Jammer7

Assuming Holliday is a June or July 2024 arrival, what infield alignment would you be most in favor of going forward the rest of the year? I am hopeful that Mateo is moved soon, and that Ortiz moves up to stay. Does Urias hit enough to be the everyday 3B? 1B - O’Hearn/Mountcastle 2B - Ortiz/Frazier SS - Henderson 3B - Westburg UT - Urias They could put Westburg in a 2B platoon, with Ortiz the everyday SS, and Henderson everyday at 3B. I’d be fine with that. I am not a big fan of moving these young guys around constantly, but they seem intent on doing that. I got an in-person look at Westburg and watched a lengthy infield practice on Sunday. I think he’s better at 2B than he showed earlier. He is fairly athletic as I thought initially. He’s no gold glove candidate, but he can make the plays he should make there and be considered average.

I went to the Tampa games on Saturday and Sunday. We arrived about 90 minutes before game time and watched the Orioles take infield. They do not take BP on Sundays. It was interesting to watch how different players prepared. Gunnar, Westburg and O’Hearn were out there the longest, and then Urias. Frazier came out a little later in a black/orange soccer jersey. Even Hyde’s son took about 20 reps, and he looked damn good at SS for 15 yoa. What struck me about this was I never saw Mateo. Maybe there was some reason, and it is only one instance, but it was odd. To me, Mateo is a guy that seems to play better when he is “The SS.” His confidence soared when he was the man. He definitely is not the man anymore, and it seems he is pouting and/or has lost his confidence. His ego can’t seem to handle the truth. When Gunnar’s health concerns are through, perhaps Ortiz comes up and Mateo is out, DFA and/or traded. It seems a tough time to have three rookies struggling to make initial adjustments at the same time. To carry Westburg, Cowser, Ortiz and McKenna in the same lineup would be ugly. I realize Ortiz can play a UT role, but is that what is best for his development? IDK, maybe it is, and maybe it is best for the big club. When your team is the AL East leader, it’s tough to commit to that many rookies, besides Gunnar. I think Mateo should go ASAP. I was very much in favor of giving him every opportunity to be the everyday SS. I thought his changes at the plate were sustainable, as his process had changed in meaningful ways. Suddenly, he reverted back the garbage he came with. If he is that stubborn, and refuses to make adjustments, send him packing. Lets be clear, we have not seen many players in Baltimore, or anywhere else, with the pure talent Mateo has. If only the aptitude matched…

I gave them an A because they were aggressive. Their draft was about tools and specific traits. I like that they went after those things relentlessly. They bet on their player development program. They brought in players they believe they can help mold and shape into major league talent. High upside guys, with some solid floors as well. There is no denying their development ability with position players. This draft brought in several legitimate arm talents that we should be able to fairly judge how effective their pitching development is in a few years. Bradfield would have been drafted much higher in most years, but this draft was loaded. Horvath and Baumeister are unpolished, but have a ton of upside. The same can be said about Lord, Josenberger, Wells, Cunningham, Cravey and Etzel. Sharkey is a fairly exciting personality as a relief prospect with electric stuff. Fruit is reputed to have similar stuff. Forret is a young kid (19) with great potential.

Great memory. I thought Stoddard was a guy who would have been a Goose Gossage type reliever, but nope.

I, not surprisingly, had forgotten all about those guys. Aase had one solid season in 1986 with 34 saves. I guess Aase and Niedenfuer couldn’t get into the actor’s guild, so they figured they’d become MLB journeyman relievers. Both were big dudes.

All of the tremendous talent that Bradfield has aside, he is an impressive young man. He is of strong character, a family guy, well-spoken, humble…yet confident, hungry, and an actual fan and student of the game. He has a lot to learn, and he knows that. I really like this young man, and the energy he brings.

Absolutely awful, but Earl leaned on him. Otter was the first reliever in my time as an Oriole fan that I remember thinking, “Hey, we have a closer.” I saw a few other teams had them over the years and I wanted a Tekulve, Fingers, Suter, etc…

Bautista is great and all, but he’s no Don Stanhouse. lol

No way. He’s not the most graceful, and his delivery is so violent. I don’t think anyone trusts him to be accurate. Such an intimidating presence. To hit him, I think you just have to guess right and get very lucky with the FB. He gets hit mostly on the split when he hangs it. Fujinami throws just as hard, but his presence isn’t nearly as intimidating. McClanahan and a few others threw high 90’s yesterday too. McClanahan’s arm is so quick. His FB just jumps at the hitter. Along the same lines, the ball that McCann bunted was scary. Right at his face.

I had not seen him in person yet, and when he hugged McCann, it really showed. He is a very large human.

Yep, I made a mistake. A few scotches in last night.

Yes we were! We rocked it tonight. The fam and I sat right behind the dugout on the plate side. There was thousands of Oriole fans. And we were loud as Hell. Definitely worth the drive over from Orlando, even though I-4 absolutely blows. I have to say, that was the best game I have ever attended away from Camden Yards. A great game. We were not going to stay for Sunday’s game, but changed our minds and bought tickets behind the dugout again. LFG! I love seeing Rutschman (edit: McCann) hugging The Mountain.

Great OP! I am not really shocked about any of the bullet points in the OP. I did not expect Cano and Coulombe to be as good as they have been, no. I did expect Hall to be a reliever on the big club by now. Grayson is about what I figured. Overall, not shocked by anything. I expected the Orioles to be a clear WC contender. I thought the Blue Jays were the best team in the AL East, and I had the Rays second. I had the Yanks declining rapidly because of their roster full of veteran players who are frequently injured. The Yanks stayed healthy in 2022, and that is why they did so well. To me, that was an aberration. Tons of close games is hard on the bullpen, and on the manager. Our guys do not roll over often. They have had a few clunkers, but mostly this team will scratch and claw and find a way to get back into games. The execution of the little things such as hitting a ground ball to the right side or a sac fly. Good sound defense overall. Some things of concern for me: 1. The pen is a huge part of this team, and the appearances are racking up quickly. Bautista, Cano, Coulombe, Baker and Baumann are on pace for about 80 appearances. We have seen Cano fall off somewhat, but that was to be expected. The health/durability of the pen is a serious concern for me. 2. Kremer, Bradish and Wells are on pace to throw significantly more innings than they have ever thrown in a season. I am not too concerned with Kremer and Bradish, but Wells and his history of shoulder problems is an issue. 3. Just how long is Mullins out? We miss the bat and speed on the bases, sure. But the defense in CF is a legitimate concern. Especially with all of the close games we play in. Personally, I would be tempted to option Mountcastle and play McKenna in CF 4-5 days a week. Santander can play more 1B, and Hicks and Cowser can still play 4-5 games a week, but mostly away from CF. 4. I would look to decrease Adley’s load a bit. He looks very tired. We need more from McCann’s bat and more frequent at bats would help him. 5. I would look to keep Gunnar at SS for the rest of the season. Let him focus on only one position. Getting into a rhythm and being able to focus on one position is a very good thing for a young star like Gunnar, IMO. 6. Ideally, we need a TOR starter, another back end BP piece and we could use a legitimate RH vet bat. It would be awesome, but probably not realistic, to hope for Scherzer, Goldschmidt and Hader. The O’s won’t make all of these moves. Likely not even one of them. However, if you really wanted to go for it, add Scherzer and Goldy, and watch the team and fans go crazy.

Nope, we did not draft him, signed as a minor league FA. Never any kind of top prospect.

I don’t totally disagree, in comparison to some of the other young infielders we have. He does give a pro at bat. But we have to actually get to the ALCS first. The cost of his inability to make plays at 2B may well cost us a chance to even get there at this point. It hurts the pitchers, extends innings, and costs us wins.

It’s hard to argue for Frazier to stick around at this point. The defensive issues are not outweighed by his professional at bats, approach or clutch performance. I will say that it’s mid season and all of these guys are banged up to an extent. They all have ups and downs, but Frazier’s energy level out there is poor. There is not enough positive things to outweigh his deficiencies. And it has been that way for months. Is Westburg really much better? For me, I’m not sure. Westburg looks solid on one play, and then about as unathletic as he could be on the next. He looks awkward, and then fairly smooth. It’s as odd a performance of a supposed middle infielder as I can remember. The arm will look average to slightly above on one play, and then like a limp noodle on the next. The footwork is lacking for sure at 2B. He seems to lack explosive movement traits. I thought he was a better athlete than he is. Maybe things will smooth out a little more as he gets acclimated, but I think he has to get stronger and focus more on getting more explosive. I do not like him at 2B. Gunnar is a star in the making. There is going to be some bumps in the road. He is a little inconsistent for now, but moving him back and forth between 3B and SS is not a good idea IMO. Just put him at whichever position and leave him there. I think 3B, ideally. Mateo’s time is coming to an end here, I think. I still think he can play everyday and hit, but he has to make the obvious changes needed. He is not going to play everyday here, not for a playoff bound team. If he stays, it’s a bench role, super UT. Urias is better at 3B than 2B. He does not turn the DP well, and my eyes say his range isn’t much better than Frazier. The arm is better though. Joey Ortiz would be a welcome addition for me. If you are going to play Westburg nearly everyday, and live with the growing pains, you may as well commit to Ortiz having a prominent role as well. Playing the young guys will have more mistakes, poorer at bats and such, but if it is the direction you want to take long term, do it and deal with it. I believe there is a fracture in the team revolving around the infield. I can see it in how they play together. Whether it’s Mountcastle vs. O’Hearn, or Mateo and Urias vs. Frazier and Westburg. Maybe I am just imagining things, but it seems pretty clear to me. These guys are human, and when Mateo and Urias played like they did last year and lose their everyday spots…it’s tough. They know there are prospects the organization would rather give their spots to. That’s MLB. I think they need to make some changes, and the deadline cannot get here soon enough.

This will not be a popular post, but Adley was lazy tonight behind the plate. Backhanding breaking balls in the dirt, well that isn’t like him. His swings at two pitches he normally would clearly have taken, especially the 3-0 count. I am increasingly unimpressed with his defense and game calling. Hicks certainly should have had that catch near the wall. Baker throwing four fastballs in the same spot with an 0-2 count…grand slam. This was a winnable game, and that was an awful sequence. You have to change speeds and eye level there. Terrible! Urias’ at bats were terrible. He looked disinterested in the box tonight. His double was blooper that Outman played into a double. His body language tonight makes me wonder if he heard his name in trade rumors or something.

Exactly! Why swing 3-0 when Sheehan is struggling to throw a strike there? That, and the swing in the first at bat on a ball well inside off the plate. Adley is not himself tonight.

Great OP! Thanks for the summary. I was at the Staind concert last night and missed the game. Depends on the price, but Jordan Montgomery makes a lot of sense to me, with a lot of experience in meaningful games. Middle relief, and maybe even one more set up type. With Givens and Tate likely not an option, Cano actually being human, and Perez’ and Baker’s inconsistency make me think we are one short there. Unless we think Baumann is growing into that role. I doubt Means will give us much in 2023. Maybe I’m wrong, but that first year post TJ is usually not great. Grayson is not a starter I would want starting a playoff game, not yet. Are we confident that Kremer, Wells and Bradish are going to hold up in October? All of them are heading into an innings count well beyond their previous seasons.

Mike Elias Seriously, you’re right. Some mocks had others, but their lists were pretty much Jones at #1. The Orioles perceived penchant for college bats, like Lee and Berry, had as much as anything to with the mocks. Some also thought Termarr’s “70 hit tool” was enough to draft a 2B at 1-1. All of these lists are what these pundits hear from scouts and execs. They do not get all of the info teams have, obviously. Sometimes, these lists are used for propaganda for teams to cause guys to rise or fall. They do not reflect the read on intangibles, which is really hard to know. Jones is an elite premium athlete, but that is only part of the picture in the development world. He’s the son of one of the best CF’s of the last 50 years. He’s a big personality and easy to hype. I wanted Jones, to be honest. I thought they would take Holliday, based on his improvement and reported make up. I had no idea he would be like this. And who could have known?

Stowers and Grayson Rodriguez have both dropped off. I see BA still has him, but the other outlets see him as his prospect status expired. That is why I left them off.

I am not Tony, of course. The simple answer, for me, is they like a lot of data. Three more years of data gives a pretty good track record. They can get a lot of the maturity questions answered and see how these kids respond to the college game and how their work ethic is. Also, college guys generally have less leverage, so they cost less. They still take some HS guys, obviously, but I think they put a lot of stock into intangibles. They really pick their spots and their success with HS kids, so far, is pretty impressive.

There are several guys on the list now that should graduate soon. So, I agree on Bradfield. He should be somewhere around there. It is interesting to see Tommy Troy at 89. With Termarr and Jones, I am a little surprised to see them drop so quickly. It’s early, and they both need time to develop on and off the field. Termarr being too patient doesn’t really concern me. Jones being oft-injured makes me question his daily preparation. He really needs the hitting reps. We’ll see how hungry they are and how they bounce back. We have been getting spoiled by the rapid ascents of Gunnar, Coby, Basallo and, of course, Jackson Holliday. Seeing other premium talent struggle really highlights how special our current group is. A lot goes into that, and the organization deserves a lot of credit for identifying these young men and having a very good plan for each. But the kids themselves are special talents and mature beyond their years.

Yep, the hips drifting is not ideal. The head is moving forward and lowers with the stride. Maybe they can get him to spread out some, a shorter stride or toe tap, stay on the backside, and keep the head more static. It’s hard enough to hit, but when the body is moving forward and the head is lowering due to the length of the stride it sure makes it more difficult. The actual swing doesn’t look bad, in and of itself, but the lower half is a mess.

A tough break. He could still be traded, or do you keep him and have to protect him for R5?