Jammer7

It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out, for sure. They've spoken of these guys being versatile and moving around some. I think that stunts their progression to an extent. Still think Westburg slides over to 3B a lot and becomes our 3B of the future. Henderson is the most interesting for me as he looks athletic enough to actually stick at SS. He shows me energy and bounce with enough twitch and hands to stick, for now anyway. We'll see. Hernaiz may not be there when the rookie leagues begin either.

I suppose my guesses were solid. Not going to break my arm patting myself on the back, though. They were just guesses. So excited to see these guys play a season!

Yep, must be nice to have those resources.

Good question. I went with Zimm because he generally commands four pitches well and is a competitor. Akin, for me, seems destined to be in the pen. His fastball plays up as it is, but in shorter stints could be even better. Has not shown consistent command of anything off speed, but the slider can be a swing and miss pitch for him. Needs to get serious about his conditioning as well. Lowther is interesting, and since I have not seen him much at this point. He apparently has great deception and throws his four-seam well up in the zone, and the spike curve is an above average pitch. If he can develop the slider and change to above average, then maybe he is the guy. Alex Wells, he just has so much to prove at this point. Like Lowther, I just have not seen him much to put him ahead of Zimm.

Interesting. I am not sure he'll take an under slot deal, not much of one anyway. Why would he? He has all the leverage and his stock is back up, except with Keith Law, of course.

Actually, the Dodgers have had great success in the past seven years growing their own arms. Our own Dean Kremer, Walker Buehler, Dustin May, Julio Urias*, Caleb Ferguson*, Mitch White, Josiah Gray, Bobby Miller, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Beeter, Dennis Santana and Jordan Sheffield were all drafted/signed and developed by them. You could argue that they have been the best at developing pitching. Hyun Jin Ryu was signed by them, though already a finished product.

Good question. Cleveland, Dodgers, Padres and Cardinals come to mind. I don't have empirical data to back that up, just my perception. Several years ago, it seemed like the Mets were well stocked in young pitching on the major league roster and in the minors. Aside from Degrom, not much left from that group, and that was only 5-6 years ago.

Well, things change fast. Try to keep up. lol

During an interview, another player, maybe DL Hall, said that Ortiz really shined in Instructs. He asked Ortiz what he did to up his power and Ortiz replied that he just hit off a tee all Summer, lol. And then Matt Blood mentioned him a short time later. I agree, we don't know if we can trust what Blood says, not yet. It sure would be nice if Blood was accurate in his comments, but Ortiz and Bradish certainly have a lot to prove. Someone we never seem to hear anything about is Kyle Stowers, Comp B pick in 2019. That was a pick that I questioned at the time, and I wonder if he is one player that the layoff may have really hurt in his development. Seems to have a long way to go and really needs at bats.

A sleeper in round 3, Doug Nikhazy LHP Mississippi. I know him personally, watched him grow up. A very well-schooled kid, who gets the most out of what he has. Not projectable, but a very efficient pitcher with high spin rates. Doug is a pitcher, and knows how to vary his pitches to make them have different action. Has not had any injury issues that I am aware of. https://www.mlb.com/prospects/draft/doug-nikhazy-680951

What are your thoughts on Rocker if he falls to #5? If the first four picks are, for instance, Leiter, Lawlar, Mayer and House, then Rocker is in play. I see a very big man who will be challenged to repeat his mechanics and to keep his weight in check in his career. Not saying he cannot be an excellent pitcher for along time. I just find him to be extremely risky. Are we in a position to take that risk? IDK

Some, including Jim Callis in his recent podcast, have recently said House may be able to stay at SS, but most believe he is an athletic 3B with an elite arm. Like you wrote, it’s a long way there. But if you can rake with power, they will find a place for you to play. He is well known by the scouting community, been on the radar for a long time. Played a lot of showcases and been in the spotlight a long time. He struggled some last summer, trying to do too much. But by all accounts, he is back to crushing the ball. I like what I have seen, but it is very little honestly. If they take someone else, great. Elias is a very astute scout. A 3B in today’s game is much more valuable than they were a decade ago with all of the shifts and such. I agree that Lawlar will likely be gone, sure. The top 4 are generally separated from the next group. But things can certainly change, I mean Toronto getting Martin last year was a shocker. We’ll see how it all develops. Rocker may fall some too.

Agreed. We should not shy away from taking another college catcher. Injuries, trades, position changes, etc...but I do like those other three. I have been high on Brady House for two years.

Good point on location. I can only guess that perhaps the major league rehab guys are at the Alt Site until Minor League Spring Training is over in Sarasota? Only so much room down there due to COVID. And maybe they don't want rehab guys traveling from MD to Florida and back for COVID reasons? Does that somehow change their intake period? IDK.

At this early stage, I think it comes down to Lawlar, Mayer, House and Davis for the Orioles. I would just fine with any of the first 3, but I am still learning about Davis. Take the best player available, regardless of position. If Davis proves to be that guy, good.

He has not played or done anything since last summer to exert himself, I would imagine it will be a few months before his body is ready to resume baseball activities. Spring Training would have taken what, six weeks? So, perhaps he takes two or three months, and he should be in games by late June or July. It is what it is.

So, just as simple as that, the mysterious drama comes to an end. LOL

I agree that the Astros did not seem to have success. I guess we’ll see if this is different.

This was what the Astros did for several years. I remember we obtained a LHP (Chris Lee) in 2015 who stalled in Norfolk. I remember the discussion about him being a reliever, but it was discovered that the Astros had been piggy-backing starters. It’s an interesting idea, and it makes sense to keep the innings under control. They can always throw more in the pen after they exit , if they need more.

Does everyone in the organization need to know Kjerstad’s medical status? I mean, not sure to whom you are referring, or what their job is, but if they should know, perhaps they just cannot tell you. This organization does seem to be a little more right with their info leaking out that the past regimes. Mancini disclosed the majority of his diagnosis. The team spoke about it briefly initially. Then Trey put out a video and released a statement. Perhaps Kjerstad’s agent and parents want to be a little more private about his situation. Hopefully, a reporter asks the question in one of these Zoom conferences. Or maybe Elias makes some brief statement. But until then, can we not just assume he has not been cleared? I think they are just trying to respect Heston’s privacy and not make this a circus. The kid and the Orioles want that to be sooner than later I assume.

The only thing close to an assumption I made was whether or not he may or may not have had COVID. It is a fact that myocarditis can kill you if you exert yourself as you may as a professional athlete. I read quite a bit about it on the Mayo Clinic site awhile ago for more personal reasons. Elias has spoken about his situation as much as he can and that Heston is receiving treatment in preparation to come back when he is healthy enough to do so. Not sure why anyone would have issue with an artificial “deadline” of the beginning of the alt site when these things are all different for each case. No draft picks played in games last year. Some went to alternate sites for a week or two at the end of the season. Sure, he missed three weeks of instructs. And he has now missed two months of Spring Training and alternate site activity. Nearly all others slotted to play A ball are just beginning Spring Training. So, why not be a little more patient? I would imagine he needs to go through certain protocols and obviously get a clearance from the doctors. Until that happens, we will not see him report. As someone pointed out several posts ago, Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez missed the 2020 truncated season due to the same diagnosis. Precedent has been set with this. So, maybe he debuts in 2024 instead of 2023. Fans can have any opinion they wish, certainly. But this is a young man’s life we are talking about. Some are portraying this to be critical of the player, or the pick. Good grief!

So, we are being hyper-critical of the decision to draft Kjerstad, check. And we are criticizing the organization for not releasing more information about his health status, which they cannot as it is protected by federal law, check. And we are being critical of a guy for not doing anything yet, when nothing could have been done, check. We are criticizing a very talented young OF prospect because he has not played yet because he has myocarditis, which may or may not have occurred as a result of COVID, check. And we are criticizing said prospect for not exerting himself when that exertion could kill him, check. Fellas, really? I want to see him playing as bad as anyone, and hopefully that will be in the next month or so. I would imagine they will be cautious and ramp him up slowly. He missed half a season due to no minors season. So, he has missed two months that he could have done something, and perhaps instructs. Going forward, I would be happy if he gets back into competitive games by June and ends the year healthy. I am not expecting much from him this year.

I would like to see Urias get an extended shot at 2B. Hard to make much of his game when he gets an inning and an at bat every other game or so. Urias’ swing works. He is balanced and stays inside the ball well. Ruiz has an option and should have gone down to AAA/alternate site, but Jones and Bannon are there. I still think he can hit much better than he has, but his clock is ticking. His swing decisions are still poor, seems like he is pressing. Still a confidence issue with him, I think. Maybe that is why Hyde is showing confidence in him, for now.

We went through this months ago, at length. The arbitration figure was more than he was worth, certainly. But so would just about any figure above a AAA contract. It was time for him to go. We have no need for a guy who cannot play any position on the field; I mean he’s not just a poor defender, he is absolutely terrible. So, a full time DH has to produce to justify taking the at bats away from younger position players who need the at bats. Those players have more value to the team in the future and that is plain as day. This has been Elias’ plan all along. For him to be of value, he would have to be in the realm of an Edwin Encarnacionfrom a few years ago, I’d settle for a light version even. He is not even close. He is a mistake hitter, and gets beat by average fastballs in the middle of the plate. There is a reason why no one else wanted him on their major league team. So, no thanks.

Please, no more Nunez. I hope he does well in Detroit’s AAA team, but the Orioles moved on for good reason. There are reasons he was not signed by any other team as well. And those reasons are well documented. Give this team a few months before you start casting people off the island. They have played six games in very cold weather, and the ball was not carrying. They have faced some high level pitching as well, and they are 4-2. I believe they will hit for power and a solid average. The defense is suspect in spots, and Nunez will not help that in any way. The starting pitching has some questions to answer, and right now, I think that is our biggest weakness.