Wieters is pretty bad offensively

[scOtt]

Time to shave that stuff on his face

And a LIVE chicken! None of that KFC bucket crap!

[CA-ORIOLE]

If you watch any of the top hitters and power hitters in particular they keep both hands on the bat all the way through till the bat almost hits them on their front shoulder. Not MW. It's a no brainer any decent hitting coach should point out to him. .

It's actually a little more of a brainer than you think. Top hand release theorist's argue that it's just the opposite. By releasing the top hand on contact you actually generate more power than you would by holding both hands on the bat through the swing. As I understand it, the follow through actually makes no difference, it's the impact when the bat and ball meet that is critical. This is what Mark Reynolds does very obviously. The issue Matt may be having is releasing the hand too early. He also seems to be having a lot of issues dealing with inside pitches and rolling over. I don't know if that's a bat speed issue or a mechanics issue quite frankly. I recall Stotle and RZNJ having this argument awhile back and Stotle (a professional scout) arguing it wasn't a bat speed issue.

[rmt64]

Ehh, I think people have right to be disappointed. The plague comment is clearly exaggerated. This guy was projected to be a top notch hitter and a franchise player. There are probably enough AB's now to wonder how much upside is left on the offensive side.

Top notch hitter TBD but obviously unlikely at this point. He's still above average, especially for his position.

And he's 100% a franchise player. You don't actually disagree with this, do you?

[CA-ORIOLE]

Top notch hitter TBD but obviously unlikely at this point. He's still above average, especially for his position.

And he's 100% a franchise player. You don't actually disagree with this, do you?

I don't consider him a franchise player at this point. Certainly not.

I'm not sure how the bolded would qualify someone as a franchise player. I don't think we have a true franchise player. Maybe we won't have one. Maybe we don't even need one. I think it would have been nice to have developed one (as we realistically can't afford to buy one in free agency) and that he was perhaps our best chance. I think that's the disappointment that most people feel.

[rmt64]

I don't consider him a franchise player at this point. Certainly not.

I'm not sure how the bolded would qualify someone as a franchise player. I don't think we have a true franchise player. Maybe we won't have one. Maybe we don't even need one. I think it would have been nice to have developed one (as we realistically can't afford to buy one in free agency) and that he was perhaps our best chance. I think that's the disappointment that most people feel.

He's one of the best players in the league at a premium position and he's only 26 with plenty of room to grow as an offensive player...

[Moose Milligan]

He's one of the best players in the league at a premium position and he's only 26 with plenty of room to grow as an offensive player...

I like Wieters, but I don't think he's a franchise guy. Face it, people have been talking about his ceiling at the ML level for the past 3 years. At this point, he might have some nice seasons ahead at his peak, but I don't think he'll ever approach the "Mauer with power" billing that has been mentioned above.

Great defender, he definitely brings value there. But I think he is what he is, a .250-.265 hitter with 18-22 homer power. Which is nice for a catcher, but these prolonged slumps are awful.

[wildcard]

Its all about what Buck wants out of Matt. Buck wants him to run the staff and be good defensively. And Matt does that. He has the most innings caught of any catcher in baseball - 704. Two other catchers that are thought of highly have much less. Mauer - 365 innings, Posey - 584 innings.

If the O's want him to hit better give his legs more rest. I actually think Matt will hit better in the second half main because Buck trusts Teagarden to run the pitching staff. That means Wieters gets more rest from catching.

I am not saying that there are not other catchers that are having better years than Matt. Ruiz, Yadier Molina, Pierzynski, and Montero are all catching a lot of innings and hitting better than Matt.

But if you want Matt to hit better -- rest him more. He drives the ball from his legs and when they are tired he is all the things you guys are talk about. Slow bat through the zone.

[Dr. FLK]

Top notch hitter TBD but obviously unlikely at this point. He's still above average, especially for his position.

And he's 100% a franchise player. You don't actually disagree with this, do you?

He's only a franchise player for a franchise without many good players. I don't consider him a franchise player on this team. Jones is clearly ahead of him - and I'd put Nick ahead of him too.

[DrungoHazewood]

Its all about what Buck wants out of Matt. Buck wants him to run the staff and be good defensively. And Matt does that. He has the most innings caught of any catcher in baseball - 704. Two other catchers that are thought of highly have much less. Mauer - 365 innings, Posey - 584 innings.

If the O's want him to hit better give his legs more rest. I actually think Matt will hit better in the second half main because Buck trusts Teagarden to run the pitching staff. That means Wieters gets more rest from catching.

I am not saying that there are not other catchers that are having better years than Matt. Ruiz, Yadier Molina, Pierzynski, and Montero are all catching a lot of innings and hitting better than Matt.

But if you want Matt to hit better -- rest him more. He drives the ball from his legs and when they are tired he is all the things you guys are talk about. Slow bat through the zone.

That is a theory, albeit one without much evidence to back it up, seeing as how Wieters hits better in August and September than in May, June or July. I would think that the end of a long, grueling season he'd be about worthless if fatigue was the reason he's not hitting, but his OPS at the end of the year is better than the middle, and not by a small amount. Maybe I'm missing something, maybe extreme fatigue causes him to hit better than moderate fatigue.

[maybenxtyr]

Its all about what Buck wants out of Matt. Buck wants him to run the staff and be good defensively. And Matt does that. He has the most innings caught of any catcher in baseball - 704. Two other catchers that are thought of highly have much less. Mauer - 365 innings, Posey - 584 innings.

If the O's want him to hit better give his legs more rest. I actually think Matt will hit better in the second half main because Buck trusts Teagarden to run the pitching staff. That means Wieters gets more rest from catching.

I am not saying that there are not other catchers that are having better years than Matt. Ruiz, Yadier Molina, Pierzynski, and Montero are all catching a lot of innings and hitting better than Matt.

But if you want Matt to hit better -- rest him more. He drives the ball from his legs and when they are tired he is all the things you guys are talk about. Slow bat through the zone.

The other catchers you just mentioned have major injury issues. Comparing the three makes no sense.

Matt is an ok player. His defense hasn't been as good this year, but still above average. His offense has been good for the position. The problem with that is, he was supposed to be sbove average no matter what position. I don't dislike Matt but he is not what he was projected to be.

People will blast me for this, but does anybody think he would have more value to the Orioles in a trade than what he provides on the field? I'm not saying they should trade him, just interested in what people think.

[ShaneDawg85]

Its all about what Buck wants out of Matt. Buck wants him to run the staff and be good defensively. And Matt does that. He has the most innings caught of any catcher in baseball - 704. Two other catchers that are thought of highly have much less. Mauer - 365 innings, Posey - 584 innings.

If the O's want him to hit better give his legs more rest. I actually think Matt will hit better in the second half main because Buck trusts Teagarden to run the pitching staff. That means Wieters gets more rest from catching.

I am not saying that there are not other catchers that are having better years than Matt. Ruiz, Yadier Molina, Pierzynski, and Montero are all catching a lot of innings and hitting better than Matt.

But if you want Matt to hit better -- rest him more. He drives the ball from his legs and when they are tired he is all the things you guys are talk about. Slow bat through the zone.

You do know that Posey pretty much had his leg shattered last season, and that Mauer is older and was injured much of last season as well, right? Comparing Wieters innings logged to those two is no way to prove a point considering that both of them are coming off some pretty bad injuries. I don't subscribe for one second to the idea that playing time and innings logged is effecting his performance. He goes through these slumps where he simply doesn't hit whether it's at the beginning of the season, the end of it, and everywhere in between. He just isn't consistent as a hitter, and I don't think innings caught has anything to do with it. It's just who he is.

[bmoreosfan]

I mean he inspires zero confidence in me when he's up to bat. Just not good enough to be hitting where he is.

Very disappointing.

Thank you. Everyone has criticized me because I have mentioned this throughout the year, and it's good to know that there is someone else out there who recognizes that Wieters is a bust. He is absolutely awful at the plate. He's a great guy with a great arm, but honestly he is the last player on this team I want up at the plate with the game on the line. I would trade Wieters in a second for the right return. I am not glad to be writing this. I could not wait for Wieters to get here. But he was supposed to be a superstar and he's average at best. Everytime he comes up to the plate he either strikes out, hits into a double play, or hits a dribbler. Pitchers completely dominate him and he looks awful.

[Brendan25]

The biggest problem with Matt is that he has consistantly hit in the 5 hole behind Adam Jones in a very important position in the lineup all season.

If Matt Wieters was hitting 7th all year with a .330 OBP and 12 HR's we would all be fine with him overall as a player. He is not the #4/5 hitter that we all expected him to be. He may become that player but he is not close to it right now. I know we don't have many options to hit 5th behind Jones, but Wieters is certainly not doing the job there right now.

[Brendan25]

Thank you. Everyone has criticized me because I have mentioned this throughout the year, and it's good to know that there is someone else out there who recognizes that Wieters is a bust. He is absolutely awful at the plate. He's a great guy with a great arm, but honestly he is the last player on this team I want up at the plate with the game on the line. I would trade Wieters in a second for the right return. I am not glad to be writing this. I could not wait for Wieters to get here. But he was supposed to be a superstar and he's average at best. Everytime he comes up to the plate he either strikes out, hits into a double play, or hits a dribbler. Pitchers completely dominate him and he looks awful.

Not even close. He is not as good to the hitter we expected him to be, but Wieters is not the definition of a bust. He is the definition of expectations being way too high.

[bmoreosfan]

He's one of the best players in the league at a premium position and he's only 26 with plenty of room to grow as an offensive player...

How can you honestly say that Matt Wieters is "one of the best players in the league"?