Tony-OH

Sorry, missed this question. His groundball rate (45.2%) is too high and to me, I just don't see a lot of raw power. I don't have his bat speed numbers, but I bet they are not incredibly high. Now, Adley proves that you don't need great consistent bat speed to be a good hitter, but I do think that's why he doesn't have good power numbers. The good news is he's shown no platoon issues, he'll work counts, and he's solid defensively outfielder (though not a true CF guy for me because of the routes/jumps from what I've seen). I still think he'll need to add to his power to be a true regular corner outfield prospect, but I do see him as a solid 4th outfielder on a major league team if he can show the ability to handle upper level pitching. I'm interested to seeing him against good velocity.

Shocking. Fanboys be fanboying as usual.

He has obviously looked better of late though he's not driving the ball a ton. He's out of positions at SS (for need) for sure, but still could potentially stick at 2B though the outfield may be his best fit long term.

I think Webb made two bad pitches in the playoffs.

Webb is certainly one of the more under rated relievers the Orioles have because he doesn't have that dominant velocity. It's interesting because his fastball velocity and vertical movement are down from last year. His XWOBA .405 on his fastball suggest he's been getting pretty lucky since his WOBA on his fastball is .293. As noted, his velocity is ticking up a bit, but worth noting as good as he's been, he is overperforming a bit.

Cowser definitely has whiff in his game. He had in the minors and he's going to have it in the majors unless he changes his approach. Saying that, he can do damage when he connects and if he goes back to being more selective he's going to get back to having success. Right now he can't hit anything low and away offspeed and pitcher know this. Then once he's cheating offspeed they're busting him inside with fastballs.

Thanks for providing the numbers and I think it shows why people are frustrated with him. I don't know whether this is just small sample size situation or genuinely a problem for him dealing with pressure. Some guys just handle pressure situations better than others. I agree with you though, right now, he's the last guy I want up in these situations too.

All very valid points. It's also been cooler this spring in most places and that has kept the scoring down a little.

Great post and I agree. I do think it's because the Orioles have not been scoring a ton of runs and have had some quick innings over the last week or so that some people get a little antsy. The results have been better overall with scoring runs. I do think at times the team could be more patient in certain situations, but nobody ever complains about first pitch ambush home run, but they certainly complain about a first pitch pop up. For me, it's about pitch selection and situation. If they pop up a perfect pitch down the middle, they just missed it. Now if they are chasing bad pitches early and getting out, that's an issue. Which I haven't seen a ton of but I haven't done the research on the team's chase%.

So wait, are we really upset that Adley is not walking as much as last year when he's doing just about everything else better this year to include power? OPS: Up .050 SLG: Up .074 AVG: UP .037 HH%: Up 9.9% EV: Up 1.6 MPH ISO: Up .037 OPS+: Up .021 HR: On pace for 16 more HRs I mean, I get the idea that this team is being more aggressive, but I'll take 2024 Adley over 2023 Adley everyday of the week and twice on Sunday!

True, but they have to go by what the player tells them. Who knows, maybe it didn't feel that bad and Hays thought he was good, but after the double he felt something? Calfs and Hamstrings can be tricky. I doubt there is anything nefarious to what Hays did and we certainly know the Orioles would not have activated him if he told them there was still some pain. At the same time, maybe Hays' desire to get back to the big leagues clouded his judgement a bit? Seems strange that he would "feel something" the first time he had to go max effort. But who knows really?

I have to wonder if Hays told them it was better than it was so he could get back to the majors and out of the minor league rehab. I'm not saying he did so, just makes me wonder.

You have to give up something of quality to get quality. Absolutely Ortiz would be a plus defender at 2B and would be doing well "IF" the Orioles would have given him that chance. I think the Orioles had every intention of Holliday playing 2B for them most of the year and didn't see an everyday spot for Ortiz. Burnes has been everything the Orioles could have hoped for and they are going for a World Series this year. That trade was certainly worth it at the time and if the Orioles do win a World Series and Burnes is a big part of that, no one is going to care how the players traded do. I've been a big Ortiz guy over the last few years and wanted him to be the everyday 2B last year over Frazier. He's doing about what I expected offensively and even though he's playing out of position at 3B right now, when he moves back to SS they are going to have an outstanding major league SS to replace Adames. I hope Joey goes on to have an outstanding career, but the Orioles already have a pretty good SS, and 2B will be manned by either Westburg or Holliday for years to come. This was a good depth trade by Elias and even if it doesn't end up in a WS win this year, it was the exact kind of trades he needs to be willing to make to give his team a better chance at winning each year.

Yeah, there was a lot of rain about come after about 7:30.

And I think that's why people are looking at Cowser worse than he really is. He just seems to come up in high leverage situations often and has failed at a high rate in these situations.

I'll be honest, I didn't remember that. I could swear I saw him in a box score last week. Oh well. Hard to keep track of the amount of players Elias claims and then loses on waivers. Well, Mateo can play some centerfield in a pinch so if Hays went down, I guess they'll just have to live with Stowers hitting against those tough lefties and play left field.

Another team might acquire him and then try to pick his brain for "Orioles secrets" with development and preparation. It would go like this: Team: "Welcome Ryan to the organization. We really are hopeful we can get you more playing time here." Ryan: "Thanks, glad to be here. Glad to be with an organization that doesn't worry about little things like running the bases correctly, taking good routes, or understanding how to position myself for a key throw to the plate." Team: "Um, well we do kinda want you to do those things. But anyways, so what are some of the things the Orioles do to prepare you for the game and what developmental tools are they using in the minors to get all these players producing so well in AAA?" Ryan: "What? Not really sure what you are talking about. I've seen guys sitting in front of Ipads with the nerds, but I never worried about any of that stuff. You guys have a headband stores around these parts?" Team: (Thinking in his head,) "What was my password to the waivers portal again?" (Note: This was for entertainment purposes only. I have no idea whether McKenna used or bought in to the tools available to him.)

Might be nit picking but you have to have low expectations for McCann for him to "meet expectations" while OPsing .541 and being worth -0.5 rWAR. He's playing like a guy who is at the end of the road at 33-years old.

Burns can't help how the other team's pitcher is pitching, and he can't help that the Orioles don't score runs for him. He has a 2.68 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. Batters are slashing .204/.257/.321/.579 and people are upset? He's gone six or more innings in six of his nine starts. Sure his FIP (3.55) is not ace like, but the results are there from his part. Maybe it's because he hasn't had that dominant 7+ inning start where he shuts the other team down yet, but he's been exactly what the Orioles were hoping for when they traded for him.

It's interesting that 8 people actually voted for McKenna. Obviously the Orioles agreed with the 94.81% of Hangouters that rightly picked Hays. I don't think Hays is done as a productive major leaguer and he's quality defensive outfielder with a plus arm in LF or RF.

I'd prefer a higher baseball IQ guy in that role myself.

I can understand that, but I did think the remarks were over the top a bit for you. I typically would like players to make it through waivers, but I'll be honest, the various boneheaded or just poor defensive plays combined with his little league-esque over slide of stolen base just kinda made me think this guy is never going to get it. Peyton Burdick makes McKenna a little redundant as well as a 5th outfielder type. Burdick is a solid defensive outfielder who has a .903 OPS against AAA left-handers thanks to him popping some homers. Sound familiar? I've never been a fan of low baseball IQ players like McKenna who just find ways to do the little things that don't help a ballclub. I'm sure he's a good teammate and clubhouse guy and that's why Hyde/Elias likes him, but I'm ok if he's taken off waivers. Plus, maybe he just needs a shot to play everyday somewhere like Oakland or Chicago? Maybe it's for the best for him to get a chance somewhere else?

Mullins does outperform his expected numbers quite frequently and while he's in one of his patented slumps, his "run values" as a player makes him right about average, mainly because his defense at a valued position up the middle is so good. The Orioles don't have one single player in Double-A of higher who can play plus defensive center field besides Mullins. that's going to give him a long leash on his offensive struggles. Most players are streaky. Some fans seem to only have a 3-4 week tolerance for players who struggle before they start to get antsy and call for the player to get less playing time or to bring up the "prospect of choice" to replace them. Mullins is still a valuable player on a contending team because of his defense in CF. He's going to get on a hot streak with the bat at some point and he settle back into the .710 OPS player that he probably is at this point in his career with the bat. Not every batter 1-9 is going to be an average major league hitter or better, but until the Orioles find an outstanding defensive CFer to replace him, he's going to get a very long leash this year.

Besides the guy who said he prayed everyday that McKenna is off the team, perhaps you can point us to the "amount of bile directed at McKenna?" I see most people discussing his merits, whether he will be taken or not, or whether he might be better off in the KBO. Unless you believe saying that you hope he's claimed is "ridiculous amounts of bile" or "vilifying him." This seems to be a JLC-level over reaction and an over simplification of the actual comments made in this thread IMHO.

I'm just happy that we won't see him coming in as a defensive replacement for Santander and then realizing Santander would have made the play he didn't. That last three step offline throw was the last straw for me. I hope he gets claimed too.