Ridgway22

I'm nothing more than the average idiot fan, but I'd bet the farm, ranch, and homestead that Jax Holliday is NOT traded in the next 12 months. Hard stop.

As a baseball player who had labrum+ surgery, I'm inclined to give the benefit of the doubt. The physical recovery is rough enough, but learning to mentally trust it is a bigger hurdle. My sincere hope is Mr. J Ortiz is coming on strong.

Would love to be the proverbial fly on the wall and hear other teams discussing how they value Mateo / Urias, and even other O's players that might be trade targets. If Urias at 3B, Mateo at SS and Oritz at 2B are all plus plus defensively, and we are trying to find Gunnar's position, that seems like a pretty sittin' place.

These are key points. If no-shift results in an additional hit in 1 of 100 plays, a .250 hitter becomes .260. If 1 of 20 plays, a .250 hitter is at .300. Of course, some players are subject to more extreme shifts than others, so the effect on individual hitters will be interesting.

Been pondering this point, and while I haven't quite convinced myself, I think banning the shift WILL increase the importance of infielders range. In simple terms, spray charts show where a hitter is most likely to hit a ground ball or low liner. With the shift, you can cluster defenders in this area. The most common example is the SS/3b playing "rover" against left handed pull hitters. Absent the ability to populate the area with an additional defender, the range of the 2b in this example becomes more important. But as you say, we'll see what happens.

Phillies only 4 games better than the O's this year. I know we don't have Wheeler / Nola / Harper, but only 4 games and then spin the wheel. Let's get r' dun, M.E.

Shades of Felix B?

Will any OH posters be attending Phils at Padres for game 2 of the NLCS? Looking like I'll be there. Always curious where OH peeps are.......

Yes, please. Make it so, M.E. Within a financially prudent framework, of course.

Blue Jay fan.... state of shock. choking, crying AL East tears, bye bye!

Was a hell of a run. The combo of slippers, time zone change midnight, and Cinderella didn't click this time. But what a run. First time I've really enjoyed watching all the games in the last 6 years or so. Making it a point to get to Spring Training late March. Long road trip, but I'm getting the feeling there is something special coming, and want to see it up close and personal.

Wow. Hope Britton is okay, physically. Still have fond memories of those 3 gutsy innings he threw in that wildcard win against the Jays. Oh. Wait.

I'd like for him to be a good dude and good for baseball, but for another team not in the AL East!

Back when we signed Odor, my eyes rolled, probably a medically unsafe distance back into my skull. It took awhile, but he grew on me. Gritty, red-assing, bluster and pimping beyond his skill set, but he grudgingly grew on me. When he was flailing at the plate, and we started to show signs of life, I gnashed teeth, clutched pearls, and silently questioned Hyde's manhood. Recently, I realized Odor is not going to be here beyond this year, and decided to simply appreciate his contributions towards, lets face it, what was looking to be another very shit*y, tank-worthy team. I believe I'll eventually look upon him fondly, in what has been an amazing season, no matter how it turns out. So, a hat tip to you, Mr. Rougned Odor, for your contribution, and also, for snapping Joey Bats head back like a human pez dispenser. That was awesome.

I've been very pleasantly surprised by Mountcastle's speed, and more recently, AR, even Vavra, and blown away by Gunnar..... So, yes, I am also surprised and a bit perplexed by Stowers foot speed (or perceived lack there of). Weirdly, it looks like Stowers is tentative, or something mental more than physical ability to move quickly. But just my impression, nothing to back it up.

Jordan Westburg now has 106 RBI on the year. + Colton Cowser a big finish at AAA, batting .311 last 15g. Also Cowser has scored 113 runs this year, 3rd in all of minors.

Colton Cowser a big finish at AAA, batting .311 last 15g. Also Cowser has scored 113 runs this year, 3rd in all of minors. Bonus, Jordan Westburg now has 106 RBIs.

As someone who is a Mountcastle fan and really wants him to succeed in Orange and Black, I'm getting increasingly frustrated watching his At Bats, especially now with AR, then Ryan afterwards. It's like the two extremes of plate discipline, and really highlights RM's weakness. (Trade RM for pitching?) The idea of having Westburg dedicate himself to 1B, Ortiz at 2B, Keep Mateo, and Gunnar at 3B, could give us a defensive infield that every sinkerball pitcher in the league would drool over. At very low cost for a couple years (freeing money for pitching?). And while I have zero evidence to back this point up, I believe banning the shift will benefit the classic, rangy middle infielders, of which Mateo and Ortiz are. To all of which, I do have to say being able to talk about these "problems" is a breath of fresh air in the O's Kingdom. Sign some front line pitching this offseason, and for the rest of the current staff, "Let the Hunger Games Begin!"

Double take.... Z Britton was throwing a splitter? (rush to interwebs to check memory and confirm) Britton's master pitch was a sinker (2-seam fastball), not a spilt finger fastball: Britton is a left-handed visitor who has never closed out a World Series, so he is unlike Rivera in the obvious ways. Yet in his manner of dominating the late innings, Britton is probably the closest thing to Rivera since Rivera retired in 2013. He does it all with one devastating pitch. For Britton, the pitch is the sinker, a 96-mile-per-hour anvil that hitters simply cannot lift. According to Fangraphs, Britton’s ground-ball rate (79.7 percent) is by far the best in the majors — a full 15 percentage points better than the next-closest pitcher with at least 50 innings, Boston’s Brad Ziegler. Britton throws the sinker almost all the time. Like Rivera, the master of the cutter, he stymies opponents with a pitch they know is coming but simply cannot handle. Source: NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/sports/baseball/zach-britton-baltimore-orioles-cy-young-award-chances.html

Ohhh, good comp. Hadn't thought of that one.

Sandy Koufax's first 6 seasons in the ML (age 19-24) produced a losing record, 4.11 ERA, 5.3 BB/9. Randy Johnson didn't figure it out until age 26. When you see DL Hall's stuff, you get tempted to dream big. When you see Tanner Scott's results, you get reminded of the range of possible outcomes. Lefties, besides being just plain weird, often have uneven journeys to power pitching success. I choose to dream big on DL Hall, and if he figgers it out, boom! NOTE: For the contextually challenged, I am NOT comparing DL Hall to Koufax or the Big Unit. Also the comment about lefties is a JOKE, frequently heard in baseball clubhouses. See Lee, Bill.

Tentatively, looking at being in Phx area 6-12 October or such, would like to catch 5 or so games.

I'm definitely heading down for some AFL games. Went a couple years ago, very enjoyable.

Joey Ortiz continues to intrigue..... Over his last 62 games, which is 38% of a 162 game season, (a "sample", but not super small): .365 / .436 / .639 / 1.075 Extrapolated to 162 game pace: 230 hits, 157 runs scored 52 doubles, 5 triples, 37 homers, 141 RBI 402 total bases, 16 stolen bases, 3 caught stealing As to defense, scrolled back through this thread looking for Tony's comments, as I trust his opinion more than any of the "National" publications when it comes to O's prospects: Aug 3. Defensively he's the best defender at SS and 2B in the system (minus Holliday since I haven't seen him). Aug 15. In my mind he's got better hands than Mateo but a little bit less arm. they're about the same range wise though when it comes to covering ground on pop flies, Mateo will get the edge because of his 80 level speed. As good as Ortiz is at short, he might be a perennial gold glover at 2B. Sept 9. Ortiz to me is every bit the defender that Mateo is with maybe a tad less arm, though Ortiz's arm is solid major league average for a SS. Sept 10. Ortiz is a plus defensive SS and could very well be a gold glove 2B. Ortiz's significant defensive plusses makes him a better overall prospect for me than Westburg.

Everything looked great on the broadcast. Good thing, because the announcing crew were hideous, un-listenable, and I had to mute them. The loss further soured my mood, and the beverages did not taste as tasty, although it did not dampen the enthusiasm for quantity. Old man yells at clouds... "Get off my lawn"