Buck's comments on the roster

[clapdiddy]

And from June 1 on, he was actually very good and that time period represented about half of his plate appearances.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=loughda01&year=2014&t=b

I think it's pretty funny that David Lough had more walks than Adam Jones last year!

[Three Run Homer]

And from June 1 on, he was actually very good and that time period represented about half of his plate appearances.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=loughda01&year=2014&t=b

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and there's no question that David Lough made a terrible first impression on Buck. Buck gave Lough regular work in LF in the first half and he was horrific. Buck lost confidence in him and gave him very limited duty for the rest of the season, and the O's eventually traded for De Aza to fill the role they originally had hoped Lough would fill.

Maybe Buck is willing to give him another shot at regular duty in 2015, but it's hard to see him ahead of Pearce and De Aza in the corner outfield queue heading into spring training. It may be that DD is putting more weight on Lough's second half recovery than Buck, and that this explains DD's lack of urgency in finding another bat this offsesaon.

[markdublya]

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and there's no question that David Lough made a terrible first impression on Buck.

Unless you're Ryan Flaherty, who seems to be unwatchable every April and May...

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=flahery01&year=Career&t=b

[terps19]

I still haven't figured out why we don't put Davis in RF and Pearce on 1st.

How quickly we forget the digs Davis makes at 1b. See game one of the ALCS (I think it was game one) when Hardy made a poor but catchable throw to Pearce at first. The ball played Pearce instead of Pearce playing the ball- it handcuffed him and scooted by him. Next up we have Gordon's (??) bloop double down the RF line off the end of the bat and KC scores runs. I think we lost the game on that throw.

[weams]

This. U would think that a catcher would have even less recovery than a pitcher would, due to not throwing 100% effort every time they are throwing.

But they have to throw every day. Wieters said he had the surgery so that eventually he could catch full time again. I wouls assume that he will take it slow himself.

[weams]

How quickly we forget the digs Davis makes at 1b. See game one of the ALCS (I think it was game one) when Hardy made a poor but catchable throw to Pearce at first. The ball played Pearce instead of Pearce playing the ball- it handcuffed him and scooted by him. Next up we have Gordon's (??) bloop double down the RF line off the end of the bat and KC scores runs. I think we lost the game on that throw.

Davis has almost 10 inches of wingspan I would think as well.

[berettafan]

How quickly we forget the digs Davis makes at 1b. See game one of the ALCS (I think it was game one) when Hardy made a poor but catchable throw to Pearce at first. The ball played Pearce instead of Pearce playing the ball- it handcuffed him and scooted by him. Next up we have Gordon's (??) bloop double down the RF line off the end of the bat and KC scores runs. I think we lost the game on that throw.

Yes yes yes. I wanted Davis kept for 1b, not just a bat.

[MurphDogg]

Provided that Wieters were only going to play on days where he had a good batting match-up, I'd see this. If Wieters is going to be the everyday DH, this argument doesn't stand up.

Perhaps I am dense but I don't understand what you mean here. Can you explain?

[Babypowder]

Wieters has a career OPS+ of 100. Delmon Young has a career OPS+ of 99. If Wieters isn't worthy of a roster spot if he can't catch then Delmon Young isn't worthy of a roster spot period.

If Wieters were a platoon DH and bumped Young off the roster, then I would be ok with it. However, he's still a short side platoon DH and has very limited value. I'd also argue that it's very likely Young will prove unworthy of a roster spot. I'm not a fan of his either due to such a limited skillset.

[terps19]

Davis has almost 10 inches of wingspan I would think as well.

Feet...inches... yup.

[MurphDogg]

If Wieters were a platoon DH and bumped Young off the roster, then I would be ok with it. However, he's still a short side platoon DH and has very limited value. I'd also argue that it's very likely Young will prove unworthy of a roster spot. I'm not a fan of his either due to such a limited skillset.

My guess is that Matt Wieters would be a better hitter if he didn't catch 130 games.

As far as his splits go, I'm not all that convinced that he is a better vs. lefties than righties. The underlying metrics don't seem to support the splits. His LD/GB/FB/IFFB rates as a left-handed hitter against righties are 18.9/43.1/38/8.5 and as a right-handed hitter are 17.2/39.3/43.4/7.1. With these metrics you wouldn't expect him to have a lower BABIP as a lefty than a righty, but his lefty BABIP is .268 and his righty BABIP is .332. The only major difference is his HR rate which is significantly better as a right-handed hitter.

He was actually better as a left-handed hitter his first two seasons and in his month of play last year, but has been significantly better as a right-handed hitter his other three seasons.

[weams]

Feet...inches... yup.

Advantage over Pearce. That is why I like Davis at first better.

[weams]

My guess is that Matt Wieters would be a better hitter if he didn't catch 130 games.

As far as his splits go, I'm not all that convinced that he is a better vs. lefties than righties. The underlying metrics don't seem to support the splits. His LD/GB/FB/IFFB rates as a left-handed hitter against righties are 18.9/43.1/38/8.5 and as a right-handed hitter are 17.2/39.3/43.4/7.1. With these metrics you wouldn't expect him to have a lower BABIP as a lefty than a righty, but his lefty BABIP is .268 and his righty BABIP is .332. The only major difference is his HR rate which is significantly better as a right-handed hitter.

He was actually better as a left-handed hitter his first two seasons and in his month of play last year, but has been significantly better as a right-handed hitter his other three seasons.

I was listening to Matt talking about lowering his hands as a key to hitting from the left side. He may have dialed that in a bit.