Matt Wieters WAR Is Officially 0.0

[oriolesmagic9]

God, I almost hate to post this. I can only imagine what it might start. Let me start with this.....I won't argue with anyone. I have simply read a ton of stuff about Matt here, and these are my thoughts. Feel free to disagree. I know you all have been dying to know what the guy with the foul mouth and distasteful avatar thinks, so here goes....

I love Matt Wieters, and his approach at the plate frustrates the piss out of me. I do not believe in WAR regarding Matt. I believe in the eye test. The O's are better with him than without him. Roll out all the formulas you wish. I do not believe he could simply be replaced by player X without the O's taking a hit. I think the criticism about pitch calling and framing is garbage, and certainly is backed by less credibility than those who choose to use WAR.

As to his hitting, I'm gonna throw out something simple.....but something I have thought for years. I think Matt uses a bat that is simply too heavy for him to be effective against big league pitchers. He's a big guy, so he should use a big bat, right? I don't think he has the bat speed to use a heavy bat. I think he's a slap-doubles hitter, despite his size. I think that's why we see him constantly hitting grounders to second base. He's not a power hitter, but he's trying to live up to his size. Yes, he occasionally hits it a country mile. So does Ryan Flaherty. Use a light bat! I admit I don't know what he uses....so take it for what it is. My eye test.

If you want to debate what his next contract looks like, I think that's absolutely fair. To suggest Matt is bad or could easily be replaced without negative consequences is wrong, in my opinion.

[El Gordo]

I don't know whether Matt calls a good game or not. I do know that every time Tillman pitches he praises Matt for helping him get through the rough early innings. But Tillman's only a pitcher, what does he know about catching?

[Three Run Homer]

Interesting idea about the bat weight. I always thought that ground balls to 2nd base (from a lefty hitter) were a symptom of a hitter trying to pull outside pitches, so my "advice" to Matt would be to look to take the ball the other way more often, even though that would result in less power.

[Mondo Trasho]

You would think that if it's something as simple as bat size the coaching staff would have figured it out already. I mean Davis changed his bat size and it helped him.

Then again who knows...

[SerenityNow]

Interesting post. If he does in fact use a heavier bat I could see him benefitting by switching to a lighter bat.

[weams]

You would think that if it's something as simple as bat size the coaching staff would have figured it out already. I mean Davis changed his bat size and it helped him.

Then again who knows...

Yes. He got a much heavier bat to slow his swing down. You might have something here.

[joedogg9999]

He passes your eye test? Are your contacts out of perscription? What I see is a guy that does nothing but throw runners out. I see our pitchers perfirm better when hes not catching. I see an 8 hitter batting 6th. I see a mediocre player thats looking to cash out on a massive deal when he should be traded for a value return

[Frobby]

I see a guy who has been a very good player for us for several years who has struggled a bit with the bat this year. There is plenty of baseball still to be played and Wieters has proven capable of some hellacious hot streaks in the past, so I'm not losing any sleep over the numbers he's posted thus far.

[oriolesmagic9]

He passes your eye test? Are your contacts out of perscription? What I see is a guy that does nothing but throw runners out. I see our pitchers perfirm better when hes not catching. I see an 8 hitter batting 6th. I see a mediocre player thats looking to cash out on a massive deal when he should be traded for a value return

Lol, yep bubba....he passes my eye test.

[SilentJames]

I thought this had been summarily debunked by facts and a fairly good turn through the rotation. But you know, whatever.

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[oriolesmagic9]

I thought this had been summarily debunked by facts and a fairly good turn through the rotation. But you know, whatever.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

Sorry to bore you. Thanks for posting.

[UMDTerrapins]

I put out this theory a while ago. I believe MW uses a 34 inch/32 ounce bat.

[The Wedge]

His swing looks noticeably loopy to me lately. Not very level, extra unneeded motion, and almost impossible to square up on the ball. I'm not surprised whenever he gets on top of a ball and puts it right to second, because his swing looks like it's designed to do that.

He may not need a lighter bat, but he sure does need to figure out how to shorten his swing. He looked his best at the plate when his swing was compact, now its almost a windmill.

[oriolesmagic9]

I put out this theory a while ago. I believe MW uses a 34 inch/32 ounce bat.

And I admit, I could be 100% off. It just looks that way to me. Also, maybe this is the best he can be. I don't expect him to hit .300.

[wildcard]

This off season Matt needs to be signed to a 5 year contract with an option year. He is a key part of the team. His hitting is what it is. Take his three year average and pay him accordingly. He is too valuable to lose.