Jammer7

He was with the Marlins first. I don’t know if I would call him a journeyman either. Long time minor leaguer, yes.

Maybe so. They all break. It sucks. So be it, that’s baseball. Bautista was not the mountain before he got an opportunity. This is an opportunity for someone. We’ll see how it goes.

What are they supposed to do? Cry about it? I mean, every team has injuries. It is exactly next man up, or roll over and show your belly and die.

I do like Webb. He’s a bulldog. He and Cano can handle it for a bit.

Hyde just said it’s an “arm issue.” Hyde was upset about it and would not comment further.

It could be many things. Next man up. Who closes? Cano, I guess.

That is fair. Huge difference in the stuff and make up, but Rom May end up being a solid back end guy. And I hope he does.

I had the exact same thought, and you beat me to it.

It was Duquette, who traded those guys. But hey, rage on, brother.

No, he didn’t. Yes, I did. Flaherty is not completely healthy, and he is still a better option than Rom for a playoff team. And for many reasons. They’ll back off him to get more miles from him down the stretch. Flaherty has not been healthy since COVID 2020. I am convinced it was a trade they had to make. They gave up Rom, who is a guy that may end up a back end guy for St. Louis. Rom was never going to get an opportunity in Baltimore. I am happy for him. Prieto too. Showalter is a long long shot. I still think it was a good trade for both teams.

Rom got shelled when called up. 3.2 IP, 8 hits, 8 runs, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4K against Pittsburgh.

After reading the transcripts of Flaherty’s statements, I have absolutely no idea what he said. At first, it seemed like a physical thing. Then, it seemed more like he was working through mechanical changes, maybe. IDK. Watching him pitch in SD, it looked like his shoulder had some discomfort the way he rolled his shoulder joint several times between pitches. He has had shoulder problems before. However, that may just be his normal mannerisms.

Sorry, but Showalter is not “all that.” Some promise, sure, but not a future TOR or anything. They paid him what, $400,000, I believe. That is not a huge bonus. He was an asset, and he was used to obtain an asset that can better help us in this season. The chances of Showalter even ever being a ML pitcher are not at all good. We are not going to miss him.

Is there anyone here who has seen him in Bowie? Can anyone tell me if the K’s are more so swinging or looking? The number of K’s are alarming in AA. He’s always had some swing and miss, but ouch. Is there a spray chart of his contact anywhere? He can get pull happy and sell out for the FB.

It is a long season. All teams have highs and lows, for sure. The playoffs are a different thing. Many of our players are playing meaningful competitive games that they may not have encountered before. The term “playoff atmosphere” has been thrown around in some recent series’. The games are more intense and the small things often matter a bit more. Good teams and talented players make you pay for mistakes. I think we have seen that in San Diego and Seattle, to varying results. I do wonder about our offense some. I know they are tired and banged up a bit. Brian Kenney’s piece was a little eye-opening to me about the chase rate and some other metrics. We do many things right, absolutely. This is not some indictment of the Orioles, but it should highlight the need to keep grinding and working on the their approaches. I’d like to see Adley get some days off, not even DH. McCann has been excellent recently. We need Adley to be more fresh for September and October. Hays might need some time as well. He is definitely banged up.

His body language is glaring. He walks defeated. The fact that he remains “upbeat” or whatever BS Melanie Newman is spewing after her interview with him is not relevant. He is not in a competitive mode right now. He is as much of a certain out right now as Mateo. He knows it. He is in between the fastball and breaking ball. It isn’t made up, it’s obvious to some. It’s also just a different opinion than yours. And which scouts are you writing about? You’re in contact with them often? Come on now. SG, I am surprised to see you aggravated by this move. If he had shown signs recently of coming out of the shell he’s in, I could see it. But he is crawling back inside that shell right now. He is not in a controlled aggressive mode in any phase of the game. I want him to succeed. Elias and Hyde want that too. They would not have promoted him unless they believed in him. Give it some time, he’ll slow things down.

I didn’t realize Cowser was ya boy. It just makes the point of how special Adley and Gunnar really are. That transition is hard for most of them. If we weren’t a playoff team, like 2021, I’d be clamoring for CC to stay. This is a different time.

It is actually hysterical when you tell me how wrong I am about my own opinion of what I see.

Dude, now you know that isn’t me. Not at all.

He’s been too patient, mostly. He has let the ball travel to a fault. Look at his spray charts, Moose. Almost all of his contact is to the left side, even balls on the inner half of the plate. He is not competing in the upper half of the zone right now either. He got blown away in his recent at bats upstairs, albeit against the Astros. In the field, he lays back and let’s the ball land on balls he should be more aggressive on. They are not errors in the scorebook, but the pitchers don’t appreciate having to throw more pitches after balls land that should often be caught. I’m not down on his future, not at all. He is just in-between right now. He has to get comfortable and figure out that he actually belongs. I believe he’ll do that, probably in 2024. His body language right now isn’t good.

It was a little humor, describing a whipped puppy who puddles when he is scared. It’s over the top, but he does look over whelmed and timid right now. Cowser has a ways to go to make the adjustments he needs in all phases. The game is moving too fast for him right now. I’m a believer in the guy, just not there for him yet. They need guys who are not easy to pitch to. He is an easy out right now. It is that simple for me. Hicks will run into one now and then against quality pitching.

In the longer term, I agree on Cowser. Absolutely. He just isn’t close to the guy he should eventually be, right now. I do not see progress, if anything there has been a regression. Hicks is not much better, and he’ll probably get hurt again soon. He will give us a better and longer at bat while he is in there. Hicks swing is actually quite flawed lately, but was a little better and more compact when he first came over. He disengages his back side and gets long, and on both sides too. I’m not much of a fan of Hicks, but credit to the guy for giving us a spark. I agree it’s about October. Hicks will give us better at bats then too, if he is actually healthy enough. And, I trust him to make plays in the OF much more so.

Look at Cowser’s spray chart. Tell me he is exit velo data is legitimate. He has hit several hard ground balls to 3B and SS. I know the data you are citing, and I understand it. But you have to interpret that with what your eyes tell you. If Cowser had a tail, it would be tucked between his legs right now and there would be a puddle on the carpet.

Cowser looked awful. He rarely got the barrel out front and drive anything. He was blown away regularly by mediocre pitchers. His at bats were short and predictable. He hit the barrel to one about 10 days ago and drove it to RCF for a double. Other than that, he hit some balls hard right at the 3B, sure. But he was not driving barely anything. He was very tentative in the box and we need more than that from an OF. He is not a CF for me, and he looked below average in a corner right now. He was just tentative everywhere. I was very disappointed in how he seemed to be at a loss of confidence. The game is hard. I still think he can be a real good player, but he is far from being able to be a contributing member of a contender right now. OTOH, Hicks will probably be hurt again soon. I would rather see McKenna come up over Cowser. I do not love Hicks’ game, but no one can deny his contributions for the first 3-4 weeks in Baltimore. He adds another quality at bat and helps lengthen a lineup. To me, he is a mistake hitter, which is a lot better than what Cowser is right now. Some here wrote about how Cowser is struggling like Henderson did. It isn’t even close for me. Henderson was much more intentional and confident with what he was doing. Cowser has lost his confidence for the time being. I’m sure his buds will carry on the Star Wars Lego building without him until he gets back.

I cannot remember any SS using a “jump-throw” before Jeter. The way that play was made was to plant the right foot and drive back toward 1B. Cal did that exceptionally well. Honestly, I wish that were still the way as the jump throws usually have very little on them. Mateo’s throw last night was exceptional. He has tried that throw in the past with mediocre results. Jeter made that play well, not as much in his later years. Tulowitski did it well also for a while. It obviously did not begin with Jeter as another poster showed Brooks doing it at 3B, but that was a long time ago and not many remember Brooksie.