Greg Pappas

You have 13 listed twice.

Fair enough. I get it.

GRAND SLAM... off of a lefty!

Agreed. It's $12.95 per month and worth every penny.

Rodriguez? Who is this you speak of?

After what happened with Wells last year, it is my hope that we do all we can to avoid shuttling Wells between starting and the pen. I cannot claim any inside knowledge in this regard, but it seems wise to leave Wells in the pen after what I term as 'innings fatigue' last year. Regardless, maybe the O's feel he will not have that issue again this season? Then again, he would not have that problem if left to tend to the undermanned pen, especially during a season sans Bautista. Wells being a fixture in the later innings would be a boon to the team, even with us being shorthanded in the rotation. My interpretation of this matter may be off, so I'd like to get everyone's thoughts on this.

This thread isn't intended to be a debate on whether Holliday will or should make the team, but a hypothetical, where he does. What sort of stats would you suspect we'd see from the rookie with, say, 600 PA? A range would be reasonable certainly.

Thank you for doing this, Tony. Helpful and informative, per usual.

Regarding defense, Mayo reminds me a bit of Mountcastle when he was coming up; not that good at third, maybe an eventual move to 1B or a corner outfield spot. With Mayo, I'm glad they're exploring what he can do in RF (big arm) and 1B. Many of us have speculated on that happening. We'll see how it goes.

It is. It's so odd that when I spoke with my brother last night about this, he reminded me that I did indeed watch all the Orioles games last year by using ExpressVPN ($12.95/mo) on MLB.TV's website. Bad memory moment: for some reason when I posted earlier yesterday, I was focused on remembering that I initially couldn't.

Yes. I lived in Frederick the past three years until moving back to Harford County in August. Again, must have misunderstood. My brother suggested I use a VPN. Might be a good idea.

I was curious about this, as I was unable to see many games as part of the MLB.tv package last year. If I could watch every game, I'd do it. Maybe I missed something?

First, thank you for making me realize I had typed over the very important part of the OP that specifies this would only be intended for struggling guys, either at the big league level or even in the minors. Maybe not even struggling per se, but perhaps some guys that just feel something new would raise their game to a new level. So, I was confused at first when you mentioned a 7/175 pitcher. I've updated the OP. Again, thank you for getting me to fix it.

Yes, the odds of a pitcher being able to throw a specific new pitch nearly as well as the best guys, is remote. The thought is trying to present something new to them, or at least taught in a different way.

Again, I understand the major changes that have taken place in coaching, analytics, and the use of video and other technologies, and they've been super effective. We agree on that. It's your dismissal of hands on teaching from the type of guys I mentioned that I disagree with. No need to continue the back and forth. I honestly do, however, appreciate your thoughts on this. You make some good points.

I do like the current technologies that are really helping guys to be better. Yet, to just outright dismiss a personal touch, and hands on learning of high quality conveyed experience, as problematic, seems way off-base.

How can you know what the older guys know? That seems presumptive. Maybe you're right, I don't know, but you say it as if it is a truth, rather than speculation. Maybe both things can be helpful to getting the desired results. It shouldn't have to be an either/or. Again, just a concept that seems worthwhile to explore. I could be wrong.

I appreciate this, though I suspect there are real differences between watching videos of current major leaguers and learning first hand from the best guys how to throw a particular pitch. It just seems like such a good idea, in general. I'd LOVE to chat with Elias about such things to hear what he thinks.

That's certainly possible, but I'd think we'd have read about something like this throughout the years.

I've brought this topic up once before, but after doing a search could not locate it. I think it would be interesting to explore creating an off-season teaching environment where struggling/stalled pitchers that could use a new grip or pitch to improve their odds of success, from big leaguers to minor leaguers making their way up, could get help from outstanding retired veterans or pitching coaches. These are just examples, but imagine learning a knuckle ball from Tim Wakefield, or a knuckle-curve from Mike Mussina, or a curveball from Gregg Olson, or a slider from John Smoltz, or a changeup from Tom Glavine/Trevor Hoffman. Naturally we'd have to pay these type of guys to teach, but learning that new pitch can be potentially career altering. More often than not it won't work, but you're not creating this for the failures, but for the ones that become better. That makes it all worth it. I don't know who to mention regarding grips, but maybe some guys are known as great teachers of a specific grip. Bring them in if you're able. And, BTW, this is not meant to discount what our pitching coaches do, but to potentially have even more refined experts available. Having this as an official thing we do every Winter may intrigue certain guys to give it a try, that otherwise would not look much into it. I know all pitchers work on improving their crafts and specifically their weaknesses to try to stick, and I do hear on occasion that Pitcher X is working on a new pitch or grip, but the latter is not as often as I'd suspect. Naturally there are cases where a pitcher's stuff is not the issue, but rather control (capable of throwing strikes when wanted) and/or command (placing the ball more precisely where you want). In those cases a new grip or pitch may not be a solution. Yet if I had average or better stuff ( FB, CH, CB, SL, etc...) and could throw strikes with decent command, but was just not getting to that goal of being an established, quality big leaguer, then something new may be what the doctor ordered. We've seen successes before, but most often that pitcher cannot quite make it work. But, again, we would only need a success or two to really make this work. Do you like the concept? What are your thoughts?

Dillon Tate (29.9 on OD) seems like he should be 35+, as it feels like he's been here forever. Yet, he's younger than Cano (30.1).

I was going to add Irvin as a lock, but decided to see if others felt the same. If Tate is healthy and looks good, he probably makes it as well. I did mention in another thread that I felt Heasley would make it, but unless he looks phenomenal this Spring (new pitch or new... something LOL), I think he'll head to Norfolk.

Posters assume the following: The staff begins the year as Burnes, Bradish, GRod, *Means, and Kremer The pen begins with five locks, in Kimbrel, *Coulombe, Cano, *Perez, and Wells No other pitchers are acquired before the start of the season. Predict the other three bullpen pieces (multiple choice) that will begin the season in Baltimore. Lefties are noted with an * asterisk.

Ahhhh thank you for that. I understand now. So a 5.0 WAR Rutschman would be slightly more valuable than Gunnar at 4.8. While WAR doesn't account for everything, it's still a solid at-a-glance way of measuring players in comparison to one another.

IF Holliday does indeed make the team, where in the lineup would you speculate he'd get most of his AB's? Would batting lead-off be too much, too soon? Would you ease him into this by batting him in the bottom third of the order? I think it's a matter of time before he finds his way to batting lead off.