IPlayGM

It’s impossible not to love this team…

A month ago I would have called you crazy for the idea Mayo gets the Gunnar treatment…now I think I agree with you. As someone else said though, a lot can happen between now and then.

It’s Akin and it’s not even close for me. Baumann doesn’t trust his stuff, can’t have him pitching anytime it matters.

I am really interested to see if Fabian can be that super utility OF who can play all 3 positions plus…would be a real value to this team as currently constructed.

Playing baseball in the mid-Atlantic in March/April is not that fun.

It is one thing to predict a call-up/debut, but you kind of have to also predict the corresponding move. So if you say Mayo will debut in 4 weeks, are you saying that they will dump Urias at that point? If/When you say that, it doesn’t seem as plausible. O’s are in a tricky spot here where you have very talented guys that are close to ready to make their debut for a team that is a World Series contender. Certainly not impossible to accomplish, but tricky to navigate. Especially when there are multiple guys we are talking about.

I would be surprised if the answer is anything but activating Means. The bigger question is who goes, and besides DFA Ramirez I am not sure. I agree the logical choice for me at least is DFA Baumann, but I just don’t think they are ready to pull the plug on that yet, so optioning Akin could happen, although it certainly makes us weaker. I guess they could move Irvin into his bullpen slot for the time being.

I guess I mean if they don’t feel more comfortable playing him in RF than O’Hearn then there is an issue. I know it is more than just defense considered, but still.

If the answer isn’t Heston then they need to get rid of him.

It is a tough decision because Irvin has shown he can also do well out of the pen, where as Means hasn’t. I think it will work itself out even if the initial decision doesn’t end up being the best one.

And it certainly helps when McCann looks dangerous at the plate like he is right now.

Well to be fair to Sears he had to face our offense, Irvin didn’t. But man I really like what Cole has done, I thought once Means and Bradish came back it would be a pretty easy decision, but Cole is doing his thing. Going to be interesting what they do, not sure they will put Means in the bullpen. But adding Suarez, Perez and Wells to our bullpen and taking out Ramirez, Tate and ? should make it better.

I think some folks are correlating velocity with arm health.

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.