Brooks The Great

Ramirez and Baumann are easy DFAs for me. And I wouldn't care whatsoever if Webb gets DFAd also. I'd much rather see Albert Suarez given a long look in the pen - whenever his run as a starter ends - than any of the above 3 righties. I'd also rather see Charles than those 3 guys, even if he's a longshot to stick. And by the end of the season, hopefully Povich and McDermott are options.

Kjerstad is too good to merely pinch hit, in my opinion. If he needs an acclimation period, like pretty much every recent Orioles prospect has needed, I want him to get everyday at bats at the MLB level so that he gets comfortable and is more likely to contribute during a playoff run. That's why I didn't like bringing O'Hearn back this season, and O'Hearn is still the guy who needs to go to make room for everyday at bats for Kjerstad - O'Hearn's great start be damned.

I was wondering if Mountcastle was banged up when I saw Urias at 1B in the lineup tonight, so the fact Mountcastle has a sore knee definitely changes the equation completely. Makes Kjerstad the #1 option depending on how much time Mountcastle misses.

I'd be surprised, because Elias overvalues platoons and McKenna way too much. Elias is going to want a righty bat, although I would love to be wrong and see either Stowers or Kjerstad. I'd be happy with Norby, Kjerstad, or Stowers, in that order. ANYONE but McKenna. Norby makes the most sense because Kjerstad should play every day when he comes up, but that won't happen in this situation. Norby will be fine in a platoon role, and be a solid option in games like tonight's against a LHP.

I really doubt there will ever be a situation to have Norby playing "more regularly" than now. Once Mayo and Kjerstad are up, it would take multiple injuries before Norby would ever see regular at bats. Even now, it would be a platoon situation. Norby is the best candidate to fill Hays' roster spot. But Elias has an absurd infatuation with Ryan McKenna (the guy Elias loves even though no one baseball claimed him for the bare minimum off waivers), so there's a good chance McKenna will be back up.

FREE NORBY

"Played in 10 straight" and "played in 5 straight" includes games he came off the bench. The most games he started in a row after his callup was a whopping 4. That is NOT playing every day. Let me clarify right now, being an every day starter means starting every day. Not getting platooned and coming off the bench. My fault for not being more clear that I expected Cowser to get a chance to start every day. The team also came out of the All Star Break with Cowser being benched, which was preposterous for a prospect of his ability and pedigree. He only got into games following the All Star break, and a few starts, because Cedric Mullins got hurt. That's when the insane infatuation with Aaron Hicks started after Elias signed him. Hicks went on to reward Elias' love of dumpster diving with an absurdly lucky BABIP and terrible defense. And Cowser got screwed over as a result. I watched all those games. The way Elias and Hyde handled Cowser was awful.

Not even a platinum glove is worth that kind of abysmal production at the plate. Elias should capitalize on Hays' option and send him to Norfolk to play every day. If there's an injury to one of the OF's on the major league roster or he gets into a groove at the plate, call him back up. Give Stowers an opportunity - even just as a sparingly-used 4th OF - to reward him for multiple seasons of good production in the minors.

Cowser never had the chance to play every day. It wasn't a similar situation to Holliday's callup outside of poor initial results. Holliday is being given a long leash to struggle and try to figure things out. Cowser had no such opportunity last season. Elias and Hyde were too enamored with Aaron Hicks.

Not concerned whatsoever. This is a lineup with several guys who are patient, especially Adley and Cowser. Going back to last season after Mountcastle came back from vertigo, he's now a much more patient hitter than he ever was before in his career. He used to be a pure hacker, like Austin Hays is. Mountcastle's improved approach and so many good, young, dangerous hitters like Gunnar, Cowser, and Westburg is going to lead to more walks. I'm not a big O'Hearn fan because he's blocking Kjerstad, but he's a good hitter with a very good approach. Santander has also been slumping really badly. When he's seeing the ball well, he has a lot of at bats where he sees a lot of pitches and takes an occasional walk. Right now, he's an automatic out, but that won't last too much longer. Mullins draws walks when he's hitting well, which he is at the moment. The Orioles faced a decent amount of good pitching over the first few series. That's also changing now. And it's a small sample size. The walks will definitely increase significantly. Too many good, patient hitters in this lineup.

Hyde needs to get Gunnar out of the leadoff spot. Mullins against RHP or Cowser are better options until Holliday gets adjusted. Westburg also shouldn't be hitting 8th, as others have mentioned. And having a platoon hitter in your cleanup spot is something I'll never agree with. Hyde is awful at writing out lineups.

Once the first hit comes, it really will take so much pressure off of him. I'm not worried about Jackson whatsoever, and it's not surprising whatsoever that he's started off scuffling. The adjustment from AAA to MLB for the first time is massive. Very few hitters come out of the gates hot. And the ones that do, many of them get humbled not long afterwards. Just last year, Casey Schmitt of the Giants comes to mind. He hit a home run in his first game (maybe even first at bat, can't quite remember), and was on fire his first couple weeks. Then he went ice cold, was demoted back to the minors, and still hasn't made it back to the majors. It's just frustrating that Hyde would put more pressure on Holliday by hitting the most ice cold player on the team in front of him. Hyde consistently writes bad lineups. I've always called him out for it for years, and he still does it. But hopefully as the rest of the stud prospects like Kjerstad and Mayo come up, Hyde will have less decisions with the lineup to make outside of occasionally resting guys since most/all of the lineup won't need to be platooned. Hyde will also make less mistakes since inferior players like Frazier, McKenna, Mateo, Urias, Hays and O'Hearn will be benched or completely off the roster (obviously Frazier and McKenna are already gone, but they are examples of players that Hyde favored too much).

Gunnar's a #3 hitter. Mullins should lead off against righties for now. Cowser is also a better leadoff option, but he's so scorching hot right now, #2-#5 is better for him.

Agreed. This team has already had 3 days off, there's absolutely no need to be "resting" Mountcastle. Mountcastle is working counts way better than Hays, including against RHP. This is Hyde showing favoritism to vets yet again. He should show favoritism to winning games. The bottom of the lineup is doing no favors for Holliday, who is going to need to get acclimated to MLB pitching like every other good rookie. He probably gets benched tomorrow against Hall, so putting two black holes like Hays and McCann around him isn't ideal. The way baseball works, I'm sure Hays goes 3-3 today. But the process behind putting together this lineup isn't good. You know Hyde is going to be forcing Mateo and most likely Urias in there tomorrow, with Hays a 100% certainty to start again. With Cowser and Holliday most likely getting benched. I think it's bad lineup optimization when we should be in a position to start our most talented players every game outside of rest for Adley. Hyde refuses to do it.

I'll agree to disagree on O'Hearn. There's nothing that will convince me that he's worth keeping Kjerstad blocked. You shouldn't block a bat like Kjerstad's with a platoon hitter.