Jammer7
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Posts posted by Jammer7
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Interesting to see what the terms of the deal are, and if it is a split deal majors vs. minors like the other vets they signed. Is this a sign they are ready to move up in the standings and begin to compete? Or is this just a guy we sign and hope to move?
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Good stuff. The pen is very interesting after the Harvey injury. Could open a door for R5 Tyler Wells to stick around a bit longer. They cannot option Wells, Valdez or Armstrong. And they likely would not option Tanner Scott or Paul Fry. So does the remaining 3-4 members give Hyde enough flexibility will be the question. I think they can make that work. Maybe Wells can stick around, at least until Hunter Harvey comes back and then we’ll see.
Green and Hanhold are big interesting guys for sure. They would need roster spots though, and that might be tough if they keep Felix Hernandez and Matt Harvey. For me, the vulnerable guys looked to be Goudeau, Lopez, and the R5 guys, along with the anticipated CD 60 day IL move. But, Goudeau looked good yesterday and Lopez looked really good a few days ago. Matt Harvey might get squeezed out if he doesn’t show something soon. Zimmermann deserves to be a starter anyway. It is going to b interesting.
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16 minutes ago, wildcard said:
Looks like Tony has replaced me as the optimist on the board.
LOL...The bad news is coming in the next, likely much longer, post.
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Michael, my family and I send our sincere prayers for a speedy and complete recovery. Always fair and a voice of reason, I look forward to many more years with you here.
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When I think of a breakout season, it would be hard for me to put one of our top 10 prospects in this. If I may, I’ll make Jordan Westburg the exception. So many people really bashed this guy when we drafted him. He is really going to blossom this year and he’ll move fairly quickly. He just missed a no doubt opposite field home run a few days ago late in the game. It would have been a three run bomb, just foul.
Joey Ortiz is my true breakout dark horse pick. I think he will surprise many as well with a line drive gap to gap approach and excellent steady defense.
The added muscle for Adam Hall is great news as well. So much to like about his game.
Someone wrote Stowers down earlier in this thread and I have the same thoughts. I hope he starts out hot and takes off from there. Same with Handley and Daschbach, his Stanford teammates. We’ve been told some encouraging things about the latter two, but heard nothing about Stowers.
I can go on and on with many more names.
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32 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:
Really good post here. I think you nailed it though I'm still hoping Zimmermann makes the rotation and one of Harvey/Hernandez goes to the pen as a long guy.
Thank you! I am with you on Zimm. I just think they'll want the vets to work every fifth day in their comfort zone, at least initially, to see where it takes them in May or June. And I think Matt Harvey could eventually have success as late inning reliever, while focusing on two or three pitches. Perhaps a velo bump and his competitive nature would make him pretty tough in short stints. Would he embrace it?
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It is still way too early to be definitive about nearly half of the pitcher spots. We just do not know what will happen in the next month. I do care, maybe a moderate amount, about the OD roster, but I am certainly more concerned about how it looks in August. I had nothing to do, so I'll take a shot at it.
The following seem solid bets:
1B - Trey Mancini
2B - #Yolmer Sanchez
SS - #Freddy Galvis
3B - *Rio Ruiz
UT - Pat Valaika
C - Pedro Severino, *Chance Sisco
OF - Austin Hays, *Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle, #Anthony Santander
SP - John Means, Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin
Pen - Cesar Valdez, Hunter Harvey, Tanner Scott, Paul Fry, Shawn Armstrong (Harvey, Fry and Scott all have at least one option remaining)
That accounts for 11 position players and 8 pitchers so far, 19 total.
It seems pretty solid that if Chris Davis is on the IL to begin the season, DJ Stewart makes the team and gets a lot of DH at bats. Ramon Urias gets my vote to be the 13th position player as a UT if we keep only 13 pitchers. Urias can really hit gap to gap, but his glove work at SS is suspect. I think they keep him for now and keep working him next to Galvis and Sanchez every day to see if he can grow. His hands are suspect to me sometimes, and then he makes a very slick play to make me scratch my head.
Jahmai Jones, Rylan Bannon and Tyler Nevin all go down with Richie Martin to AAA. They all have things to work on and there is no need for any of them to sit on the bench in Baltimore right now.
The other starting pitcher candidates are: (Need 2, maybe 3)
- Felix Hernandez - (NRI)
- Matt Harvey - (NRI)
- *Wade LeBlanc - (NRI)
- Jorge Lopez - Out of Options
- *Bruce Zimmermann - 3 options remaining
The other pen candidates are: (Need 3, maybe 4)
- Travis Lakins Sr. (2 options)
- Dillon Tate (2 options)
- Cole Sulser (3 options)
- Isaac Mattson (3 options)
- Mac Sceroler (R5)
- Tyler Wells (R5)
- (Jorge Lopez)
- (*Bruce Zimmermann)
- Ashton Goudeau - (2 options)
- *Fernando Abad (NRI)
- Eric Hanhold (2 options)
- Cody Carroll (1 option)
We all know it is early and a lot can happen. (The bolded names are my 26 picks.) Right now, I have Felix Hernandez and Matt Harvey filling out the rotation. Hernandez' health concerns me with his year of inactivity and velo drop, but he is crafty enough to get by for now and see what his velo does in the next month or two. Harvey will likely get a chance to go North so Holt can see what he can do to turn him into an asset. If any starter is injured or falters completely, LeBlanc would likely get a shot. But I see him on the outside, looking in, for now.
I would rather have Zimmermann get an opportunity to start over one of them, but keeping him as a long man will get him a chance to break through and get a spot start here and there. Hyde seems to like Lakins and Sulser, so I give them the nod over Tate for now. Tate should be on the shuttle this year since he, Mattson, Lakins, Sulser and Zimmermann have option flexibility. The wildcard here is Abad. If Abad throws really well, do they keep four lefties in the pen? IDK. And he certainly has no roster flexibility, but he may be a commodity in June/July. Hunter Harvey, Fry and Scott all have options too, but I do not expect any of them to be sent down
I think Lopez will be cut. He will still tantalize, at times, and he'll aggravate with his ability to find the middle of the plate at other times. I think he is soft. No options, no room for his lack of command.
The Rule 5 guys will get a solid look, I think, but they will be returned. I think they are both intriguing profiles, particularly Tyler Wells. But unless they trade for them, they are gone. We will need the two roster spots as well for Hernandez and Matt Harvey.
There is a good likelihood that Elias picks up a waiver claim between now and the end of Spring. Secretly, that is what we are all waiting for.
Wild prediction...The first catcher called up from AAA? Nick Sciuffo comes up when the Orioles need him to replace Sisco. Either for injury, or they just grow tired of his lack of energy and ability to be a major league catcher.
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On 3/2/2021 at 10:14 AM, Frobby said:
Speed is nice, but “a mix of average-Ish tools across the rest of his skill set” doesn’t sound that inspiring.
I think that characterization is a little misleading. What does that mean, really? Is it that he projects to an average major league CF with speed? I would take that.
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Just now, Can_of_corn said:
Yea, it's a rough spot for him.
Absolutely, and I really like Hyde. I felt bad for him in this. It is what it is, but it’s a tired act. I have watched all of the zoom interviews until today. I watched Hyde, and that was it. I have lost all respect for Davis since his last interview. That was my final straw.
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7 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:
Hyde is planning on playing Davis as much as possible in ST.
OMFG one of these guys asked if Davis might see time at third. Really? They get paid for this?
The look on Hyde’s face and the pain with which he answered the questions is all you need to know. Hyde is done with Davis’ tired act. I want to play Hyde in poker.
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17 minutes ago, Yossarian said:
So this pretty much guarantees Valaika a spot on the opening day roster?
Absent a major collapse by Valaika, probably. But that was always the goal, and to get Martin a half season or more in AAA.
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44 minutes ago, Ruzious said:
That's a relief - as long as it doesn't sap his power...
There is usually some adjustment there, initially. I remember Nick Markakis had that surgery and he came back with less power initially. It got better, but I am not sure he was the same ever again. Others have had a complete recovery, however.
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1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:
Is this the first "Looks good coming out of his hand" comment by Hyde? lol
Nah, he said it yesterday about Matt Harvey.
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9 hours ago, LTO's said:
Actually in agreement here. Not like the things are off to hot start with that draft class given the Baumler injury and Kjerstad illness. Granted, those are just bad luck and things every team deals with. Given his infatuation with them, I cannot imagine Elias would pass on a middle infield prospect like Martin unless he had serious doubts about his defense. Curious decision for sure. Though I have read things from the BA and MLB guys that suggested that had the season been finished it's possible Kjerstad would've cemented himself as a top guy given his power from the left side.
I have mostly seen Martin listed as an OF by the Blue Jays. I know they drafted him as a SS, but that is not where he will be.
We have debated this ad nauseum, but what it comes down to is differing opinions that will not change until this plays out in a few years. After watching a good bit of video on Kjerstad, the bolded part is where I am. Elias said the same thing when he drafted him. He just needs to prove it. When he does, the same dissenting talking heads will say they thought he was great all along. Yawn...
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On 2/22/2021 at 2:40 PM, SteveA said:
And we traded him in March 2019.
We went on that year to give the most games in LF to Dwight Smith Jr, the most games in CF to Steve Wilkerson, and the most games in RF to Trey Mancini (while Chris Davis manned first).
Yeah, sigh...
They made a call on a 28 year old smaller corner OF, plagued by injuries, who had never done anything like this in the minors. Sure, he could have had a shot. But they thought Yaz was a non-prospect and traded him. He had not been a prospect in a few years. They thought the guys they have were more likely to produce better numbers. No one took him in the rule 5, so they obviously were not alone. They did not count on injuries to Hays and Diaz, or the struggles of Mullins and Stewart. Or the games played would have looked a lot different.
Smith was generally regarded as a much better potential hitter than Yaz. Another injury, a bad one in a collision with the fence, caused serious issues with his neck and shoulder. I do not think that I have ever read what a terrible lazy OF he had become before coming to Baltimore. Before the injury, I thought he was a bit below average defensively. After the injury, he was possibly the worst defensive OF I have ever seen. Worse than Kevin Mitchell at the end of his career.
Elias was wrong. So was every other team. Good for Yaz. Every team gets one wrong now and then. I’m not sure he is a “star.” Not yet. But I would certainly like to have that one back. I bet Elias would too. Next.
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1 hour ago, wildcard said:
Is he throwing? I am still holding my breath here.
I believe Elias said they would start him a little later during camp.
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He’s one of the guys that Matt Blood mentioned from Instructs. And I believe another player mentioned him in an interview as well. He and his former Stanford teammates, Handley and Stowers, have a big year coming. They all need to show major improvements or risk getting left behind.
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On 2/14/2021 at 7:32 AM, Can_of_corn said:
Pretty much everyone is speculating that he has a reason beyond getting his degree which is causing him to miss camp.
That was not what it seemed at the time. And looking back did not change the way I interpreted several comments questioning Kjerstad’s commitment to playing baseball. Some of the posters in that thread should be ashamed of themselves. Just ridiculous.
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1 hour ago, OrioleDog said:
I don't think there's anything more to this than he was the best shortstop on his high school team.
He probably had the best arm on the team too, though he mentioned recently Zach Eflin and Riley Greene as fellow alums of his high school in a recent Inside The Yard podcast.
On the Damon LF arm, I remember one beautiful play from the Thome Oriole days in which he flicked one over the third baseman's head. Something had to give, Thome tried for 2nd and made it.
He was the best player on that Hagerty HS team, I don't know about the best arm. I don't think so. They always have talent all over the field. Many of the high schools in this area do. I am a little spoiled that way.
Jeff Driskel, (NFL QB) a few years before him. Zach Eflin was a few years before him as well. And that team is always very talented. The school was established in 2005 and has a three first rounders (Riley Green, Mountcastle, Eflin), and several others drafted recently. They took a little more than half of the Oviedo HS talent pipeline when they started that school.
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Holt was just beginning to get to a position in the Astros organization to begin to dictate things as Assistant Pitching Coordinator. Perhaps there were things he took from the Astros, and then he had his own ideas that he now gets to administer. It has to play out for us to know.
The jump from a 1980’s esque development program to where we are now, just two years later, is responsible for the jump in performance of so many minor leaguers. We will see if it is actually sustainable, or if the wear and tear becomes an issue. It is a great story of his rise.
@Sports Guy I do not disagree with your stance, although I think they have been better than what you wrote. But not much better, really, when it comes to drafting and development. They inherited Keuchel and made him better, akin to John Means. I just hope Elias’ troubles with that have resonated with him and he has learned from those trials.
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7 minutes ago, wildcard said:
Valdez may be one of the 5 best starters on the team this spring. At least until Baumann and Lowther are ready for the majors.
I seriously hope not. If he is, a lot of things went wrong.
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1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:
If he has a good first half, he will have plenty of suitors.
Agreed.
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11 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:
For sure although I could easily see Miami selling at the deadline.
Perhaps. They may do both. Santander has four more years of control. Depends on what he will cost them, certainly.
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I will be fine with ONE of the group of Felix Hernandez, Wade LeBlanc or Cesar Valdez starting every fifth day. To go along with Means, Kremer, Akin and Zimmermann (or Lopez), the veteran can eat some innings and hold a spot until June or July when Baumann, Lowther, Wells, Bradish and Smith may be ready. If two of them make starts regularly, it is troubling for me.
Mid-March Orioles spring training update: Good news stories
in Orioles Talk
Posted
I understand completely. Look forward to it.