I wasn't impressed with Urrutia's defense last night

[Frobby]

Watching Urrutia last night, he was very slow to get to balls hit towards the corner, doesn't get rid of the ball quickly and his arm is subpar. Much as I root for him to succeed, I don't see him as anything other than a stopgap.

[Redskins Rick]

Watching Urrutia last night, he was very slow to get to balls hit towards the corner, doesn't get rid of the ball quickly and his arm is subpar. Much as I root for him to succeed, I don't see him as anything other than a stopgap.

As much as I would love to see him succeed, personally, I don't believe he is even a stopgap.

[bobmc]

As much as I would love to see him succeed, personally, I don't believe he is even a stopgap.

My guess is that Buck is just proving to DD the same thing. Next man up since Nolan wasn't either....Dari Dari Dari! Come up and swing away!

[Redskins Rick]

My guess is that Buck is just proving to DD the same thing. Next man up since Nolan wasn't either....Dari Dari Dari! Come up and swing away!

Buck said, he was hoping Nolan would accept assignment to AAA and be back when the roster expands.

[webbrick2010]

He looks to be a zero tool player.

Hard to believe that the O's don't have a single guy in the organization that is a plus defender, or a plus runner, or a plus contact OBP guy.

DD not selling at the deadline has set the organization back 2+ years. With the O's drafting and player development system I have little hope that the compensatory picks will ever make the majors let alone have an impact.

Still don't know whether to laugh or cry about the DJ Stewart pick. A first round pick whose ceiling is a DH without power.

[Frobby]

Still don't know whether to laugh or cry about the DJ Stewart pick. A first round pick whose ceiling is a DH without power.

I don't know that I'd say Stewart has no power. The NY-Penn league, and Aberdeen in particular, is a very tough environment for home runs. The leading team in the league has 32 homers in 61 games; Aberdeen has 19 in 60 games; the lowest team has 12 in 62 games. In that environment, 5 homers in 46 games for Stewart is very respectable.

As an aside, power is really a rare commodity in the minors these days. In most of the leagues the Orioles' affiiates play in, no team averages anywhere close to 1 homer per game. Tops for each league:

International: .91

Eastern: .72

Carolina: .72

Sally: .70

NY-Penn: .52

GCL: .67

Those are the tops; the medians are much lower. The GCL is particularly top-heavy, as one team (GCL Braves) has about 25% more homers than any other team and as many as the bottom four teams in the league combined.

[Ruzious]

I've called him a poor-man's Reimold and stick by it. Reimold was released with good reason, so that should give a good view of what I think of Urritia as a MLer.

[clapdiddy]

I am not an Urrutia fan at all. He doesn't do anything well. Seems like a good guy, and I loved his heartfelt talk after he hit the game-winner against the Mets, but he is not a Major League player.

[webbrick2010]

I don't know that I'd say Stewart has no power. The NY-Penn league, and Aberdeen in particular, is a very tough environment for home runs. The leading team in the league has 32 homers in 61 games; Aberdeen has 19 in 60 games; the lowest team has 12 in 62 games. In that environment, 5 homers in 46 games for Stewart is very respectable.

As an aside, power is really a rare commodity in the minors these days. In most of the leagues the Orioles' affiiates play in, no team averages anywhere close to 1 homer per game. Tops for each league:

International: .91

Eastern: .72

Carolina: .72

Sally: .70

NY-Penn: .52

GCL: .67

Those are the tops; the medians are much lower. The GCL is particularly top-heavy, as one team (GCL Braves) has about 25% more homers than any other team and as many as the bottom four teams in the league combined.

Well I was referring to the scouting reports that said with his exaggerated batting crouch that he is likely not going to hit for power in the majors. Perhaps the O's will try to change his stance but is that what you want to be doing with a first round pick? The Blue Jays developed Kevin Pillar and Dalton Pompey with late round picks and they are way better than anyone in the O's system.

[SteveO]

Well I was referring to the scouting reports that said with his exaggerated batting crouch that he is likely not going to hit for power in the majors. Perhaps the O's will try to change his stance but is that what you want to be doing with a first round pick? The Blue Jays developed Kevin Pillar and Dalton Pompey with late round picks and they are way better than anyone in the O's system.

It feels a lot early to be railing on the D.J Stewart pick. I have read some decent write ups on him also. Lets give him some time. As Frobby pointed out, his power numbers are not out of wack for the league he is in. Henry is nice kid but not a long term solution.

[webbrick2010]

It feels a lot early to be railing on the D.J Stewart pick. I have read some decent write ups on him also. Lets give him some time. As Frobby pointed out, his power numbers are not out of wack for the league he is in. Henry is nice kid but not a long term solution.

It is early, but I think you would expect more from a college Junior in the NY/Penn league. Next year he will be 22 and start the year in low A. He's almost not a serious prospect by age/league but I'm sure he'll get deferential treatment as a former first round pick

[sportsfan8703]

Come September 1st we're going to see Alvarez head to head vs Urrutia. I think Urrutia got the 1st crack because he was on the 40 man and out of options for next year. I know Mancini isn't on the 40 and doesn't have to be protected from the rule 5 this offseason, but I'd really like to see what he is all about too.

[Frobby]

It is early, but I think you would expect more from a college Junior in the NY/Penn league. Next year he will be 22 and start the year in low A. He's almost not a serious prospect by age/league but I'm sure he'll get deferential treatment as a former first round pick

I just posted this in the DJ Stewart thread on the MiL board:

I got curious how some of the other college position players drafted in the first round have done so far.

Darby Swanson (SS drafted 1st): .918 in the Midwest League (low A)

Alex Bregman (SS drafted 2nd): .699 in low A, .818 in high A

Andrew Benintendi (OF/DH drafted 7th): .948 in the NY-Penn, 1.164 in the Sally.

Ian Happ (OF drafted 9th): .898 in the Northwest League, .820 in the Midwest

Kevin Newman (SS drafted 19th): .620 in the NY-Penn, .605 in the Sally

Richie Martin (SS drafted 20th): .675 in the NY-Penn

Taylor Ward (C drafted 21st): .948 in the Pioneer League (rookie level), .808 in the Midwest

Kyle Holder (SS drafted 30th): .477 in the NY-Penn

Chris Shaw (1b drafted 31st): .857 in the Midwest

Christin Stewart (OF/DH drafted 34th): .812 in the NY-Penn, then .877 in the Midwest (low A).

Taylor Ward was drafted immediately after D.J. Stewart, and I distinctly recall the cameras were showing the Angels' front office guys high-fiving each other after the Orioles made their pick.

You have to be a bit disappointed with Stewart's performance, but I don't think it's a serious concern yet. Let's see what happens next year.

[Nevermore]

Watching Urrutia last night, he was very slow to get to balls hit towards the corner, doesn't get rid of the ball quickly and his arm is subpar. Much as I root for him to succeed, I don't see him as anything other than a stopgap.

I started calling him "noodle-arm" after seeing a couple of his throws.

[Going Underground]

Is Junior Lake better then Henry? Or does it even matter.