Tony-OH

I agree. While Cowser has run into some bad luck, at the end of the day, he has not performed well and it goes further than just since May 1st. If you take out his extreme hot streak thru his first 18 games, he's slashed .179/.287/.316/.603 with 20 BB and 59 Ks over 195 PAs. I think the fact that he can back up in center is the only reason he has not been sent back to AAA. He should feel happy they organization really doesn't have a back up right-handed center fielder available though I still think Mateo is ok out there as long as its just once in awhile. I guess Hays could play there in a pinch too, but I don't think he's a guy you want out there at this stage in his career.

Guess we'll see if he makes through the second time. Maton DFA'd again, Kjerstad recalled and will start tonight in LF. Wonder what this means for Cowser?

Sounds like something I would not watch. Most of these guys out there that are trying to do all organizations don't have the time to really know much more than what they can read off baseball reference or Fan Graphs. I mean, if somebody seems to have access to statcast info besides when we're lucky enough to get the announcers to give it to us on occasion, I'm certainly willing to receive any information I can get. @Sports Guy and a few others do a good job of just bringing addition content from X in here for conversation. I have zero issues with it although I also agree that it should be timely and pertinent information. Now I do agree with you that some folks weigh that stuff a little more heavily than others, and that's there right. I mean, SG clearly asked me why I think I'm more informed then these guys. I just kinda laughed that one off because I don't feel any need to give my credentials out on here. Everyone knows my background, but people are free to pick and choose who they think the experts are.

Yeah, he's been so hard to judge because he's literally been hurt almost his whole career. If he keeps it up though he could go on the players to watch. Nice to see him doing well. He clearly will need to go on the Servideo promotion schedule which is sink or swim at AA soon.

It's hard to tell because that was from very shallow right field, but it was accurate and seemed to have carry. Remember, a below average arm does not equate to bad arm like say Mullins or O'Hearn. That's a play that an average arm should definite make. But either way, I don't have a ton of data points to judge him from defensively and I remember seeing a few throws that did not impress me. But I will try and keep a closer look at him defensively.

I do think has some tools to work from and he's an outstanding 10th round pick. so i decided to look into the statcast numbers. While he does have some raw power, he needs to be able to tap into more during games. His average distance on his 8 home runs is 408 feet, which is best on the team with anyone with 5 or more homes. Mayo is second at 401, but Mayo has hit 7 more homers. Norby's average home run distance is really low at 356 ft, which is last on the team with anyone over five. Cook's average EV on his home run is also tops at 105.8 with Mayo second at 105.0. Overall though, he's got a pretty low avg EV (86.8) though Norby's 87.6 is not exactly eye popping especially when you compare to Mayo (92.2), Stowers (91.8), Kjerstad (90.7) and Holliday (90.6). So when you look into the numbers, it's pretty clear when cooks squares it up, he can do damage, even more than Norby probably. Only two of Cooks' 8 home runs were off fastballs, so he's not just hunting fastabll to do damage. In fact, Hitting velocity might be an issue with Cook. He's put up just a .311 xwOBA against fastballs this year though he has put up a .353 wOBA, meaning he's been a bit lucky with them. He doesn't have significant whiff issues with fastballs. Norby is .356 xwOBa and but a .438 wOBA. So Norby definitely is a better fastball hitter. Now Cook absolutely mashes and I mean mashes offspeed pitches to the a team high .448 xwOBA and .434 wOBA. Norby is absolutely terrible at offspeed with xwOBa of .169 and wOBA of .219. On breaking balls Cook is 4th on the team with a .311 xwOBA and a .392 wOBA. Norby is at .269 xwOBA and .352 wOBA. So Cook is clearly the better offspeed and breaking ball hitter. In fact, I would say offspeed pitches is a major concern for Norby. So honestly, when looking at things, Cook may actually have the better bat overall since he really doesn't have a giant hole in his game. The question is, if he can't do as much damage on fastballs, he will see healthy diet of them. So in the end, I actually have to say I'm a bit surprised how close Cook's bat is to Norby, and in fact, may be better with more power. Now the Orioles need to put him out in the corner outfield and see if he can develop into a decent outfielder. If so, don't count Cook out becoming a 4th outfield/utility guy or even a regular.

When you compare bats, they are actually pretty close with Norby getting the edge is power, and Cook the edge with less miss and taking BB. The problems with Cook is he really has no defensive value. His best position is 1B but he's 5-11 and no one likes short first baseman. Sure, you can run him out at 2B but you will not be happy at times as he's below average in pretty much every aspect of playing there. In the outfield he's playable at best, but again, he doesn't have great jumps and routes and he has a below average arm. Norby's best position is corner outfield though I understand why they keep playing him at 2B because he has more value as a 2B with pop than a corner outfielder with "eh" pop for the corners. He definitely has a solid outfield arm. As a 26th man? Me personally, I don't think either bring enough true defensive versatility to be a 26th man so they will need to be able to convince someone they're an everyday guy. I still believe someone is going to give Norby everyday PAs and he's going to give Austin Hays (when he was an everyday starter) like production. Cook is still on the bubble for me unless he can show that he can become a solid defensive corner outfielder.

I would be absolutely shocked if Basallo was traded unless that help is team controlled for at least 3 years AFTER this year. Basallo is going to be an absolute beast at the major league level as an impact middle of the order bat. I still don't see Holliday, Mayo or Basallo getting moved.

My big issue with him besides the zero defensive value is he's batting .227 and has only 5 doubles which tells me he's probably a mistake hitter. That's a big red flag for me as well when I look at stats, especially lower level guys. Guys with decent home run numbers and low 2B numbers typically are guys who feast on those middle-middle pitches, but are not making consistent hard contact to get those 2B numbers up. Now I'm going off memory here and haven't really watched him a ton this year running, but he's pretty dang slow from what I remember. So now we have a short, slow, 1B/DH who has some ability to make decent swing decisions on Low-A hitters, but hits for a low average and doesn't show a lot of extra base power. So is he a guy that you perhaps follow to see if he's a guy that develops more game power and allows his bat to carry him up the chain? Perhaps. But I just don't know what he would be in the majors besides a right-handed DH if he develops more power. How many are those are now in the game? I mean, perhaps his absolute upside is a Yermín Mercedes type, but I imagine if he is a late bloomer guy who suddenly starts to rake at the upper levels, it will probably be for his 2nd or 3rd organization as those guys typically bounce around.

Nice to see the oppo power there. That is one of things I always look for when I'm trying to judge game power. A lot of guys have pull power, but at the upper levels pitchers will know that and keep pitching them away. No that was hard to see whether that ball was middle-middle or slightly away due to the camera angle, but either way, that was a very nice job of going oppo over the fence.

I'm really not trying to pick on anyone and I actually appreciate the reports that @Sports Guy provides even if I may not weigh them as strongly as he seems too. All information is good to have and unfortunately, all we have is FanGraphs and baseball reference to go of for good prospects statistical information. The rest is my good 'ol eyes on vide scouting. I wish I had access to statcast data for all of the prospects. I'd love to be able to use that as well.

Updated now through the top 40. Don't get too caught up in who is better from 31-40 though. That's more for fun purposes of following the young guys and a few guys just off the top 30. Did I miss anyone in the "players to watch"? Anyone you're following that is not on the list?

Whoever that is certainly has access to data that we don't. Mordan does have some decent hit tools to work from, but as a short guy with no positional value, he's going to need a big jump in game power. He does have some raw power to work from but he's just not a guy for me because I just don't know what he is at the major league level. That was always what I was taught when looking at guys. What are they when they get there? What will team value about them. In today's game where positional flexibility is valued from those 40 level utility players, unless a guy projects as a regular major leaguer, then they have a tough road ahead.

For tracking purposes.

Yeah, not sure why Suarez was not brought out to start the 6th. Seems like he's going to run out a bunch of guys today to fill four innings. I mean, if you are going to take an ass whopping, don't blow through your pen while doing it.

Pretty good 7th round pick though. The Orioles drafted all of these guys before Loperfido.

We've seen this Mateo spiral before. He's been very good this year, but it's time for Mayo anyways.

Time for the Orioles to bring up Mayo and put him at 3B. Mateo is in his mid-season suck mode.

Apparently Mateo does not believe in diving on his birthday.

I've never been a fan of Adley's pitch calling and have called him out many times on here. He gets very predictable and goes too much on what they absolutely should throw in counts, most likely based on statistics, but not realizing that you have to be unpredictable at times. But honestly, while I thought he called too many fastballs when it was clear the Astros were hunting them, Suarez was just throwing some absolute meatballs.

Which again, is very strange when you know you have Suarez and Povich in the rotation. I've never been a fan of not having a long guy but the Orioles have found ways to get around it. They very well may be pitching Mateo by the 8th inning of this one.

I'll be honest, Suarez has to take a beating here. Can't destroy the pen because he can't get anyone out. This game is probably already over so sorry bud, put on your man pants and figure out how to get some hitters out.

Why would he? Watching this team beat up on the Orioles tells me they have a team that can compete.

It's just absolute crap stuff right now. He's gotten no whiff, and everything has been hit hard. He keep throwing in the middle of the plate and Rutschman has called way too many fastballs when it's clear they're hunting them.

Yeah, I don't know how you can be backup and not be willing to dive. I mean, it would've mattered because Suarez is throwing meatball after meatball, but he still should have dove to try and stop them.