Aberdeen: 1-11, 2.0 runs scored per game

[Rene88]

Just got off phone with my dad who is season tickets and he said the look pitiful. I told him about all the pitchers we drafted and he wasn't surprised given the putrid performance.

By the wAy he said the only win was 1-0:)

He said the catcher was the only position player that looked good with the bat.

Question: are the position players people we drafted last year????

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[Ruzious]

The worst hitting team in professional baseball - going for the worst in history?

[glenn__davis]

Question: are the position players people we drafted last year????

Just going by what looks to be the "standard" lineup:

C - Murphy/Heim - Both drafted out of HS in 2013

1B - Cory Segui - undrafted FA? Can't find out how we got him

2B - Steve Wilkerson - drafted in 8th round in 2014 (college)

SS - Justin Viele - drafted in the 37th round in 2013 (college)

3B - Hector Veloz - high priced interntational signing, appears to be a bust

LF - Sam Kimmel - 18th round in 2012 (college)

CF - Jay Gonzalez - 10th round in 2014 (college)

RF - Oswill Lartiguez - international signing

4th OF - Jamill Moquete - 32nd round in 2014 (college)

I would probably expect a little more out of Wilkerson and Gonzalez. Top 10 picks from college should be able to be at least respectable at Aberdeen.

But by and large, last year we spent multiple top picks on pitchers and catchers, and obviously this year we spend the vast majority of top picks on pitchers. Really shouldn't be that surprising that there's not much positional talent.

[eb45]

Wilkerson/Gonzalez were senior signs, most likely picked for their willingness to sign for absurdly cheap as opposed to their skills. I know I didn't have Wilkerson pegged anywhere near 8th round.

[Aglets]

I feel like the title of this thread should keep getting updated as we go.

1-16 it looks like now?

Very impressive, somehow.

[glenn__davis]

I feel like the title of this thread should keep getting updated as we go.

1-16 it looks like now?

Very impressive, somehow.

But they scored 4 runs! A veritable offensive outburst!

According the box score they still only had 5 hits...with 2 of them being from Jemile Weeks.

It's a good thing we have the Ripken connection there, otherwise as bad as this team usually is (last year notwithstanding) I wouldn't blame the Ironbirds for pulling a Rochester.

[hoosiers]

Perhaps this is what happens when you draft, like 2 position players?

(hyperbole for effect)

IMO, it is difficult to point the finger at the person doing the drafting when the GM (like the moves or not), makes moves to trade or forfeit our 1st, supplemental first and second round draft picks.

When those moves are made, the lower farm system will often be immediately worse off as a result.

[glenn__davis]

IMO, it is difficult to point the finger at the person doing the drafting when the GM (like the moves or not), makes moves to trade or forfeit our 1st, supplemental first and second round draft picks.

When those moves are made, the lower farm system will often be immediately worse off as a result.

I'm not really pointing the finger at anyone, I don't very much care about Aberdeen's record if there are players there who in time will help the Orioles.

But I don't think 3 lost picks from the most recent draft make much of a difference for this year's Aberdeen squad. How often do top O's picks end up at Aberdeen that same season? Not very often. I think it's far more likely that the emphasis on pitchers and catchers over the past 2 drafts have left the lower minors void of any decent talent, and that's more of the reason why you're seeing what you're seeing at Aberdeen.

[DrOrioles90210]

But I don't think 3 lost picks from the most recent draft make much of a difference for this year's Aberdeen squad. How often do top O's picks end up at Aberdeen that same season? Not very often.

I think that's exactly where the Orioles top pick would have gone if they had one. Manny, Gausman, and Harvey played in Aberdeen after they signed. Connaughton was just assigned there. Any college kid drafter earlier than him would have gone there and a HS kid drafted in the 1st or supplemental round probably would have gone there too. I went to watch Bundy pitch in Aberdeen on Friday and the Rays' first pick this year, Gillaspie, was playing for their short-season A ball team as well.

[glenn__davis]

I think that's exactly where the Orioles top pick would have gone if they had one. Manny, Gausman, and Harvey played in Aberdeen after they signed. Connaughton was just assigned there. Any college kid drafter earlier than him would have gone there and a HS kid drafted in the 1st or supplemental round probably would have gone there too. I went to watch Bundy pitch in Aberdeen on Friday and the Rays' first pick this year, Gillaspie, was playing for their short-season A ball team as well.

Harvey started 3 games there. After 5 in the GCL.

Gausman started 2 games there. He signed later.

Machado played 7 games there, he also signed late in the process.

It's very likely that at this point, any of those top 3 picks this year either a) wouldn't have signed yet or b) would have signed but would still be in Sarasota getting ready to get their feet wet in the GCL or, if they were a college player, in Aberdeen. None of those guys would likely have been in Aberdeen already, and thus the effect of those picks on this years Aberdeen squad, to this point, is minimal at most.

[hoosiers]

I would assume that 1 or 2 of the 3 picks would have been a college player who would have spent at least a month with Aberdeen like Olson, Reimold and other college players not taken in the first 10 picks did. So, Aberdeen could be considered to be missing what would be its best or two best players and that certainly would have impacted the atrocious start of the team by at least a couple wins. I think Gausman as a top 5 pick who signed late is a poor example esp compared with Olson and Reimold.

Regardless of whether one wants to get into the semantics of the w-l records at a detailed level, it is pretty obvious the lower minor leagues of an organization are going to be worse off without three top 60 picks.

[hoosiers]

In addition to the lost top 3 picks, it appears there are five guys among our third through 10th round selections who have not taken the field yet with a couple scheduled to make their debut in Aberdeen this week. Not sure of the delay because my recollection is that a lot of the college guys are ready to go at Aberdeen after signing.

Overall, Aberdeen relative to years past might be playing without one or two of the league's best players and another two or three top 10 draft picks who would be among the better players on the team.

Hopefully the guys joining the team soon can get things turned around a little, but overall the team has faced a pretty severe talent deficit relative to prior years in this early part of their season.

[Frobby]

I would assume that 1 or 2 of the 3 picks would have been a college player who would have spent at least a month with Aberdeen like Olson, Reimold and other college players not taken in the first 10 picks did. So, Aberdeen could be considered to be missing what would be its best or two best players and that certainly would have impacted the atrocious start of the team by at least a couple wins. I think Gausman as a top 5 pick who signed late is a poor example esp compared with Olson and Reimold.

Regardless of whether one wants to get into the semantics of the w-l records at a detailed level, it is pretty obvious the lower minor leagues of an organization are going to be worse off without three top 60 picks.

No question the loss of three picks hurt the MiL organization. The offensive ineptitude of this team is still rather mind boggling. Go back a year and their big hitters were Mancini (8th round 2013), Bierfeldt (29th round 2013) and Yastrzemski (14th round 2013). None of those guys were high picks, but they produced. The O's went very pitcher-heavy this year, but the few college bats they drafted (like Wilkerson - 8th and Gonzalez - 10th) have been awful at Aberdeen, and others aren't even playing there (Anderson - 9th).

[hoosiers]

No question the loss of three picks hurt the MiL organization. The offensive ineptitude of this team is still rather mind boggling. Go back a year and their big hitters were Mancini (8th round 2013), Bierfeldt (29th round 2013) and Yastrzemski (14th round 2013). None of those guys were high picks, but they produced. The O's went very pitcher-heavy this year, but the few college bats they drafted (like Wilkerson - 8th and Gonzalez - 10th) have been awful at Aberdeen, and others aren't even playing there (Anderson - 9th).

It is a team short talent all around - between the top picks and the picks still making their debut and, to Frobby's point - a heavy concentration of drafting pitchers mixed with no standout mid-round offensive talent. I think a couple thoughts about this. First, as long as the Scouting Director was taking prospects he liked as potential major leaguers as opposed to drafting kids to make the Aberdeen team better, I am okay with that. Second, if a team did go pitching heavy in the draft, one might think Aberdeen has more than a couple pitchers putting up donuts in top quality starts, but I don't believe that is happening either.

Not good. Maybe if Josh Hart gets going they will move him to Aberdeen instead of Delmarva and some of the guys making their debuts will improve the prospects of a team that otherwise one could have assumed would be pretty bad before the season began.

Also, going forward, maybe some of the better international prospects signed by FredF will also provide a consistent talent pipeline to Aberdeen besides the drafted Americans.

[glenn__davis]

I would assume that 1 or 2 of the 3 picks would have been a college player who would have spent at least a month with Aberdeen like Olson, Reimold and other college players not taken in the first 10 picks did. So, Aberdeen could be considered to be missing what would be its best or two best players and that certainly would have impacted the atrocious start of the team by at least a couple wins. I think Gausman as a top 5 pick who signed late is a poor example esp compared with Olson and Reimold.

Regardless of whether one wants to get into the semantics of the w-l records at a detailed level, it is pretty obvious the lower minor leagues of an organization are going to be worse off without three top 60 picks.

Why would you assume that 1 or 2 of the 3 picks would be a college position player? The last college position player I see picked by the O's in the 1st or 2nd round was Esposito. Who never played at Aberdeen. Before that it was Tyler Townsend. (EDIT - Townsend was 3rd rounder, sorry.)

If you need to go back to Nolan Reimold and Garrett Olsen to prove your point, then you are ignoring the recent history of the Orioles draft process.

There is no question losing those 3 picks will have some adverse effect on the system. To say that it has had such a negative effect on the first 3 weeks of the Ironbirds season is just not realistic, IMO.