Christian Walker to be called up by the O's today

[AlbionHero]

No real surprise, but Law just tweeted that he doesn't think Walker is a regular 1B long term.

Law doesn't like any Orioles player or decision they make, so that's not much of a surprise.

[hoosiers]

It's an interesting move to bring Walker up now. If the option game is not an issue and if our FO thinks it can deal with the 40 man or if our FO thought Walker could contribute in any manner in September or October, why wasn't Walker brought up earlier?

I really don't buy into the "resting the guys" angle here. There are plenty of journeyman with the team now to field a team between Paredes, Johnson, Young, etc. I am sure we could have Markakis, Hundley or Joseph handle 1B for a game or two if necessary.

The timing is also interesting in that we've been at 95% or higher to make the playoffs for a couple weeks. So our FO did not want Walker up previously as a distraction or for a cup of coffee, during this time - even after Chris Davis gets his suspension.

IMO, the only thing to be gained in the next 11 games with Walker on the roster is to give him a look and see where he is at and see if he might get hot, play strong D, etc and whether he might be a playoff option .... or more likely, Walker represents a back-up plan in case someone else's game goes to pot or gets injured before the playoffs. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense to bring him up now, IMO, instead of before.

Still, my question would be, 'why now'? Why not when Davis was suspended or on Sept 1? Because the only thing that has really changed as far as we know if the Davis suspension (unless someone else is hurting and it is not so public knowledge). I guess we have to trust the FO for making the Walker move for the right reasons.

[Three Run Homer]

It's an interesting move to bring Walker up now. If the option game is not an issue and if our FO thinks it can deal with the 40 man or if our FO thought Walker could contribute in any manner in September or October, why wasn't Walker brought up earlier?

I really don't buy into the "resting the guys" angle here. There are plenty of journeyman with the team now to field a team between Paredes, Johnson, Young, etc. I am sure we could have Markakis, Hundley or Joseph handle 1B for a game or two if necessary.

The timing is also interesting in that we've been at 95% or higher to make the playoffs for a couple weeks. So our FO did not want Walker up previously as a distraction or for a cup of coffee, during this time - even after Chris Davis gets his suspension.

IMO, the only thing to be gained in the next 11 games with Walker on the roster is to give him a look and see where he is at and see if he might get hot, play strong D, etc and whether he might be a playoff option .... or more likely, Walker represents a back-up plan in case someone else's game goes to pot or gets injured before the playoffs. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense to bring him up now, IMO, instead of before.

Still, my question would be, 'why now'? Why not when Davis was suspended or on Sept 1? Because the only thing that has really changed as far as we know if the Davis suspension (unless someone else is hurting and it is not so public knowledge). I guess we have to trust the FO for making the Walker move for the right reasons.

There is definitely a cost to this move. We will have one fewer spot on the 40 man roster, which will expose someone to the Rule V draft who we otherwise would have been able to protect. We won't know how costly that will be until we see who we lose in Rule V.

But I do see a benefit. I don't think Walker is a candidate for the post season roster, but if he plays regularly the team can get a sense of whether his hitting fundamentals are major league ready and whether he could be in the mix for the major league club next season. That could affect whether they resign someone like Delmon Young.

[webbrick2010]

Markakis is one of the back up 1B options

Markakis was hit by a pitch last night

Markakis was to have X-rays today

Result of the X-ray was??

Hopefully the more likely scenario is that the O's really just want to see what he can do, and didn't think it appropriate to have him in the clubhouse for the clincher

[DrungoHazewood]

Markakis is one of the back up 1B options

Markakis was hit by a pitch last night

Markakis was to have X-rays today

Result of the X-ray was??

Should be you starting a thread with the title "MARKAKIS OUT FOR YEAR WITH SHATTERED SHOULDER!!!!!"

[MurphDogg]

But I do see a benefit. I don't think Walker is a candidate for the post season roster, but if he plays regularly the team can get a sense of whether his hitting fundamentals are major league ready and whether he could be in the mix for the major league club next season. That could affect whether they resign someone like Delmon Young.

I would hope that the Orioles would make the determination on whether he can help the Major League club next year based on his minor league experience this year and not on the basis of 15 or so MLB at bats in September against teams playing out the string.

[mdbdotcom]

With the Walker move taking the roster to 40, at least now there won't be any talk of giving Roberts a one-day contract so he can retire as an Oriole.

[MurphDogg]

With the Walker move taking the roster to 40, at least now there won't be any talk of giving Roberts a one-day contract so he can retire as an Oriole.

Not sure what one thing has to do with the other. One day contracts are ceremonial and don't have an impact on the 40-man roster. Besides, if the Orioles were going to do that, they would do it in the off season if/when Roberts decides to retire.

[davidhusker]

Markakis is one of the back up 1B options

Markakis was hit by a pitch last night

Markakis was to have X-rays today

Result of the X-ray was??

Hopefully the more likely scenario is that the O's really just want to see what he can do, and didn't think it appropriate to have him in the clubhouse for the clincher

All this talk about Walker coming up for Pearce and they put Pearce in RF tonight for Markakis...

[Norfolk orioles]

I don't think judging a guy by 44 games playing in harbor park (it's basically impossible to hit home runs there) is a very good judge either.

He's a legit power threat and can play 1b. Let him get some swings in the yard in actual mlb games and let's see how it translates. Nelson Cruz would struggle to hit home runs in harbor park when the wind is blowing in off the water.

[mdbdotcom]

Not sure what one thing has to do with the other. One day contracts are ceremonial and don't have an impact on the 40-man roster. Besides, if the Orioles were going to do that, they would do it in the off season if/when Roberts decides to retire.

There doesn't need to be a roster spot for a one-day contract? What a bunch of hooey that is.

[atomic]

No real surprise, but Law just tweeted that he doesn't think Walker is a regular 1B long term.

I wonder how many times Law saw Walker play.

[MurphDogg]

I don't think judging a guy by 44 games playing in harbor park (it's basically impossible to hit home runs there) is a very good judge either.

He's a legit power threat and can play 1b. Let him get some swings in the yard in actual mlb games and let's see how it translates. Nelson Cruz would struggle to hit home runs in harbor park when the wind is blowing in off the water.

Harbor Park wasn't responsible for him striking out in 33 of 99 road at-bats. That, more than anything else, suggests that he is not ready to contribute at the big league level.

He was actually a significantly better hitter at home with Norfolk. He had 2 homers and 7 doubles in 67 at-bats at home. He had 4 homers and 3 doubles in 99 road at-bats.

[RVAbird]

The dude has really good power to RF and CF. He learned to turn on pitches this year. In our ballpark, he should eventually be a 30+ homer guy, IMO. Of course, that assumes he can hit well enough to be a regular but I'm pretty convinced that he's got plenty of power.

Wow, that's a pretty bold forecast. I'm usually very hesitant to slap a 30+ label on a guy with any kind of confidence unless I see a combo of plus power and contact.

Walker has a career .179 ISO and will be making his debut at the end of his age 23 season. By comparison, Wieters made his debut at the beginning of his age 23 season with a .233 ISO and turned into a 20-25 HR bat.

Perusing the list of guys with 30+ HRs this year, only Encarnacion, Bautista, and Trout put up sub .200 ISOs in the minors. Trout made his debut at age 19, so he's not comparable. Both Bautista and Encarnacion have had very peculiar development patterns in terms of power. I guess there's chance that Walker becomes one of those outliers, but I don't think it sets particularly good precedent to project 23-year-old college products with sub .200 ISOs to become 30+ HR bats in MLB.

[atomic]

There aren't that many precedents for players who hit .190 with 200 strikeouts but also 20-some homers and a good walk rate, who just the season prior had a 1.000+ OPS and 53 homers.

But yea, this past season is all that matters, ever. In related news, I project Steve Pearce to be the 2015 AL MVP.

Chris Davis had poor seasons before that is why the Rangers gave up on him. He just failed a drug test. I am sure if he were scheduled to make 5 million next year we would keep him. But the selfishness of his hitting is not going to win any appreciation from management. Hit the other way when they are giving you the whole left side of the infield. When you get two strikes shorten your swing. Buck mentioned that he told Chris even if you hit 35 home runs you have another 600 plate appearances to worry about.

Chris had a terrible season and he didn't even try to change his approach. They pull the shift on Pearce he hits the other way. The drug suspension didn't help his cause. No reason to spend 10 million dollars based on Davis' performance in 2014.

I feel like I am having the same argument I had two years ago about Mark Reynolds. It is like if a guy hits a few home runs you forget about all the other glaring holes in his game. It is perplexing to me.