Joey Rickard, you have one job until the beginning of the regular season...

[DrungoHazewood]

59 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Rickard needs to get back to being the guy that he was when we took him in the rule 5 draft. 

If Adam Jones had lost as many walks in the minors-majors transition as Rickard he'd be starting the year with -44 walks.

[weams]

5 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

If Adam Jones had lost as many walks in the minors-majors transition as Rickard he'd be starting the year with -44 walks.

Do you think MLB pitchers stopped fearing his awesome power after the hand injury?

[Redskins Rick]

56 minutes ago, weams said:

Do you think MLB pitchers stopped fearing his awesome power after the hand injury?

baseball is a game of adjustments, pitchers figured out how to get Rickard out, and he hasn't been able to make the readjustment.

[Luke-OH]

18 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

baseball is a game of adjustments, pitchers figured out how to get Rickard out, and he hasn't been able to make the readjustment.

Yeah, you can call it that. But it’d also be fair to say he has a pushy level swing and not much raw power, so he was never going to hit for enough power to keep pitchers honest.

Some guys can get by as slap hitters, but those guys generally have elite bat speed or elite pitch recognition or both and play an up the middle position.

IMO, he was likely a completely stats based pick in the Rule 5 draft. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, scouts can have internal biases at times and miss players. 

[Redskins Rick]

5 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

Yeah, you can call it that. But it’d also be fair to say he has a pushy level swing and not much raw power, so he was never going to hit for enough power to keep pitchers honest.

Some guys can get by as slap hitters, but those guys generally have elite bat speed or elite pitch recognition or both and play an up the middle position.

IMO, he was likely a completely stats based pick in the Rule 5 draft. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, scouts can have internal biases at times and miss players. 

There was more hustle and fire from him, that I am just not seeing this time, he is a bit timid in the field, letting balls drop in front of him.

For whatever reason, he just isnt the same player that they drafted before he got hurt.

[Camden_yardbird]

I think the Orioles really fail by taking guys like Flaherty and Rickard and then not optioning the second year so they can get consistent pkaying time and finish developing.

[DrungoHazewood]

16 minutes ago, Camden_yardbird said:

I think the Orioles really fail by taking guys like Flaherty and Rickard and then not optioning the second year so they can get consistent pkaying time and finish developing.

There's not much development to be had when you're already 26.  Flaherty had four years as a pro under his belt with the Orioles drafted him, and that's after playing D-I college ball at Vanderbilt.

[Tx Oriole]

1 hour ago, Redskins Rick said:

There was more hustle and fire from him, that I am just not seeing this time, he is a bit timid in the field, letting balls drop in front of him.

For whatever reason, he just isnt the same player that they drafted before he got hurt.

Maybe because he just not a good player. 

[jamalshw]

Lets not forget, the Rule-5 draft is a way to acquire players not protected by other systems. There's a reason they're available. Maybe they're being overlooked by their organization or their organization is so deep that they're a quality option left unprotected by default. That's possible. Quality players are acquired via Rule-5 from time-to-time, but mostly it's utility players, relief pitchers, fringe Major Leaguers.

[weams]

3 hours ago, Camden_yardbird said:

I think the Orioles really fail by taking guys like Flaherty and Rickard and then not optioning the second year so they can get consistent pkaying time and finish developing.

How can you develop someone that is not one of the best 1200 baseball players on the planet?

[weams]

2 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

There's not much development to be had when you're already 26.  Flaherty had four years as a pro under his belt with the Orioles drafted him, and that's after playing D-I college ball at Vanderbilt.

This.

[weams]

3 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

There was more hustle and fire from him, that I am just not seeing this time, he is a bit timid in the field, letting balls drop in front of him.

For whatever reason, he just isnt the same player that they drafted before he got hurt.

He plays everything in front of him, But make no mistake, the reason he is not a major leaguer is that he can't hit. Even Royal Farms dropped him. 

[Redskins Rick]

Just now, weams said:

He plays everything in front of him, But make no mistake, the reason he is not a major leaguer is that he can't hit. Even Royal Farms dropped him. 

Ok, but doesn't he really seam to be the same kid that played before getting hurt????

[weams]

3 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

There was more hustle and fire from him

 

1

Hustle and fire seem to have little to do with the skill set to be among the very best on the planet. Bat speed, 40 times, body control in spacial relationships seem to mean everything. 

[weams]

17 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Ok, but doesn't he really seam to be the same kid that played before getting hurt????

Could be. From what I remember he never chose to get it repaired.