IPlayGM

Still a lot of things to shake out this year that IMO affects this decision. 1. Is Silent J the heir apparent to RF? 2. Is Beavers taking the next step and showing as a viable starting OF? 3. Is Fabian taking the next step to be a legit 4th OF who can play all 3 positions? I will be very surprised if Taters is on the team next year. Honestly I think that if he is it will be due to failure of the young guys to show out. Good thing for us is we have enough of them that I don’t think that will happen.

Remove Bradish and I will maybe agree. To me this guy is destined for the pen, where hopefully his swing and miss stuff plays up even more. Could be an important piece, but I’m not getting my hopes up too far after two appearances.

Remember when we were worried about Westys power?!?

I’m not sure what we were to expect. But expecting some struggle is realistic.

I think many were expecting him to come up and not miss a beat.

And the difference with Cowser and Holliday is the team around him. Right now, our lineup is deep and talented, which allows them to let Holliday struggle through without majorly affecting the outcomes of games. Plus there really isn’t an incumbent player pushing him for time. Hays was the entrenched starter last year when Cowser came up, so the only way he was going to play in a pennant race was if he hit as he has this year. The problem with Holliday is purely this: unrealistic expectations. Give him some time. We will reap the benefits of this patience later in the season. You add his bat to what we already have?!?! Watch out!

What were your expectations where for him?

With those players I flip Gunnar/Adley and O’Hearn/Mountcastle

Nice to see Ceddy getting going, I really think he is a key player that can take our offense to the next level.

To the bolded, I thought it was quite telling yesterday that O’Hearn who is on a heater was lifted for Urias yesterday, but Cowser was not lifted for Hays. Both would be high average guys lifted for current strugglers.

With the makeup of the outfield, Hays is the perfect supplement as a 4th OF that plays a touch more than one. My guess is he plays LF tonight with Cowser sliding to RF. And I bet he makes a positive impact. Rising tides lift all boats.

Does he give anyone else Nolan Reimold vibes at the plate? I mean this for how he looks/swings as much as approach. Not the same player but his swing reminds me a lot of Nolan.

Free Urias!!!! Free Hays!!!

I would say doubtful.

Is there anywhere to find out how hard Gunnar’s throw was after the diving stop? That was an absolute missile.

I was definitely in the camp that Holliday should have started with the Os. However, and I know this is certainly recency bias and SSS after 2 games, but our MLB team is legit without him. So I have kinda switched my mindset to enjoying the guys we have in Baltimore, plus looking forward to when Jackson is brought up, which will feel like a legit trade acquisition.

Yeah I was curious how he would respond today as well, first start of the year at home in front of a big crowd. Seems like he was able to keep his composure from the start, which is a great sign.

Yeah, while I would prefer Cowser over Hays, I’m cool with this lineup. Glad Westburg is in there.

One thing to look into is screen #…I think the pricing for pro is advertised for just one TV, and you have to pay extra for more.

Yeah I could see that. But if that happens they will also sub out Mounty for O’Hearn.

It will be interesting to see the lineup today. Gotta figure O’Hearn is a lock…only way Cowser plays is if one of Hays/Mounty/Taters sits. Out of that group i would say Hays most likely, but I’m doubtful. If Kemp plays I may vomit.

Reading all these, my biggest reaction is that if Baumann and Tate are good that is huge to our chances of being who we want to be. I think Mountcastle is going to have a big year.

Saw this earlier. I don’t know enough about the Carlyle group to know if our guys are involved, but interesting nonetheless. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39768940/a-rod-marc-lore-lose-backing-deal-majority-stake-timberwolves

My memory might be jaded because of that one too @Frobby!!!

Thanks for putting some data out there for this conversation! I do think it is interesting the idea of learning to relieve. I would agree it is not just the physical demands but also the mental ones, and it is certainly intuitive that you would get more comfortable in those spots the more you do it.