Brandon Tripp

[justD]

Wow. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a major Brandon Tripp fan for a number of reasons. But this business about rankings and "talk about age and k's" being something that ought to be completely ignored makes me wonder why you read the Hangout. It's all about trying to get <i>away</i> from random opinions, trying to get away from the emotional "every kid has a chance" subjectiveness that makes most blogs/message boards rather useless.

If someone can go to the trouble of watching the players, reviewing trends, talking to scouts, and then compile ratings of specific aspects of a player's game and the various physical characteristics that he possesses and then can tell us who is more likely to

<ul>

<li>make it to the big leagues, first and foremost;

<li>make it and function in a support role;

<li>make it and function as a starter; or possibly

<li>make it as an all-star caliber player....

</ul>

....well, you can call it entertainment if you like (and I know Tony has even himself qualified it as such), but I personally find that to be of great value -- not to the player, but to me, the fan, who is only trying to learn more about my team's prospects.

But as you mentioned, we all have opinions, and this is just mine.

[furryburres]

Thanks for the info. So is he a left fielder? If Tripp can hit for power, play above average defense in left field and make the bigs by 2010, then we might have our outfield set for years to come.

Don't you love it when our PROBLEM is too many outfielders? We've got Tripp, Reimold, Angle, etc. And these guys will all end up competing for the LF spot when Scott leaves. You could put Reimold at DH, but where does that leave Vinyard? He has impressive power, something the Orioles could really use.

[TakebackOPACY]

Excellent, very well put. It gets tiring hearing all the blabber about age, k's etc..etc..It really does get mundane over time. Every kid in the minors is living a dream, getting their shot to go where very few ever do. Rankings and prospect listings are pretty much someones opinion of that player or person. Every kid deserves a chance to fulfill their dream, within reason. I am impressed with the level of talent on this team, alot of "ballers". Hopefully each one will stay focused and not let the rankings and opinions distract them. We all know that opinions are like a@@h**** everyone has one.

Thanks. Those rankings/opinions don't tell the future. That said, they are educated opinions. Reading them, learning to understand how the opinions were formed, etc., have greatly increased my enjoyment of the game. For example, concerning Tripp:

His K rate hasn't stopped him from having success in 'A' ball and so far in High-'A' ball. Again, fantastic. And there are some players in the majors who strike out a lot and are still successful.

One reason, though, that his K rate keeps coming up is that many other players who have had success in 'A' ball despite a high K rate have experienced decreased success in 'AA' and 'AAA' where the pitchers are increasingly able to take advantage of whatever caused the high K rate in 'A' ball.

So thanks to what we've learned from past observations of other prospects (and from data) we're able to predict that this is an area he'll need to improve upon. An independent observer, therefore, will feel like he/she has to wait and see if he can prove himself in high 'A' and then in 'AA' and so forth before ranking him really high. Here's to hoping he can keep improving.

For me, having a little more understanding of what he's probably working on makes following him a little more interesting.

Don't you love it when our PROBLEM is too many outfielders? We've got Tripp, Reimold, Angle, etc. And these guys will all end up competing for the LF spot when Scott leaves. You could put Reimold at DH, but where does that leave Vinyard? He has impressive power, something the Orioles could really use.

With Fiorentino and Majewski gone, it's nice to see the next generation. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though.

[justD]

Two at-bats from today's game - the first in which he takes first

and is awarded second on a throwing error by the third baseman,

the second in which he earns a base-on-balls after being down 1-2:

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[Ruzious]

Don't you love it when our PROBLEM is too many outfielders? We've got Tripp, Reimold, Angle, etc. And these guys will all end up competing for the LF spot when Scott leaves. You could put Reimold at DH, but where does that leave Vinyard? He has impressive power, something the Orioles could really use.

In reality, that's quantity over quality. None of these guys are great prospects. Reimold's the best of them, and he's looking shakey at AA and is already starting to get old for a prospect.

[Frobby]

Don't you love it when our PROBLEM is too many outfielders? We've got Tripp, Reimold, Angle, etc. And these guys will all end up competing for the LF spot when Scott leaves. You could put Reimold at DH, but where does that leave Vinyard? He has impressive power, something the Orioles could really use.

Honestly, I don't see any of those guys as major league starters. And that IS a problem.

[oriolescrew]

Honestly, I don't see any of those guys as major league starters. And that IS a problem.

WOW!!!!

[Frobby]

WOW!!!!

I hope you won't misunderstand me. I'm rooting for all of these guys to do well. I hope they prove that they ARE major league starters. And I certainly think that both Tripp and Angle have been somewhat overlooked as players who could have a big league future.

[Owen21]

April 30 game...................1-1.....bottom of the 9th.........Blue Rock runner on third with one out............outfield in..............fly ball to medium right.........Tripp catches & fires a seed to Wieters to nail the runner......whoops...blown call...ump calls runner safe.......................I had a great view & that runner was meat....(would love to see replay)

WHAT A TRIPP !!!

[Lucky Jim]

WOW!!!!

No. You're right. A less analytical approach is warranted. And playing time and advancement based on - let me get this straight - the quality of one's dreams?

[Jammer7]

Two at-bats from today's game - the first in which he takes first

and is awarded second on a throwing error by the third baseman,

the second in which he earns a base-on-balls after being down 1-2:

Thanks for the video. He seems to lunge on the outside pitch and drops his hands. He had a nice cut on the high fastball in the second ab and fouled it straight back. He has nice followthrough, but his load and rotation timing are off.

He does have a funky swing as Tony has said. But I can't help pulling for the kid. At the age of 23, I just don't buy that he's too old for the competition in advanced class A Frederick. I would have loved to have seen his stroke before he made some changes last year. I'd love to see his progress.

[Jammer7]

In reality, that's quantity over quality. None of these guys are great prospects. Reimold's the best of them, and he's looking shakey at AA and is already starting to get old for a prospect.

Nolan is 24, 25 in October. If he hits, no one cares how old he is...period. He has the tools, he just needs health which will allow him the experience to control the zone. His k's are down and the BB's are up. When the weather heats up, I believe Big Nole will take off and head to Norfolk by early July. I think Nolan still has a great shot of being a ML regular.

Angle is going to need to drive the ball better to be even a 4th OF in the ML. Brett Butler couldn't play in the ML today, and that to me is his comp. Tripp may have a shot, but he has some work to do on that swing of his. I see why they kept him in Delmarva last year all season. He needs the work on off speed pitches.

The organization is woefully short on athletic OF prospects and middle infield prospects. This draft may provide some relief as the pitching is fairly stocked. That may allow Jordan to spend more higher end picks on positional talent. Tim Beckham (SS) in the first round would be a great start, and then follow him up with two CF's and another SS in three of the next five or so picks.

[NoVaO]

Thanks for the video. He seems to lunge on the outside pitch and drops his hands. He had a nice cut on the high fastball in the second ab and fouled it straight back. He has nice followthrough, but his load and rotation timing are off.

He does have a funky swing as Tony has said. But I can't help pulling for the kid. At the age of 23, I just don't buy that he's too old for the competition in advanced class A Frederick. I would have loved to have seen his stroke before he made some changes last year. I'd love to see his progress.

I have a short write-up I am waiting to publish that compares his draft swing to his swing of last year. I'll post it here when it is actually published (probably early next week).

[oriolescrew]

No. You're right. A less analytical approach is warranted. And playing time and advancement based on - let me get this straight - the quality of one's dreams?

Not sure what you're talking about? Please clarify if possible.

[Ruzious]

Nolan is 24, 25 in October. If he hits, no one cares how old he is...period.

That's just not true... semicolon. Otherwise, Tererro and Jimenez would be in the major leagues.