Tony-OH

Nice recap!!

Updated as of 17 May. Some movement at the bottom of the list as I'm not ready to make much adjustment at the top over a week or two.

I'm just going to lock this thread as it's lowering the IQ of the whole board.

Ok, I thought you were just joking but at this point, I'm going to assume you don't have a firm grasp on what an actual major league prospect looks like and how organizations work.

I'm under the assumption that this is just a giant joke. Ripken is not even a good AA player. He would have never had been signed if not for his name and would have been released five times already. He's not even a priority play at Norfolk. He's just an extra guy to give a guy a day off or cover down for an injury. His slash line over his minor league career is .242/.281/.332/.613 in 1480 PAs. He's been given more than 295 PAs in a season twice. Once in Washington where he slashed .201/.241/.254/.495 in 399 PAs as a 22-year old between NYPenn and Sally League (A-) and then with Delmarva (A-) at as a 24-year old slashing .244/.281/.327/.608 in 420 PAs. Unless you just want to see a side show where a 3rd Ripken plays in the major league with the Orioles, there is not right to even be having a conversation about him being promoted to the Orioles. It would be a travesty to every hard working long time minor leaguer who actually have had a good minor league career if that were to happen.

Biggest take away is the lack of strikeouts of late. I'll look a little more closely over the last few games to see if he's made any adjustments. No one doubts his raw power though.

I'm assuming he means Plutko was pitching very well in his current role, so why change? My assumption is they looked at Plutko as an opener to get through one inning and and give Zimmerman the game lower in the order. It just dodn't work out because Plutko imploded. I really am not a fan of these role changes with pitchers. They tend to pitch better knowing general roles where they will be used.

Command wasn't there but the good news he's pitching competitively which means if all goes well, he'll be back up with Norfolk in no time.

He definitely has a 70 level eye. He really does rarely chase and has gotten behind on some close calls that went the pitcher's way.

Look at him hit the mitt on almost every one of those strikeout pitches. Looks like a man against boys. He needs to be moved up to AA, because in all honestly, if he throw four pitches like that he belong in the majors right now, but since that's not going to happen, let's get him against some better hitters.

Urias never really got the everyday shot at 2B, but he's showed this year that he can't hit in a utility role. Not everyone get site fir days in a row then come in an be effective.

Eh, I do kinda get upset but honestly, this team has crapped it's pants against the Yankees and Red Sox for years now. This team always find ways to give games away to the Yankees. It's just in there DNA. Until they bring up some players who can pull on their big boy pants and not poop their pants at the sight of pinstripes, we are going to continue to have games like this. But, when your manager continues to try and run through 4 and 5 relievers instead of allowing guys to go 2-3 innings, you are goi9ng have this. I'm convinced when/if this team is ready to compete, they will need a new coaching staff to get it to the next level. Let's not forgot that bad a send by 3b coach Tony Mansolino.

The funniest thing was when Holmes was being interviewed about the bullpen and he was glowing about how they prepared them so well and how the relievers are able to get the most out of their abilities. Meanwhile I'm listening to the interview thinking, "the other shoe is going to drop" because these guys are not that good.

Lol, this team does find interesting ways to lose..

Why Plutko wasn't used for 2 or 3 innings we'll never know? Seems like the perfect role for him. Then he bails on Sulser quick when he's been better than Lakins all year. Hyde wants to use a bunch of relievers which means he takes the chance that one will throw up a cookie like Lakins did.

I give you Travis Freakin Lakins ladies and gentlemen. The day this guy is no longer in the organization will be a happy day for me. Never seen a guy with the kind of mediocre stuff that he has get so many chances at the major league level. Lakins should only be used in situations where the team is up or down by 4 runs.

I watched Rom's start last night and here's what I saw. He works effectively down in the zone with his pitches and has a nice left on left breaking ball that can get swings and misses when down in the zone. The announcer didn't give velocity readings so not sure how hard he was throwing, but he didn't get a ton of swing and miss on the fastball, but did get some in his 4th inning of work. His change was a weapon against righties but he doesn't throw it enough. He shook of the catcher on a perfect opportunity to use his changeup and went to the breaking ball and gave up a hit. He gets a pretty decent amount of ground balls and is a strike thrower who didn't get a lot of chase though he did get some whiff in the zone, especially early in the game. The slider and curveball can look similar but he threw a real nice slider to strike out a lefty in the 4th when he struck out the side.

He had a nice little game to start off his Orioles "career". I have to say this also about the Fredericksburg organization, they have the most annoying in-between inning "hype/motivator/MC." Her voice is like nails down a chalkboard when she tries to fake motivation and end up screeching into her microphone. It was so bad I had to let me wife hear it and she was like, Oh my God that's awful!" I enjoy watching the in between inning stuff sometimes during minor league games, but I immediate switch to another game of put it on mute.

Handley looks every bit the defensive stud he was supposed to be. He throws really well and accurate, blocks balls nicely and seems to receive well. He has a nice quiet approach at the plate and actually runs better than most catchers. The bat will determine his ultimate role as he moves up, but he does have an upside of a starter, especially if a little power develops. The only knock i see right now is game calling. Watching the Drew Rom start, he calls a lot of fastballs and mostly breaking balls, but did not call many changeups despite it being a very good pitch for Rom. Saying this, I saw Rom shake off the changeup sign on a 1-2 pitch to a right-handed batter, which was the right call. Rom wanted to throw his breaking ball and the batters smacked it into left field for a single. At other times I saw Handley call for too many fastballs in a row against a lefty who eventually singled the other way. Rom left and left breaking ball is effective. This really the first game I was able to see some signs and paid attention so don't read too far into things here. Game calling is something a lot of young minor league catchers need to work on because many/most high school and college coaches call the pitches (which i think is a travesty).

The Baumann injury hurt and the Orioles look like they plan on running an up/down assembly line between Zimmerman, Lowther and Akin this year. I wonder though, after Akin pitched just two innings in his only "start" of the year at Norfolk then pitch an inning of relief with the Orioles, are the Orioles making that move to the pen for Akin. As most of you know, that's the role I've felt he will eventually settle in with and have his most success. Either way, it will be interesting to see how they use him and the others. I'd really like to see Wells have a good start after his first disaster.

Andrew Daschbach was hit in the head during his first at bat last night. He stayed in the game initially, but was removed after the top of the second.

From what I've seen this year he's got plenty of arm, but sketchy hands at times. He doesn't look real smooth over there, but he's certainly looked good at the plate. He could be just on a hot streak to start the year but the power surge is interesting especially after a missed season. At 24-years old (soon to be 25) he's not that old overall so if he can continue to put up numbers, he'll start to become interesting. Vespi was a guy Luke Siler really liked back in 2019 and from what I heard, his velocity has ticked up a bit this year. His curveball has really tightened up a bit and has become a real swing and miss pitch. When you are King batters at a 18.5/9 rate the organization will start paying attention. I agree that the move to the pen was the best thing for him and he could be a real mover this year after getting the jump over A+ to AA this spring already. Vavra just really knows himself at the plate. He doesn't overswing, will go the other way, and is a breath of fresh air in a game where 5-foot-8 guys swing from their heels in many places. Defensively, he's not going to be a gold glover and he looks a little stiff at times, but I don't think he will kill a team there either. Right now, he's the organization's best 2B prospect in my mind.