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at. RED SOX, 9/13

Sessh

By Sessh
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25 Nuggets Hangout Grand Counsel

25 Nuggets

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Posted
Does anyone else get annoyed in the way in which Pedroia takes a pitch? I know it's so very trivial and other players do it that way, but it's just so offensive to my senses.

I would have loved -- loved -- to have Pedroia play his career in Baltimore. Can't say the same for certain other Sawx.

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    • Brooks The Great
      The Main Issue With The Orioles Offense and Approach is its Veteran Hitters - It's Time to Make Changes

      By Brooks The Great · Posted

      We're at a point in the season where there's enough of a sample size to make some meaningful observations, and it's clear to me that the main issue of this year's Orioles team is the offense, specifically the team's inability to get on base, and the team's over-reliance on solo home runs to generate a bulk of its run production. Even more specifically, the team's veterans are the root of the offensive problem, and it's time to address the problem with roster changes and playing time adjustments.   As of today, the following are Orioles hitters on the current roster with an OBP below .300 in order of most at bats to least at bats:   Anthony Santander - .283 Ryan Mountcastle - .296 Cedric Mullins - .242 Jorge Mateo - .292 Brian McCann - .208 Austin Hays - .221 Ramon Urias - .226   Quite literally all of this team's underperforming hitters are the veterans with more than 3 years of MLB experience - Ryan O'Hearn (.349 OBP) is the only veteran hitter on the team with an OBP above .300. And O'Hearn hasn't been anything special at the plate recently, as he's produced a mediocre .641 OPS over the past 15 days. At his peak on April 16, O'Hearn stood at .333 AVG / .400 OBP / 1.089 OPS. His line is now .276 / .349 / .823 OPS, so to sink to that line, O'Hearn has hit poorly over the course of the past 5 weeks.    All those hitters slumping and not working counts and drawing walks is directly responsible for our offensive slump recently, and it's why the team's offense is way too one-dimensional - relying mostly on solo home runs to win games.    During the offseason, I took issue with Mike Elias keeping O'Hearn on this year's team because O'Hearn would be blocking multiple prospects such as Heston Kjerstad, Coby Mayo, Connor Norby, and Kyle Stowers at the DH spot. A more specific discussion on O'Hearn is better left for another thread, but it's a good place to mention that a solution to this offense's issues is to start significantly cutting playing time for the veterans, and give this team's prospects (specifically Kjerstad, Stowers, and Norby until Mayo is healthy) more of a legitimate opportunity for regular playing time. And to be clear, I'm not blaming O'Hearn specifically for the team's offensive struggles. He's clearly been one of the team's best hitters thus far and he uses an approach at the plate I wish more of the struggling older hitters would take a page from. But I do strongly believe Mike Elias shouldn't have brought him back this season because the team already had a logjam with its hitting prospects.   Moving onto the team's management, the way Mike Elias and Brandon Hyde handled Heston Kjerstad during his MLB stint this season was absolutely terrible. It was irresponsible to call up an elite power bat prospect (who was ripping up AAA pitching at the time) such as Kjerstad and have a player like that sit on the bench and rot, relegated to very irregular starts and pinch-hitting. Elias and Hyde are now making the same irresponsible mistake with Kyle Stowers, but it's time to start making some adjustments and learn from those roster management and player development errors. Play the young prospects.   I'd like to see Elias call up Kjerstad and Norby immediately, and relegate Mullins and Hays to strictly bench defensive outfield roles. Anthony Santander should also be platooned more and start seeing fewer at bats until he comes out of his slump (if he ever does), as he's had pronounced L/R splits this season. Santander has no future on this team past this season, so there's more incentive to cut his playing time in favor of a prospect who fits more into the long-term plans with this organization (or who can help build trade value for needed assets at the trade deadline).   Colton Cowser can slide over to CF and play there every day, while Kjerstad can be installed as the new everyday LF with Kyle Stowers getting regular at bats in RF against righties and some lefties. Connor Norby can get at bats as the DH against LHP whenever Adley isn't DHing, and Norby can also split some time in RF with Santander against LHP.   The O's will be sacrificing defense to do this, but Mike Elias and Brandon Hyde have never truly valued defense - they just claim to value it. Otherwise, they would have never stuck with Rougned Odor and Adam Frazier - two of the worst defensive 2B in baseball - for entire seasons. And they wouldn't let Ryan O'Hearn ever see the outfield, but they do.    Most of the time, there's a defensive and offensive tradeoff for players. In this team's case, the offensive upside of our prospects warrant a look despite their defensive shortcomings. And the defensive value of the veterans (specifically Mullins and Hays) quite simply do not justify the cost of their abysmal offensive production.    I believe strongly that Mullins and Hays are done as productive regulars, and if that's not the case, they can prove it in limited roles while Elias and Hyde get a look at players that are much more likely to be part of this team's future (or also possibly enhance their value as trade chips in certain cases).    The younger players on this team have carried it offensively, and the MLB-ready prospects currently in the minors along with Stowers should get a long look to see if they can improve the offense's shortcomings and turn it into a truly elite offense. Giving regular reps to Kjerstad, Norby, Stowers, and eventually Mayo will also help them get acclimated to MLB pitching sooner, and put them in a better position to help the team in the playoffs.   I hope to see Elias make some significant changes soon, and have Hyde move away from the vets. This team is sorely in need of it.
    • OsFanSinceThe80s
      Baumann traded for Blake Hunt

      By OsFanSinceThe80s · Posted

      That's always been Baumann's issue for a hard thrower it doesn't prevent him from giving up hard contact to opposing hitters. Plus his control is hit or miss.
    • Warehouse
      Baumann traded for Blake Hunt

      By Warehouse · Posted

      Luis Gonzalez has all 3 options available but his left-handedness may be a barrier given the current bullpen composition.
    • LGOrioles
      Baumann traded for Blake Hunt

      By LGOrioles · Posted

      Baumann in his Seattle debut:   4 pitch walk (1 wild pitch) 101 MPH, 380 foot sac fly 4 pitch walk (steal and wild pitch) 101 MPH ground out 12 pitches, 3 strikes    I would like to see him do well but appearances like that are why he was DFA’d in the first place.
    • Conway12
      Baumann traded for Blake Hunt

      By Conway12 · Posted

      Two walks and two wild pitches in his Mariners debut
    • Winter
      Baumann traded for Blake Hunt

      By Winter · Posted

      now lets get something for Urias, Hays, Mateo & Perez and get the kids up. 
    • Three Run Homer
      James McCann: 2024 DiSar?

      By Three Run Homer · Posted

      Back in the early 2000s, Baseball Prospectus created a new award, the "DiSar", given each year to the player who went the longest in a season before drawing his first walk.  The "DiSar" was named after Gary DiSarcina, a futility infielder for the Angels in the 1990s who had notably low walk rates throughout his career.    You might think that James McCann is just another mediocre backup catcher, but you'd be wrong...this year, he is a leading contender for the DiSar!  He has 72 AB wihout a walk, most in the majors.  But he is facing tough competition from Jordan Beck of Colorado, who has 71 AB without a walk.  We can expect a nip-and-tuck battle over the coming months as Beck and McCann do all they can to pull their teams' collective OBP to the bottom of the league.   At one point, Craig Robinson of the 1973 Phillies held the all-time record for most at bats without a walk over an entire season, with 146.   But I found that nugget in an undated article on the SABR website, so it's possible that someone has passed Robinson in recent years.      

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