Tony-OH

In theory, it touched the strike zone it appears. Probably too close to take either way.

And of course, another rookie call.

Hitting the ball hard this inning. Need the big hit here by Holliday.

Yeah, I certainly understand that POV. I was trying to be fair even though I did not like him, and actually had it out with him behind the scenes. In the end, I refunded his plus membership for no other reason that I never want to think I took a dime from that yahoo. Losing money to get rid of him was well worth it to the community.

OnlyOneOriole is now banned permanently from the site for repeated rules violations. He should be pretty obvious if he tries to get a new account with his arrogant, know more than anyone attitude. @Legend_Of_Joey can tell you how many chances I gave the guy because he always skirted the rules, but rarely fully broke them. Feel free to enjoy the board jerk free!

I clearly never was a professional ball player, but I did play in a summer college league and made the cut from 90 outfielder to the top 6 at an open Orioles tryout in Memorial Stadium and got to play in a game there. The reason I say that was my former high school coach was one of the associate scouts at the tryout and when I made my throws from the outfield and then ran off, he said to me, "Where did that arm come from?" Now I always had a good arm, but I 100% threw the hardest of my life between 20-21 years old. When I was pitching for the summer league team that year, someone told me I was throwing in the upper 80s from the mound. Like Estrada, I too was 5-8 so not a guy that fills out and throws harder, but I do agree that an arm can get stronger after 18-years old. Now that he's definitely on the prospect scene, I'm going to do more of a hard look at Estrada's defense to make sure I understand his strengths and weaknesses more.

I'll be honest. If I'm moving Basallo off catcher, it's to 1B so I can protect his knees and keep his bat fresh, not because I think he would be a terrible catcher. I still like the idea of 2026 shared catcher duty between with Adley. Maybe even by the end of 2025. I do not think he will be ready by the beginning of 2024. Either way, Basallo plays a decent defensive 1B and will get better with more time over there so that is also an option.

Don't argue with him though. He'll sic his seeing eye dog on ya!

Vanover clearly is no longer able to do the job. It's about time that MLB stands up to the umpire unions and tells them that they need to retire umpires just like players get retired when they can no longer do the job effectively. Maybe the union is just holding on for the inevitable which is the automated strike zone.

The White Sox won BTW last night so they did not break the losing record. So they now share the AL losing record with the 1988 Orioles. Almost got that erased, but the crappy A's weren't able to get it done.

Nice history reference. It is no doubt that Orioles pitching injuries have not only mounted up, but has hit some crucial starters and relievers since Bautista went down last August. This is why it's important to have a bunch of arms that are major league caliber and may be why Elias may need to adjust his drafting philosophy soon. Plus, these guys only have so many bullets in their arms. Makes me wonder if McDermott was used as a reliever this year, would he have been able to help this pen, and would he had he held up all season?

He's starting to get on a heater again. It will be interesting if they decide to keep him at Bowie or give him a taste of AAA. I imagine they will give him a taste of AAA if he stays on this heater.

H, they do a good job. I was just joshing on Nowick for mentioning the national guys like they discovered something first!

It's almost like I have him in the top 30 in the prospect power rankings too and have had him there for awhile now.

His lack of a got to whiff pitch concerns me. I mentioned in the game thread that he reminded me of Bruce Zimmerman a bit though Zimmerman has a better slider and worse changeup. But they both throw about the same with the same command. There is no way I'd trust him pitching against a good lineup with the stuff we've seen from him since being acquired. Obviously with Grayson going down, his role is more highlighted now, but it's going to be hard to manage a bullpen with two guys in the rotation that are really one time through the order guys.

Potentially you are correct. I think the Orioles assumed something might be up, but I doubt Kjerstad was reporting concussion symptoms still and they optioned him. Seems like not a good way to deal with players. My guess is Kjerstad reported more symptoms when he got to Norfolk and that is why he did not play there and eventually was put on the major league IL.

All of this makes sense and also explains why Eloy was acquired and why Kjerstad was "optioned." Something was not right and his 2-for-18 after returning was probably a sign that he was not fully back from his concussion. Sometimes these things take longer than that and to each person it can be different. Hopefully with more rest Kjerstad will be back in September and ready to help the team during the stretch drive.

It's not really her that bothers me, in fact, she's the best part. It's the editing of all the interruptions and the premise of the commercial that's annoying. As for replacing the played out Sarasota ads, great point.

Nice win.. Big game by Tony Taters. Good bullpen work for the most part.

That's a nasty slider.

Yes, Slater misplayed that.

Nice play by Dominguez there!

Oy, that's got to be Slater's ball there. Weird/bad route.

Bigger girls need work too. Seriously though, that commercial doesn't nearly annoy me as much as that Dick's commercial.

According to sprint speeds, Eloy would barely win with 25 ft/sec over Kirk at 24.6 ft/sec.