24fps

Let's hope that when Cowser, Westburg and the rest finally reach the majors they are on the nugget development plan, because if Stowers is any indication, the non-nugget plan looks suspiciously like not much of a plan at all to many of us on the outside. That said, I think you are correct in thinking that it's been decided that Stowers doesn't deserve much more investment.

Stowers has the most baffling development plan we never saw.

Happened to Mussina while he was an Oriole.

Corbin Carroll is on track for a 20-40 season.

Little did we know at the time that this was a jinx thread.

Get Voth out of there. Like now.

Voth? Why not Baker for one more inning?

You called it.

Not a bad idea, but I don't see it.

Great job by Baker.

Bad AB, but that was a filthy CU.

Hell yeah!

Ridiculous punch out

Was Fiorentino the one whose nickname was Screech? I have a good memory, but I've been actively trying to forget those years.

Great news about your wife's recovery. Amazing and unexplainable things happen in life and I hope there are many more years of bafflement in store for you both.

Big time performance tonight.

This season at Norfolk Westburg is .325/.384/.597 as of today. He's raking. Consistent too with hits in 22 of 27 games so far, so maybe that's his level at Norfolk for the rest of the season give or take. If the plan is to trade him for pitching then what's the best strategy right now, leave him at Norfolk or bring him up and risk an adjustment period like Gunnar's that could impact his trade value? Maybe this has been the strategy all along. If that's the case then I wouldn't hold my breath given that the trade deadline is still a couple of months away.

Has anyone besides Ryan McKenna caught a fly ball tonight?

Not sure. There's no technical reason that I can think of preventing all the data out there from being manipulated any way a team would want to. I just don't know how much AI is being used to process and interpret it. Maybe not at all yet, but it can't be too far off. Statistics heavy games are perfect targets.

Don't worry, AI will be handling lineup optimization any minute now. I wish I was joking...

If this year was about winning then the off season would have played out much differently. Unless it was about "winning and getting to the playoffs unexpectedly on a wholly inadequate budget in spite of the 'plan'" Or is it "the process"? I still get confused when I try to think too deeply about the O's starting rotation. For now, I advocate moving Gunnar far down in the lineup (cleanup, seriously?) and if he loses a couple of AB's especially against tough LHP's, no problem. But to characterize this season as about getting to the playoffs simply isn't supported by the behavior of the people responsible for providing the resources to get that particular job done.

And advocating the benefits of both sides of the question in the same interview no less.

If the point is to get Westburg up and playing then I'd much rather rehash the stupidity of the Frazier signing or the need for a third catcher than beat up on a supremely talented 21 year-old rookie who has gotten off to a slow start. It looks like the O's are making an investment in Gunnar and GrayRod by giving them playing time. Isn't this what everybody wanted? I sure did.

Of course it it. That's why it's high time to give up on Gunnar Henderson. Any real prospect wouldn't spend a month (A MONTH!!!) not living up to internet message board expectations. Good riddance, I say... Sorry if the sarcasm isn't coming through as intended. It seems that Gunnar Henderson will need a little more time to make the adjustment to the major league level. I think I can count on one hand the number of people on here who wouldn't gladly grant him that time. Thankfully I think that generosity extends to everybody in the Warehouse whose job it is to run the team.

Remember that Westburg is a fully-baked ML-ready player who needs absolutely zero adjustment time between AAA and the majors.