Tony-OH

He's a guy who was misused in a starter's role over the last three years. He's got a good changeup though it didn't move well in his only major league game. Everything else is below average. I would have liked to have seen him used as a one to two inning reliever and see if things play up a bit more often. Either way, good luck to him.

I was not a fan of that big left field wall when it first came out, but it probably won us a game today.

That's bringing it and why you don't give up on hard throwers.

And out of the middle of that order!!! Can Lopez close this out?

Felix Bautista was on beast mode today!

Well, I don't know if I would got that far. Elias has hit obvious thoughts that going with college bats is the best way to go in the draft. He'll sprinkle in a HS kid here and there but for the most part he's been very consistent. Now, do I think he should take some shots on high school pitching, yes, I'd like to see him take some shots on the high ceiling guys. Afterall, both GRod and Hall were not top ten guys and have turned out pretty darn good. I'd personally like to see him mix it up and bit between college and high school now, but it will be interesting to see if he makes any adjustments.

That would not have been Elias' style. I don't think we see Hall until after the All-Star break and until after he has a sustained success. One amazing start is not going to change his mind. It also doesn't hurt the team's current starting pitching has been good.

Veteranosity and chemistry seem to occur or gets mentioned when teams win. As Drungo point out, there are plenty of examples where veteran ladened teams were bad. It's easy for a clubhouse to be close and love each other when they are winning. Hell, even the Oakland A's of the early to mid-70s who were known to fight each other while winning World Series would still claim to have a great clubhouse. I expect every player to great about the other players right now. Do I think if Odor was replaced by Vavra or Westburg that the tea would be worse because of a lack of Veternosity? I do not. This team is playing extraordinarily well right now because they are getting those timely hits and decent pitching. While it's cool that Chirinos was on the top step and Odor gives out that homer chain, I don't think that's the reason this team has been hot.

Yes, lg AV for that pitch in a close velocity range.

I think the real issue here is that almost all of the 20 years old and below pitchers in the system are Latin. Elias has almost totally ignored high school pitching.

Who is not talking reasonable in this thread?

If Kjerstad can make his way up to AA by the end of this season while putting up good numbers, I do think we'll see him regain his prospect status. Perhaps back of the top 100 unless he really takes off with power as the season progresses.

I'd have to go scout the two arms he's talking about, but if we can get back two middle of the rotation type arms for Mancini, I'm putting him in private jet myself and making that move. Can't be Kevin Smith types though. I'm not sure who scouted him and thought he was a starter.

Vavra is probably a better fit for trade because he may have more value. His problem is that he's a slightly below average defender at 2B and doesn't have enough experience in CF. I think the bat is going to play but he's got quite the injury history as well so that doesn't help him. Urias doesn't have a ton of trade value and as a right-handed hitter, his power numbers are going to be less in the new Camden Yards. Saying that, a team could see his EVs and Hard hit% and take a chance. I don't think either headline a big trade, but could be part of a package that brings back a starter.

McKenna is a decent 4th/5th outfielder. He's got speed, plays good defense in all three outfield spots, and if pitchers are dumb enough, can hit sliders and curveballs decently. I agree that he's not a very smart player sometimes, but his speed makes up for some of that and he's good guy to have on the bench. Now if he hit left-handed that would be better, especially in the new Camden Yards. I'm fine with him now, but he'll need to earn that extra outfield spot every year with the talent coming up. Who knows, maybe some team will take a chance with him and wan to try and give him every day PAs?

Elias is focused on one goal, and that is making the Orioles an annual contender. Now, if they can trade Santander, Lyles, Mancini, Lopez or Tate for players that make that goal more reachable, then I think we could see them dealt. Not in 1000 years do I see Elias trading any of his young players for rentals to chase the Wild Card this year. The Orioles are playing great and they're fun to watch. They're playing the best sustained baseball we've seen in a long time. Saying that, they are not true contenders this year so whatever moves Elias needs to make the 2023 team and beyond better. Rutschman is still getting his feet under him and it's doubtful our starting pitching is going to continue their great run, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'd love to see the Orioles move Odor for just about anything. while he's a good clubhouse guy and has had his moments, Vavra and Westburg are knocking hard at the door for playing time at 2B on the big league squad. Henderson may need some PAs by late August and Stowers is probably as ready as he's going to be (K's and all). I think this offseason is going to be the real moves for Elias. I could be wrong, but I'd be surprised if Elias made major moves at the trade deadline besides possibly moving Mancini or Santander.

Watching him jump on these first pitch fastballs for hard groundball singles is fine, but I think he needs to be challenged by tougher pitchers. I'm not worried about his ground ball rate either, but I do think it's not going to help him to just jump on the obvious mistake pitches from poor Low A ball pitchers. He's had enough PAs for his timing, now it's time to challenge him a bit at Aberdeen.

Watkins is an interesting case because he's added a plus pitch into his repertoire and is using that to make his middling fastball play up. Now his fastball which is below average in velocity and movement is going to limit his overall effectiveness long term. His expected numbers numbers suggest he's been a little lucky, and they almost mirror his numbers from last year, but batter have had a lot less success than last year. The changeup is the same below average offering, and he did make his curveball more or a 12-6 pitch and that has led it to play a little better to last year's version. But the big difference is the slider that has 5% more Vertical movement and 31% more horizontal movement than sliders at the same velocity. While the pitch doesn't get a ton of Whiff (24.4%) it's been hit the least hard of his pitches (32.3%). Watkins doesn't miss many bats so he'll need to continue to need his command to keep his effectiveness. Right now he's doing a good job of mixing his pitches, limiting the use of his below average offerings, and limiting mistakes. So to me, he's improved from last year when he really didn't have a go to offering to get batters out. If the slider continues to be that for him, who knows? I'd like to see him use the pitch even more and the fastball less and less. Basically become a true junkballer.

Urias is under appreciated by some because he did not come from our system and was a waiver claim from St Louis. He's been pretty unlucky this season so his numbers don't look great overall, but his expected numbers are all above major league average. Defensively he's been just fine at 3B putting up a 2 OOA this season in just 130 attempts and that position appears to be the one he's best at. While he could end up being traded at some point, right now I'm fine with him manning the hot corner on most nights with Arauz filling on on occasion. For the life of me though, I don't understand Nevin's role on this team with both Urias and Arauz on the team. Either way, if Henderson can handle SS, and right now I think he can but he'd be a downgrade from Mateo defensively, Westburg can slide over to 2B.

So they're saying we have a chance!!

I agree. A head to head record throughout the season means much more than a one game "playoff" game which I've never liked.

I don't think he was trying to make that point, more of an observation. I do wonder if there were other health concerns for Baumler out of spring training since it really made no sense to have him able to throw at the beginning of spring training games and then couldn't make the Delmarva team. Again, hopefully this is just them being overly cautious but shoulders are never a good thing.

That's ashamed. First elbow and now shoulder. Not a great start to his professional career health wise.

Hasn't played since the back spasms but is not officially listed on the IL.

That's what I've mainly seen. I haven't really seen him drive the ball very often. Not saying that won't come, just hasn't happened a bunch so far.