Tony-OH

Everyone but Cowser overmatched by Peralta right now.

Peralta just putting on a clinic right now.

Or hit ball hard? Or hit the ball?

Just really surprising they brought these things back. One, they're ugly. Two the Orioles record in them can not be good.

Not going to lie, that sounds better than this game.

Mountcastle pics that throw.

Yes, the City Connect charm is still active I see. Or it could just be that the Orioles insist on having a AAA pitcher on their roster in Heasley.

Pretty darn good night for this young man. He's going to put himself on the prospect scene if he can make the jump to AA successfully this year. I need to go back and look at the video to see the hits, but nothing wrong with 5-for-5 nights.

They are young, and many have not played in cold weather before. Arias, Sosa and Tavera are all off to slow starts for sure, but too early to panic on them (not saying you are). I'd like to see less strikeouts for sure from Sosa and Arias. Tavera has done a nice job of controlling the strike zone even though he hasn't hit much. Sosa's K rate is certainly not good right now. He did have a two walk game but the K's are piling up on him and that's a big concern if he can't get that under control.

62. Aneudis Mordan – C/1B (FCL/A): 19-year old catcher broke out with the bat in the FCL after two years of struggling in the DSL. Earned himself a cup of coffee in Delmarva at the end of the FCL season and did not look out of place at the plate. He's got a quick bat with power potential who showed a much better ability to work counts. Defensively his arm was terrible last year although he said there was nothing wrong, but if he comes back throwing like that next year he'll need to move to 1B where his 6-1 height will not be a plus. His defensive short comings puts a lot of pressure on the bat to be special.

I'd pack his bags, but no one would offer something like that.

It does suck for them, just like it sucks for Connor Norby and Coby Mayo, all of which would be starting in the majors elsewhere. But for the organization, it's a good problem to have. Does it suck for them, sure, but the well is not exactly flowing after the AAA guys. Not saying their aren't interesting guys, but not a lot of "impact" offensive players in Double-A and below yet.

We just swept the Red Sox even with Holliday going hitless for two games. I think he and the Orioles will be just fine. Right now he's hitting everything on the ground and pretty softly, but he will make adjustments.

He's like the 6th or 7th reliever option and they luckily haven't needed him much.

They have done this so far so I don't think Hays has shown enough bat to garner that kind of playing time over Mullins and Santander. Saying that, I do think he will certainly spell all three outfielders and very well could work himself into a 3-4 times a week player later in the season when guys need more time off in the heat.

Cowser is now starting over Hays against right-handers. Hays is not hurt. Cowser is now the starting left fielder. Will Hays get his PAs, sure, because now he can back up all three outfielders when they need a break. He's a better player overall than McKenna so I expect him to get more PAs than McKenna got. Hays is not going to be buried, but I do think barring a collapse, Cowser is now the Orioles starting Left Fielder and Hays is the 4th outfielder, a role he'll be very good at if he can hit in more of a part-time role.

By the way, let's move active Holliday discussion into his 2024 thread. Thanks.

Great post. We sometimes forget that we now have a newer generation that doesn't really remember what Cal Ripken Sr. brought to this organization. I don't necessarily think his number should have been retired (that should be for Orioles who were inducted into the HoF as Orioles), but he did have a lasting affect on the Orioles winning ways in the 70s and early 80s.

Kimbrel continues to throw 2.6 MPH slower than last year, but his vertical movement is the best of his career so far. His curveball has been unhittable this year and has the most horizontal movement of his career. His command has been outstanding on both of his offerings. Maybe Kimbrel has found that he has more command at this velocity or maybe he just needs warmer weather to "warm up" but for now, the results have pretty amazing since the blown save.

100% Kevin Brown was waiting to use that one. Great call by the way. Sometimes, even in his over excitement at times, Brown gets it right on the mark. That was one of them calls.

It hasn't been two weeks. It's been since June 21st of last season. See my post above. If it were only two weeks and bad spring, I'd say yes, it's probably too early, but it's been much longer.

While he was off to a terrible starts this year, this is not based on just his poor start this year. In his last 332 PAs, dated back to June 21st last year, Hays has slashed .215/.277/.343/.620 with a 25-86 BB-K ratio. So we have a significant amount of time to determine that Hays probably should not be an everyday outfielder at this time, especially for a team with World Series aspirations. Will he get a chance to start for someone next year at 29-years old, perhaps, but barring an injury or Cowser just losing it over an extended time frame, I think he's 4th outfielder here. With two left-handed hitting starters in Cowser and Mullins, it's good to have him able to cover down for both (of course in different games) against tough lefties. Cowser has arrived. He's the starting Left Fielder for the Baltimore Orioles.

I think Hays is now the new McKenna. He's the 4th outfielder who will fill in for each guy against lefties and late in games against lefties. If he can get his bat going, he'll be really good in that role. He's a much better bat sitting on the bench than McKenna IF, and this is a big IF because we don't know this yet. If he's able to hit when only starting 1-2 a week? Not every player is able to be effective in that role.

I agree with this. No doubt once he makes his adjustments and starts hitting, he'll be the leadoff guy with everyone moving back one. The OP is right that right now, Gunnar is not having great PAs to start off games, but it's also been a slow start for him overall. He'll get it going.

Holliday took a bad angle and then tried to swirl around and make a catch. Outfielders were playing very deep. That was 100% his ball and he just messed it up in my opinion. As you said, it's a tough place to play on pop ups at times.