TommyPickles

Ben McDonald is my favorite O's announcer

Mateo: 4.8 rWAR in 829 career ABs Urias: 6.6 rWAR in 787 career ABs Frazier: 1.5 rWAR in his last 666 ABs I'd rather keep Urias over Mateo. I'd rather see Frazier moved to a bench role than either of them.

I'm actually pretty surprised no one else has signed Britton. The Orioles' bullpen (2.89 ERA) is currently THE BEST IN MLB, so I don't think he makes sense for us.

Meh. Our bullpen has a better ERA than every single team in the National League. But yea, tonight will be tough. Gotta hope they get to the (middling) Braves bullpen sooner rather than later and put up some late-inning offense, like yesterday.

In his career, Ramon Urias has a .438 AVG and a 1.000 OPS as a pinch hitter.

I have not, but I went to the Dodgers' stadium a few years ago and had a blast. Not the nicest stadium I've ever been to, but the fans were extremely lively and into the game.

Hard to say. And I think you are most likely right that this organization will look towards the cheaper, younger options. I just wonder if Urias could have a Melvin Mora-type career. They both got their first full seasons at age 28. Both play 3B. Both seem like late bloomers without a ton of speed, some pop, and strong on-base numbers. Mora's best seasons were Age 31: .921 OPS, 4.7 rWAR, AS Age 32: .981 OPS, 5.6 rWAR, Silver Slugger, 18th in AL MVP Age 33: .821 OPS, 4.3 rWAR, AS But maybe Mora was a bit of an anomaly and I'm overvaluing Urias. Guess we'll see what they do. I just don't want to see him dealt for lottery tickets.

For the record, my original post wasn't recommending we extend them. And I definitely understand your point that we have cheaper options than what their late arbitration years will be. But we do have Urias under team control through his age 32 season and Mateo under team control through his age 30 season.

I mostly agree with this, Mateo is playing like an MVP candidate right now. Though Urias has been worth more rWAR in his career and I think his ceiling is a bit higher than he gets credit for. He was arguably the best defensive 3B in the AL last season while playing in his first full season. I think he could also bring value as a 2B who OPS's like .750-.775. Urias (28)- 6.3 rWAR, 237 games, 857 PA Mateo (27)- 5.1 rWAR, 285 games, 858 PA and since I mentioned them in the OP, here's where Mora and Roberts were at after a similar amount of ABs in the majors: Mora (29)- 3.9 rWAR, 326 games, 1,006 PA Roberts (25)- 2.6 rWAR, 225 games, 953 PA

Damnit. Typo in the thread title. Should say: "What if Mateo and Urias are part of the future?"

In 2022, Mateo and Urias had a combined 7.0 rWAR at a combined age of 55 In 2023, Mateo and Urias are on pace for a 12.8 rWAR season (sure to come down a bit) at a combined age of 57 I'm pretty high on both of these players. I think most of us see them as likable stopgaps before the likes of Gunnar, Ortiz, Westburg, Norby, Holiday, and others succeed them. But my question is, what if, instead of this being their last year as regulars, we kept them both on the 26-man roster until they were free agents (Urias 2027), (Mateo 2026)? Jackson Holliday isn't expected to arrive until 2025. There would still be two other infield spots up for grabs on the 26-man roster. This could open up enticing prospects to be traded. Could this duo wind up putting together careers approaching Melvin Mora (28.3 career WAR) and Brian Roberts (29.5 Career WAR)? In 2003, Roberts and Mora had a combined 7.4 rWAR at a combined age of 56 In 2004, Roberts and Mora had a combined 8.0 rWAR at a combined age of 58 In 2005, Roberts and Mora had a combined 11.6 rWAR at a combined age of 60 In 2006, Roberts and Mora had a combined 5.5 rWAR at a combined age of 62 In 2007, Roberts and Mora had a combined 6.3 rWAR at a combined age of 64 In 2008, Roberts and More had a combined 7.2 rWAR at a combined age of 66. Now, I know this isn't a perfect comparison. For one, Roberts and Mora are five years apart in age, while Mateo and Urias are only a year apart. But with both Mateo (27) and Urias (28) still so relatively young, and both showing versatility, I'm wondering: Could they both be part of the future?

On a more anecdotal note, he looks jacked. The dude is 235, all muscle.

I feel like this point has been made ad nauseam, but I wish they'd just move Frazier to a bench role. I'd like to see Henderson, Urias, and Mateo out there just about every day. Mateo has over 1.000 OPS against both righties and lefties this season. He needs to be out there every day. Urias has a higher career OPS against righties and lefties than Frazier. His 2023 OPS (.760, 114 OPS+) is about .100 points higher than Frazier's (.663, 85 OPS+) Gunnar needs to get opportunities against righties and lefties to develop his game. We're 20-9 despite his numbers against LHP (which, to be fair, have only been 30 PA and he's walked 8 of those).

I mean, it depends on how the rest of Bradish's season goes. Last season, no Oriole pitcher was better against Houston. August 26th: Bradish threw 8.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 6 Ks against the Astros. September 22nd: Bradish threw 8.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 10 Ks, 0 BB against the Astros. The Astros would of course go on to win the World Series. So, yes, I might want Kyle Bradish pitching in those games.

I feel like people are being a bit harsh on Bradish here. He's probably got the second-best stuff in the rotation behind Grayson. He's had three bad innings this year. Yes, that's a lot when you've only pitched 14 innings, and he has definitely walked too many, but he's looked really good at other times. I think he needs a bit more time to get settled in after that injury and regain his control before we throw in the towel on him being a long term option for this rotation. I could totally see this being the rotation down the stretch and heading into the playoffs: -Newly Acquired SP1 -John Means -Kyle Gibson -Kyle Bradish -Grayson Rodriquez

In fairness, the bullpen has been "really good" so far. 2.74 ERA. Third best in MLB. Better than every team in the National League.

Hmm two different second basemen. It's a bold strategy. In all seriousness, I'm excited Ortiz is here. I feel like Urias (who has been our hottest hitter over the past week and has a .802 OPS) and Mateo (who has been our hottest hitter this season and has a 1.049 OPS) both need to be in the lineup every day right now. I hope this means Frazier is moved to more of a bench role.

Time to move Frazier to the bench. Here's a look at OPS and rWAR numbers from our infield: Mateo: 1.049 OPS, 1.4 rWAR Urias: .802 OPS, 0.8 rWAR Henderson: .686 OPS, 0.1 rWAR Frazier: .621 OPS, 0.5 rWAR

Yea, the stare-downs are giving me closer vibes.

It feels like Ramon has had so many big moments recently. Several web gem plays at second base. Starting key double plays. Clutch RBI hits. Adley and Mountcastle's bats have been quiet during this win streak. Over the past four games, Ramon is batting .307 with 5 RBIs. His OPS is up to .744. That's top 5 among the regulars and ahead of guys like Santander, Mountcastle, Frazier, and Gunnar. He's on pace for 2.95 rWAR and that's while playing just 80% of the time. Nice to see him playing well!

I don't know about batting Mountcastle 8th. He's been struggling a bit lately, but he still leads the team in HR (6) and has a higher OPS than Gunnar, Urias, Santander, Frazier, McKenna, or Vavra.

Kluber has been terrible. We knocked him around for 5 runs in 3.1 IP on Opening Day. He's pretty much continued to look bad ever since (8.50 ERA through 4 starts). The Red Sox pitching has been bad. Their team ERA of 5.10 is 26th in MLB. Their starters rank 29th with a 6.61 ERA. I'm just not at all convinced that this is a good team. I predicted them to finish in last place and well below .500 at the start of the year and I still stand by that. I don't think they're an awful team, but I think they'll wind up winning like 75 games. I think the O's bats will wake back up against the bad pitching and they'll take 2 out of 3.

Absolutely. It only took the Rays 86 wins to get a postseason spot last year. I'd take that in a heartbeat too.

Trey has had 9 RBIs from his 11 hits, so he is "contributing" in the sense of having some timely hits. But, yea, they're kind of reaching here.

Honestly dude, I agree. I saw the other post right after I posted mine and was "oh damnit..." At least we've reached a point where people are reposting good news!