OrioleRedenbacher

I think it's interesting how they used Hess for the, what, one day he was in the bullpen. He was warming with the O's up 2-1 and then Fry gave up a 2 run HR (to a right handed batter that I was sure Hess was going to come in to face) and then Hess sat down never to return again. I wonder what role they envision for him in the bullpen - which is where his (successful) future probably lies.

According to Baseball Reference: the league average for starts is 5.4 innings. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2018-starter-pitching.shtml Average innings per start for last year's "incumbent" starters: Hess: 5.3 Bundy: 5.5 Cobb: 5.4 Cashner: 5.5 FYI, Straily was 5.3 last year and if you stretch it out to hundreds he was lower than Hess. The guys we have are fine, especially if you're not concerned with winning this year. If it's an innings eater you want, there are probably better options than Straily for 5 million per year.

Keep in mind that those last 9 games were after Hess switched from the third base side of the rubber to the first. It will be interesting to see if that adjustment helps him hold that kind of stat line in 2019 or if he'll fall back to the median. I also wonder how using analytics will help somebody like Hess. He was probably a little too fastball heavy last year and it seemed like he improved that some during the year. I think the analytics folks might look at things like swing and miss % - which is high on his slider - and adjust some of his sequencing, which will hopefully improve a lot of pitchers.

As a reminder: Players on the 40 man roster are automatically protected from the Rule 5 draft. And, the only way to "expose" a 40 man roster player to the Rule 5 draft is to outright him back to the minors - which means you exposed him to all the other teams via waivers. It's much easier/better for a team to pick up a player through waivers than through the Rule 5 because - assuming the player still has option years - he can be sent back down to the minors at any time. So, if a player is DFA'd and is not picked up via waivers, it's highly unlikely he'll be selected in the Rule 5 draft. Saying we need to "expose" someone to the 40 man roster to the Rule 5 draft doesn't make much sense - just say we need to cut him.

Hess usually sat around 20-30 on most prospect lists. I think Kremer started at 13, so that should be some indication. Of course, I think Hess jumped pretty high after his year at Frederick, so we'll have to see how Kremer handles AA.

At this point he should at least replace Chris Lee on the 40 man and become another optionable piece. I hate that for Lee because he had so much promise, but the injury bug keeps getting him. I believe Lee is out of options after this year.

One thing to keep in mind as they stretch these three inning guys out - it will be the first time they've gone through a large part of the order a second time (with the exception of maybe the top couple of guys in the lineup). So not only are they dealing with developing that 3rd pitch, they're working through some pitchability things too. There's a definite learning curve there.