Tony-OH

I real crud pitch no doubt. Nothing makes you excited about opening day then when your opening day starter can't get through 4 innings in his last start of the spring.

Means looks like he lost the sharpness of his breaking pitch this spring. Really would have liked to have seen him finish strong, but he looks a lot more like a 4th-5thn starter than an opening day starter.

http://www.orioleshangout.com/2021/03/27/sanchez-dfad-flurry-of-moves-could-be-just-the-beginning/

I've had Akin in my rotation all offseason as he had a spot in it had he not pitched his way off. Guys like him, spring training does matter. He's not a vet who is working on things then settles down and pitches better towards the end or when the lights turn on. He's a rookie pitcher who was given a golden opportunity and then showed up to camp even heavier than usual. Regardless of whether I had him in the rotation or not, I just heard about Akin's weight prior to his TV outing in which he was just plain awful. Like want to put acid in my eyes rather than watch him pitch awful. I'm no Lopez fan and would prefer Zimmermann in the rotation over him as well, but the Orioles are going to need a lot of innings this year and it's going to come from a lot of different starters. If Akin or Zimmermann get those starts early or later it doesn't matter really. My guess is Akin is back before the AAA season starts.

Sanchez has looked bad offensively, but I agree, there may be more moves to come. FWIW, Urias is playing 2B today.

Looking at his stuff ion baseball savant, not a lot to like. Below average stuff across the board with some ability provide length. I don't see what role he would have on this team and he's out of options. I guess he's deep early starting depth for AAA.

I'd have zero issues with him being signed and sent to AAA to play 1B and DH. I'd rather have him as a fall back option at first base or DH (though I believe the Orioles will rotate Santander, Mountacstle and Stewart there now) than Tyler Nevin or Rio Ruiz.

No one is doing that, that is what you are perceiving. I don't have an issue with a guy having message sent to him. When you show up out of shape (even for Akin's low standards) then you can't command at all when you pitch, then yes, I have no issue with him getting sent down. Hopefully it will be message received and he will go down and pitch well and when an opportunity presents itself he takes advantage. You also have to realize that I don' consider Akin one of the top starting pitching candidates in the system. I think his best role will be as multi inning reliever, but was certainly willing to give him an opportunity to prove that assessment wrong while it really doesn't matter. Now, if I thought Lopez or potentially LeBlanc got a spot over him based solely on his spring, then yes, I would agree with you, but when a young pitcher is given a golden opportunity to make a club and doesn't work hard all offseason to show up in the best shape and ready to go, I wonder where his dedication is at and whether that's the kind of guy you will be able to count on every five days. Akin has always been a guy who struggles to be consistent and uses way too many pitches to get through his innings, hence why I like him better as a reliever. He's got major league swing and miss stuff when he's on, but I have zero concerns with sending a message while also realizing they need to cover a lot of innings this year so the chances of the same five who start the season in the rotation, ending there is slim to none. Akin will get his opportunities if he pitches to his abilities. I would not be surprised if Akin doesn't end up with 20-25 starts this year when it's all said and done. I also think he'll be a guy with a mid-high four ERA as a starter.

I think Austin Wynns has Bryan Holaday's skill set so if they want him, they already have him. With Ciuffo and Davis in the fold along with Wynns, I don't think there is room in AAA either.

Why? How does rewarding a pitcher who came into camp out of shape even for Akin's low standards and then pitch awful help anyone? He still will get an opportunity this season if he can get in shape and starts pitching well, but there is no doubt Akin brought this on himself.

Yep. He deserved that option. Came into camp out of shape, even for him, then couldn't command the ball of get guys out. Basically he imploded and lost out on a great opportunity. a little surprised by re-adding LeBlanc, but Akin's regression helped his cause. Still would rather see him in long relief and Zimmermann in the rotation.

It's starting to look like the Orioles have a solid core of young middle of the order hitters. Trey Mancini (1B) - The "elder"; statesman at 29 looks like he's back to his 2019 self. Probably doesn't count as young anymore but he's still within his prime window. Anthony Santander (RF) - The 26 year old put up a .890 OPS last year and this spring has added a team leading walk to show an improved plate discipline. Austin Hays (CF/RF/LF) - The 25-year old will play all over the outfield and has always been a guy who had a ton of potential but just held back by injuries. Has been the Orioles best player this spring, bar none. Ryan Mountcastle (LF) - The 24-year old is a rookie of the year candidate and leads the team with four home runs this spring. I see these guys batting some kind of 2-5 order though Hays could move up to leadoff when Cedric Mullins is not in the lineup. This doesn't even count former #1 pick DJ Stewart (27) who's been slowed by a hamstring injury but who put up a .809 OPS last year in limited play and had hit two home runs in three games this spring. Add in 26-year old Mullins who's a plus defender in center field and has been effective while batting just left-handed this spring, and that's a decent amount of young talent. Add in the potential to have Adley Rutschman (23) here this year or next, and that's a pretty good core offense.

We could save time by just starting Rutschman with an 0-2 count... Seems like every at bat he takes the first strike, then fouls off the second pitch.

Not sure why the unnecessary head first slide for the triple for Hays. The 3rd base coach should have been telling him there was no throw. For a guy who gets hurt often, I would limit slides for no reason.

Not sure if those are nervous smiles, but when you are pitching as crappy as Akin is right now, he may want to limit the smiles on the mound.

32 pitch 1st inning for Akin..

Here in lies the issue with Akin. 30 pitches to get two outs...

Zimmermann hasn't pitched in a spring training game in awhile. They have been handling him weirdly. Maybe there is some kind of injury or tweak but he's vanished from spring games though he may be pitching in back fields. The lack of access really sucks to know what's going on. Oh well, at this point, I'm tired of guessing. I have a feeling they are going to treat all of their pitchers, including the minor leaguers with kid gloves this year which will make for some strange usage. Just disappointing to see Lopez starting when Zimmermann is younger, has outperformed him, and could be part of the future.

Well I guess we'll see if Zimmermann pitches in relief in that game because we know Harvey is going to be the other starter. If Zimmermann doesn't pitch Friday, then we can assume for some God awful reason this organization thinks giving starts to Lopez is better than Zimmermann. I realize there are a lot of moving parts with innings this year after last year, but if Zimmermann is pitching out of the pen while Lopez is putting up his normal 6+ starter ERA I'm going to start having my concerns about the decision making of the Orioles leadership team. Zimmermann is an actual prospect that should be in the rotation, not pitching in some long relief where Lopez and LeBlanc belong if they are on a major league staff. It's a long season, and perhaps they want to limit Zimmermann's innings and use him later in the year as a starter, but I just don't like the idea of seeing Lopez or LeBlanc as starters. We are finally getting to the point where potential pieces of the future are getting opportunities at the big league level yet we're getting more Lopez and maybe LeBlanc. Where's my puke emoji when I need one?

Yes, these shots seem to affect people differently just like COVID. My wife and son both ended up with fevers and major soreness for two days after the second shot. It's inconsistent, but it certainly could be the reason for Mountcastle to have a "Non-physical injury".

It also can cause soreness up and down the side of your shot. That could be a non-physical "injury".

He gets a lot of swings and misses on the pitch from what I've seen. When he can throw the cruveball down in the zone for strikes it can be effective, but it hasn't been a swing and miss strike out pitch for him like it was in the minors.

I think we all knew Harvey was making the team after his last few outings and seeing where the velocity is at. If he can maintain the stuff we've seen flashes of, he can at least be a solid "Alex Cobb" type guy and hopefully be able to have some value come trading deadline time.

He looked good overall. Still working the command out, but the cut fastball has become a real weapon for him.

I do believe framing has impact and I'm certainly willing to look at the data results and see if there is correlation, but I just think it's very tough to realistically understand framing ability by catchers before pitch location data was available.