emmett16

Very interesting. Thanks. I kind of assumed it would be Westburg right now with Holliday eventually becoming better. We know how this organization values defense

So w/o 40 man considerations and assuming Holliday makes OD roster would you have him at 2B in your best defensive lineup?

@Tony-OH how do you think Holiday compares to Westburg at 2B? Close? Or similar?

I don’t think we can count on Tate until he proves himself in ST.

Webb, Baker, Perez, Baumann all need to be upgraded IMO. I’d be happy to see none of them pitch for O’s again.

They had the 4th best run differential in all of MLB last year (expected to win 96), and without those guys you mentioned (for the vast majority of the year). We were 36 runs behind them tied with Houston for 5th/6th in run differential...we won 101 and HOU won 90.

Please!

Correct. We had 3 effective guys, the rest were all pretty bad. We need bullpen upgrades more so than starters. The Starters (barring injury) are likely to improve, the bullpen will be worse w/o Bautista. Kimbrel was a good pick up, but I’d like to see at least one more difference making guy brought in.

He’s a Gibson upgrade, but don’t see him as a pitching upgrade for the playoffs.

Pretty sure it’s the other way around. They’d have to pay him a ton for him to consider going back to the club that dropped him because they didn’t want him to pitch in playoffs lol.

Snell seems content to wait until or during ST to sign. Whoever gets him is gonna be kicking themselves.

That looked delicious.

RF is only position on team with a negative WAA. When measuring how the team performs, that seems like the most applicable stat.

Listening to Minors & Majors this morning on MLB Network radio and McDermott was picked as one of 10 guys to “break out” this year. The more I think about how this admin operates the more I think we pick up a Bieber type (slight Gibson upgrade) and roll with the talent they’ve created.

I think the CWS fools need to take a peak at Hernaiz and get a feel for what a not top 10 player out of the O’s system can do. They aren’t getting anyone in the top 10 (except maybe Ortiz) let alone multiple guys in the top 10. Can’t wait for this nonsense to be over. Just heard an interview with Hermaiz on Majors & Minors on MLB Network radio. Kid has a good head on his shoulders. I’m still a little salty, he was one of my favorites guys in the system. Glad to see he’s doing so well, though.

This is the only accurate and honest comment in this entire 170 page thread.

Thanks for the clarification.

That’s correct and the whole “go away” is really just an over adjustment cue to keep the front side (shoulder) closed longer. Again, it’s really all just about keeping the bat on the zone longer with maximum bat speed. Hitting a ball is friggin hard so you have to give yourself as much of a chance as possible. It’s just playing the percentages….if your bat is in the zone for 30” vs. 38” who do you think is gonna hit a 100mph fastball more often. The guy with a 30” distance in zone with 20/10 vision is going to fail more often than the guy with normal vision who keeps the bat in the zone 38”. The over adjustment/approach of going the other way will help you keep your front side closed longer, which creates a longer distance in zone, which results in more contact. Those times Mounty had that approach he also hit some monster HRs those were a result of staying closed and stretching his “power coil” to the max. More stretch you get = more bat speed. Every 1mph in increased bat speed is ~1.5mph in EV. So as crazy as it sounds the “go away” approach will also increase your EVs & wOBACON.

Everyone’s body works completely differently, that’s the down side of a one prescription approach to hitting. You first have to figure out your motor preference before you can build an efficient swing for your body typ. An aerial mover’s body will work complete different than a terrestrial mover. Neither of their swings/mechanics are “wrong” they are simply doing the movement profile that is most efficient for their body type.

The two things are related (the stretch move & leaking out). When you say leaking out you are talking about the front shoulder, not feet/hips. If your front shoulder leaks out, it pulls the hands with it. When you do that your bat gets into the hitting zone later and leaves the hitting zone earlier, there’s nowhere else for the bat to go. When you stretch (look at Holliday front shoulder location and the jersey stretching as he gets separation) and front shoulder stays solid longer, the bat enters the zone earlier and as the kinetic chain uncoils the bat stays in the zone (going towards the pitcher) longer. Front shoulder will actually go up as hips and bottom half clears more so than twisting open. Mateos front shoulder and hip open almost simultaneously pulling with it the hands/bat. He has no room for error, the bat doesnt stay in the hitting zone very long. https://www.mlb.com/video/a-deep-dive-into-jorge-mateo-s-home-run The above is a good visual of Mateo’s swing . If we could see Hollidays(we should be able to this year) you’d see the bat staying on that line to the pitcher longer. You can only do that if front shoulder/side doesn’t leak. Mind you, the above was when he was going well. We are talking about inches and fractions of an inch here. “Distance in the zone” avg. for majors is ~32” (that’s how long bat is effectively on the hitting zone). I imagine Mateo is right around there or slightly below. I bet Holliday is 36”+. Distance in zone info comes from Diamond kinetics.

That was my very first thought when I saw that comment.

Elias said it came down to SF and Bmore and we gave him 100% authority on baseball operations so he chose the O’s.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1p8QBGOy80/?igsh=MXhmNTF1bTJkemxnMA== Smooth as silk.

Holliday is gonna be a fixture at 2B and win the ROY.

I’d sign up right now for 135ip of vintage Means. I think there is more upside than downside for the majority of our guys. Most of them are at that age where they could take that next big step.