Tony-OH

I'm only surprised he didn't get doubled off when Mullins lined out to 3B.

Welp, that sucks.

Galvis, pull a Rudy from Bad News Bears and lean into one to load bases.

Good Lord, we got lucky with Ruiz walking, now we have automatic out Galvis!

Well it's about that time for a year for a walkoff!

Yeah, he's only made that one mistake to Urias for the most part.

Nothing like getting off to a good start with your "ace" on the mound. And this is nothing like that!

Let's also remember the team invited him to spring training thinking he was ok enough to arrive. He never arrived and then Elias said it was not related to his mycarditis and that he was excited to get back on the field and that was going to be at the alternate site after spring training was over. The Alternate site has been open for almost two weeks and he has yet to arrive (as far as I know as of yesterday). Now some people don't think this is odd and that's there right. But why would Elias invite him to big league spring training then say they talked to him and he would start at alternate camp and then he doesn't arrive and the organization gets quiet? I dunno. It's just all strange.

I have never done that at all. In fact, I made sure to say that I have no idea if that is true. I said I've heard from multiple sources that they heard he had anxiety issues in college. i then said I have no idea whether or not this has anything to do with him not showing up so please don't misrepresent what I've said. You don't have to think it's strange. As I've said before, I don't care what you want to assume or believe. That's your right. It's also the right of the people who think he's a bust because of how his career has started. It doesn't mean I agree with them, but they have the right to think what they want.

I really wouldn't care if they played Valaika every day as well. I guess i look at all three in the same way. None are part of a winning future and none are going to traded for a piece either.

You can assume anything you want. You can not care and you can just assume everything is fine. You can make whatever assumption you want. I really don't care. I find it odd that the Orioles GM spoke out to his timeline, made it seem like he was over his issue, and then when he doesn't arrive everyone gets real quiet. It's not like any situation I've ever encountered while covering this team since 1996. Feel free to have no concern and drive on with your day or you can freak out like some and call him a bust. I really don't care. I'm just stating the facts that we know, and stating that it's odd in how the organization is handling this particular situation. I haven't made any proclamations about what I think is wrong with him nor am I bashing the organization, I'm just saying I've never encountered anything like this before. I really don't understand why a couple of you have an issue with anyone stating facts or feeling like something is not right just because they don't agree with your assumptions. Something clearly has changed since Elias stated he would start at the alternate site and was excited to get started. You assume you know why. You may be right. But it still doesn't change that this is being handled very strangely, and that's from someone covering this team for 25 years.

Here's the thing, there are people in the organization that don't even know what the situation is. If he hasn't been cleared due to myocarditis, the Orioles have not publicly said this as far as I know. Why wouldn't the team just put out a statement and say that he hasn't been cleared due to his "episode of myocarditis" which Elias has already mentioned as late as February? Why are people in the organization highly sensitive to discussing his name? The team was forth right with Trey Mancini's cancer fight, so why is it hush hush over Kjerstad? They've already disclosed his myocarditis so why would they just not publicly say, "He's still not cleared to participate in baseball activities and the next evaluation is "x amount of time?" This is from a Joe Trezza article in March, "According to the report, the decision to hold Kjerstad out of Grapefruit League play is not based on any setback in Kjerstad's recovery from myocarditis, a condition that causes heart inflammation. Elias said Kjerstad will report to the alternate site “as soon as we start” following the conclusion of Spring Training. “We’re all eager to see him in action,” said Elias. “I know he’s eager to join the activities finally after what he’s been through.” So what changed? I've been around this game a long time and I will tell you this is the first time I've ever heard of a top prospect, who was the number two pick in a draft the year before, not show up. The weirdest thing is when you ask people, they either say they don't know anything, or that the team is being very hush, hush over the situation. I listened to Steve Melewski's interview of Matt Blood after Sunday's game, and he didn't bring it up, so he either he is an awful reporter (I know he's not) or as a MASN employee, he knew better than to ask the Farm Director the most obvious question. Of course Blood is very tight lipped about anything and wouldn't even discuss names of players who have looked different after the year off so getting anything other than very generic information about how they are conducting spring training (split site, number of players at each site, weather good, good vibe, etc) was not going to happen.

You have a lot of assumptions in here. Here are the facts that we know 100% about this Kjerstad situation. 1. Kjerstad was drafted number two overall and signed for $5.2 million 2. He did not attend Instructional League 3. Mike Elias said in February 2021 that Kjerstad missed instructional league with "an episode of myocarditis." 4. Mike Elias said in March 2021 that Kjerstad would report to the alternate camp when it starts up after major league spring training. 5. Kjerstad did not report to the alternate camp of Sarasota 6. The Orioles have seen Kjerstad play baseball since he was signed on 30 Jun 20. Whether fans want to be critical of him or the situation is up to them, but the situation is we just don't know what the situation is currently. And that is very strange for a high profile draft pick/prospect especially now that everyone else has reported.

I don't think Ruiz or Valaika are anything for the future, and Urias may not either, but of the three, Urias is the one that I don't have enough major league data to know yet whether he's a just a AAAA second baseman or whether he can hit enough to be something of value. Saying that, I doubt any of these three are a significant part, or can be traded for a significant part of a future winning Orioles team. So with that, I shrug my shoulder and say if Hyde/Elias have some kind of love for Ruiz and want to keep playing him at 2B, it's not like they are blocking a real prospect. But, if they want to give Urias an extended look, I'd be ok with that as well. As for Valaika, he had a nice little year with the bat last year. but he's so shaky defensively every where but 1B and 2B that it's tough to get too much behind him.

I'm guessing the Orioles just wan to rest their bullpen an extra day because they could have started the game by 830 at the latest.

I assume you were there?

One of the goofiest rainouts I've seen from the Orioles. Almost embarrassing.

LeBlanc is the 14th pitcher on the staff that can give some innings if needed and can also just pick up the trash innings in games that don't matter any more. His role is to find ways to save the staff and eat as many trash innings as possible.

Ok, I went back and watched his outing and here's what I saw. 1. Command was terrible: He hadn't pitched in a week and maybe that was part of the reason he was all over the place, but he threw a loot of non-competitive pitches and really struggled throwing a high strike, missing by two feet or more at times. It bares watching since command was an issue at times for him in the minors, but this outing was mostly bad command against a red hot lineup that wasn't missing mistakes. 2. Stuff was the same: I looked at the statcast info and although the spin rates were a little lower on his pitches and his velocity on his splitter and curve were down a tick, he was getting good movement at times which is why he still had a decent Whiff rate on his offspeed pitches. Overall, I'm not too worried. I still see a starter's repertoire in him but maybe Hyde needs to find a way to get him more work and not sit him in the pen for a week after pitching just 2.2 innings last Monday against the Yankees. I don't know the last time Sceroler pitched before his initial outing, but basically he's probably thrown 2.2 innings over a two week span coming into that game yesterday. That's a long layoff for any pitcher, especially a young one that is used to a starter's routine in the minors. I still like the stuff, and command could be due to the layoff so let's see if Hyde uses him after a few days off to see if his command looks better.

Sceroler has more of a chance to stick as a starter one day from what I've seen so far, but Wells has a chance to be a decent reliever. I'd keep both for now, especially when this team still has Lopez and LeBlanc on the roster.

Stewart looks like he's great shape and has lost some weight. This season is all about getting guys like him ABs to see what they have. The question is can he stay healthy and can he become more consistent and stay away from long cold streaks followed by a burst of a white hot streak? It's obviously one of those early season "fun stat" things, but he's played two games and is tied for 6th on the team in WAR.

I didn't see the game but will watch the video of his outing when I can. Sometimes you have bad days.

Tells you everything you need to know about this bullpen, now doesn't it?