Frobby

4.2 scoreless tonight, 1 hit, 3 walks, 5 K’s. ERA at 0.54. He may warrant an early promotion to Bowie.

Twice

Kjerstad showing the not ready for prime time defense.

Who are you and what have you done e with Roy Firestone?

So Statcast doesn’t think GRod is throwing sliders this year? Riiiiiiiggghhhht.

I’m not dissing Mayo’s defense today. I’m just wishing Cooper would have given BA’s views on his defense this year. He made 3 errors the first weekend I think, so obviously he’s settled down in term of big mistakes. That’s only part of assessing defense. I appreciate your opinions but I’d rather hear it from objective sources who are professional evaluators.

Four of the hits were 56, 37, 70 and 74 mph. I’d call today a good step in the right direction.

Would be nice if Cooper had something to say about Mayo’s defense. We know he can dominate AAA offensively. Cooper doesn’t need to tell us that.

To be clear. + 10 and -10 are compared to average. I think you know that, but a guy with -10 offense doesn’t mean “pure defense guy.”

If the O’s want Kjerstad to play over Hays, they’ll find a way to do that. They will NOT do it by optioning Hays to the minor leagues at this point. Won’t. Happen. But by the way, Hays was a finalist for MiL player of the year in 2017, so I don’t buy the premise that Kjerstad is performing better than Hays ever did. Among other things, Hays was a very good two-way player. Kjerstad has a questionable glove.

Suppose you have three players in an organization who play the same position. Player A is +10 runs on offense but -10 runs on defense. Player B is -10 runs on offense but +10 runs on defense. Player C is average on both offense and defense. Which player would you choose to be on your team? And is your answer different depending on which position we’re talking about? Apart from your preference, do you think the Orioles have a preference? For purposes of my questions, no copping out by saying it depends who else is on the team.

If you don’t understand the difference between a veteran who has been important to the team for years and a rookie getting his feet wet, I don’t know what to tell you. Hays got sent to the minors numerous times between 2017 and 2020, so it’s not like he didn’t pay his dues before settling in. i don’t want to overstate my point. It’s still a meritocracy. But the sample size isn’t at the point where optioning Hays is going to happen.

I think they’ll wait a few weeks to see if Heston sticks.

Well, I think he’s legitimately injured and it’s not a “guise.” With a veteran player, they usually give them just a few rehab games, especially if their injury didn’t keep them off the field long. So I’d put the short rehab at 70%, long rehab 25%, option 5% (and that may be high). I realize that Hays has hit very poorly, but I just don’t see the O’s putting him in the minors for any extended period. He did seem to be swinging better over the few games prior to his injury.

The Baysox are off to a 9-6 start mostly due to their bats, which lead the Eastern League with an .819 OPS and 5.87 runs per game. They have no fewer than 7 players with an .800+ OPS: Bencosme (1.026), Bowen (.989), Beavers (.972), Fabian (.969), Pavalony (.919), Cook (.815) and Ardoin (.805). The pitching has been unremarkable so far. The highlight has been Kyle Brnovich, who’s sporting a 2.08 ERA, 0.923 WHIP, and 10.4 K/9 in three starts. Brnovich had reached AAA before his TJ surgery in mid-2022, so I expect he’ll get promoted before long if he remains effective for Bowie.