Pick Three for the 25-man

[Number5]

55 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Judge has a plus arm. Kim shows NO baseball instinct  here. 

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=15640&position=OF

What world are you in.  Kim is competing for playing time.  And he is so unaware of what is going on that his sunglasses on his hat.  This is not major league actions. There is not reason to believe he would not do this during the regular season.

There are times that it makes sense to go for the extra base and times that it doesn't.  This was a text book example of the proper time to go for second, IMO.  Two outs, nobody on, trailing 1-0 early in the game.  It was a very close play and took an excellent throw and tag to get him.  Tagged on the shoulder when his foot was about six inches from the bag.  Good positioning and call by the umpire.  In that situation, trying for second makes much more sense than trying for third.  You can score from second on a single, and a fly ball does you no good with two outs.  Getting thrown out at third with two outs is a bad play, but trying for second or home on a close play is worth the risk with two outs.  This play was by the book.  To say that you should never try for the extra base unless you are 100% sure it is impossible to be thrown out is just silly.  I think you may have blinders on when it comes to Kim/Rickard.  You are more than welcome to your opinion, but I think that you will have a hard time convincing many people to agree with you unless you try to display some objectivity.

Additionally, the sun play would never happen at OPACY unless either Kim were to be playing right field or the Orioles were to schedule a game in the morning.  From my experience, the sun can be much more of a problem in places like Arizona, Nevada, and Florida than what we experience in the mid-Atlantic states.  In those sunny states, I've seen quite a few balls lost in the sun and/or high sky, even with glasses on.  Yes, it can happen here, but more when the sun is low on the horizon than high in the sky.  Every season there will be some plays where a MLB outfielder loses the ball in the sun.  I've never heard of anyone losing his job over it, though.  Yeah, Kim should have remembered that he had his sunglasses on his hat, but it really isn't the big deal that you are making it out to be, IMO.

[Can_of_corn]

12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I'm in between the two of you.   190 PA vs. RHP isn't conclusive to me, but it's enough where he wouldn't be my everyday corner OF at the start of 2017, especially since I have two corner OFs who I know hit RHP well.    The way baseball works, Rickard will end up getting nearly half his PA vs. RHP even if he usually only starts vs. LHP.     So, he'll have his chances to show improvement and maybe earn more playing time as the season progresses.    And frankly I think he's an appreciably better defender than Kim, despite last year's advanced metrics.    I expect his defensive numbers to improve.  

I agree that he might very well be better this year on defense.  But I don't like the idea that it is some forgone conclusion.  What he did last year is what he did last year.  That might be it.  Just because he's athletic doesn't mean it will translate into being a good defender.  Nolan used to be pretty athletic, before he broke his neck, and he was never good defensively.

While I am at it I will also admit to being a bit biased against rule V acquisitions in general.  The idea that a player that couldn't crack the Rays' 40 man roster is the same man best suited to getting the most at bats on the Orioles strikes me as nonsense.

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, Number5 said:

There are times that it makes sense to go for the extra base and times that it doesn't.  This was a text book example of the proper time to go for second, IMO.  Two outs, nobody on, trailing 1-0 early in the game.  It was a very close play and took an excellent throw and tag to get him.  Tagged on the shoulder when his foot was about six inches from the bag.  Good positioning and call by the umpire.  In that situation, trying for second makes much more sense than trying for third.  You can score from second on a single, and a fly ball does you no good with two outs.  Getting thrown out at third with two outs is a bad play, but trying for second or home on a close play is worth the risk with two outs.  This play was by the book.  To say that you should never try for the extra base unless you are 100% sure it is impossible to be thrown out is just silly.  I think you may have blinders on when it comes to Kim/Rickard.  You are more than welcome to your opinion, but I think that you will have a hard time convincing many people to agree with you unless you try to display some objectivity.

Additionally, the sun play would never happen at OPACY unless either Kim were to be playing right field or the Orioles were to schedule a game in the morning.  From my experience, the sun can be much more of a problem in places like Arizona, Nevada, and Florida than what we experience in the mid-Atlantic states.  In those sunny states, I've seen quite a few balls lost in the sun and/or high sky, even with glasses on.  Yes, it can happen here, but more when the sun is low on the horizon than high in the sky.  Every season there will be some plays where a MLB outfielder loses the ball in the sun.  I've never heard of anyone losing his job over it, though.  Yeah, Kim should have remembered that he had his sunglasses on his hat, but it really isn't the big deal that you are making it out to be, IMO.

I think that it is harder to play outfield defense in Florida during spring training than any major league park.  It is almost always windy down here this time of year and the sun can be very distracting.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I agree that he might very well be better this year on defense.  But I don't like the idea that it is some forgone conclusion.  What he did last year is what he did last year.  That might be it.  Just because he's athletic doesn't mean it will translate into being a good defender.  Nolan used to be pretty athletic, before he broke his neck, and he was never good defensively.

While I am at it I will also admit to being a bit biased against rule V acquisitions in general.  The idea that a player that couldn't crack the Rays' 40 man roster is the same man best suited to getting the most at bats on the Orioles strikes me as nonsense.

I agree it's not a foregone conclusion that his defense will be better, but I think it's likely to be.    Something to keep an eye on.      As to your comment about Rule V, I think you're right that finding everyday players there is a rare occurence.   I'd be really happy if Rickard developed into a 4th OF who hit lefties solidly and was a better than average defender.   I'm not greedy.

[Number5]

7 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I agree that he might very well be better this year on defense.  But I don't like the idea that it is some forgone conclusion.  What he did last year is what he did last year.  That might be it.  Just because he's athletic doesn't mean it will translate into being a good defender.  Nolan used to be pretty athletic, before he broke his neck, and he was never good defensively.

While I am at it I will also admit to being a bit biased against rule V acquisitions in general.  The idea that a player that couldn't crack the Rays' 40 man roster is the same man best suited to getting the most at bats on the Orioles strikes me as nonsense.

I understand your point, but it isn't always quite that cut and dried.  I believe that teams often gamble a bit, betting on the probability that other teams won't be willing to keep a guy that has never played a game at the AAA level on their 25-man roster all season.  It often isn't so much that they didn't think he had the ability to be on their 40-man roster, necessarily.

[wildcard]

On 2/28/2017 at 8:23 AM, Frobby said:

You're way out on a limb on Rickard this spring.    They've played four spring training games and that's a basis to say Rickard is ahead of Kim?   That's laughable.   

Another bonehead defensive play by Kim.  Played a single into a triple according to Joe Angel.

[FlipTheBird]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Another bonehead defensive play by Kim.  Played a single into a triple according to Joe Angel.

You're really going to update this thread on a play-by-play basis?

[FlipTheBird]

On 2/28/2017 at 11:05 AM, wildcard said:

I think Rickard has the potential to be a leadoff hitter and everyday corner outfielder.   But I have always said its up to him to prove it. 

What you argue about really up to you.

The way you've worded this is kind of loaded. It's like you're saying "Rickard DOES have the potential, but if he doesn't perform up to snuff, I wasn't wrong. His fault."

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, FlipTheBird said:

You're really going to update this thread on a play-by-play basis?

Not if Kim stops making boneheaded defensive plays.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

Not if Kim stops making bonehead defensive plays.

Since I'm not listening, what about the play was "bonehead?"   Was it just a physical misplay, or did he actually do something stupid?

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Not if Kim stops making bonehead defensive plays.

I was wondering who was going to get all the irrational grief now that Reimold and Matusz were gone, I can tell who you are advocating for.  

[Frobby]

15 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I was wondering who was going to get all the irrational grief now that Reimold and Matusz were gone, I can tell who you are advocating for.  

I think it's fair game.   WC thinks Rickard can win playing time vs. RHP if he outplays Kim this spring.   I don't think he's right unless something really drastic happens, but two bad plays in the first week of ST certainly will draw some attention to Kim's defensive deficiencies.    (It should be noted that Kim, while lacking range, did not make an error last year, and I don't recall too many terribly misjudged balls, either.)

[wildcard]

46 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Since I'm not listening, what about the play was "bonehead?"   Was it just a physical misplay, or did he actually do something stupid?

I am listening just like you. Joe Angel says he should never have left his feet.  He shouldn't have went for the catch in the air.  Joe says he played a single into a triple.  That allowed the runner to score on a SF.  It cost the O's a run.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

I am listening just like you. Joe Angel says he should never have left his feet.  He shouldn't have went for the catch in the air.  Joe says he played a single into a triple.  That allowed the runner to score on a SF.  It cost the O's a run.

As I said, I wasn't listening.   I never listen to spring training games unless I happen to be in my car.   I don't see much on TV, either.   Thanks for reporting what Joe said.   

[FlipTheBird]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I was wondering who was going to get all the irrational grief now that Reimold and Matusz were gone, I can tell who you are advocating for.  

I don't think he's advocating any irrational grief, so much as he's blatantly rooting against Kim because he's 100% convinced Joey Rickard is the answer.