CHIP

I don't like second guessing but I will Second your guess... I don't know the difference between these transactions that both occurred yesterday "Bowie Baysox sent C Ramon Rodriguez on a rehab assignment to Delmarva Shorebirds." vs "C Maverick Handley assigned to Bowie Baysox from Norfolk Tides." Both have been on the IL about the same time over the past month. Perhaps players are assigned if you make a move 1 level up or down and it is a rehab assignment if you make a 2 level move or more downward? But then again, on May 30, 2023 the Bowie Baysox sent 3B Toby Welk on a rehab assignment to Delmarva Shorebirds and a week later, June 6th, Bowie Baysox sent 3B Toby Welk on a rehab assignment to Aberdeen IronBirds... so the two moves down language matches but the move up 1 destroys my hypothesis. The O's at Aberdeen have Ardoin (0.196 avg in 112 ABs) and Willems (0.167 in 18 ABs since his promotion) that received over $1,000,000 in signing bonuses combined. O's have to let the $$$ play In Bowie, they have Florentino (0.115 in 61 AB, 0.345 OPS) and Susnara (0.167 in 30 ABs, 0.494 OPS) playing because Portnoy went down over a month ago and Rodriguez went down about 3 weeks ago. Kolozsvary was there a short time as well. Susnara was signed after not having played since September 2021 to fill the holes because of the injuries. So with O's signing Jose Godoy to AAA and Kolozsvary moved back to Norfolk from Bowie (0.177 in 62 AAA ABs, 0.211 in 19 AA ABs), I think the O's are actually giving Handley a real rehab as after his first 1 week IL stint, he went 2-15 with 10Ks the first week back vs JAX and the following week started 4-10 with 2 Ks vs SYR. But then dropped back to IL... but for 2 weeks this last time. I had to look at game logs as MiLB transactions dates are wonky. I remember a time last year where all 4 catchers on the AAA squad were down because of injury and they had to promote Roberts and Rodriguez to cover with all those injuries. Catcher truly is the toughest position.

So last night in the 8th inning, Kolozsvary was hit in the face with a fast ball to lead off the 8th inning. The announcer spent some time wondering why they weren't running for him. A lot of attention was paid to Kolo on the way to first and at first before play resumed. He stayed in the game and then even caught the 9th. Bemboom took a foul ball to the facemask the night before. No movement of him coming in to catch. I'm guessing Bemboom is on concussion protocol? Handley was/is still on IL and haven't seen anything on that being lifted. That hit on Kolozsvary didn't seem light and I wouldn't be surprised if he was also out for a bit as a result. Assuming Bemboom is out, Handley is out and Bowie already thin... the Basallo fan base could request a move I suppose? Who else could catch? Injuries at all levels it appears.

I don't want to speculate, but that is pretty much what this board is for... Joey's last game with the O's I thought I remembered seeing a ball or contact at 2nd by other team to his head. He may be in a protocol without saying he is in protocol.

I didn't read all 41 pages of posts... but MiLB doesn't have his home and away splits at Aberdeen. While his AVG and OBP are still outstanding, it appears his SLG is lower along with RBI's which may have be a result of the park and it's impact on the rest of the Ironbirds. Buy hey, they are statistics and anyone can cherry pick the good and the bad. I just don't see a whole lotta bad. GP AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG 9 HOME 26 10 10 15 2 0 1 2 9 0 6 2 2 0.385 0.543 0.577 15 AWAY 58 16 24 45 4 4 3 18 12 0 11 6 2 0.414 0.514 0.776 24 TOTAL 84 26 34 60 6 4 4 20 21 0 17 8 4 0.405 0.524 0.714

Norfolk continues to perform/win despite the injuries *listed below* . Over the past 10 games, the Tide are 6-4 (33-13) growing their lead by 2 games during that stretch. The wins aren't coming with the win rate or margins they used to but the losses (Excluding the past two Sundays) seem to be by 1 or 2 runs. Of the other 19 teams in the International League, only Louisville (CIN) & Gwinnett (ATL) are better at 7-3 (23-23 and 21-25 respectively overall) They are 10 & 12 games back respectively as well. This has provided the Tides with a 6 game lead for the first half. Haskin - April 18th (Hamstring) - last played 4/16 with AAA. Currently on Rehab assignment with Aberdeen having played 5/23 & 5/24 Cullen - April 24th (Hamstring?) last played 4/22 Lara - May 18th (Unknown) last played on 5/14 Cowser - May 20th (Quad) last played 5/16 Handley - May 20th and May 2nd (Left hand/wrist inflammation) last played 5/18 Stowers - May 23rd (Right shoulder inflammation) last played 5/21 With the first half of the AAA season ending on June 25th, The Tides have 4 games left vs Memphis, then series against Gwinnett (21-25), Scranton (22-25), Worcester (24-23) and Nashville (24-22) Hopefully, Handley and Stowers get the treatments and time they need to return 100%. History shows that those not deemed high on the prospect list aren't given the proper time to heal before returning to play. And 'inflammation' seems like a trainer term for 'not tough enough'. With that being said, Cowser may be a while to assure his health. Cullen and Lara are likely biting at the bit to return as soon as they feel they are ready (which likely is too soon). Haskin may be back when Tides return to Norfolk next Tuesday. Over on the WEST Coast... Oklahoma City (LAD) are 34-13 (8-2 last 10) and have a 5 game lead over Reno

Looking at Milb.com, Willems was put on 7 day IL on 5/13/23. Looking at the Delmarva Roster, they have 5 catchers on it and 3 are on 7 day IL.

With respect to the Tides movement, I think the 1st to move any time soon would be Fontana (back to AA). He was called up from Bowie when Haskin went down on 4/18. He has done okay... nothing to make him be demoted but nothing to keep him around. With Norby getting more time in the outfield, along with a long line of Infield prospects that can also play OF to get AB's. He is likely the first one out. Handley went on 7 day IL on the 2nd of May. So he could be put back on Tide's 28 man tomorrow (9th) if his hand has healed up enough? That puts 3 catchers on the Tides and with 3 on O's not sure there is a 'taxi spot' available. So eventually something's gotta give with the number of non-prospect catchers between Torrens, Bemboom, Kolozsvary, and Handley. Handley is the cheapest with no MLB time. The Fangraphs Transaction table is pretty interesting... if the O's had only waited a few more days, Austin Wynns became available. https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/transaction-tracker?transactiontype=dfa At AA, Pavolony is still on 7 day IL (since April 16th). Florentino came as the 2nd and hasn't done anything... and Rodriguez had a great week vs Erie going 7-15 raising his avg from .179 to .279. So... all these guys could be expendable but no one is ready from Hi-A to make that move. At this point... in 261 MiLB ABs, Pavolony is my choice to cut if/when a move needs to happen. He was the same draft year as Willems, so maybe that is the expendable guy. Cut Pavolony and move Florentino back down to Delmarva when someone moves up from Delmarva. Folks are clamoring for Creed to move up (Potentially when Ardoin moves up). However, Ardoin needs a lot more work in HiA as his current K rate is 38% and his BB rate has dropped to 12%. Retzbach was the Rule5 pick so can't see O's cutting bait there yet.

I agree. Handley had a hot start and then sputtered after his 4-5 game. I got the sense from his swings that he started to home run hunt. He was 1-33 (with 6 BBs and only 5 K) after that 4-5 game. I don't know what the purpose of sending him to Charlotte then to Baltimore and then back to Charlotte was... but it seems every time a catcher comes back from being the TAXI guy, they get hits. That at least has held for Bemboom (until last night) and Kolozsvary. Since he came back from TAXI we was 2-6 with a walk and 4 runs scored. Maybe it was a wakeup call? I just asked my son about Handley's defense. He said 1 of the errors was on CI. Same batter got a CI on Kolo the next night. Another error was throwing to 3rd on a double steal with Cullen there. Cullen missed the throw and then missed the throw back in from LF. Otherwise he has been doing everything else he normally does. There was a highlight last week with a throw from Cowser. The announcers said Cowser's throw was in the batters box on 1st base side and that Handley made the play for the out. Kolozsvary has had a couple HR but his defense has been terrible. Perhaps they need someone better and know Kolo will have to go when Handley returns from IL

Last game Handley played was Saturday vs. Charlotte. His last AB he was hit with a 93 MPH fastball. Looked at baseball savant and then a quick replay of the game and it looked like he was hit on his left hand. The force of the ricochet makes me believe the knob got a portion of the ball as well. This is the area of the hand with the hamate bone. If it is broken that is a good 3 month injury. Handley was on the IL a couple times in 2021 because of being hit on that hand as well. Hope it is a short term and not long term issue.

Remember that the stadium was a grass field with the Ironbirds were the short season team in 2019. NO TEAM in 2020. They rebuilt the lights and went from Grass to Turf so they could play full season ball and the O's would keep them vs. Frederick. The lights are horrible. I think they set them up not for baseball but so they could host other events there and not disturb the 'neighborhood' with the new lighting. so far we only have the 2021 and 2022 seasons to track how players did Home vs. Away while there and how they did at the next level of AA. I think Ripken is the reason this location was chosen and the O's have to live with that and we get to judge them on it...

I actually think being on Social Media is more dangerous nowadays compared to the streets of Baltimore

AAA baseball today starts the automated strike zone for T-Th games and the umpire called zone F-Sun with 3 challenges (batter/pitcher/catcher). This is going to be fun to watch just to see how this gets better/worse from the first week today as the season progresses and how it impacts games moving forward. My son said he saw Maverick was in Baltimore today on Social Media so he must be on his stretch of Taxi Time while Bemboom and Kolozsvary deal with the robots in Charlotte

BEST GUESS: PROJECTED ROTATION vs CHARLOTTE this week. Tuesday, April 25, 2023 WATKINS Wednesday, April 26, 2023 ZIMMERMAN Thursday, April 27, 2023 DL HALL Friday, April 28, 2023 ROM Saturday, April 29, 2023 IRVIN Sunday, April 30, 2023 WATKINS DATE RESULT STARTING PITCHER Friday, March 31, 2023 W, 6 - 4 G Rodriguez Saturday, April 1, 2023 W, 13 - 4 Zimmerman Sunday, April 2, 2023 W, 7 - 4 Watkins Tuesday, April 4, 2023 L, 1 - 6 DL Hall Wednesday, April 5, 2023 W, 6 - 3 Rom Thursday, April 6, 2023 W, 3 - 0 R Watson Friday, April 7, 2023 RAINOUT Saturday, April 8, 2023 W, 21 - 2 Watkins Sunday, April 9, 2023 W, 4 - 3 DL Hall Tuesday, April 11, 2023 L, 5 - 8 Rom Wednesday, April 12, 2023 L, 6 - 8 Vallimont Thursday, April 13, 2023 L, 2 - 5 Zimmerman Friday, April 14, 2023 W, 6 - 1 Denoyer Saturday, April 15, 2023 W, 11 - 8 DL Hall Sunday, April 16, 2023 W, 7 - 1 Rom Tuesday, April 18, 2023 W, 5 - 3 Irvin Wednesday, April 19, 2023 L, 0 - 5 Watkins Thursday, April 20, 2023 W, 9 - 1 Zimmerman Friday, April 21, 2023 W, 3 - 2 DL Hall Saturday, April 22, 2023 W, 9 - 2 Rom Sunday, April 23, 2023 W, 17 - 7 Irvin

Of the 5 losses. Loss 1 vs. Gwinnett (L, 1-6). Hall and Dowdy each gave up 3 ER in 3 innings or less. NO Offense 3 straight losses: Loss 2 vs. Nashville (L, 5-8). Rom start 6 inning with 0 runs. 3 relievers all cracked to give up 8 over next 3.1 inning. Loss 3 vs. Nashville (L, 6-8). Vallimont solid in 4 inning start giving up 1. Ryan Watson imploded giving up 7 in 2.1 Loss 4 vs. Nashville (L 2-5). This one the Tides were just beaten over 9 innings. No offense after starter taken out for Nashville after 2 innings. won last 3 vs. Nashville Loss 5 vs. Rochester (L, 0-5). No offense game #3. 5 of 7 hits by 2 players. 2 of 7 by remaining 7. 2 of 5 runs unearned. So of the 5 losses, 3 were no offense and 2 were no relief pitching. Scary this is there is room to improve for the TIDES.

Well... I guess we know where Kolozsvary is now (TS). Maybe he should read Steve's article about when he wrote about Cody Roberts and all the 'positives' around being on the Taxi Squad https://twitter.com/masnRoch/status/1649506891398017025?s=20

I haven't been watching the Bowie games as much but Prieto's numbers seem to be stable. The sample size is 1/10th of 2022 but everything has improved enough to nearly double his wRC on Fangraphs. Unless Westburg moves sooner than later, if he moves, the only other available slot I see Prieto filling is Greg Cullen's. Prieto is no less a liability defensively than Cullen. I also think that Kjestad will soon be able to take Cameron's spot on the Tides. Time to kick the 2015 1st rounder to the curb for the 2020 1st rounder. Daz sure isn't his Daddy.

I finally followed the directions and was able to use BaseballSavant AAA Statcast data last night. It was actually fun to watch a game with the data on the side. Left pleasantly surprised and enthused about Maverick Handley having one of the top EV's. Tides had 4 of top 5: Cowser 1st at 109.9, Stowers 3rd at 108.7, Ortiz 4th at 108.1 and Handley 5th at 107.9. Seems like the time spent at Driveline is showing it's dividends in the metrics and hopefully will carry over to the SLG sooner than later. I did hear on the broadcast last night that Nashville had/has the lowest ERA in league. So I expect all the boys numbers to improve this week. The other thing I had to check on Handley progression, is the consistency. This has been called out before but as the numbers aren't flashy it is hard to notice. Handley has lowered is K rate and increased his BB rate the higher he goes. His AVG, OBP, and WRC continues to rise every level. I hear that Kolozsvary is a quality guy but I don't know what the O's see in his value as his numbers decline year over year since moving from AA to AAA. At least his wRC+ isn't negative anymore. Bemboom hasn't played but the 1 game for O's so can't tell what he is/isn't going to do. I see no reason to take ABs away from Handley splitting time with Bemboom. Perhaps Bemboom does get 2 games a week and 1 at DH? Gotta have that 1 guy getting paid as the JIC. Maybe that is Kolo's roll (or Bemboom) as I don't see the O's trying to develop their bats at this point. Season Team Level BB% K% AVG OBP SLG wOBA wRC+ HANDLEY 2019 BAL A- 8% 36% 0.202 0.298 0.237 0.269 73 HANDLEY 2021 BAL A+ 12% 30% 0.201 0.316 0.337 0.300 83 HANDLEY 2022 BAL AA 12% 21% 0.236 0.352 0.417 0.346 114 HANDLEY 2023 BAL AAA 22% 15% 0.258 0.439 0.323 0.376 118 KOLO 2018 CIN A 8% 25% 0.225 0.310 0.324 0.301 85 KOLO 2019 CIN A+ 13% 27% 0.188 0.341 0.321 0.324 108 KOLO 2021 CIN AA 12% 31% 0.233 0.341 0.438 0.349 119 KOLO 2021 CIN AAA 5% 34% 0.190 0.299 0.310 0.285 70 KOLO 2022 CIN AAA 9% 31% 0.168 0.293 0.294 0.279 64 KOLO 2023 BAL AAA 5% 33% 0.158 0.238 0.158 0.202 6 BEMBOOM 2022 BAL AAA 7% 20% 0.228 0.292 0.350 0.289 70 Learning a lot of different opinions on this board. Fun to observe and sometimes participate. Just here for the Stanford Cardinal content and lots of folks talking about Stowers... so I'll keep my focus on my son's favorite and now mine too. If Handley doesn't get his shot with the O's I think he will be helping someone next year.

Bemboom should be with Norfolk this week after the DFA. How this impacts the catching is to be seen. Handley went 0-12 with 5BB and only 3 K in Nashville. If he were Henderson... folks would say be patient. But he isn't Henderson. The Tides seemed to adjust his schedule to be sure he caught Rom on Tuesday and Sunday. Defensively he had Catcher's interference (same batter hit Kolozsvary next night as well so I had to look and the guy looked like he was glove hunting). Handley also had the error throwing to 3rd on double steal but Cullen missed Handley's throw and the throw back in from LF. So seems frustrations carried over some for him this series. So how do the TIdes work in 3 catchers now? Handley is 7-28 with 9BB and 5Ks while Kolozsvary just looks really bad at the plate and sub par behind it. 3-19 with 1BB and 7Ks. AVG/OBP 0.158/0.238. (which is worse than both his 2021 AAA season of 0.190/0.299 and 2022 AAA season of .0168/0.293 Can/should Kolozsvary be moved to Bowie while Pavolony is on IR? There doesn't seem to be an option to put one of them at First or at DH with priority of ABs for other prospects. Still have to have that 1 extra catcher for Travel Squad and just in case of injury at MLB.

Now that Diaz and Ortiz are up from Florida and Greiner has 'voluntarily retired' it is going to become easier to see who the Orioles want to develop and who is along for the ride. Was really excited with the offense in Durham and yesterday the 4 hits vs. 14 Ks was a bit disappointing but some stats, all be it very early and a small sample size, will be interesting to watch. The top 6 in the lineup didn't really change. Blood has stated that those they want to get ABs will bat early and often. That has held true. Haskin's 42% K rate (taking into account K/PA) seems high Cowser should come around Norby is being Norby (which is good) Westerburg's contact just isn't dropping or finding holes Handley has had a good eye so far. Numbers are drastically different start than 2022 when he started 1-25 in first 8 games and 3-31 in April. Defense seems right where the talk has been. Can he maintain the offense, improve power, and stay healthy O'Hearn and Lester are streaky Ortiz/Diaz is just too soon after 1 game in which no one hit. POS G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS BB% K% Ryan O'Hearn 2B 4 19 5 5 1 0 2 4 1 0 8 0 0 0.263 0.300 0.632 0.932 5% 40% Colton Cowser CF 4 18 3 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 6 1 0 0.111 0.200 0.111 0.311 10% 30% Jordan Westburg 3B 4 18 2 5 0 0 1 3 2 0 3 0 0 0.278 0.350 0.444 0.794 10% 15% Connor Norby 2B 4 17 5 5 0 0 2 6 2 1 5 0 0 0.294 0.400 0.647 1.047 10% 25% Hudson Haskin LF 4 16 3 4 0 0 1 2 1 2 8 0 0 0.250 0.368 0.438 0.806 5% 42% Josh Lester 1B 4 16 5 5 0 0 4 8 3 0 6 0 0 0.313 0.421 1.063 1.484 16% 32% Maverick Handley C 3 8 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 1 0 0.375 0.583 0.375 0.958 33% 17% Daz Cameron 1B 2 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0.143 0.333 0.143 0.476 22% 11% Greg Cullen 3B 2 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0.167 0.375 0.167 0.542 25% 13% Mark Kolozsvary C 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0.200 0.333 0.200 0.533 0% 67% Joey Ortiz SS 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 50% Lewin Diaz 1B 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 33% Shayne Fontana RF 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0.400 0 0.400 20% 20%

I'll agree to disagree. The wife reminds me that my strong opinion doesn't make it right. So... I consider that with others that have the same tendencies. If Adley's arm turns into Harper's arm... you may learn to like Handley (for his defense primarily) quite a bit more. With respect to your fact that I bolded above... The only real time Adley caught Grayson was 2021 in Bowie. In 2021, Grayson and Adley's paths crossed for 9 weeks between June 1 and August 10. Grayson pitched 11 games during that stretch. I did not look at who caught each game.. In 2022 when Grayson was at AAA, Adley may have caught 2 games. So they crossed paths for only 13 of Grayson's starts out of 34 at AA and AAA which is far from the majority. So maybe the foundation for the rest of your 'outclass' beliefs are also more opinion than fact. Let's get back to what is important in the now... GO O's

Guess we will have to watch and see to compare two different scenarios? But I believe you are Anti-Anybody but Adley... and I am pro-Stanford players getting their shot. Handley said it himself if that recent interview... every game is a showcase for 29 other teams. But the fact remains that Grayson didn't pitch well enough in ST (and Adley didn't catch every game) to make OD roster. Maverick never caught Grayson in Spring Training. Maverick I believe is a better option to catch Grayson that Kolozsvary. Every catcher calls a different game and has different strengths and weaknesses. And... I don't think they had plans to option Adley to AAA to catch Grayson today.

I don't think Grayson pitched to Maverick during ST. Hopefully, Maverick starts tonight. That would be step 1 50% of the games in/across AAA are ROBO Ump and 50% of the games are Umpire w/ 3 appeals. Anyone have any idea when/how these are determined or we will find out?

With the recent 'caution' being taken with McCann, the most logical is Bemboom in Boston on OD roster or on Taxi Squad as Roch mentioned this morning. This along with Kolozsvary's move back to the MLB camp for the past couple days (with no playing time), it would appear that Handley and Kolo go to AAA with Handley being primary. Handley catching Rodriquez, Hall and others will be fun to watch. The 50/50 split with Robo/Radar w/ Umps and then Umps calling game with 3 appeals per game of radar will be of interest as the season starts out and progresses.

According to an article online... he was raised bilingual likely because his father, uncle and grandfather all learned to speak English and understand the importance. He had been on the Padres’ radar since they missed out in their pursuit of Salas’ older brother, who signed with the Marlins for $2.8 million in 2019. José Salas Jr. is currently ranked No. 5 in Miami’s system by MLB.com. The Salas’ father played in the Braves’ system, an uncle played in the Blue Jays system and a grandfather played in the Astros’ and Royals’ systems..... His English was already so polished that the Padres had no problem trotting him out for an interview on a national cable program shortly after his signing, although his media savvy is a distant second to the ability to communicate as he quarterbacks a pitching staff. “Being bilingual in the game of baseball is important, as a leader and a catcher,” Salas said. “You’ve got to be a leader. You have to make sure all guys can connect in a clubhouse setting and we can all be a family. Super important.”

Two part answer coming... Before yesterday's game most starters played 5 or 6 innings and were removed for lower/alternate 'prospects' depending on position and score. Based on subs not coming in until AFTER the starters received 3 or 4 Plate Appearances, this is when the subs/alternates come in. They put Jackson in to run for the starter Vavra after he reached in the 8th. The other 'prospects' that were moved to MiLB camp are now getting more consistent ABs in the AA/AAA games so they will bring up some guys from A/AA to fill at end of games. Now part 2... Since they are bringing up Jackson, I think they are going to place him in Delmarva and if he hits early and often, move him to Aberdeen. He will be playing/hitting at least 5 if not all 6 games a week at the top 2 spots to get him 4 AB's a game minimum. in 4 weeks he could easily have 100 PA and move be early May. If he continues, there is no reason he couldn't get into Bowie by end of year.