Opportunity knocks for Ryan Flaherty

[JayThomas]

It's shocking to see how far he's missing balls by. Sometimes it looks like the plane of his swing is 3 or 4 inches above or below from the ball, sometimes on pitches that appear to be fastballs.

[BoltonBob]

It's knocking but he must be oversleeping:)

Before we bury Flaherty, he didn't do anything last year until he got some regular AB's. I hope Buck keeps putting him out there. He just needs to relax. Easier said than done. I still think he's got a chance to be a power hitting 2B.

:scratchchinhmm::agree::thumbsup1: -

Can't help but believe a month @ AAA would not help Ryan. Love to see Scoop get a "cup of coffee" to allow him to see what he needs to work on.

[Gurgi]

It's shocking to see how far he's missing balls by. Sometimes it looks like the plane of his swing is 3 or 4 inches above or below from the ball, sometimes on pitches that appear to be fastballs.

Yeah sometimes he looks very much overmatched up there. But he helped late last year and I think he might figure his stroke out. But maybe he need to figure it out in AAA where the games dont count as much.

[Tony-OH]

Flaherty is all messed up right now. He's not hitting anything and honestly, at this point, he needs to go back down to AAA. Time to give Yamaico Navarro a shot for awhile.

He's got an amazing 40% whiff percentage against the 40 change ups he's seen this year.

[Aristotelian]

I only saw one Flaherty AB last night, his first time up in the 3rd inning. He put a real good swing on it (a fastball, of course) that sent Saunders all the way back to the wall on a full run. Made an out but it's something positive.

[Scrat1]

Still wish they'd signed Kelly Johnson.

[LookitsPuck]

The only way Flaherty goes down is if Roberts is healthy and up with the club. Or Flaherty is hurt himself. Flaherty is at least playing solid defense.

Some good numbers:

Line drive percentage is up from last year (from 11% up to 13%). He's been hitting the ball harder lately and having better at bats. That's encouraging to see. His last 2 games he's smoked about 3 balls...2 directly at players (one 2B, another CF) and another that just missed a home run to dead center field by a foot.

I think he'll turn it around soon.

[DrungoHazewood]

The only way Flaherty goes down is if Roberts is healthy and up with the club. Or Flaherty is hurt himself. Flaherty is at least playing solid defense.

I don't think it's possible to play good enough defense to support the way Flaherty is hitting. A 28-year-old Mark Belanger playing on a high school team might not support a .117 average. Unless his bat picks up his status on the roster will become independent of Roberts' health.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I have seen small signs of progress from Flaherty. No longer trying to hit 600 foot homeruns to RF on every pitch. He was wildly over swinging before. Not as much now. Also, more signs of him going to LF and CF on occasion. Again, he's keeping his job for now for two reasons.

1. He isn't taking his AB's out into the field and is doing a solid job out there.

2. Buck and Dan must still have confidence that the bat is coming around.

I don't think we are close to seeing a change at 2B.

I agree with this. Whether some marginal progress is enough to keep this going (and for how long) is the question.

[El Gordo]

I like what I see from Flaherty in the field, strong arm on DP's, good range. Also he plays 5 other positions well. I'd give him at least 150 PA before I made a change. Lets see how Navarro is doing in AAA, then.

[murph]

I like what I see from Flaherty in the field, strong arm on DP's, good range. Also he plays 5 other positions well. I'd give him at least 150 PA before I made a change. Lets see how Navarro is doing in AAA, then.

I agree, we let Nick Johnson hit almost as bad for longer last year and the supporting offense wasn't nearly as good.

[DrungoHazewood]

Worst starts to an Oriole season by OPS (min 50 PAs):

[table]

[thead][tr][th]Rk[/th][th]I[/th][th]Player[/th][th]Split[/th][th]Year[/th][th]G[/th][th]OPS[/th][th]GS[/th][th]PA[/th][th]AB[/th][th]R[/th][th]H[/th][th]2B[/th][th]3B[/th][th]HR[/th][th]RBI[/th][th]SB[/th][th]CS[/th][th]BB[/th][th]SO[/th][th]BA[/th][th]OBP[/th][th]SLG[/th][th]OPS[/th][th]TB[/th][th]GDP[/th][th]HBP[/th][th]SH[/th][th]SF[/th][th]IBB[/th][th]ROE[/th][th]BAbip[/th][th]tOPS+[/th][th]sOPS+[/th][/tr][/thead]

[tr][td]1[/td][td][/td][td]Jeff Stone[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1988[/td][td]20[/td][td].357[/td][td]14[/td][td]56[/td][td]51[/td][td]3[/td][td]7[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]4[/td][td]1[/td][td]4[/td][td]10[/td][td].137[/td][td].200[/td][td].157[/td][td].357[/td][td]8[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].171[/td][td]80[/td][td]5[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]2[/td][td][/td][td]Mark Belanger[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1979[/td][td]18[/td][td].363[/td][td]14[/td][td]59[/td][td]52[/td][td]4[/td][td]6[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]7[/td][td].115[/td][td].190[/td][td].173[/td][td].363[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].130[/td][td]49[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]3[/td][td][/td][td]Cal Ripken[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1982[/td][td]17[/td][td].366[/td][td]16[/td][td]59[/td][td]57[/td][td]5[/td][td]7[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]9[/td][td].123[/td][td].138[/td][td].228[/td][td].366[/td][td]13[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td].128[/td][td]-8[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]4[/td][td][/td][td]Brady Anderson[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1998[/td][td]16[/td][td].369[/td][td]14[/td][td]64[/td][td]52[/td][td]5[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]6[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]9[/td][td]12[/td][td].077[/td][td].234[/td][td].135[/td][td].369[/td][td]7[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td].075[/td][td]-2[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]5[/td][td][/td][td]Jerry Adair[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1963[/td][td]18[/td][td].371[/td][td]18[/td][td]67[/td][td]63[/td][td]5[/td][td]9[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]7[/td][td].143[/td][td].164[/td][td].206[/td][td].371[/td][td]13[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].155[/td][td]26[/td][td]13[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]6[/td][td][/td][td]Brooks Robinson[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1976[/td][td]15[/td][td].394[/td][td]15[/td][td]57[/td][td]55[/td][td]2[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]5[/td][td].164[/td][td].175[/td][td].218[/td][td].394[/td][td]12[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].176[/td][td]44[/td][td]13[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]7[/td][td][/td][td]Eddie Waitkus[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1954[/td][td]13[/td][td].406[/td][td]13[/td][td]53[/td][td]50[/td][td]4[/td][td]9[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]3[/td][td].180[/td][td].226[/td][td].180[/td][td].406[/td][td]9[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].191[/td][td]13[/td][td]15[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]8[/td][td][/td][td]Terry Kennedy[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1988[/td][td]21[/td][td].406[/td][td]17[/td][td]64[/td][td]60[/td][td]5[/td][td]11[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]13[/td][td].183[/td][td].206[/td][td].200[/td][td].406[/td][td]12[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].229[/td][td]44[/td][td]18[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]9[/td][td][/td][td]Ken Singleton[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1976[/td][td]15[/td][td].419[/td][td]15[/td][td]63[/td][td]56[/td][td]3[/td][td]8[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]6[/td][td]6[/td][td].143[/td][td].222[/td][td].196[/td][td].419[/td][td]11[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td].140[/td][td]9[/td][td]21[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]10[/td][td][/td][td]Mark Belanger[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1975[/td][td]16[/td][td].420[/td][td]16[/td][td]56[/td][td]46[/td][td]0[/td][td]8[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]5[/td][td].174[/td][td].224[/td][td].196[/td][td].420[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]7[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].195[/td][td]49[/td][td]24[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]11[/td][td][/td][td]Rich Dauer[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1980[/td][td]17[/td][td].421[/td][td]16[/td][td]63[/td][td]54[/td][td]2[/td][td]8[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]7[/td][td]2[/td][td].148[/td][td].254[/td][td].167[/td][td].421[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].151[/td][td]23[/td][td]22[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]12[/td][td][/td][td]Gregg Zaun[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]2009[/td][td]16[/td][td].423[/td][td]15[/td][td]63[/td][td]54[/td][td]7[/td][td]6[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]9[/td][td]7[/td][td].111[/td][td].238[/td][td].185[/td][td].423[/td][td]10[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].128[/td][td]14[/td][td]14[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]13[/td][td][/td][td]Chris Singleton[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]2002[/td][td]23[/td][td].424[/td][td]19[/td][td]91[/td][td]85[/td][td]9[/td][td]14[/td][td]4[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]3[/td][td]21[/td][td].165[/td][td].189[/td][td].235[/td][td].424[/td][td]20[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].212[/td][td]21[/td][td]14[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]14[/td][td][/td][td]Mark Belanger[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1968[/td][td]13[/td][td].435[/td][td]13[/td][td]51[/td][td]47[/td][td]4[/td][td]8[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]11[/td][td].170[/td][td].180[/td][td].255[/td][td].435[/td][td]12[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].189[/td][td]69[/td][td]36[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]15[/td][td][/td][td]Ryan Flaherty[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]2013[/td][td]18[/td][td].442[/td][td]16[/td][td]63[/td][td]56[/td][td]6[/td][td]7[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]3[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]16[/td][td].125[/td][td].210[/td][td].232[/td][td].442[/td][td]13[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].154[/td][td]114[/td][td]24[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]16[/td][td][/td][td]Delino DeShields[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1999[/td][td]15[/td][td].443[/td][td]14[/td][td]58[/td][td]50[/td][td]4[/td][td]8[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]4[/td][td]1[/td][td]7[/td][td]6[/td][td].160[/td][td].263[/td][td].180[/td][td].443[/td][td]9[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].182[/td][td]27[/td][td]18[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]17[/td][td][/td][td]Don Baylor[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1974[/td][td]17[/td][td].454[/td][td]17[/td][td]76[/td][td]64[/td][td]8[/td][td]10[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]2[/td][td]2[/td][td]8[/td][td]5[/td][td].156[/td][td].267[/td][td].188[/td][td].454[/td][td]12[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]4[/td][td].167[/td][td]28[/td][td]29[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]18[/td][td][/td][td]Rick Dempsey[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1983[/td][td]15[/td][td].454[/td][td]13[/td][td]52[/td][td]42[/td][td]4[/td][td]6[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]6[/td][td]10[/td][td].143[/td][td].240[/td][td].214[/td][td].454[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].176[/td][td]43[/td][td]30[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]19[/td][td][/td][td]Lee May[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1980[/td][td]14[/td][td].455[/td][td]11[/td][td]50[/td][td]47[/td][td]1[/td][td]8[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]6[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]9[/td][td].170[/td][td].200[/td][td].255[/td][td].455[/td][td]12[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].205[/td][td]33[/td][td]28[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]20[/td][td][/td][td]Billy Ripken[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1988[/td][td]22[/td][td].457[/td][td]22[/td][td]91[/td][td]84[/td][td]7[/td][td]15[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]5[/td][td]3[/td][td]1[/td][td]5[/td][td]13[/td][td].179[/td][td].231[/td][td].226[/td][td].457[/td][td]19[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].208[/td][td]76[/td][td]33[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]21[/td][td][/td][td]Felix Pie[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]2009[/td][td]20[/td][td].461[/td][td]15[/td][td]58[/td][td]51[/td][td]4[/td][td]8[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]6[/td][td]14[/td][td].157[/td][td].246[/td][td].216[/td][td].461[/td][td]11[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td].194[/td][td]25[/td][td]23[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]22[/td][td][/td][td]Mark Belanger[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1977[/td][td]15[/td][td].463[/td][td]15[/td][td]56[/td][td]49[/td][td]3[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]3[/td][td]1[/td][td]4[/td][td]7[/td][td].184[/td][td].259[/td][td].204[/td][td].463[/td][td]10[/td][td]2[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td].214[/td][td]65[/td][td]30[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]23[/td][td][/td][td]Paul Blair[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1974[/td][td]19[/td][td].465[/td][td]14[/td][td]64[/td][td]61[/td][td]5[/td][td]10[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]5[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]6[/td][td].164[/td][td].203[/td][td].262[/td][td].465[/td][td]16[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].151[/td][td]28[/td][td]29[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]24[/td][td][/td][td]Alan Wiggins[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]1986[/td][td]15[/td][td].465[/td][td]15[/td][td]68[/td][td]62[/td][td]9[/td][td]12[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]2[/td][td]5[/td][td]0[/td][td]4[/td][td]6[/td][td].194[/td][td].239[/td][td].226[/td][td].465[/td][td]14[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].211[/td][td]60[/td][td]33[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]25[/td][td][/td][td]Mark Reynolds[/td][td]April/March[/td][td]2012[/td][td]19[/td][td].467[/td][td]19[/td][td]73[/td][td]63[/td][td]4[/td][td]9[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td]10[/td][td]30[/td][td].143[/td][td].260[/td][td].206[/td][td].467[/td][td]13[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]1[/td][td].273[/td][td]26[/td][td]34[/td][/tr][/table]

The jury is still out. Flaherty had the 15th-worst April by this measure. But the others ranged from ROY and eventual HOFer Cal Ripken, to Jeff Stone who's April 1988 was more-or-less then end of his big league career. Pretty much every year Mark Belanger went 8-for-50 in April.

Eyeballing that list, I think there's a lot more bad than good in the after performances. But you'd probably expect that in any list of awful months. Your typical All Star doesn't have a lot of months where they hit .120. We'll see.

[DrungoHazewood]

I agree, we let Nick Johnson hit almost as bad for longer last year and the supporting offense wasn't nearly as good.

Johnson was 0-for-April, but he only played 8 games. Then he OPS'd 1.200 the first two weeks of May, and over 1.000 for the month. Flaherty might have some more rope, but I don't think it's a lot.

[murph]

Johnson was 0-for-April, but he only played 8 games. Then he OPS'd 1.200 the first two weeks of May, and over 1.000 for the month. Flaherty might have some more rope, but I don't think it's a lot.

Oops, I remembered he finally started hitting, but didn't realize he got that hot for a stretch.

[Fla_O'sfan]

How in the world is this guy still on the team.....and still getting the bulk of the starts at 2b?? He belongs somewhere in the minors...and probably not Norfolk.