Bemorewins

I agree that Cowser needs to make some adjustments. But I don't know if Gunnar is the right comparison. Gunnar Henderson is a much better/more talented player than Cowser. Gunnar's ability to adjust as soon as he did may not apply to Cowser.

As much as I love and believe in Holliday's talent and potential, we have seen time and time again now that prospect rankings matter very little when it comes to getting immediate results at the Major League level. Jackson Chourio was what #2 prospect and what is he doing right now? - .207/.254/.322/.576 Those numbers are not better than Jorge Mateo believe it or not. It goes further than that though. Look at most of the top prospect from last year who have graduated to the MLB. Yes you have Gunnar, Volpe, Casas, Westburg, Jung, Jackson Merrill, and De La Cruz. But look at how bad Carroll has regressed. Look at Francisco Alverarez, Jordan Walker, Brett Baty, Crow-Armstrong, Frelick, Evan Carter, and Wyatt Langford. I would say that the odds are way less than 50-50 given just those 20 or so examples that even a young stud makes an immediate impact. Sure we can be optimistic/hopeful. But the reality is that in 2024 making the jump from AAA to MLB may be harder than ever. And there are no guarantees that your most promising young players will be able to figure things out right away. That's just not very realistic.

I agree with you in that team slumps happen over the course of a long 162 game season. However, I don't agree with the premise that either of those young guys (Holliday or Mayo) are likely to be a solution. We have seen on multiple occasions that it takes mostly all young players/prospects some time to figure out things at the Big League level/adjustment to the jump in competition. Almost all of them struggle out of the gate. IMO the problem with inserting an acclimating player to an already struggling/slumping lineup is that it only exacerbates the problem. IMO we need a few of the guys to get it going before we add any more young guys trying to figure things out. You're words about Cowser seem to indicate that his struggles aren't that bad, but since the middle of last month he hasn't gotten many positive results. And any time he hits in big spots, it's almost been an automatic out and most of the times it has been a strikeout. When he's at bat right now with men on base and the game is late & close, it is more of a benefit for the opponent than it is for the O's right now (regardless of the pitcher that he is facing).

I doubt it. I wouldn’t make the mistake of confusing a bad game or a slight rough patch by the O’s offensively for any kind of notion that the Blue Jays are anywhere close to as good as the Orioles.

He’s consistently failed with men on base for about a month now. Any team the opposition (regardless of pitcher) needs a strikeout they can count on him.

Platoon side advantage or not, we can’t keep running out both Cowser and Mullins in the same lineup. They are both almost automatic outs right now. Them both coming up in the same inning is almost non-competitive. Literally giving away 3 of your 9 innings.

Mullins and Cowser are killing us.

Stowers and Urias are the last position players on the team. They are bench guys who rarely (in Stowers case will rarely play line Kjerstad). That is not where Mayo and Holliday will be (on the bench). When they come up and it will be to play every day (especially next season).

IMO he should be batting top 3. He is clearly one of the best hitters on the team. He's tied with Adley for 17th in all MLB in batting.

Still batting Westburg in the bottom third. At some point Hyde has to realize that he is one of our best hitters right?

They probably go back to the Hays/Cowser platoon more. Or maybe some Hays/Mullins platoon? There will be plenty of ABs for Hays if he hits.

I don’t see a world in which Kjerstad, Mayo, and Holliday all co-exist on the Orioles roster unless they plan on getting rid of O’Hearn, which doesn’t seem wise as he is one of the best hitters on the team.

That makes the most sense right? I mean there only seems to be one place on this team next season for either Mayo or Kjerstad. Neither would really be good candidates to go back and repeat AAA next year. With Holliday here at some point between now and the beginning of next season the infield is full especially given Westburg’s ascension. Santander walks in FA after the season and one of Kjerstad or Mayo take over in RF. That leaves the other to trade. It appears that Mayo (given his age - 3 years younger) would hold the most value between the two. It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out. It’s still puzzling to bring Kjerstad up and then never really play him. Like what was the point?

In 2024, I don’t think offensive numbers/stats at AAA have any kind of correlation with direct and immediate success in the Big Leagues. The quality of pitching is just so vastly different. But I he has been up here twice before, so maybe something clicks this time?

A family member asked me back in April which games that I wanted to go to this season and which teams I wanted to come see. And I told that person, I good with seeing any game that the Orioles are playing. It’s a joy and very entertaining to watch us whip anybody! The Orioles have all the star power and excitement that I could ever have dreamed of!!

The Orioles are the draw! With a team this good, young, and exciting it really doesn't get much better than this.

He reminds me more of Ryan Sandburg in terms of the style/type of player that he is. When you say “we didn’t get to see Hardy early in his career” are you saying that because he wasn’t an Oriole? Because they still televised the games that he played in for Milwaukee. When I compared Hardy and Westburg I see completely different offensive players. I don’t really see many similarities at all in terms approach at the plate.

I agree with you that the team was pretty sloppy defensively today. But those things will happen every once in a while over the course of 162. Before this game we had won 7 of the last 8. So I'm not going to be too hard on the team. Now, if this kind of sloppiness were to repeat itself this week in the series against TOR, I will probably be more concerned.

Cool. But IMO the primary purpose of a discussion board is to discuss things. I always thought of Twitter as more for the one liners/hot takes without as much discussion. Maybe I'm wrong? It won't be the first or last time.

How much do you watch non-Orioles games? All top offensive teams depend on home runs in 2024 because of how good Major League pitching is now. There are only TWENTY ONE hitters in the sport who are batting over .300. And we have 2 of them.

Is there a reason that you prefer Pressley over Helsley? I can't see anything from Pressley's performance this season and age that makes him desirable for us to slot in as our closer.

HUH??? I'm legit confused by this statement. Do you know where the Yankees rank in stolen bases?

That's just not true. Adley and Westburg are fantastic hitters whose whole approach is back through the middle. They do not swing for the fences and make good contact regularly. Ryan O'Hearn is a very good hitter as well. I think you may be confusing Orioles' teams from a decade ago with this season's team.

Why? You would rather have Pressley than Helsley?

Even if he really wants to (which I imagine that he does) Boras has to be willing to play ball, which historically he has not been when it comes to extensions.