baltfan

Angelos was never a horrible owner. He made some mistakes but tried to spend. It’s quite obvious the team will be sold after he passes, though I think John would love to keep the team. The problem is if he does, the Orioles would be too poor to run very effectively. The worry is that a really rich guy buys the Nationals and pledges to spend tons and the Orioles look more valuable moved elsewhere.

Why do they have to take up half of the screen on rain delays? It makes it hard to watch the classic games because the picture is so small.

Realistically I could see Bassitt for the Orioles though would love either of the first two at that price.

As would be the case here as well.

So you were against the Wander Franco and Acuna deals?

Not sure Mountcastle will ever be selective enough. Santander also switch hits.

Given that they are working Santander at first, I wonder if Elias is looking to trade Mountcastle instead. If Santander could play first and also outfield, he would be more valuable in the field. Santander also walks a bit more. Mountcastle is a couple of years younger though.

Gonna take more than that and I would do more than that. Verlander is likely your best bet as Mets probably won’t let deGrom go

"Heads the Orioles Pitching-Rich Farm System" Funny how things have changed.

In general we have a lot more top 50 and top 25 guys than in the last era.

And we didn't think that either of them would be part of a potential wild card race or necessarily think that they would be in high leverage roles. I don't see a reason to believe that Hall will come up and suddenly start throwing strikes in the MLB. Now, if we have a starter go down, then he probably should be the next one up unless you want to give Harvey a shot. The issue with Hall is you don't want to bring him up to sit. It's questionable who he would replace in the rotation and his value as a reliever is questionable if he struggles to throw strikes, especially if that is an issue early in games. You can't have him sit the bench because he can't be trusted in high leverage situations given the number of close games this team plays. I am of the mind that you don't bring him up unless he has a clear role, and it isn't clear that he is better than any of the current starters or would be able to handle a relief role where he is going to get the work that you want him to.

You can actually see the sequence of balls and strikes here. There is no simple answer. On the first batter, e.g., he got up 0-2 before walking him on 9 pitches. In other at-bats, sometimes there are a fair amount of foul balls and sometimes he can't throw strikes. I was thinking maybe he was falling behind guys, but that really isn't necessarily the case. He just seems generally pretty all over the place. Anyone that thinks you could bring him up and he will dominate is nuts. I understand the idea of bringing him up because you might as well get him the experience, but I suspect in the majors he is going to have a number of outings he gets blown-up on. He also likely wouldn't be a very reliable reliever since strikes seem to be a big issue for him. https://www.milb.com/app-firstpitch/gameday/sounds-vs-tides/2022/08/07/665378/final/box#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=play-by-play,game=665378

What was Callis saying?

Not only did he give up only one hit and strike out 8 in 6 innings, he did it in 75 pitches.

No hits and 7ks through five innings thus far. Not bad.

I like him better too but my larger point is the difference between Vavra and Odor is larger than Odor vs McKenna. And I will go on record saying McKenna is going to be a great 4th outfielder.

They have nearly identical OPS’s. Yes, McKenna is a better fielder but Odor has also had an inordinate amount of big hits late in games. I think Odor plays too much and would like to see more of Vavra but let’s see what happens when Hays comes back.

He reminds me of Jorge Julio and Benitez before him. I suspect he will be homer prone as the league learns him better.

Don’t be surprised if he isn’t the closer by the end of the year. Bautista seems a bit nervous out there. He might end up being fine, but it seems like guys are guessing on his pitches pretty well since he became a closer.

Agreed but it’s marginal at this point. Let’s see what happens when Hays is ok. I suspect Odor’s playing time will take a hit.

Hays is hurt. Your issue at this point is playing Odor over McKenna.

3 strikeouts in the first inning. Call him up!!

Yeah, he will definitely be looking for multiple years. That being said, I don't think the Phillies or Angels are particularly known for making pitchers better with analytics. It's possible the Orioles could see something that they could change.

I could definitely see the Orioles bringing him up for a cup of coffee to maintain ROY eligibility and then have him start with the club next year hoping he finishes high enough for the comp pick. Seems like a good strategy.

The Orioles realize that the strike zone in the majors is smaller than the minors. Accordingly, they train the hitters to only swing at ML strikes. I would like to know how many of the strikes were ML strikes. Of course, this is still a valid concern, but we just don't have all of the data. Also with "hitterish" guys like Cowser, there could be a bit more of an adjustment.