tony-OH

No doubt this is another opportunity for Urias to get pretty regular PAs, though I expect some still to go to Mateo against lefties.

The fact that they added McKenna instead or Norby tells me this is a very short term thing. Still, I would have liked to have seen Norby be given his shot, but maybe they were worried he come up, hit, and then they'd still had to make room for Hays next week. Not overly surprised that Holliday was optioned, only slightly surprised they didn't do it before the Angels series with the two lefty starters scheduled.

Most quality major league starter's hold their velocity throughout their starts. They may cruise for a bit, but have it when they want it. Typically command goes long before velocity.

Thank goodness a minor league system is not judged on wins and losses, because they are putting many Ws up of late. Delmarva is pretty much an embarrassment right now from the hitting side. The first real wave of international position prospects have been left wanting after the first month or so of the season. The Shorebirds are scoring a league low 2.29 runs per game and slashing a league worse .182/.259/.263/.523. The Tides pitching outside of Povich and McDermott to a lesser extent has been pretty bad minus a few decent relieves in Vespi, Krook and Charles. Elias/Sig's thought on being able to identify pitching talent through pitch shapes and spin rates through the draft after the 10th round has been a pretty big failure. Armbruster was the flag ship pitcher and he's been a flop this year so far, though I had already seen major red flags from him last year. Not surprisingly these guys struggle at the high levels and why they were available that late. Glad to see Elias made a change in his draft philosophy last year and went after some younger, higher ceiling guys like Forret vs 21-year old juniors in those later rounds.

Cook is pretty much an org guy so he's easy to move back and forth when playing time opens up. He's versatile, so not only can he fill in the outfield, he can play 2B and 1B. Norfolk has been scuffling for offense and is short handed right now.

Ramirez is who he is with no upside. He's got decent stuff, but is never consistent enough to put together a series of good outings that he can be used in anything close to a small margin game unless it's an emergency. Sounds like Baumann, doesn't it? At least Baumann has a little upside, but at 28, he's basically who he as a well, but he can give you a little length on occasion which is why I'd move Ramirez first.

Why do you feel it's your job to troll Roy? "Hard throwing" is subjective, and besides, you are adding nothing to the board unless you can give statistical evidence to change an existing opinion. But you know that, don't do that, and particularly like to troll Roy. Since this is a Perez thread I won't continue this conversation about Povich.

Are you talking Ramirez or Baumann?

I'd definitely DFA Ramirez first vs Baumann, but Baumann may not be far behind.

Wells can go on an extended rehab as well if there is a crunch.

With Cowser hitting lefties ok so far, not a lot of reason for McKenna. Mateo has already played CF once as well, so they are covered down with defense in CF and Kjerstad brings a much better bat.

Is Brian, Ryan's brother?

The offense certainly carried the bullpen this roadtrip. The bullpen SHOULD settle down though like I said in the game thread yesterday, besides Kimbrel and maybe Coulombe, who do you have complete faith in when they come in the game? Not to turn this into a bullpen discussion in Frobby's offense thread, but the offense had to carry the pen. As much as I don't think the offense is sustainable at this road trip level long term, I do think we are seeing some young hitter blossom that could very well make the Orioles offense one of the best in the league for a long time. The emergence of Cowser and Westburg this year, along with the improvements by Gunnar against lefties and Mountcastle's continued willingness to take a walk has really broadened the threat factor in this lineup. Against righties, the Orioles can put six guys in a lineup with .359 or high OBP right now. All of this and Adley and Mountcastle only have four home runs between them, so we can expect more power from them as well. Sure, Cowser and Westburg may cool off some and even Gunnar is most likely not going to carry a 1.000+ OPS the rest of the year, but Mullins and Santander should improve their OBPs. So really, even if some guys cool down, others have room to heat up.

Perez threw an inning of rehab last night with Norfolk. His velocity was down about 1.5 MPH on his sinker, and everything was down a tick, but he was getting some work in and doesn't look too far away from being ready.

Potentially. I really need to see more of both this year to make that call, but Forret is going to be quick riser for sure with his stuff and results.