Vidal Nuno vs Jayson Aquino

[wildcard]

Yes, Jayson Acquino has improved his pitches.  Yes, the O's are glad to have him.  Yes, we may see him in Baltimore some time this season.  But I think projections of him making the team out for ST are a little over the top.   Here is what Dan Connolly had to say:

"The 24-year-old Aquino may have a chance, though, because Showalter might want a third left-handed reliever besides Zach Britton and Donnie Hart."

Yes, the O's may want three lefties in the pen.   But Vidal Nuno has the best chance of getting that third spot.  He has major league experience. Three years of it.  And we should take note of what he did when entering the game a few days ago.  After Hyun Soo Kim allowed Aaron Judge's fly ball to drop for a triple,  (A ball that should have been caught.)   Nuno got three outs without  allowing Judge to score.  He pitched two scoreless innings.    That will not get Nuno as Opening Day job with the O's but he certainty has more ML experience than Aquino.

Aquino spent most of last year in AA as a starter. 5-10, 3.90 ERA and a 1.413 WHIP.   Late in the season he  got  5 relief appearances at AAA and 3 with the O's. He did better as a reliever.  

Pitchers have come from AA to the majors before.  Hart is probably the last example.  But its not as likely when there is a guy like Nuno on the roster.  JMO

 

[Frobby]

There is very little chance Aquino is on the OD roster.    But it's nice to see him having a good game and impressing the manager.     It's a long season, and we could easily see Aquino on the big league roster at some point this year.

[weams]

Yes. Opening day is not what I am concerned about. I like him replacing Angel Miranda myself. And starting in the minors. 

[FlipTheBird]

This doesn't really seem like any kind of battle. Nuno is established, a known MLB quantity. He'll be on the OD roster pending injury. Aquino can spend a few months in Norfolk honing these "improved" pitches. If he's really made strides, he will get his shot when the time comes. He's only 24.

[weams]

I saw Aquino in the minors several times last year and think that he is something to hang on to. Meaning as a 40 man slot pitcher. 

[billhatf]

I agree with Weams.  Saw Aquino pitch several times last year.  Reminds me of Arthur Rhodes.  I believe he will be effective pitcher in major leagues in 2017 or 2018.

[El Gordo]

I realy liked what I saw from Nuno the other day. Great addition Dan.

[Frobby]

One thing I like about Nuno is he's one of the quickest workers in the entire major leagues.    I've always liked fast workers.  

[Tony-OH]

I was impressed with Jayson Aquino’s outing yesterday against the Phillies after he went two innings with four strikeouts. Saying that, I wouldn’t go too overboard on him. I missed him last year, but I never really got very good reports about him so he just missed my top 25 despite being a 24-year old lefty who was on the 40-man roster. I’m still not sure I’d put him on it now, but he’s a bit more interesting now that I’ve seen him throw this well.

The question now becomes is he better off as a long reliever or starter? We obviously only saw him pitch two innings yesterday so its hard to know how his stuff plays later in games. Saying that, he went seven or more innings in six of his 19 starts and needed over 90 pitches in only two of those six. That’s pretty pitch efficient. He was very good as a reliever last year, mostly after his promotion to Norfolk where he put up a 1.89 and 9.0 K/9 in 19 innings.

Despite that success, he’s not the typical lefty reliever as his best pitch is his change up which is normally more effective against right-handers than lefthanders. His slider can be ok, but it’s probably a slightly below average offering though it can flash average. It’s not a left on left slider than will be overly effective against LHBs though if he can locate it well it can be an ok offering. His fastball his 89-90 MPH pitch that has some sink at times but can be pretty straight. He needs to locate his fastball well since it appears to be a pretty hittable offering, especially when he makes mistakes. In other words, he doesn’t have a ton of error which means when his command is off, he will get hit and ht hard.

The good news is he’s definitely better than TJ McFarland or Jed Bradley and should be in the discussion for the long reliever spot, though Vidal Nuno is probably in the driver’s seat for that job right now based off experience.

It will be interesting to see what the Orioles decide to do with Aquino at Norfolk this year. The Norfolk rotation is going to be crowded so someone will need to go to the pen or Bowie, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Aquino is starting every five days at Norfolk which would keep him as rotation and long reliever depth for the Orioles this year.

[NCRaven]

Certainly, the combination of Nuno, Bleier, Aquino, and Lee certainly give the O's a strong group of lefties to pull from, ideally for the bullpen where they could each have value.  I doubt any make it as a starter for a lengthy period, but all could be big league contributors.

And, Keegan Akin could be a fast mover down on the farm.

[sportsfan8703]

A nice little pick up that DD made last offseason.  With all the SP depth DD has assembled, I could see him starting out in AA.  

AAA- Wilson, Wright, Verret, Ynoa, Gunkel and Bleier

Hard to argue that Aquino should start over any of them.  Pitching in AA doesn't mean that he won't be in line for a call up if we need a fresh arm for a day or two.