Mancini's throw to get Gardner at 3rd.

[SteveA]

13 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

And yet that is exactly what the O's did at the major league level.  Wouldn't it have made more sense to try something like that when he was 21 and in Aberdeen?   Or minor league spring training back in 2014?

I don't really care why Notre Dame did what they did, they have issues and concerns that are much different from a professional franchise.

And I don't think it takes a visionary to try and push guys on defense to see if something is there.  Not like he is doing this at catcher. 

Yeah, doing it at the major league level is a risky experiment, one necessitated by the unfortunate Trumbo signing and Mancini hitting his way into the majors.

It's not unprecedented either.   I remember the Orioles trying 1Bmen David Segui and Randy Milligan as outfielders at the major league level.   Neither experiment worked out well or lasted long.   But it did happen.

I didn't say I cared' why ND did it.  Just that he came into the organization as a first basemen and that affected the perception of him.   How many new young first basemen did we have in the organization at that time?   At least 5 or 6.   Now you are second guessing them for not trying Mancini at OF back when he was initially in the organization.   What about the other 4 or 5?   Should we have tried putting ALL of them in the outfield?   Or is it just hindsight now that Mancini has made the majors and the others have faded into the dustbin of history that you now think we should have specifically done it with him?

 

[Tony-OH]

48 minutes ago, Fuzzball22 said:

You rarely see a runner at second tag and go to third on a play that was pretty much a routine fly ball to left. Not trying to take anything away from the play but he has to throw the guy out on that play.

True. Mancini did a lot of things wrong on that play and the only reason the runner even tried because they have no respect for his ability play left field. The throw was accurate, but there was tremendous arc on that throw, partially because he didn't get behind the play and coming running up a bit to get momentum.

This reminded of the year Joe Orsulak had like 22 assists because runners kept running on him. Like Orsulak, he's more accurate than arm strength. 

[Frobby]

I believe I read an interview where Mancini said he played some outfield in college.  

[Tony-OH]

9 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Yeah, doing it at the major league level is a risky experiment, one necessitated by the unfortunate Trumbo signing and Mancini hitting his way into the majors.

It's not unprecedented either.   I remember the Orioles trying 1Bmen David Segui and Randy Milligan as outfielders at the major league level.   Neither experiment worked out well or lasted long.   But it did happen.

I didn't say I cared' why ND did it.  Just that he came into the organization as a first basemen and that affected the perception of him.   How many new young first basemen did we have in the organization at that time?   At least 5 or 6.   Now you are second guessing them for not trying Mancini at OF back when he was initially in the organization.   What about the other 4 or 5?   Should we have tried putting ALL of them in the outfield?   Or is it just hindsight now that Mancini has made the majors and the others have faded into the dustbin of history that you now think we should have specifically done it with him?

 

No, you can't put them all in the outfield, but you can realize you have a block at their position and try the best prospects at different positions to give them experience. There was absolutely no reason to try Walker in left field instead of Mancini. Mancini was the much better prospect and if anyone needed to be more versatile it was him. I was told multiple times that Mancini just wouldn't be able to play the OF due to a lack of arm strength and range due.

Now it's clear, Mancini is never going to be a plus outfielder, but he's shown enough that he won't absolutely kill you out there and who knows what he would be like had he played 2016 in LF instead of 1B.

[tntoriole]

9 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Yeah, doing it at the major league level is a risky experiment, one necessitated by the unfortunate Trumbo signing and Mancini hitting his way into the majors.

It's not unprecedented either.   I remember the Orioles trying 1Bmen David Segui and Randy Milligan as outfielders at the major league level.   Neither experiment worked out well or lasted long.   But it did happen.

I didn't say I cared' why ND did it.  Just that he came into the organization as a first basemen and that affected the perception of him.   How many new young first basemen did we have in the organization at that time?   At least 5 or 6.   Now you are second guessing them for not trying Mancini at OF back when he was initially in the organization.   What about the other 4 or 5?   Should we have tried putting ALL of them in the outfield?   Or is it just hindsight now that Mancini has made the majors and the others have faded into the dustbin of history that you now think we should have specifically done it with him?

 

Boog Powell went the other way.  He was initially an outfielder when he signed out of high school, was switched to first base in the minors, then was put back in left field by Billy Hitchcock because Jim Gentile blocked him from first.  Boog played badly in left until 1965 when he became full time- Gentile was traded before the 1964 season and Hank Bauer moved him to first.  But Boog was a terrible outfielder for several years.   Much worse than Mancini could ever be.  

[FlipTheBird]

5 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Makes me wonder why they never tried it in the minors.

Honestly I think it's because, for whatever reason, the organization didn't seem all that thrilled with Mancini. He certainly didn't seem to be in the 2017 plans at all until he just refused to stop hitting and they had to find him a home.