Tony-OH

Yes, Martin is a bench/utility guy. Saying that, I have no issue with him playing more at SS and 2B. Mateo was given his chance to be an everyday guy and has shown he's better defensively at SS, but he can't hit. He's probably better suited to be a utility guy as well.

I think webbrick's point was, we're four years into this rebuild and that's are current in house starting pitching options. While it may not be as bleak as he stated, the organization is not exactly filled with starting pitching prospects.

Not if he's a shutdown closer. Right now, Hall is trying to find his command of his offspeed pitches again. It's not surprising given his lack of innings since 2019. I know people are excited to see him in an Orioles uniform, but if you want him to be a starter, he needs more work on the command of his offspeed. He can probably help the team in a Keegan Akin role right now even with his lack of command, but I'd rather see if he can find that command and pitch as a starter later in the year. Hall is going to be major league pitcher barring a catastrophic injury, but he needs more time in the minors if that role is going to be a starter. If it's taking him 90 pitches and he can't get through five innings of work against AAA hitters, he's not going get very far in the majors as a starter. I guess my main point is doing get too down or too excited until we see a sustained success of him getting into or through 6 innings by 90 pitches.

He couldn't get out of the 5th inning before reaching 91 pitches against AAA pitches. That does not translate to success at the major league level. Now if you want to use him in a Keegan Akin role and give him experience, he's probably ready for that, but he's got to command his stuff better if he's expecting to go five innings at the major league level right now.

I've decided to move it out to every two weeks. There really wasn't enough to make significant movements this past week. Next rankings will be next Monday.

Hall needs to show he can pitch 6 innings against AAA hitters in less than 100 pitches before I'm bringing him up to be a starter. It's never been about stuff with Hall.

He really was an enigma. He always wanted to throw five pitches in one or 2 innings stints and I always felt if he became a sinker/slider guy only both those pitches would play better. He was an arm side run guy in an era where hitters can hit that, but struggle with the good backspin fastballs that have a lack of drop. Either way, he reached his goal of making the majors, but he certainly has a good enough arm to find work in someone else's system. Maybe someone will convince him to focus on one secondary (slider) or change his grip to give him more back spring than arm side run.

There is a lot of chafe on the current 40-man roster. Saying that, if Elias truly wants to flip a switch next year and try and compete, getting Westburg and Henderson some major league time this year would be helpful in my opinion. But, this would go against how he does things for control time.

One of the reasons why I wanted to convert him to a reliever last year. He'd be cost controlled and valuable to a contending team. But the Orioles decided to use him to eat innings in a role he proved he was not good for so he had no value even after converting him at the end of last year.

Nice play by Nevin there! Brooksie like!

It's not exactly a high bar to reach. I'd say Wells probably gives the Orioles the best chance to win out of our current starters.

Cool, thanks. I wasn't aware that you could break that down in illustrator. I'm going to need to do more research, but it certainly shows he's getting cutting action on some, no movement on show, and arm side run on some. It's very very inconsistent with the key being he's not getting a ton of movement either way. I need to look at other pitchers to see if this inconsistency is normal.

Where is this on statcast? I've yet to find a breakdown pitch by pitch in each game.

And that is why he was my favorite player growing up.

Well, if he wanted to put some money on it I'll put a hefty sum over .500 OPS!!

Eddie Murray was a slow starter, but he was surrounded by a team with great pitching and other guys like Singleton and Ripken to pick up the slack before he would ultimately be.. well, Eddie Murray!

While the drop in power and average is understandable at Aberdeen's cavernous power alley stadium, His drop in BB-K ratio early on was a little disappointing. The good news is over his last 20 games (81 PAs) he has a 12-19 BB-K ratio and has slashed .265/.383/.441/.824. Hopefully he's starting to make those adjustments and will get on a heater for a bit and make his way up to AA in the second half of the season.

Most don't go into 6-8 week cold streaks.

With Vlad and Kirk due up, not sure why you bunt Mateo and play for one run in this situation. Not to mention you have an absolutely awful major league hitter in McKenna due up next. Saying that, Elias has done him no favors giving him no valuable pinch hitters on his bench, particularly with a team that starts a right-handed hitting SS who is batting .210. Mancini's injury has come at a bad time with Santander on the restricted list in Toronto, but saying that, Elias has chosen to go without a left-handed pinch hitter since DFAing Stewart.

Mountcastle's long term streakiness has become an issue. Even if his numbers looks good at the end of the year, if he can not find a way to be more consistent throughout the year he's not an effective player to be on a winning team. The Orioles buried themselves over the first six weeks of the season in no small part due to Mountcastle's absolutely horrid start to the season. He had a similar slow start in 2021. Since he doesn't have much of a walk tool, he needs to be able to hit for average along with power to provide value. You have wonder if being a Florida kid, whether the cold weather really affects him. He struggled in 2017 in his first year in the minors in April, but really didn't have terrible numbers in other years early on. Either way, whether it's weather related or he's just a slow starter, it would be nice if he could find a way to limit those long cold spells where he struggles.

I sure doesn't like April/March ... .220/.250/.310/.560 in 176 PAs. His monthly splits are a bit weird. He hits like Babe Ruth in June and August and not very good every other month. It would be nice for him to find a little more consistency because these long stretches where he struggles hurts the team.

Ever see an in-family fight where you literally have no one to root for? I vote for MLB to force this dysfunctional family to sell. The one thing I remember being told multiple times by people in the organization over the years. John is a jerk and Lou is an idiot. Nothing I've read so far seems to make that assessment untrue!

That might have been my favorite part. The only better would have been for it to be signed by Chris Jones with a "for Georgia Angelos" at the signature.

I think you know EXACTLY what I mean. As for Joe Buck, nepotism and the good old boys network certainly exists in this world as well. He was also a natural talent with golden pipes. As for Newman vs Brown, your facts are wrong. Newman spent five years as broadcaster for two A-ball affiliates after graduating college in 2013. Brown: Syracuse University: Play-by Play for football, women's basketball, women's lacrosse; reporter for high school football; studio host, producer, engineer for broadcasts; performed weekly on-air sports updates; hosted a weekly two-hour talk show. 3 yrs Sports Director for WAER-FM at Syracuse University - 1yr 3 months MSG Networks: Television play-by-play broadcaster for multiple high school sports, including football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, wrestling and lacrosse - 3 yrs Time Warner Cable - TV play-by-play broadcaster for high school and college sports. 5 yrs (overlapping with MSG Networks Director of Media Relations & Broadcasting Syracuse Chiefs (AAA) Mar 2011 - Sep 2017 - 6 yrs and 7 months ESPN since 2016 - TV play-by-play broadcaster for football, basketball, hockey So according to you, they have the same experience? Brown had been announcing AAA games for six season and been on ESPN for three years prior to being hired by the Orioles. He has been announcing something since he was in college going back to 2008. Other then they both were announcing in the minor leagues when they were both hired, Brown's experience dwarves Newman's and it shows on the broadcasts. But wait, what about Geoff Arnold prior to being hired in 2020 by the Orioles?? Television and Radio Broadcaster, Freelance March 2013-present Play-by-Play, Sideline Reporter, Reporter, Host • Broadcast college football, basketball, baseball and Olympic Sports for ESPN3, ESPN+, ACC Network Extra, ESPN Gameplan, NBCSN Philly, Stadium, Fox Sports Ohio and ROOT Sports • Feature reporter for O’s Xtra on MASN • Play-by-Play Announcer George Washington men’s and women’s basketball on ESPN+ • Anchor/Host 106.7 The Fan (Washington, D.C.) • Radio and television announcer for Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League • Host and producer for Learfield/IMG College covering Wake Forest, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia Tech networks Frederick Keys (Baltimore Orioles Advanced-A Affiliate), Frederick, MD February 2014-February 2020 Director of Public Relations and Broadcasting • Serve as team’s radio play-by-play voice for home and road games • Oversee team social media content and assist with maintaining team website and team blog • Write and edit press materials including team releases and business communications, media notes and yearly media guide • Work as primary liaison to local and national media; handle player, coach, staff interview requests and credential requests • Served as temporary team Marketing Director, assisting with branding and community initiatives, help plan promotional schedule and promote team through local and national media • Manage and oversee club Speakers Bureau, speaking to local civic groups in Frederick and surrounding counties Wilmington Blue Rocks (Kansas City Royals Advanced-A Affiliate), Wilmington, DE March 2013-September 2013 Broadcaster/Media Relations • Serve as team radio voice for home and road games, host pre-game show and conduct daily interviews • Oversee team media relations efforts, including team baseball and business press releases, press notes and game recaps • Help develop and re-design new team media guide and update all content • Assist with website maintenance, produce game and feature story content for digital and game program Frisco RoughRiders (Texas Rangers Double-A Affiliate), Frisco, TX February 2012-September 2012 Broadcaster/Media Relations • Radio broadcaster for home games and studio host for road games • Assist with production of daily game notes and statistical information • Produce team press releases, occasionally working with team marketing and sales departments • Work as one of two webmasters for club site, produce team social media and content for Riders Insiders Blog If Newman was an overweight white guy with her resume, she's not calling games for the Orioles. Sorry, but that's just the truth in my opinion. You can disagree, and that's fine, but her inexperience shows in her shoddy play by play game calling and overly wordy back and forth with her co-broadcaster. But again, saying that, I think she's better suited and will do well with in studio work by herself or maybe with a co-host with well prepared information to report. She just shouldn't be doing play by play for a major league baseball team. I got nothing against her and wish her the best, but she's got a long way to go and I'm hoping ESPN or another network will grab her before next year.

Elias still apparently thinks rearranging the deck chairs is the stage we're in right now. Lowther certainly pitched his way to this DFA status. He looked lost most of last year until September when he pitched better, but he's been brutal this year. Maybe he needs a change of scenery but his stat cast numbers did not look good. The slider and curve both backed up. He never seemed like the same guy since COVID.