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Ryan Flaherty's OPS is now .385

Frobby

By Frobby
in Orioles Talk

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Can_of_corn Hangout Grand Counsel

Can_of_corn

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When do you plan to do just that? Any plans for your thoughts about BRob?

What are you talking about Bob? I am on the record as saying that Flaherty's ceiling was a super-utility player in MLB and that I thought he was a AAAA player. I said that while his power plays at the MLB level that I didn't think he would hit and that his defense at the MI positions would be adequate at best.

I just admitted to being wrong about his defense at second.

My feelings about Roberts hasn't changed much the last couple of years. Unless we get a call from the Commissioners' office I don't see the sense in me commenting about Roberts until his physical situation changes.

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Can_of_corn Hangout Grand Counsel

Can_of_corn

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The sad part is Ryan has the tools to make a contribution. He displays a high baseball IQ' date=' decent base runner, above average defense, and pop in his bat.

Unfortunately, Ryan missed out on development last year because of Rule 5. Now injuries prevent him from going down and get that development now. This is compounded by the fact that Ryan is 26 and will turn 27 in July.

It would have been nice to send Ryan to Norfolk right out of spring training.[/quote']

Someone his age shouldn't need further development.

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atomic Hangout Grand Counsel

atomic

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Someone his age shouldn't need further development.

He really hasn't played at triple A. If he spent last season at triple A he would be called up now and be able to produce. If I remember correctly Cal Ripken struggled badly for a couple of months and then he got beaned by a baseball and was out 3 games and when he came back he started hitting. Rich Dauer, I believe, struggled badly to start his career as well. As long as the O's are scoring a bunch of runs Flaherty can be given a chance to come around.

Shoot we waited on Nick Johnson last year when it was pretty much a given that he wouldn't do much. And Flaherty can play just about every position on the field.

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NickM21 Major Leaguer

NickM21

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Navarro has...concentration issues.

I'm betting that plays a part of why Flaherty is given such a long rope. Buck will let the offense come around if the D is solid, not usually the other way around.

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Can_of_corn Hangout Grand Counsel

Can_of_corn

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He really hasn't played at triple A. If he spent last season at triple A he would be called up now and be able to produce. If I remember correctly Cal Ripken struggled badly for a couple of months and then he got beaned by a baseball and was out 3 games and when he came back he started hitting. Rich Dauer, I believe, struggled badly to start his career as well. As long as the O's are scoring a bunch of runs Flaherty can be given a chance to come around.

Shoot we waited on Nick Johnson last year when it was pretty much a given that he wouldn't do much. And Flaherty can play just about every position on the field.

Cal was 21 in his rookie season. Dauer was 23.

Comparing Flaherty to Cal isn't Apples to Oranges it is Apples to Dirigibles.

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Slappy Major Leaguer

Slappy

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I dont care if Ryan plays like Mark Belanger at second base, sooner or later he has to hit in the big leagues. Later is coming sooner. If he isn't

considerably better by the end of this month, I would make the change. And yes, I would definitely consider Navarro or Schoop.

Buck is supporting him, but did leave the door open some in his quotes before the game yesterday. Flaherty probably only has another week or 2 to straighten himself out.

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DrungoHazewood Hangout Grand Counsel

DrungoHazewood

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Flaherty is drawing walks in 8.0% of his plate appearances, which isn't bad. The problem is, he has a crazy low .143 BABIP. He's had really bad luck so far.

Keep in mind, a big part of the Orioles success is turning tons of double plays. 100 so far (3rd best in the majors). The Red Sox are #8 with 81 double plays, the Yankees are #17 with 73 double plays, Blue Jays are #19 with 72 dp's, and Rays are #29 with just 58 double plays.

I expect Flaherty's OPS to go much higher with normal luck on his BABIP, and he is playing really good defense.

This is why BABIP can help raise your eyebrows but shouldn't draw your conclusions for you. Flaherty has not been unlucky. He has gotten good pitches to hit and has put very poor contact on most of them. That's not poor luck, that's poor skills.

I've been a pretty big supporter of Flaherty in the early goings but even I didn't realize the OPS had sunk this low. I think it's worth letting him try to find his stroke in Norfolk. I still think he has 25-30 HR power one day and I would hate to see him realize that in another organization.

I think the fact that MLB pitchers have little varience between BABIPs confuses people into thinking hitter's don't have much control over BABIP, either. That couldn't be farther from the truth. There are wide discrepancies in how hard and in what direction a batter hits balls, and that leads to a hitter's BABIP being a pretty good representation of talent.

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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The crazy thing is, we are still winning with that huge hole in our lineup everyday. Imagine if we had some decent production out of that spot, we could be 2 or 3 games better than we are right now.

That's the saving grace. So long as we're playing .600 baseball, changing the lineup doesn't seem that urgent. If the team begins to struggle, sudddenly there will be more focus on this.

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