RZNJ

My takeaway is that Hays has been an awful hitter in the games he hasn’t gotten a hit in since the beginning of his career and very good in the other games.

Yeah, not worried. Learning two new positions, some early season bad weather. It does look like he bulked up over the winter. I almost wonder if he over did it.

OH aren’t stupid. Well, most aren’t. He had a horrible July. His OPS from August 1 thru the end of the regular season was .771. Your narrative that he’s been mostly awful since July 1 of 2023 is complete BS. No one expects you to admit it. You’ll double down using the July numbers to suggest that he’s sucked the whole time. Business as usual.

XBA of .193 fwiw.

If Hays starts to hit, I could easily see him get 3-4 starts a week but as long a everyone is healthy and Cowser doesn’t crater, that’s probably about the best he can hope for. Ramon Urias is actually in a worse spot as the Holliday saga unfolds. Westburg is a fixture at 3B and Mateo is first in line for the leftovers at 2B.

Hmmm. The Tides are all washed up?

From July 19 to July 31, in 48 PA, he had a .326 OPS. Close!

His OPS last July was something like .444 so I wouldn’t be too sure.

Austin Hays had a .858 OPS in August and a .692 OPS in Sept/Oct. I believe .858 is considered good while .692 might be considered mediocre. I’m pretty comfortable saying neither is considered awful.

DocJJ, who tells all his patients. “Let me give you the bad news first, please”! or ”It doesn’t look too good”.

Moises Chace, RHP, Orioles In Baltimore’s first international signing class under general manager Mike Elias and vice president of international scouting Koby Perez, the Orioles signed a group of intriguing pitchers. One of them was Chace, a 6-foot righthander from Venezuela who had reached 93 mph, paired it with a high-spin curveball and showed good pitchability for his age. Now a 20-year-old in High-A Aberdeen, Chace’s stuff has ticked up and he’s off to an excellent start with eight scoreless innings and a 15-2 K-BB mark. He can run his fastball up to 96 mph with good carry, getting a lot of swing-and-miss on that pitch this season, along with a high-spin slider at 2,700-2,900 rpm. His most effective pitch has been a lively, tailing changeup with more than 10 mph of separation off his fastball that has piled up whiffs. In one at-bat against Nationals lefthanded-hitting outfielder Jared McKenzie, Chace fell behind 1-0 with a fastball, then threw three straight changeups with empty swings on each one. Chace struggled with his control last year—he walked 53 in 68 innings—but there’s a starter pitch mix here if he can continue throwing strikes the way he has in his first two starts.

1. I think there’s a history between the player and team that’s means something to both sides. 2. A pitcher who had TJ surgery, came back, got shut down again, needed all winter off, was a month behind everyone else, and has now thrown a total of 7.1 innings in 4 rehab starts doesn’t scream INNINGS EATER to me but maybe some ML team does think so. 3. I’m curious. Can the Orioles even circumvent the MLB rules for service time by guaranteeing his minor league time won’t affect his FA status?

The Orioles are the one team that has an investment in him, both monetary and emotional. They are the one team incentivized to have him pitch in the majors this year. What ML team, rebuilding or not, wants to take a pitcher who’s given up 14 hits, including 5 home runs, in 7 AAA innings, stick him in their bullpen, so he can keep accumulating FA service time? What’s their incentive? That he’s going to magically turn into the 2021 John Means and they can flip him at the deadline? While it’s possible that he regains form, I don’t think there’s a ML team willing to take the lumps on a longshot.

Sure, but would they add him to their 26 man roster and let him stink/rehab in the majors? I doubt it.

The guy had an intestinal virus or whatever and lost 10 pounds about a month ago. It’s a non factor. 1. Hays has been really bad but he’s not close to Chris Davis territory. 2. He’s going to get starts once or twice a week as Cowser cools off and to get Mullins and Santander a day off. 3. The Orioles are 12-6 and the offense has been mostly good and that’s been with getting zilch from Holliday. I’d hardly call them desperate to get Hays bat going against LHP. I handicap Hays getting sent down at 0%.