Orange

Fact: John Eisenberg is one of the greatest sports writers in Baltimore history. Opinion: Eisenberg was always my favorite. Fact: He's working on a new project! Opinion: It's gotta be amazing.

Just for fun, I added the homegrown pitchers... and let's just say that part of the list is more "interesting." C - Rutschman, Basallo 1B - Mountcastle 2B - Holliday 3B - Mayo SS - Henderson Util - Westburg LF - Cowser, Hays CF - Mullins RF - Kjerstad #12/#13 - Stowers and Norby... Could also work a 3rd catcher in like Handley... and Bradfield should have a spot in a year or so. Maybe Beavers, Fabian, Wagner, or Horvath can get in here? Rotation - Rodriguez, Means, Armbruester?, Bright?, Baumeister? Bullpen - Baumann, Akin, Vespi, Watson?, Pham?, Gillies, Sharkey?, Baumler I could be convinced of a De Leon, Strowd, or Denoyer...

There are three current major leaguers who were born in 2003 or 2004 and they are all named Jackson.

Once more unto the breech, dear friends... Once more!

Thank you for saying what needed to be said. Take it easy, man.

I realize this is a hot take, but the real injustice is Wong (or Maton, or Nevin) over Norby. Norby has played very well at AAA and, barring injury, the first month of this season will be his best chance to make a splash on the major league roster. In other words, if there's an infield spot to fill before Holliday and Mayo arrive, then Norby should get that shot. (It's also another bullet point in the explanation for sending those two down, even though we all know the real reason is just service time manipulation.)

TINSTAAPP

Nah, I think we know what we (don't) have in Zimmermann... If we have to dip into our #8+ SP I think it needs to be Povich, McDermott, and then Johnson (in that order). Bet on someone taking the next step rather than betting on someone who has had that chance and not performed.

Anyone else see Heasley throw up before his last 1-2 pitch to Contreras? Ew.

Ed-dee, Ed-dee, Ed-dee…

Elias = Max Effort

My concern was that it could create an ankle injury over time (or a midfoot sprain). I'm sure I've seen it before, I just wonder if anyone is aware of players who did this for 10+ years without an injury?

In the original post I mentioned that I looked at a couple of Matt Holliday's dingers... and yeah, his foot moved up and out just a tiny bit too.

Thanks for responding, Tony! I guess it's a comfort thing? If it hurts his power he must just feel uncomfortable when he doesn't do it.

Well we've got Holliday, Mayo, Kjerstad, and Cowser all knocking at the door but we're unsure which (or any) will be on the Opening Day roster. So, if they are all in Norfolk I'm not sure who our 13th hitter is. I've got Rutschman, Mounty, Westburg, Urias, Henderson, Hays, Mullins, Santander, O'Hearn, McCann, Mateo, and McKenna. That's 12. I suppose this scenario paves the way for Hilliard as #13. Then throughout the season we add the four rookies, supplanting Hilliard, Mateo, McKenna, and Urias... maybe in that order. With injuries perhaps Urias sticks, and/or whichever right handed backup CF looks better. Mateo is making $2.7m so I'm guessing they want him to find a home as a backup CF.

CF - Mullins C - Rutschman 3B - Henderson RF - Santander SS - Holliday 1B - O'Hearn DH -Kjerstad LF - Cowser 2B - Vavra/Maton Thing of beauty! All-righthanded isn't nearly as good, although you can reuse Adley and Santa of course.

Maton is ready to battle Terrin Vavra to be the final piece in the all-lefthanded lineup.

It would be lots of fun to have a guy stealing 100 bags, though. But everything y'all are saying makes sense. Would it be fair to say that it's not as much hitting for power that is the need, but the ability to make authoritative contact when a pitcher challenges you? If you get challenged and smack a single 35% of the time, that works right? (The aforementioned BB rate/swing decisions being a big part of this... along with contact %.) Tony Gwynn was about a 6 homer a year guy for his first twelve seasons... but he hit with such authority that the power wasn't as important. (Another outlier, to be sure. Dude had a SLG of .511 in 1987 with only 7 homers.)

Makes sense... Why were Pierre and Coleman different? I guess they were just once a generation outliers and you shouldn't build up a prospect to be like those guys because it isn't likely to work.

Why does he have to hit for power? Serious question... Are you saying that being a power threat will alter the pitches he sees or something? To me, if he maintains a high contact rate, gets on base, plays great defense, and generally does Juan Pierre or Vince Coleman types of things (and he's not another Billy Hamilton)... that would be a huge benefit to a team. A single and a SB is more or less the same thing as a double. Does it make that big of a difference if he hits 15 homers or 5?

I have a question for all of you swing experts out there. On Jackson's follow-through he rolls over his front foot so he's sort of standing on the side of his foot. I know I've seen this before, but it looks unnatural and might even be something that could ultimately cause an injury. How common is this? What is the benefit? (It looks like his brother does it too... So were they taught this?) (FWIW - Just watched a couple of Matt's highlights and it doesn't look like he rolled his foot.)

I mean it's a lefty and a righty and they both play good defense. One's a vet and one's a prospect... It'll sort itself out.

I thought it was interesting that Keith Law ranked Enrique Bradfield at #64. Not bad! https://theathletic.com/5245693/2024/02/05/top-100-mlb-prospects-2024-keith-law/?source=pulsenewsletter&campaign=8929434

I would assume that Rubenstein won't be the managing partner until well into the season, but what is stopping him from calling Elias and saying, "If you want Snell, go ahead"? Does that somehow eat into the Angelos' take and they would not allow it? Or is it some sort of tampering deal since he's not officially managing partner?

Better than Julio? Like in WAR? I’ll take it!