Frobby

I’m wondering if there’s something physically wrong with him. He’s not the same guy as he’s been the last two years, and not just because he’s now pitching in AAA.

Rolphy Cruz certainly fell hard. Earned a mid-season promotion to Delmarva last year after posting a 1.192 OPS in the FCL, and he’s out of the org less than 11 months later.

Back to Nick, he’s one of my 5-6 favorite Orioles of all time, even though you wouldn’t put him in the 5-6 best. Just tremendously steady and reliable. And, he came along during a really dark period for the Orioles as well as their minor league system. I used to refer to him as “the Boy Who Lived” because he was the only decent player our farm system produced over a 7-8 year period. I’ll never forget that shot of him on the field after the O’s clinched the AL East, taking in the scene with a tear in his eye. That’s more memorable to me than any of the great things he did on the field. I will make every effort to be at his induction ceremony, even though I know his acceptance speech is likely to be forgettable. Because I’ll never forget his importance to the franchise.

Many of Tiger’s injuries were due to circumstances fully within his control. Just sayin’.

4/13: Cade Povich, 5.1 innings, 10 K’s 5/2: Luis De Leon, 4.2 innings, 10 K’s Let me know if I missed any. Last year I counted 14 double digit strikeout games, all by July 4. It’s possible some slipped by me afterwards.

The pitchers are adjusting to him, now he’s going to need to adjust back. I still don’t know what level of hitter he’ll be when he finally settles in at his level. I do know that the depths Mateo reached last year are exceedingly rare.

@RZNJ’s Liranzo thread reminded me that the FCL season starts tomorrow! Have we heard what the roster will be?

With Weston’s promotion to Bowie this week, it seems like someone should be moving up to Aberdeen soon.

That is a ludicrous take. At the AAA level, Zimmermann has a 4.28 ERA and averages 9.0 K/9. Povich (including last year) has a 3.59 ERA and 11.4 K/9. And he appears to be taking a giant leap this year. Also, one should never confuse raw fastball velocity with “stuff.” It’s unrealistic to expect a big jump in velocity for Povich, but his stuff is just fine, thank you. As for Povich helping the Orioles in 2024, we’ll see. Right now, most things are clicking for the O’s starters and even with GRod on the IL we have 6 guys for 5 slots. Then there’s Wells, who will be back at some point. So, I’d agree that Povich’s debut isn’t imminent despite his AAA success. But he’s an enticing prospect, and no Zimmermann 2.0.

I seriously doubt it. But I’ve argued that Hyde should use Kimbrel no more than 5 times every two weeks, and if he followed my advice (ha ha) that means we’d need a “Plan B” when Kimbrel is not available, and Webb is one of the guys you can use in that role, depending on matchups.

I have seen lots of guys have a hot month followed by a cold one. I’ve never seen anyone do what Mateo did last year, and I don’t expect Cowser will either.

The bolded line was hilarious. Kudos for that. The Mateo/Cowser April comparison doesn’t strike me as startling. Two guys who had a hot April in two different years. What would be startling is if Cowser posted a .316 OPS in May and .500 in June, as Mateo did. That would startle me, and I bet it doesn’t happen, because Cowser walks too often to ever sink as low as Mateo did when he cooled off. Obviously, Cowser is slumping now, and we will see how long his funk goes, but I’d bet serous money that he won’t reach Mateo’s level of ineptitude from May/June. Now, will Hays reclaim a good chunk of playing time if Cowser is still slumping when Hays returns? Probably.

Roch: Austin Hays grabbed his spikes yesterday and walked out of the Orioles’ clubhouse. He had another box to check. Hays ran the bases for the first time since landing on the 10-day injured list on April 22 with a strained left calf muscle. He sprinted from third to home and wasn’t favoring the leg. That was only part of his workout. The Orioles didn’t schedule batting practice but they arranged for Hays to take some swings on the field. It was significant ramping of baseball activities after Hays had run the last two days, hit in the indoor cage and threw. “Everything’s been going good,” he said. “I’ve been up to 90 percent of my game speed, so getting really close. Just got to check a couple more boxes, but everything we’ve done so far, there have been no setbacks, nothing negative. I think we’re getting really close.” Hays could use an uninterrupted stretch of games. A stomach virus in spring training shed about 10 pounds from his frame, and he experienced a different illness in Pittsburgh. He went 4-for-29 down in Florida and is 5-for-45 this season with no extra base hits. Before heading out to the field, Hays said he didn’t know whether he’d go on an injury rehab assignment to get some at-bats. “We’re still trying to decide that, like, ‘OK, if you’re good in the next couple days, where are we going to be at?’” he said. “We’ll see once I check off all the sprinting boxes, baserunning, hitting. Just see what we decide.” Manager Brandon Hyde sounded yesterday like he expected Hays to join an affiliate. “Hopefully he can start doing some minor league games here pretty soon,” Hyde said.

Problem is, you have to throw the fastball for a changeup to be effective. But it’s true you don’t have to throw it for a strike. As I said in the Reds series thread, the Reds feature a rather lopsided lineup. De La Cruz is dazzling but there are 4-5 gaping holes in their lineup. So, don’t let him beat you.

It’s dangerous to extrapolate much from one series. If the Yankees stay healthy they’ll win 90+ games and force us to get to the high 90’s if we want to win the division. Their starting pitching is decent and their bullpen as always is very good. Death, taxes and a good Yankee bullpen. The offense wasn’t scary and we’ll see if it stays that way. I think Torres is a big key to their season. He’s at .569 OPS and at 27 years old there’s no reason he should suddenly be taking a 200 point OPS dive. If he gets back to normal and Judge heats up, they’re suddenly much more dangerous on offense. I’m glad we took 3 of 4 and finished the series in first place, but there’s miles to go and the season will take many twists and turns.