Is Dariel Alvarez That Terrible?

[LA2]

36 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

Reimold looked especially bad last season because he was used in basically the worst way he could be. He has always had reverse splits and hit RHP better than LHP, but somehow Showalter decided he was useful in a platoon against his weaker side. So he gets sporadic PAs against the side he already hits worse. He predictably did not respond to that role well. Even last season he actually hit RHP well when he got a chance with a 105 wRC+, but he was miserable against lefties and that's what he was mainly used for. I don't think he should have player more against RHP, but keeping him around for that role didn't make sense at all.

The stats actually do not support your argument that well--

2009: .841 vs. RHP / .815 vs. LHP

2010: .519 / .735

2011: .830 / .680

2012: .922 / 1.076

2013: .579 / .595

2014: .672 / .758

2015: .691 / .791

The total career split--even including last season during which his OPS vs. RHP was 200 points higher than against LHP--shows a difference of only .761 / .721. Not enough of a split to absolutely determine how Buck should have used him.

[Babypowder]

11 hours ago, LA2 said:

The stats actually do not support your argument that well--

2009: .841 vs. RHP / .815 vs. LHP

2010: .519 / .735

2011: .830 / .680

2012: .922 / 1.076

2013: .579 / .595

2014: .672 / .758

2015: .691 / .791

The total career split--even including last season during which his OPS vs. RHP was 200 points higher than against LHP--shows a difference of only .761 / .721. Not enough of a split to absolutely determine how Buck should have used him.

And a guy with a .721 OPS vs LHP for his career, with no other redeeming qualities, is a guy you roster with the sole purpose to be the short side of a platoon? There are always Steve Pearces laying around who can do it much better than Reimold. I don't know how they were convinced Kim couldn't do that.

[Rene88]

18 hours ago, Frobby said:

First of all, whether Buck made a questionable decision in the WC game doesn't enter into my thinking as to whether Reimold got any special treatment as an Oriole.    Am I supposed to conclude he has an irrational hatred for Zach Britton because he didn't get used in that game?

Second of all, Reimold entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Kim against LHP Liriano.   He stayed in the game.   It's not like he was brought in for defense.   

 

I watched most of the games last year. Kim rarely played past the 7th. I disagree. I think the purpose was two-fold-lefty/righty matchup and more importantly defense. If you didn't notice, Buck never had a lot of confidence in Kim defensively.

Let's just agree to disagree. I know some stuff about Reimold that I will keep to myself. I feel very strongly he got preferential treatment.

[Tony-OH]

19 hours ago, Rene88 said:

I don't necessarily think he is better than what is out there in the FA market (there is some good OF depth options out there for us) BUT I do think he is better than Reimold. I think 80% of fans feel that Reimold got special treatment for no good reason. It is puzzling and I don't want Reimold anywhere near this roster, even on a minor league deal.

I will bring up something that RZNJ brought up that I thought was a good idea. Trying him as a pitcher. Has this been seriously discussed? He has a cannon for an arm.

He is not interested in becoming a pitcher with the Orioles is what I've been told.

[Rene88]

5 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

He is not interested in becoming a pitcher with the Orioles is what I've been told.

That makes a lot of sense. Hats off to RZNJ on that. I thought it was a very good idea.

 

[Frobby]

21 minutes ago, Rene88 said:

I watched most of the games last year. Kim rarely played past the 7th. I disagree. I think the purpose was two-fold-lefty/righty matchup and more importantly defense. If you didn't notice, Buck never had a lot of confidence in Kim defensively.

Let's just agree to disagree. I know some stuff about Reimold that I will keep to myself. I feel very strongly he got preferential treatment.

Kim isn't a good defender.    Neither is Reimold, but I'd say he's marginally better.    Obviously I can't comment on whatever private information you have about Reimold that leads you to feel he got preferential treatment. 

[Rene88]

21 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Kim isn't a good defender.    Neither is Reimold, but I'd say he's marginally better.    Obviously I can't comment on whatever private information you have about Reimold that leads you to feel he got preferential treatment. 

And I have nothing against Reimold. I am not a hater. Nothing like that. I just think it was slightly puzzling why he was on the roster for half of last season. He was really struggling to help the team overall. Not necessarily his fault, just not a good fit on that team.

 

[LA2]

3 hours ago, Babypowder said:

And a guy with a .721 OPS vs LHP for his career, with no other redeeming qualities, is a guy you roster with the sole purpose to be the short side of a platoon? There are always Steve Pearces laying around who can do it much better than Reimold. I don't know how they were convinced Kim couldn't do that.

The first point of my post was that your statement that Reimold "has always had reverse splits and hit RHP better than LHP" was inaccurate. I think the stats I presented demonstrate that.

The second point was that the career split was not significant enough to determine that Reimold should bat only--or even predominantly--against RHP. Going into the 2016 season, Reimold's OPS vs. LHP was .742, which, in fact, happens to be higher than the career weak-side OPS of most of the non-platooned Orioles regulars, such as Jones (.729 vs. LHP), Davis (.733 vs. LHP), Schoop (.607 vs LHP), Hardy (.704 vs RHP), and Wieters (.716 vs RHP). (I used the career stats through 2016 for the regulars since I don't have the time to go back and calculate their career OPSs as of the end of 2015.)

It was not unreasonable to expect Reimold to (a) hit for power (50 homers in 1175 ABs coming into 2016) and (b) have a decent OBP (.326 career before 2016; .344 in 2015). He's also a better fielder than Kim.

I also don't know why Buck was convinced that Kim couldn't hit lefties, but I hope we find out that he can this year.

[Babypowder]

7 minutes ago, LA2 said:

The first point of my post was that your statement that Reimold "has always had reverse splits and hit RHP better than LHP" was inaccurate. I think the stats I presented demonstrate that.

The second point was that the career split was not significant enough to determine that Reimold should bat only--or even predominantly--against RHP. Going into the 2016 season, Reimold's OPS vs. LHP was .742, which, in fact, happens to be higher than the career weak-side OPS of most of the non-platooned Orioles regulars, such as Jones (.729 vs. LHP), Davis (.733 vs. LHP), Schoop (.607 vs LHP), Hardy (.704 vs RHP), and Wieters (.716 vs RHP). (I used the career stats through 2016 for the regulars since I don't have the time to go back and calculate their career OPSs as of the end of 2015.)

It was not unreasonable to expect Reimold to (a) hit for power (50 homers in 1175 ABs coming into 2016) and (b) have a decent OBP (.326 career before 2016; .344 in 2015). He's also a better fielder than Kim.

I also don't know why Buck was convinced that Kim couldn't hit lefties, but I hope we find out that he can this year.

All fair and valid points.

[LA2]

17 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

All fair and valid points.

Thanks. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad we're finally moving on from Nolan--an unfortunately unfulfilled career; I just don't blame Buck for giving him a last long chance. Like you, I hope Hyun Soo, yet again, proves his manager has underestimated his abilities.

[OFFNY]

o

 

(MARCH 7th)

 

Dariel Alvarez was optioned to AAA-Norfolk.

 

https://twitter.com/masnRoch/status/839235786524475396

 

[Rene88]

34 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

(MARCH 7th)

 

Dariel Alvarez was optioned to AAA-Norfolk.

 

https://twitter.com/masnRoch/status/839235786524475396

 

Wow-I guess this is the hard sell to get him to work on pitching.

[sportsfan8703]

At this point you could make the argument that Urrutia is the better player. Heck you might be able to make that argument vs the slew of OFs we brought in. 

If Alvarez did convert to pitcher any idea what he would throw fb wise?  95+?

[Tony-OH]

16 hours ago, Rene88 said:

Wow-I guess this is the hard sell to get him to work on pitching.

There is little doubt that this is a message being sent. When you are among the first cuts with a position open that you could have been an option for, they're telling you that you are not in their plans. If Alvarez doesn't convert to pitcher I would not be surprised to see him DFA'd soon.

[scOtt]

3 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

At this point you could make the argument that Urrutia is the better player. Heck you might be able to make that argument vs the slew of OFs we brought in. 

If Alvarez did convert to pitcher any idea what he would throw fb wise?  95+?

Roch this morning:

Álvarez has previous mound experience in Cuba and a fastball that touches the upper 90s. He also has secondary pitches. We’re not talking about a guy who would just rear back and see how hard he could throw without blowing out his arm.