A few impressions

[Frobby]

Here are some impressions I have of the guys who have joined the roster this month:

Gerardo Parra is a potential nugget we may want to keep. I like his approach at the plate and I like his arm. But what I really like is his intensity in the dugout. He seems to fit right in.

Michael Givens has nasty stuff and shows a lot of poise for a young guy. He has an excellent future and I see him as a bullpen mainstay next year.

Steve Clevenger can hit. I like him as a third catcher/DH/PH a lot. Need to see a bit more of him on defense to see if he can be reliable catching 50ish games next year. But the bat will play.

Henry Urrutia hit a game winning homer tonight, and seems like a great, humble guy. But I'm not convinced yet. I still see too many lazy flies to LF on pitches he should be turning on and driving. Glad he got enough of that last one, though.

[33rdst]

W

Here are some impressions I have of the guys who have joined the roster this month:

Gerardo Parra is a potential nugget we may want to keep. I like his approach at the plate and I like his arm. But what I really like is his intensity in the dugout. He seems to fit right in.

Michael Givens has nasty stuff and shows a lot of poise for a young guy. He has an excellent future and I see him as a bullpen mainstay next year.

Steve Clevenger can hit. I like him as a third catcher/DH/PH a lot. Need to see a bit more of him on defense to see if he can be reliable catching 50ish games next year. But the bat will play.

Henry Urrutia hit a game winning homer tonight, and seems like a great, humble guy. But I'm not convinced yet. I still see too many lazy flies to LF on pitches he should be turning on and driving. Glad he got enough of that last one, though.

I said almost the exact same things about Clevenger and Givens last night. Parra has great energy and now that he has found his stride he is really helping the team. I love him in the dugout too. I can't pull for a guy more than I am for Henry. I hope tonight's blow gives him the confidence he needs to become a fixture in left field. I love this guy.

[ExileAngelos]

I agree Parra is a good fit here. I bet we resign him.

[Aristotelian]

I love that Parra and Schoop already have a handshake thing going.

Givens is my new favorite pitcher to watch.

Noted that he got hit hard when Buck left him in yesterday, and then again today.

[NashLumber]

Gerardo Parra is a potential nugget we may want to keep. I like his approach at the plate and I like his arm. But what I really like is his intensity in the dugout. He seems to fit right in.

.

That stood out for me as well.

[winkies]

This is my favorite Orioles team that I can remember in a long time.

[VeveJones007]

Here are some impressions I have of the guys who have joined the roster this month:

Gerardo Parra is a potential nugget we may want to keep. I like his approach at the plate and I like his arm. But what I really like is his intensity in the dugout. He seems to fit right in.

Michael Givens has nasty stuff and shows a lot of poise for a young guy. He has an excellent future and I see him as a bullpen mainstay next year.

Steve Clevenger can hit. I like him as a third catcher/DH/PH a lot. Need to see a bit more of him on defense to see if he can be reliable catching 50ish games next year. But the bat will play.

Henry Urrutia hit a game winning homer tonight, and seems like a great, humble guy. But I'm not convinced yet. I still see too many lazy flies to LF on pitches he should be turning on and driving. Glad he got enough of that last one, though.

I like Parra, but that BABIP scares the Bejeezus out of me. I think he'll end up commanding $10M/year, and I can't justify that cost for the risk of him reverting to his 2014 form. If they do re-sign him, I'll understand. I'll also be very concerned that he'll pull a Steve Pearce/Nate McLouth on them.

I think a Joseph/Clevenger tandem at catcher will serve the O's well in 2015, clearing up money for 1B and COF.

Givens will be a very solid BP arm for 6 years, allowing them to let O'Day move on to his big payday.

Urrutia is just a placeholder, replacement level player. Hopefully Alvarez can improve his plate discipline enough to warrant an everyday spot next year.

[Brooks The Great]

I really like Parra and his bat. I think he's going to cost 10 million or so per season to sign.He has a lot going for him. He hits the ball on a line drive. He has power. He runs pretty well and has a solid arm in RF. Some think this is a flukey season, but Parra hasn't showed any hesitation in the lineup.He does something positive every night. Givens needs to be evaluated with more appearances, but I really believe O'Day is too similar to keep both in the bullpen every night going into next year.Im rooting for Henry, but Im not sure he isn't comparable to a lot of players in baseball. Tonight was big for the 28 year old Cuban refugee. You can see he's worked hard at learning the language and improving on things he didn't do well in years past. I just wish we had some more SP talent.I think our lack of a shutdown starter will be our undoing.That, and the murderous schedule coming up.

How are O'Day and Givens too similar? Givens throws way harder than O'Day. Givens has strikeout stuff while O'Day relies more on inducing weak contact.

[Aglets]

This is my favorite Orioles team that I can remember in a long time.

All the way since 2014 for me. They didn't make things so close. Also they could pitch.

Thrilled at the start to the home stand so far though. Bring on the Twinkies.

[Tony-OH]

I like Parra, but that BABIP scares the Bejeezus out of me. I think he'll end up commanding $10M/year, and I can't justify that cost for the risk of him reverting to his 2014 form. If they do re-sign him, I'll understand. I'll also be very concerned that he'll pull a Steve Pearce/Nate McLouth on them.

I think a Joseph/Clevenger tandem at catcher will serve the O's well in 2015, clearing up money for 1B and COF.

Givens will be a very solid BP arm for 6 years, allowing them to let O'Day move on to his big payday.

Urrutia is just a placeholder, replacement level player. Hopefully Alvarez can improve his plate discipline enough to warrant an everyday spot next year.

Agree with all of this though I think Urrutia may be able to hang around as a 4th OF/DH type.

[hoosiers]

Urrutia looks fairly overmatched to me. He is very late on a lot of pitches and I really don't want his major league apprenticeship to be this playoff run. I am very happy that he hit that HR (for him and the team), but he needs to make some big adjustments pretty quickly IMO.

Givens has a lot of tools to go after hitters with. I think he will be a quality bp arm for some time.

[MDtransplant757]

That stood out for me as well.

This guy has an energy to him, and I hope he doesn't steve pearce it, because I liked Steve Pearce...

[VeveJones007]

Agree with all of this though I think Urrutia may be able to hang around as a 4th OF/DH type.

That's fair. Seems like a classic tweener. Too good for AAA. Not good enough for 500 ABs.

[weams]

This is my favorite Orioles team that I can remember in a long time.

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/144008730/al-wild-card-race-blue-jays-orioles-angels

[NashLumber]

This is my favorite Orioles team that I can remember in a long time.

Now that it's settled down a good deal from the hodgepodge underperforming outfield, I'm really digging this set of guys, too. Having a mostly healthy (still looks like Hardy is playing with pain) infield really helps me love these guys with their sterling defense. I hate that Wieters has not been able to make the contribution or play as much as he or we had hoped. That said, I find something to like about every night Caleb Joseph plays. I'm impressed with Clevenger and Parra, especially after seeing them during my visit to the yard this past weekend. Adam, Manny and Davis are anchoring things. Schoop's gonna be a fine one and has had some nice pop.

Starting pitching still worries me, but I admire Jimenez' heart and hope Gonzalez shows his late '14 form. I think Chen and Tillman will be fine down the stretch. Gausman looks like he's figuring it out. Bullpen will get it done, I think.

That said, there's something about that 2012 team that will always hold a special place for me. I think back to Mark Reynolds going on some HR tears late in the year and the fun they were having (the advent of the post-HR sunflower seed throwing) and all the crazy one run wins and extra inning heroics.