Pickles

What a stud! Those are clearly fake smiles to bilk the Yankees out of 70 million dollars, so he could come to Charm City and rub it in their arrogant faces. I love this guy!

He's been the only one of the young vets- Hays, Santander, Mateo all spring to mind- who hasn't show any improvement in approach. Santander has almost completely turned his approach around. Hays and Mateo still fall into bad habits- obviously especially Mateo- but you can see them struggling against them. Mountcastle just keeps doing what he's always done. He's probably our most naturally gifted hitter, but that gift in many ways has become a curse.

The other guys got big houses and a lot of trim too, man.

Nice play.

I haven't heard anything about ten days. I know he's on the 10 day IL. I did hear "weeks" not "months" but that isn't 10 days.

Who do you play at 1b? SS is debatable. Mateo is still on pace for a 3+ WAR season. If he hits a little again, that number could climb. I mean, is it fair to call a guy who's a ~3.5 WAR SS for a year and a half running, a "hole?" Are Ortiz and/or Westburg just automatic 3 WAR players? I don't think so. But if Mateo puts up another 400 OPS month, then yeah, you start looking at some changes.

Mullins' injury makes it a lot more interesting to me.

Despite the decent line, the most important number there is walks.

Westburg's problem is he isn't on the 40 man.

I mean, sure, but the same question then as I asked SG: What are the "major" and "obvious" "holes" than can be easily rectified by calling some guys up?

Maybe it's semantics but what "major and obvious" holes does this club have that are easily resolved internally? The biggest "holes" on the roster are 1b performance and SP pitching and BP depth. We tried to upgrade our starting staff with our own prospects. That didn't go well. Grayson certainly has more talent and a higher ceiling than our other pitchers, but he performed worse. That's because performance, and thus winning and losing, are not dependent on solely talent and ceiling. In most other organizations, Westburg and Ortiz would probably be in the big leagues. But that's not the point. As long as this team is on pace to win 100+ games, and Frazier, Mateo, and Urias are performing like above average regulars, then they're not going to be replaced. It will take an injury. And for Ortiz that already happened. He hasn't played since he was sent down, no? There might be something there and he might be here instead of Vavra if not. The same is true of Cowser. If he was healthy, it might be different. I feel bad for Westburg I guess, but take everything I just said about Ortiz and add another impediment, Ortiz himself. They're on pace to win 100+ games. Why don't you try enjoying that instead of subjecting us to how much better you could be doing it?

I hope that Mountcastle starts hitting better. I'm just looking at the team rationally. The only spots that we could realistically see a major offensive upgrade would be at 1b and SS. Mateo at SS brings a lot of things to the team that perhaps forgive his bat. He was also looking like an MVP candidate four weeks ago. I think he gets more time, but you might see Ortiz there in the second half of the season if Mateo doesn't start hitting. Mountcastle offers nothing besides his bat and it has been very poor this year for a first baseman. It's the easiest and most logical place to upgrade the lineup. What that looks like is open to debate. Does that mean Santander at first, and Cowser in the OF? Does it mean Westburg at 1b? Urias? An O'Hearn platoon? IDK. But running Mountcastle out there every single day is becoming less tenable as he continues subpar production.

The most obvious upgrade available is at first base.

The winning kind of proves your premise false.

The odds aren't in our favor, which is all Elias acknowledged in the first place, but we're 3.5 games out with 2/3s of the season left to play. The division is most certainly in play.

Personally, I think we're fighting for a divisional title this year.

Guys opportunities are going to vary and yeah, a lot is going to depend on what they do with it. Stowers got a little run earlier. Did nothing with it. So his opportunities were curtailed. Vavra is getting some run. Kind of a mixed bag, but maybe setting him up for something bigger in the future. Ortiz got some run. He'll some more later this year. So imo that's how guys are going to be incorporated. Slowly and a few at a time. It's going to be the rare, rare prospect who is going to be given an everyday job upon arrival in the big leagues. That list is probably three long: Rutschman, Henderson, and Holliday. Everybody else is going to get opportunities depending on the big league club's needs.

These positions aren't as exclusive as you're making them out to be. Yes, it's awesome we have the #1 farm system and so many good young prospects. It's also true that most prospects fail, and appropriate caution should be used in regards to their future production.

As of today. It's still early and things are moving. I think a lot of things can be true at once. One is Gunnar is struggling, and yet, he's still doing alright. I expect Gunnar to be our best infielder by the end of the year; I expect him to be a better player in Sept. than he was in April. The young guys in the minors are talented and have a role to play in the future of the franchise, but that role isn't necessarily an everyday one right now. It's possible they could outperform the young veterans we have, but it is unlikely they could do so straight out of the gate. Incorporating some of the youngsters is definitely a goal of this season, but so, imo, is making the playoffs. And as long as we're on pace to win 100+ games, I'm not going to call for any widespread changes. And frankly, as long as they're playing so well, you don't have much of a leg to stand on to demand them.

Well, that's the part worth talking about. Just from observing it seems like they have questions.

I think the bolded is something worth talking about.

I like how proactive they have been this year, especially in regards to Irvin and Givens. Hopefully, we get something from both of them as the year goes on, but neither of them got much rope. Whatever Givens' issues may be, he clearly wasn't capable of pitching well with that performance.

Maybe. I think they would have gone and got a RH guy though in that case. They already had Vavra for that role. The issue isn't so much LHH, as it is veteran with a high floor imo.

If he can, why isn't he? If Frazier's offense is crap, then what is Gunnar's? You raise a point about Westburg being older and maybe that will help his transition more smoothly. Perhaps, though it's fair to point out that Gunnar outperformed Jordan last year at the same levels.

They want Ortiz and Westburg, and Cowser for that matter, playing every day in AAA, rather than sporadically in a bench role in the Bigs. I belive that equation will change as the season goes along.