Ruzious

Comargo gets no respect, but he's the guy who should be playing every day. He did very well last year as a rookie, and he's showing he's likely gong to do better this year.

It hurts to look at Josh Hader's stats. Best young lefty reliever in baseball?

I really don't understand why they did that, but it's just a minor league deal. Remember, Flash was signed mainly because Johan Comargo was injured, and he's back on the active roster now. And the Braves have super-looking prospect Austin Riley dominating AA. So I don't see much use for Bautista and really doubt he can still play 3rd base at a reasonable level. I really like Comargo - he's a vacuum-cleaner with enough range to play SS, and he hits better than expected. It's a blast to see Flash doing so well - realizing there's no chance he can keep it up all season. His walks have been a result of batting 8th in the NL and being hot. When there have been runners on base for him and 2 men out, he gets pitched around, so the other team can face the pitcher. He was even intentionally walked twice in one game. What a hoot!

Wilkerson showed virtually no power the year before (2016). He had 4 homers in 402 at bats and slugged all of .341 at 24 years old - almost all in Frederick.

It's very important to see how the Rule 5 pitchers do. Araujo definitely belongs on the roster. Cortez has shown enough to make the roster with his 8/2 SO/W ratio - even though he has gotten hit. Mesa right now hasn't shown enough, but he should get more chances to impress - I would not write him off at this point.

And apparently we're over-blowing the situation by pointing this out.

You guys do understand I was kidding, right?

Nah, one walk in 39 plate appearances this Spring. Buck, talk to him - tell him he's going down if that doesn't change right away. Oh, and most importantly - tell the media. If he so much as cracks a smile, tell them he's a goof off.

As can o corn said, I have no problem with Buck being tough on him. Doing it in front of the media is what I question. But my last post was on the negativity shown by posters here - inferring from Buck's comments or their own reasons that they should be negative about Mountcastle. Seems to me there's a lot to be optimistic about him.

But isn't the facts that he just turned 21 and has hit better in the minors than Schoop cause for optimism - rather than pessimism?

Most definitely, but my boss didn't tell that to the media. He was nice enough to keep it to himself. Then again, the media wasn't particularly interested in me.

That's the problem though - Mountcastle comes out looking like a blockhead to the average person reading what Buck said.

That's a good point that he's reinforcing the message to Hays that way. Maybe he thinks Mountcastle can take the criticism straight on better than Hays can. More likely Buck was just pissed off by Mountcastle giggling. And Hays probably answered in him in a more mature manner - kinda like you'd expect a guy 2 years older to do.

Should any of this be a surprise? Kid's had success all of his life being aggressive one way. He finally gets to a level that he needs to adjust to. He's 20 years old, so he's got to be told more than once. Unless he's stupid, that's going to sink in. That's what coaching and the minors are for.

Much better defending a corner OF spot than a China shop. Seriously, he seems a lot more athletic defensively than the reports were on him.

This season for Harvey is to build him up physically, mechanically, and mentally so that he can start for the Orioles in 2019. They shouldn't be thinking about playing him in the majors this season, imo. They should have a transparent plan and stick to it.

Well, some rumors I take with a grain of salt. Prospects like Vlad Jr are few and very rarely get traded without having off-field issues.

I laughed. And their catcher is next - perhaps to the Nats - but the Nats are not going to give them either of their great OF prospects. They did get a nice package for Yelich. I'm a big Lew Brunson believer, and the 3 other prospects they got looked pretty decent.

Wellington gets 2 years guaranteed totalling 15 mil plus a club option for a 3rd year at 8 mil. First person who says "O's dodged a bullet"... just don't.

And I gotta wonder if Duquette is wondering what the bleep is going on. I doubt he was on board with what they've been doing with Hayes.

Or maybe it's that other teams make the same mistakes in over-playing their veterans.

I think it's maybe exhaustion. Baseball's a fun game for us, and when we were in our 20's and 30's, it was hard to imagine getting tired from playing baseball, but playing it as a profession 7 days a week for more than half the year, it takes a toll - not just physically but mentally. I think Buck should have rested some of his players more - particularly vets like Jones, Davis, and Trumbo - and it's been showing.

Buck's decision to play Trumbo in RF lost the game, quite frankly. I love Buck as a manager, but he's got at least 3 other choices to play RF - including Hays - and playing Trumbo there was simply idiotic on Buck's part. There's just no way around it.

Well, he's only had 54 at bats with RISP, and he does have an .800 OPS - which shows he has done his job pretty well offensively on the season - particularly in getting on base.

One thing I'll say - the O's picks from Hayes through the 6th round were brilliant in 2016.