Who starts tomorrow? Mancini or Gentry?

[SurhoffFTW]

Assuming Rickard gets the other corner and likely leads off. 

[MDtransplant757]

Mancini

[Tony-OH]

I have a feeling he's going with Mancini. Buck loves his offense more than his corner defense.

[Il BuonO]

Start Mancini and Gentry comes in for defense late.

[wildcard]

A Rule 5 pick and the O's #11 prospect starting the same outfield. 

[Enjoy Terror]

[Frobby]

I voted Gentry, but it's tough to guess.    

[stomperspc]

Maybe a stupid question but why not Gentry and Mancini both start and Rickard sits?

I think Gentry is a better defender than Rickard and has played left field in his career. Seems to me that you would want the best possible LF starting if Mancini is starting in RF. There's also little to suggest that a healthy Gentry won't be better offensively than Rickard. I think Buck might have Rickard ahead of Gentry in the pecking order, but also not sure that's the way it should be.

 

[wildcard]

What about Craig and Trey with Joey sitting?

[wildcard]

1 minute ago, dan-O said:

And Rickard starts because he's the platoon guy in LF and the leadoff guy against lefties. Gentry is not above Rickard on the depth chart in Baltimore right now. 

Well, that is one way to look at it.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, dan-O said:

Obviously Mancini, guys. Come on. 

Buck will want to have Gentry's speed and defense on the bench for late in the game. This isn't rocket science. 

Because speed and defense aren't useful in the early innings?

Which inning does speed and defense kick in, the 6th?  Seventh?

Sorry, we know you scored from first on that double, but back to third you go, it's only the second inning.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, dan-O said:

I mean do you really see Buck starting Gentry over fan-favorite and excellent leadoff candidate Joey Rickard? Or homegrown power bat Trey Mancini? Of course not. Gentry is the extra outfielder on this team - and a damn good one! But he's a late inning replacement who will get the occasional start until further notice. 

Both were bad last year but Gentry has at least proven himself to be a viable major leaguer when healthy.

That is something that both Mancini and Rickard have not done.

So while I don't expect it to happen, I think it very probably should.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, dan-O said:

How was Rickard bad? 

Again, it doesn't matter. This is how the team is constructed and Buck will play it the way we all know he will play it if you're paying attention.

Did you miss the part of the season where he lost his starting gig to the guy they wanted to send back to Korea?

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, dan-O said:

He's a platoon player. What do you want? He's a nice player, but yeah he's probably not a full time corner outfielder. Gentry certainly isn't either, so give me the younger guy who can hit to all fields better than anyone else on the team. 

He wasn't a platoon player.  He was an everyday starter.  Until his play cost him that role.

He was below replacement level last year.  I know he looked good doing it but that isn't the point of the game.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, dan-O said:

Until Buck realized that, yes, Kim can hit. And yeah, when Rickard started to struggle. 

On this team, Rickard absolutely is a platoon player because that's in fact what he will be doing. Platooning. In LF with Kim. 

Hello? 

Did I say otherwise?  No.

I said he wasn't a viable major leaguer last year, was part of the Buck misusing him?  Maybe.