Opportunity knocks for Ryan Flaherty

[Going Underground]

Intentional Walk: Ryan Flaherty 1 Snyder was up next but everyone knew they would PH Wieters. The TV guys saw it coming as well. Angels are making weird moves.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/mlb/game/boxscore/l.mlb.com-2013-e.36108/

[orioles942]

Tie between Josh Bell and Nick Johnson.

[atomic]

Who is the worst hitting position player you can remember playing for the Orioles?

Glenn Gulliver couldn't hit but he walked a lot. When you lose your job to Todd Cruz your hitting must be really bad.

[DrungoHazewood]

Orioles with the most seasons of 200+ PAs and an OPS+ under 60:Mark Belanger: 7Willie Miranda: 3Luis Matos: 2Billy Ripken: 224 players tied with 1Miranda has the lowest OPS+ in team history, min 1000 PAs. Al Pardo has the mark (min 100 PAs) at -9 OPS+. His .334 OPS broke the OPS+ calculation. Manny Alexander's 39 and .535 is the record for 300+ PAs. Miranda is next no matter the PA total.For 50+ PAs the mark is Aurelio Rodriguez, for his 7 singles, no walks, 1 HBP in 67 ABs. Good for a -30 OPS+ and .250 OPS.If I had to nominate the worst hitter in O's history I'd go with Miranda. It takes some doing to have a real career and have an OPS+ 15 points shy of Mark Belanger.Honoroble mentions: Keith Osik went 2-for-25 with a GIDP as an Oriole. Wes Stock wins the pitcher category by going 0-for-36 as an Oriole, although Daniel Cabrera has an argument by going 0-for-14 with 14 Ks and a SH.

[luismatos4prez]

Tie between Josh Bell and Nick Johnson.

Johnson actually was pretty decent overall. .714 OPS. Just got off to that awful start.

Glenn Gulliver couldn't hit but he walked a lot. When you lose your job to Todd Cruz your hitting must be really bad.

How the heck did that team win 98 games and a WS with Todd Cruz getting most of the starts at 3B?

[OldNewGuy]

Willy was a "fan favorite" back 55/6/7. The Os were bad and outside of Gus Triandos and Willy there was not much for announcers Earnie Harwell, Bailey Goss, Chuck Thompson, and Herb Carneal to get excited about. They would always rave about Willys great defensive plays. I didn't see him play too often (couple of live games a year, and very few on TV.) They sure talked up his D and I think most fans were genuinely sad when he left the team.

[El Gordo]

Willy was a "fan favorite" back 55/6/7. The Os were bad and outside of Gus Triandos and Willy there was not much for announcers Earnie Harwell, Bailey Goss, Chuck Thompson, and Herb Carneal to get excited about. They would always rave about Willys great defensive plays. I didn't see him play too often (couple of live games a year, and very few on TV.) They sure talked up his D and I think most fans were genuinely sad when he left the team.

Bailey Goss. That's a name I haven't heard in over half a century. I was a big fan of Willy, but I didnt have a clue as to why. I was just 8 and all ball players were cool to me back then, and Willy wore the same number as Mantle, so he must have been good, right? :laughlol:

[Il BuonO]

Scioscia did intentional walk Flaherty on Saturday. I guess that is why his job might be in jeopardy.

What the... I guess I missed that. Was Flaherty somehow batting in front of the pitcher? Was this some kind of a dare? Did Scioscia also call all the fielders into the dugout ala Satchel Paige?

Snyder was on deck but got PH for by Weiters. I believe first base was open, but still not sure why you wouldn't pitch to Flaherty.

Me and CA-ORIOLE were at the game and couldn't believe it. Even if you thought Snyder was coming up and Wieters wouldn't PH, Flaherty is about as sure an out as there is right now. Dumb. We just shrugged our shoulders.

Almost as dumb as him having Trumbo run after Hunter walked him the night before. My Dad is an Angels fan out here and he's bemoaned his managing for years. I gave him a copy of Earl's book on strategy for Christmas and when he was done he said he was going to send it to Scioscia.

[Ruzious]

Yamaico Navarro up to an .852 OPS at Norfolk, hitting .395 over his last 10 games with 6 walks and 6 K's. He's actually a year younger than Flaherty, at 25 years old. He just had a 4 hit night tonight. Flaherty's defense has been a plus. Navarro MIGHT be a downgrade defensively but it shouldn't be that significant not to warrant giving him a chance here, pretty soon. Navarro has 373 minor league games at SS and only 47 at 2B but you have to think he's got the tools to be at least average there.

I think it's time to make the change. True that Flaherty had a big hit last game, but it was a bloop hit. Navarro could blossom playing for Buck, and the tools are clearly there, imo. I understand that Buck wants to give Flaherty every chance, and the team has won with Flaherty playing, but I think Navarro has earned a chance, and Flaherty was not able to take advantage of the chance given to him.

[AlbionHero]

Where did all the love about Flaherty being a prospect come from anyway? He was never projected a anything more than a utility guy in the Cubs system, and even they gave up on him since he was getting old and still hadn't made the majors. The Orioles really seem insistent on giving important every day at bats to a guy whos ceiling is a utility player.

[clapdiddy]

Where did all the love about Flaherty being a prospect come from anyway? He was never projected a anything more than a utility guy in the Cubs system, and even they gave up on him since he was getting old and still hadn't made the majors. The Orioles really seem insistent on giving important every day at bats to a guy whos ceiling is a utility player.

I don't disagree with what you say here, but I'm guessing that Buck likes the way he plays second base. He has been very good at second.

I'd like to see Navarro given the chance as well, but I'm guessing his defense is less than stellar.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Buck thinks he has the talent to be a ML regular. He looked good at the end of last year. He has bat speed and power.

If you go back to last year, I think more of the complaints might have been about his defense at second base. Looking more and more like that's not much of an issue.

[Dipper9]

Why are you guys complaining. Flaherty is hot man. He's one for his last one!

[CA-ORIOLE]

Why are you guys complaining. Flaherty is hot man. He's one for his last one!

Yep, and it was a laser beam.

[Dipper9]

Yep, and it was a laser beam.

A frozen rope, if you will.