LookinUp

It turned out to be the opposite. ESPN threw Adley in everyone's face last night. It was almost too much, but it was a nice change from slobbering over the Red Sox. I just wish they threw Mateo more love. I may have missed it, but they seemed to totally miss his mid-season profile change.

You could argue for trading 2 of our starting outfield this offseason and just plugging Cowser and Stowers in. His only red flag is k rate, but his BB rate is way high. Makes me wonder how much of that relates to swing decisions and poor umpiring at his level. At some point it could be a real issue though. His GB% is essentially the same as his FB% in AA, so that's great news.

The theory is Handley is our future backup catcher. His defense is supposedly great. That's really important, but he'll need to hit at least a little bit to be able to get that job. As it stands now, he may be hitting himself out of a 40-man roster spot this offseason.

O's options for platooning... Henderson/Urias: 3B Henderson/Mateo: SS Westburg/Odor: 2B Urias/Odor: 2B Urias/Vavra: 2B Santander/Mountcastle: 1B Henderson/Mountcastle: 1B Stowers/Hays: LF Hays/Mullins: CF If you get it out of your head that Mullins, Mountcastle, Urias and Hays all need to be in the lineup every day, we have a ton of match-up opportunities. This is what I expect in the next month (though not every single day). If they remain in the pennant race, the O's aren't going to pretend that the incumbents are good, when they truth is many are stinking up the joint. The question is whether the new guys can come in and do better.

I wonder what his barrel rate is on first pitches. Maybe he's swinging but not barreling.

Just to add to my previous post, the only other option would be to trade Mateo instead. Hard to fathom this year, but it's possible a team really values him and is willing to pony up to get him.

Assuming... Henderson and Mateo = Starters. Vavra and Urias = Really good utility type guys Mayo plays 3B/RF/1B/DH. That leaves two potential starters at 2B in Westburg and Ortiz. Seems like one of those two could be significant trade chips this offseason.

I like that you put Basallo up there. Ortiz will probably belong too.

Urias and theoretically Vavra also in that convo.

There was a poll this year about who people thought would be the closer. I chose other and wrote in Dean Kremer. Didn't think he could hold up as a starter. Now he looks like a useful piece at the back of a rotation. Teams need arms like his.

What about a platoon with Hays?

I'm also being slow on Ortiz, but if he keeps this up and Tony's glowing reports about his defense are true, he's a top 100 guy regardless of whether the other publications are on that. Just has to keep hitting. Hopefully this is all for real.

Any others in his top 100? Westburg, Stowers, Kjerstad, Ortiz?

It's kind of incredible to me that Mayo's getting this love. Across 3 teams he has a .781 OPS this year. Now, that includes Aberdeen where nobody has hit (.821 OPS was good actually) and a cold stretch around an injury in Bowie. Still, he want from unrated to top 50 with those numbers. That tells me that scouts are talking.

I saw 2 at least.

I hate to be rude about the guy, but Willems needs to seriously dedicate himself to becoming fit. It could make a huge difference.

It feels to me like Henderson and probably Stowers get promoted next week. Nevin and Phillips get cut. There's some chance of Westburg, but I doubt it because I don't know who gets cut. Feels like Odor won't. Ortiz and Coswer replace them in AAA.

That's big news.

I think you didn't get his joke about McLean.

Rom pitched out of the bullpen in his last game. Piggy backed two guys just coming back from injury. It didn't go so well, but I wonder if that was done for a purpose instead of having him start.

Selfishly I hope they don't promote from Bowie to Norfolk this week. I want to go see this Bowie lineup on Wednesday. It's the only day I can make it.

Seems like a nice future MOO bat for the Orioles, to me. The injury this year did stink though. After starting in the hitter's graveyard of Aberdeen and then getting injured, it's time to see some production. I think it's coming.

I agree. He’s our new Mancini.

I think you’ve summarized it well. Not sure how it’ll work out though. Stowers could have more value as a trade chip than Santander, for example, so he could be one on the move. Cowser, to me, is our most valuable future outfielder. Santander, Hays, Mullins and Stowers will be on thinner ice in Baltimore, I’d guess. Kjerstad is a ways away. Haskins is worth keeping an eye on if he can maintain his recent production. And Westburg will be in the infield at some point. Not sure if he’ll be a starter over Urias or a util backup just because of the quality of guys in front of him.

He’s a character from the Wire. Iconic series set in Baltimore.