Tony-OH

Oy, tough game tonight!

Baseball.. Hero to zero within 24 hours for Mullins.

Guess you can go back to bad mouthing him. lol

Just make it? Like, just a cap of coffee? I'll take the over easy.

The Flaherty trade was not a "fleecing" at all in my opinion. Prieto is a line drive hitter without a plus position, Rom is AAA pitcher with no major league out pitch, and Showalter is an A-ball pitcher with some talent, but a delivery that screams reliever and injury risk. Prieto was going to be the only one of the three that would have ended up in the top 30 prospects for me. Now Flaherty has been a disappointment with the Orioles no doubt, but he had been pitching well for the Cardinals at the time of the trade and was worth a shot once Elias couldn't land one of the big names at the trade deadline. So while the results have not been what Elias wanted with Flaherty, he traded from his depth of C-level prospects not his impact ones.

Krehbiel has pitched well, but I agree, he goes because Irvin can supply some length if needed. Saying that, Irvin did just throw 39 pitches on Sunday so if he's not available tonight, he and Krehbiel could go down with Zimmerman getting promoted to provide length in case Means is unable to get into the 6th inning.

This plays told us a lot about his health as well. When he first came back from the IL, I think we saw him being a little tentative at times, particularly in the field, but there was nothing tentative about stretching that hit into a double. Not that this team needs much more inspiration, but when you see an almost 35-year old, 11-year veteran out there laying it all out on the field, you sure as hell are not going to dog it any time soon.

Honestly, at some point, I do think you have to just tip the cap due to the winning. I can certainly point to several head scratching moves by Elias including the Frazier signing, the lack of playing Stowers early on, and the lack of move for a true ace at the trading deadline to add to the rotation. But at the end of the day, I've always said that the results are the only thing that matter when the team is ready to compete. And whether I can nitpick on certain things now, what I can't deny is the sums of it's parts has allowed the Orioles to have the best record in the AL and potentially having their first 100+ season since 1979. I have zero issues of Hicks being put back on this roster over Cowser. Afterall, Cowser failed in his first go around and whether Cowser ends up better next season or the seasons to come have little to do with this season. Hicks is a veteran who has 114 postseason PAs to his credit and I think Elias and Hyde values that experience. I saw someone say Cowser looked "just happy to be in the majors" while Westburg looked "All business." While I think most of that is personality based, there could be some merit to the fact that Hyde may just like his clubhouse better with a veteran like Hicks on the team vs Cowser who some of referred to as a "bit goofy" in interviews and such. That's not being derogatory towards Cowser, just that maybe his personality is not what Hyde feels this team needs in a playoff stretch run over a calming presence like Hicks?

I think it was a very good season and in fact, was a better overall season than Basallo's FCL season last year. I love the 22 BB-23 K ratio and the .391 OBP. Tavera is just six months older than Basallo was in the FCL. But let's look at the two: WRC+ WOBA BB/K ISO BABIP SwStr% 2022 Basallo 116 .369 0.41 .137 .322 28.7% 2023 Tavera 117 .395 0.96 .159 .293 16.5% Hard to see how you can not get excited about Tavera after seeing Basallo take off this year.

What, damn, I would have been better. Al Oliver would have been my Pirates/Expos connection.

I missed my first White Sox 200K pitcher by 9 Ks. Jack McDowell (191)! I don't think I would have gotten the Nats - Pirates one though either way!

I did this one Frobby style, all by memory. Got 8 out of 9 with a rarity score of: 265 Damn Nationals hurt me on the players because they don't go back far enough into my core knowledge years. Now if this were the Expos I'd be gold!

I think that was an attempt at sarcasm.

I'm going to put together an All-League team for each Rookie level. These are not necessarily the best prospects, but the guys who had the best season. The rules are the player must have spent most of his season at that level and played most of his games at that position to qualify. 1B: Victor Gonzalez - (.221/.280/.397/.677) 2B: Aron Estrada - (.206/.383/.365/.748) SS: Maikol Hernandez - (.179/.308/.269/.577) 3B: Leandro Arias - (.271/.370/.414/.785) OF: Kevin Guerrero - (.277/.323/.420/.743) CF: Braylin Tavera - (.262/.391/.421/.812) OF: Thomas Sosa - (.290/.385/.492/.877) C : Aneudis Mordán - (.274/.390/.504/.894) SP: Luis De Leon - (1.65, 27.1 IP, 23 H, 14 BB, 36 K) SP: Raúl Rangel - (4.39, 26.2 IP, 27 H, 14 Bb, 26 K) RP: Bryan Bautista - (3.60, 20 IP, 19 H, 10 BB, 19 K)

I'm going to put together an All-League team for each Rookie level. These are not necessarily the best prospects, but the guys who had the best season. The rules are the player must have spent most of his season at that level and played most of his games at that position to qualify. 1B: Luis Vicioso - (.314/.376/.436/.812) 2B: Sebastián De Los Santos - (.243/.393/.314/.708 SS: Luis Guevara - (.318/.444/.380/.824) 3B: Fernando Peguero - (.333/.423/.475/.899) OF: Yirber Ruiz - (.273/.442/.485/.927) CF: Elis Cuevas - (.305/.401/.455/.855) OF: Jean Mata - (.261/.354 /.291/.645) C : Miguel Rodriguez - (.323/.489/.385/.874) SP: Jesús Palacios - (1.95, 50.2 IP, 37 H, 13 BB, 60K) SP: Cesar Espinal - (3.18, 34 IP, 29 H, 11 BB, 34 K) SP: Francisco Morao - (3.89, 39.1 32 H, 21 BB, 52 K) RP: Wilton Rondon - (2.33, 27 IP, 19 H, 14 BB, 23 K) RP: Ledwin Gonzalez - (3.14, 28.2 IP, 29 H, 17 BB, 29 K) Best prospects not listed: 3B: Joshua Liranzo - (.244/.393/.400/.793) SS: Luis Almeyda - (.190/.290/.310/.600) Only 60 PAs, due to injuries

I know this is a little bit sarcastic, but if Holiday becomes a perennial all-star second baseman, is anyone going to be upset that we took him? Also, let's say he's behind Henderson and Ortiz defensively at SS right now, if he starts his career at 2B, it doesn't mean he can't still move to SS if there's a need. I'm not saying he can't play SS in the major leagues, but I think his bat will be his main value during his career. Saying all that, Anthony Volpe has shown that you can play SS effectively with a below average arm if you get rid of the ball quickly and have good range/hands. He's been rated as a plus defender by every metric besides double play runs saved. I think Holiday's arm is better than Volpe.

Not sure where you got that 42% number from, but according to statcast for pitches in 2023, 49.1 % of the 632,981 were in the zone.

Aberdeen's season is over and he needs innings.

You have to imagine without a really surprisingly poor spring training next year, that he's starting in AA next year. The Orioles have not "demoted" a top prospect to a lower affiliate under the Elias regime that I can remember.

There's a lot of speculations here which is fine, that's what the board is for, but if the Orioles are letting him throw a baseball at all then it means they have not ruled him out pitching again this year. Not having any idea what the injury is other than a "UCL injury," I'm going to remain a bit pessimistic about seeing the 100 MPH Bautista again this season, but I won't rule it out either. That's not something I would have said when he walked off that mound so it's at least a sliver of hope.

He's shown the ability to be very good over stretches this season. The question is whether he's worn out or not IMHO. He's throw 1130 more pitches than he's thrown in any season since 2019. His fastball has lost a little but under a MPH, but has gained 2.3 inches of vertical drop which means it remains truer and that has turned his fastball from a good pitch to a very hittable pitch. Flaherty is clearly not the guy he was in 2019 which is why cost three prospects on the fringe of the top 30 vs a potential impact one for the stretch drive. I wish the stuff gave me more hope but I think while he can use guile to at times to get through a lineup once or twice occasionally, I don't see him suddenly becoming a guy you can count on down the stretch or in the playoffs. Then again, we don't know whether Bradish, Kremer or Grod will hold up either because they've never been here in a playoff race at this many pitches/innings. Means could be a huge boost to this team come playoff time. We just need to see what he has in the tank after the surgery and back injury. The stuff was a little down in AAA from his major league stuff a few years ago.

I don't think that ship has sailed. I think it's prepared to sail, but it hasn't sailed yet. Flaherty has playoff experience and I think Elias values that which was part of the reason he went out and got him. Now, has Flaherty pitched himself into a situation where his roster spot of tenable at bets? I think so, but until he's DFA'd, Elias very well may still give him another chance and if he pitches well, he could still be on a playoff roster.

It would certainly make sense.

Everything we've heard about Flaherty is that he's a great teammate and intense competitor. I can almost guarantee any displeasure he's showing on the mound or dugout is directed at himself. No one wants to join a playoff team and be a failure. I think sometimes it's easy for some fans to draw conclusions on the player's attitude, but unless you are in the clubhouse, I don't think anyone can have a true understanding of the player as a person or teammate. Flaherty has a 7.16 ERA in his 6 starts, but the Orioles are 3-3 in his six starts. The problem I see with Flaherty is his fastball is a below average pitch in movement and velocity and that means he needs to be very much in command to have success. The curveball which has morphed into more of a sweeper, has been ok, but the last few starts it did not have it's late break and has been more slurvy and hittable. His percentile rankings don't make you too thrilled that he's a guy you want starting in the playoffs.

It was the 8th. https://www.mlb.com/video/jorge-lopez-in-play-no-out-to-wilyer-abreu?q=GamePk %3D [716664] AND PitchSpeed %3D {{ 36%2C 105 }} Order By Timestamp DESC&cp=MIXED&p=1