Tony-OH

It wasn't even an awful pitch. Votta pulled the hands in and got to a 96MPH fastball on the edge of the strikezone and hit it just out in this small ballpark. Hats off to Votto on that one.

No, it hasn't been apparent to me. I typically only notice if it's super obvious or he would have been safe if not for the slower than normal run.

Odor was lucky Votto is slow because he had plenty of time to set his feet and make a good throw.

His heat chart shows he get hit anything out there because he no longer tries to hit to all fields. When he was a high average guy he hit the ball all around, now it appears he's trying to look for pitches he can pull. Now he's a streaky pull hitter with a middling batting average and doesn't hit enough home runs to make up for his low OBP.

Another impressive July Mountcastle at bat. Guy cant hit in April or July for some reason. Really pitiful PA once again.

Rutschman just watches a get more curveball, then weakly swings at a low and away change and fouls it off. Then watches a low and away backdoor curveball. Terrible at bat. If you are looking at going the other way, none of that happens.

I'm sure Hyde is talking Odor and asking his to start using his veteranosity skills to make all the players stop trying to pull a lousy fastball, changeup lefty.

It's too early to get too upset about them playing down. Yeah, this is a bad team with a bad pitcher and our offensive approach has been awful, but Bradish has done well in his return and there is still four more innings to get something going.

But his veteranosity is why the Orioles are above .500 or so I've been told by some.

I do think Hyde is too close to Odor. Any manager that get a prospect and doesn't play him for the first four games he shows up hates young players or loves the guy they should be replacing. While Hyde is clearly a veteran's manager, I don't think he dislikes young players. I do however think he's way too close to certain players and Odor is one of them. It's like his fascination with Rio Ruiz for way too long. Now, this might all be wrong since maybe Hyde is just given his lineup and he's making excuses, but him burying Vavra for the awful Odor is not a good sign in my opinion. In fact, whoever or whatever is deciding that Odor should be playing everyday on a team that is actually competing despite him being replacement level or below replacement player makes me question the decision makers.

He has pitched really well so far. I need to go look at his stuff on baseball savant if it's anything different or just better command.

It's like they forgot that you attack a changeup pitcher by going the other way. Really, really bad approach tonight from the team.

I wish someone would show Drew Rom a video of pitchers like Mike Minor. All you need to have some success as a Lefty is a good changeup even with a middle fastball. Now we know what good teams most of felt like when the Orioles were running out Tommy Milone and he was having some success against them.

Let me say this, if Mountcastle is not going to be smart enough hitter at this point to know that a changeup pitcher is going to throw him a changeup, well that's why he's a .740 OPs hitter. The Orioles need more from first base.

Defense is tough to scout because unless you are watching every game, it's hard to get a feel. It's not until they get to the majors that statcast data gives us real data on their jumps, routes and speed. When I've watched Stowers, I've found him to be an average defensive outfielder, but I don't see him as a game changer out there either. The arm is ok, but nothing special and he's not particularly accurate. I won't be surprised if he comes out as about average or a little below average on his jumps and routes. I don't think his defense is going to be a problem, but I don't think its going to be an asset. Saying that, if he can get to 30 bombs a year and walk enough to get his OBP around .340 or so, he'll be just fine.

Ortiz is hitting some big boy bombs and looks pretty healthy now. 102 EVs with 420+ HRs from a SS that can truly play SS. Um, yes please. I am really buying into the fact he was not fully strong after his should injury limited him this offseason. Now saying that, he's on a heater and we never start fully judging a guy based on a month of amazing baseball, but it is nice to see him hit when he's probably the best defensive shortstop playing in the system right now. He's going to definitely move back up the prospect power rankings but i need to see him keep it up. He's 24 not 22, so that's going to hold him back a bit.

He can make a spectacular play and has the arm for SS, but he doesn't throw particularly accurate on the run and while he's athletic enough to still handle shortstop, I think he's going to continue to add good weight on his already 6-2, 210 frame and will be better off at 3B.

Surprisingly, Judge has played a slightly above average CF for the Yankees. He's an average runner (50.5 percentile) and has ben worth 1 OAA with a 1% success added in CF. So let's compared Judge to Mullins, Hays and McKenna Player Reaction Burst Route Ft vs avg ft covered/sec Mullins -0.5 1 0.5 0.9 35.6 Judge -0.5 -0.2 0.6 -.1 33.9 McKenna -0.9 1 0.3 0.4 33.7 Hays -0.7 -1.4 0.1 -1.4 32.1 Mullins is clearly the best overall with 35.6 ft/sec covered but surprisingly Judge is a little better than McKenna despite McKenna having 97th percentile speed. McKenna's poor reactions (something I pointed out in his scouting reports back in Bowie) hurts his overall effectiveness but he's still above average due to his burst speed. As or Stowers, it will be interesting to see where he ends up. Stowers reminds me of Nolan Reimold defensively except left-handed.

One really good thing about Stowers that a lot of people overlook is that he has no platoon issues. He actually hits left-handers (1.023) better than right-handers (.831 OPS). Cowser has major issues with lefthanders so far this year but Henderson has improved his numbers against southpaws this seas to a respectable .722 OPS. Stowers is ready to play in the major leagues. If Mancini or Santander are moved, gotta imagine he's the replacement.

There also could be lighting or backdrop problems in other stadiums in the league. I really don't know. The league as a whole is putting 4.98 runs per game but slashing just .246/.336/.398/.733 while striking out 10.0/9 and walking 4.1/9. The Ironbirds are about league average in hitting at .242/.336/.396/.732 while but scoring a bit under ay 4.8. Both Mayo and Cowser hit better at home than away, so it's not Aberdeen stadium's large power alleys that's hurting them.

Coby Mayo was sent on a rehab assignment to FCL Orioles. He started today at 3B and has gone 0-for-2 wit a walk and K so far. Just good to see him back playing.

After Tyler Wells came out of the game yesterday after holding his lower oblique area, the Orioles placed him on the 15-IL with "Lower left side discomfort." Wells has made 20 starts this season going 94.2 IP with a 3.90 ERA. While he didn't miss a ton of bats, he was very consistent this season overall. If it is an oblique, it's doubtful we will see him until at least September if that. Here's his numbers is baseball savant. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/tyler-wells-669330?stats=career-r-pitching-mlb

Agreed, there is no doubt Henderson is going to get the Adley treatment and play everyday once he's considered ready.

I'm in the wait and see mode. I agree with you about Vavra over Odor, but the Rays did throw two left-handers out of the three gams he's been up so really we are talking one game where i thought he definitely should have started. As for Stowers, would I have liked to see him get starts over McKenna, yes, yes I would, but I don't think you can draw conclusions about how he was used. I like Vavra's bat but his defense is not a plus anywhere so it puts a lot of pressure on the bat to play in the majors. I've seen him get beat on good fastballs up and in so that might be something he needs to close up but I'd still like to see how his bat plays against MLB pitching instead of Odor.