Ruzious

I've never watched an MLB draft, but i will this time - for maybe 2 rounds of it. This is the first time I've done much studying up on it.

To summarize, as far as what we should do for the rest of this season assuming no injuries, Hayes and Santander should be our corner OFers, Mullins should be our CFer, and Jones should play every day - with 2nd base as the most logical position - given the other opinions mentioned. Hopefully, another player proves that he should be in the mix - playing some OF, IF and/or DH - particularly if Mancini is traded.

That's great for AAA, lol.

And while Jones' offense has been a pleasant surprise at AAA, it's not as if he came out of nowhere. Baseball Prospectus had him as a top 80 prospect in MLB entering the 2017 season (78), 2018 (64), and 2019 (68). This is the kind of player we should be seeing if he can be part of our MLB team. The guys coaching him in AAA have done their job - at least on the offensive side. But we need to see what he can do at the ML level.

As far as the pitchers that are being used, we don't have a young pitching staff this season.

This is a sad elephant in the room fact about our so-called rebuilding effort.

But right now, the O's haven't been playing anyone who's adequate at 2nd base, so it makes sense to use him over anyone else they have.

Sorry - meant to say Hays is too good to just use against lefties. Second base is the way to go with Jones this year, because we have a need at 2nd base. If it doesn't work there, then we make a change next year, but for now - he should be at 2nd.

Good observation about Hays lefty/righty splits, but part of that is probably his BAbip - which is .224 against righties this year and .397 against lefties. I think he's too talented a player to not use just against lefties.

Since we're discussing a relatively soft-tossing lefty, here's a fun scouting report from 1990 on a then up and coming one: Tom Glavine scouting report, 1990 July 03 | Digital Collection (baseballhall.org) Notice what pitch he used when behind in the count: a fastball away. He and Maddux lived on (actually a little bit off) the outside corner - getting the umps to stretch the zone. Lol at his fastball velocity.

Smith gets another start today in AAA. I'd like to see him go more than 5 innings - something he hasn't done this season, and he's only gone 5 innings once. Is there a good reason he's got only 40 innings pitched this season?

Notice he hasn't said a word about his health on his Twitter account - and that's probably smart. You can see there he was clearly so excited to be drafted by the O's, and now he's got to deal with this illness. I can't imagine the dramatic change in perspective he and his family have had to adjust to.

Seeing the O's lineup at 2nd and 3rd is the hardest part.

So... what do they see in Gutierrez - other than a .909 fielding percentage in 34 games at 3B this year and a guy who can't hit? And... he'd move Leyba to 2nd base - where he's a poor defender. The Baltimore infield is absurdly bad right now - particularly at 2nd and 3rd. Am I missing something on Gutierrez - what do they see in him?

Good stuff, bobmc. Sounds like we have a very good hitting coach at Norfolk.

I don't know if people saw this report from June 18th, but it's not very encouraging - as the inflammation has recurred:

Good question. Also, does he ever use inside out swings (a la Bo Bichette) - which would cause him hitting to the opposite field?

It'd be interesting to go with Urias and Jones as our double play combo for the rest of the season. I think they can get it done offensively, but would their defense be a disaster?

Watkins reminds me of former O's player and broadcaster Dave Johnson (who I worked with outside of baseball between his gigs as a player and broadcaster). Congrats to him for a terrific game.

Gotta believe that Cowser is what they're looking for - and under slot player who also happens to be a great hitter. Personally, I'd take Watson if it's between him and Cowser - which I think could very well be the case. I'd also probably take Jobe over Cowser.

I couldn't agree more.

If you had to choose one, who has the highest upside among the Bowie OF group of Neustrom, Turchin, Rizer and Stowers?

Galvis' lack of a strong arm seems like a big negative for a SS - especially coupled with below average range. I'm in the camp that believes he has very little trade value.

Yup. Hopefully the 3 of them have a relationship something like Machado and Schoop had - and stay together longer.

[green font}And Mullins is only 5'8. It's amazing he can play at all. [/green font]