Tony-OH

Also, your starting pitcher has to make better two-strike pitches. Well's stuff really has gone flat this inning.

It's deflating when they score two runs and you feel like you are out of it because the offense is back in their slumber once again.

Poor decision by Martin to throw home on that play. They were not getting that runner who was safe by fie feet standing up. That throw should have been to 3rd.

I still think Rutschman will hit at the major league level, but I'm starting to have more and more concerns over him bringing usable game power to the field very often. Outside of homer friendly PG County Stadium in Bowie, he hasn't exactly shown a lot of game power consistently as a pro. Right now they're getting him out with offspeed, but he's not really driving fastballs or anything really. 37 of his 65 PAs (57%) are getting to two strikes where he's slashed .147/.216/.206/.422. Maybe he might want to be a little more aggressive early on in counts to get him going a bit. Something that is concerning is he's just not hitting hittable pitch in the zone or even on the shadow of the zone. He's already -5 runs in both areas but is plus 2 in the chase zones. I once said that I had concerns about the inside part of the plate from the left side but he seemed to have closed that hole in AA and AAA last year. He hasn't hit anything hard on the inner portion of the strike zone when he bats left-handed. The Orioles employ a crown the plate philosophy but I wonder if pushing Rutschman back about 4-6 inches would let him get to those inner pitches. So far pitchers haven't noticed as only 32% of the pitches have been on the inner half to him, but his lack of EV and success inside will be highlighted soon by major league pitchers if he doesn't find a way to get to them.

I looked at Voth a little closer in statcast after watching him his debut. His fastball has a little above average vertical movement and his curveball actually has plus movement on both horizontal and vertical movements. The biggest change I see is that he was throwing his cutter much more, but he leaves that pitch way too often on the middle of the plate. He was throwing it as much as his curveball but with the Orioles in his debut, he threw just two, one of which was a crappy 91 MPH one in the middle of the plate crushed for the home run. So it appears the Orioles will convert him to a fastball curveball guy and see if that plays over an inning or two. He definitely needs to shelf that cutter though even though he's struggled to keep his curveball out of the middle of the plate this year as well. If he becomes a fastball, curveball guy only, we'll see if he can regain some kind of success and effectiveness. Saying that, his movement averages slightly above average on those two pitches, so he's definitely only a middle guy or guy you bring in when down to eat a few innings at best.

Where? You want to give him the everyday SS or 2B position? He's never played 3B as a professional. Martin is a utility guy. He should at least bring a little better defense and some speed to the utility job that Elias gave to Owings for some reason this year.

Well if you do, it will be the first time he's ever played there as a professional.

I'd rather see someone off the waiver wire. lol I don't think either are major league players honestly. Nevin's expected stats are better than his actual stats so there's some thought he's been unlucky a bit, but I just see a guy who looks like a power hitter but really is more like a slow singles hitter. Defensively he won't kill you often at third base, but his only asset there is his plus arm. If the bat was better you'd live with the defense, but he's not going to be a consistent hitter and will not bring much game power. I've really never been a Bannon guy. He's a bit like McKenna in his inability to hit good velocity and he's susceptible to breaking stuff when he gears up for fastballs. Defensively he's too erratic at 3B with his side arm slinging throwing motion. If healthy I'd take Gutierrez but his fielded took a step ack this year early on for some reason. Honestly none of them should be in the major leagues as they don't bring enough of anything (versatility, power, speed, defense). Honestly, if Westburg keeps hitting in AAA, I'd bring him up and let him take his lumps a bit in the majors. Might make him more ready for the majors next year.

Guess that means a healthy diet of Nevin at 3B. yuck

Looking at my power rankings that I have done since adding the new GCL/DSL/Kjerstad... It's pretty decent through about 15-17.. then it get shaky. I don't think the system is that deep with impact talent either.

I'm struggling where to put Kjerstad on the power rankings until we see him a little bit. I probably will be cautious after he missed so much time.

I'm sure it's good for the young man to finally get his career started for real. Let's hope he can relax a bit and put up some numbers and move up fairly quick to catch his level up with his age.

Zimmermann is a guy with below average stuff who needs to keep his pitch mix continually changing and with good command to have success. He's missing way too much in the middle of the plate. https://www.mlb.com/video/00u7jzgkdtP9kH55c356/reels/zimmermann-against-red-sox You can see in the film reel I made of him against the Red Sox, he's leaving way too many pitches in the middle of the plate, particularly his changeup which needs to be low and away. Until he can find that command he's going to get creamed because all of his pitches basically have below average movement.

It's all click bait now. Every "article" I've seen has a headline talking about the move to get people to click.

I just hope they televise these hearings on MASN!!! lol

Haha.. Sig would be back there going, "My computer program says to pick up another AAAA reliever of the waiver wire!"

Wow, I read the whole thing and yes, like @SteveA said, it reads more like a novel. Now, this is obviously from Lou Angelos' side but here's my takeaways: - John and Lou really never got along - John, despite not passing the bar, completely and utterly out maneuvered Lou - There a lot more to the story of Mr. Angelos asking John to come back to the fold when he was ill. Gotta wonder what he really thought of Lou who paints himself as a loyal son and employee. - John certainly comes across as the guy who gathered the forces, divided his threat (Lou) from his ally (Mrs. Angelos) and then about systematically taking control of everything in the inheritance including the Orioles. - Again, with no dog in this fight, John come across as manipulative, but also as very savvy and successful in getting what he wanted done. - Lou paints Elias and Bader as John loyalists. Seems like Bader, who has been around a long time, was savvy enough to pick the right brother to back. As a side bar, I wish they would have discussed how Elias was hired. I always heard both brothers were involved but that whole part of his hiring was not mentioned in the suit. Lou was there along with his brother during the Elias press conference. I actually find this all fascinating after having so much of this behind the curtain for so long. I have no idea if the lawsuit will be successful, but considering what's happened so far, I would doubt that John will outmaneuver Lou once again.

No kidding. Talking about going nuclear on your brother.

First off, great to see Peter Schmuck back writing. He's a good dude and a good reporter!

Let's get back to this Angelos drama and away from the city. Thanks. Any more posts from here on out will be deleted.

Rutschman is going nowhere. He will eventually hit just fine at the major league level. As fans it's frustrating to see the team's highly publicized and thought of prospect struggle early in his major league career. But as been pointed out by many, Cal and Markakis struggled early on too. Besides, as Orioles fans, we should know by now that we aren't allowed new fresh things to get excited about.

Agreed and that's why I want all of this conversation to stop. Thanks.

Easy guys, I don't want this to get into politics. I think we all have strong feelings about Baltimore one way or the other, but let's not take this into the political realm or talk about the country as a whole right now. This isn't necessarily directed at just you Rob, just using your post as a jumping in point.

I'd rather not get into my dislike for Bisciotti on this thread since it will derail it. At the end of the day, I want an owner who is all in on making the Orioles a first class organization here in Baltimore.

Perhaps, but a quick google search has him worth $1.3 Billion. Either way, I don't think he's ever shown interest in the Orioles or baseball.