Gray Fenter

[ShoelesJoe]

Five innings tonight — no hits, no walks, eleven strikeouts. 

66 pitches. 50 strikes. 

[luismatos4prez]

Very impressive stat line. Wonder if he's pitching himself into the 40 man roster. We have plenty of room - there are like 15 guys who I'd guess would pass through waivers after this year and only 6 or so other guys to add.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

21 minutes ago, luismatos4prez said:

Very impressive stat line. Wonder if he's pitching himself into the 40 man roster. We have plenty of room - there are like 15 guys who I'd guess would pass through waivers after this year and only 6 or so other guys to add.

I'm not sure him doing this at Low A will get him added. There is a very outside chance it COULD lead to him getting selected in the Rule 5 though. Wouldn't be the first guy.

But if he was doing this in AA, that'd be a different story.

[luismatos4prez]

23 minutes ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

I'm not sure him doing this at Low A will get him added. There is a very outside chance it COULD lead to him getting selected in the Rule 5 though. Wouldn't be the first guy.

But if he was doing this in AA, that'd be a different story.

I agree. But one of the luxuries of being a really bad ballclub is there is a lot of room on our 40 man roster for next year. 6 or so guys to add. We have 15 or so players on the 40 man roster that ought not be on a ML team's roster and will probably be cut this winter. Why not take advantage of that space on a guy like Fenter? Let him start in Frederick or push him fast as a reliever.

Disclaimer: I've never seen Gray Fenter pitch and am completely scouting the stat line.

[hoosiers]

I was at the game last night.  Not sure what Fenter is working on to better his stuff, but he was dominant.  Only two hard hit balls against him - one deep down the left field line but a good 30-50 feet foul and another right at Rizer in right.  I guess this season is about him being healthy, but Fenter should not be in Low A ball, IMO.  

Fenter has a nice over the top delivery that he uses to throw the ball on a downward plane to the bottom of the zone.  He touched 94 a few times last night and has a curveball that is a total mismatch for Low A hitters - at least the ones on the Lakewood Blue Claws.  Not sure of Fenter's upside, but I can't say a team would be crazy to take him in the Rule V draft.

During the Shorebirds four run third, Fenter got out of the dugout and played catch to stay warm.  Had not seen that before.  I asked him how the arm was after the game and he said "good for now, see how it feels tomorrow."

[Ruzious]

1 hour ago, hoosiers said:

I was at the game last night.  Not sure what Fenter is working on to better his stuff, but he was dominant.  Only two hard hit balls against him - one deep down the left field line but a good 30-50 feet foul and another right at Rizer in right.  I guess this season is about him being healthy, but Fenter should not be in Low A ball, IMO.  

Fenter has a nice over the top delivery that he uses to throw the ball on a downward plane to the bottom of the zone.  He touched 94 a few times last night and has a curveball that is a total mismatch for Low A hitters - at least the ones on the Lakewood Blue Claws.  Not sure of Fenter's upside, but I can't say a team would be crazy to take him in the Rule V draft.

During the Shorebirds four run third, Fenter got out of the dugout and played catch to stay warm.  Had not seen that before.  I asked him how the arm was after the game and he said "good for now, see how it feels tomorrow."

Good stuff - thanks for posting that.  My view is - It's unlikely someone's going to pick a 23 year old who hasn't even sniffed high A ball, but if they don't have 40 players that need protecting, it makes sense to protect him - classified under the "why take a chance?" theory.     

[hoosiers]

And maybe that is why Fenter has been left in Low A.  Maybe he has some more velo and can touch 95-96 in relief with a good curveball.  Presumably, we won't have a Rule V pick, but maybe we leave a bunch of guys exposed and lose one and try to pick up a better one.  Luke and Tony can talk more about the stuff - Tony has made comments recently.  As I posted above, I don't think a team would be crazy to take a guy who might hit 95 in relief with a good curveball.

[MurphDogg]

30 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

Good stuff - thanks for posting that.  My view is - It's unlikely someone's going to pick a 23 year old who hasn't even sniffed high A ball, but if they don't have 40 players that need protecting, it makes sense to protect him - classified under the "why take a chance?" theory.     

With as many guys as the Orioles churn through the 40-man roster both during the regular season and the off-season, there is value in having open slots. You can't have 40 guys on there that you want to keep, you need a few churnable spots for guys that might turn into something, and the small risk of Fenter being taken has to be weighed against the value in holding one of those slots open. The Orioles acquired Ruiz, Nunez, Alberto, and Severino among others through waiver wire churn, so there is real value in keeping slots open.

[Luke-OH]

I checked out Fenter's last start and it's the best I've seen him, the slider was solid average, that's a new pitch this year and it's the first time I've seen this good. The strikethrowing ability with an above average to plus curveball is obviously his best trait. There was directional command, but far from pinpoint. The changeup is below average and not really a useful pitch at all, which hurts the profile to start. Regardless, I'm beginning to wonder if the strategy for keeping in Delmarva is to try to keep him off the Rule 5 radar, he'd likely move quite quickly in relief. 

[ReclaimTheCrown]

1 hour ago, Luke-OH said:

I checked out Fenter's last start and it's the best I've seen him, the slider was solid average, that's a new pitch this year and it's the first time I've seen this good. The strikethrowing ability with an above average to plus curveball is obviously his best trait. There was directional command, but far from pinpoint. The changeup is below average and not really a useful pitch at all, which hurts the profile to start. Regardless, I'm beginning to wonder if the strategy for keeping in Delmarva is to try to keep him off the Rule 5 radar, he'd likely move quite quickly in relief. 

I was about to ask that very question....certainly what it seems like to me. Would be fun to see him move through high A and AA quickly next year. If he excels of course

[Luke-OH]

12 minutes ago, ReclaimTheCrown said:

I was about to ask that very question....certainly what it seems like to me. Would be fun to see him move through high A and AA quickly next year. If he excels of course

I’d bet on that in relief, I mean stuff/command wise he compares pretty well to Steven Klimek who has been good in AA. Klimek has a touch better curve but a lesser fastball. Similar command, Fenter might be a bit better. 

[DirtyBird]

17 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

You mention Klimek.  In addition to Fenter, I'd say Sedlock, Alvarado, and Peralta all look potential RH setup guys.  That doesn't even count Baumann.  Hannifee may also project as a reliever. We also already have Kline on the 40 man.  Is it really worth protecting any of the Rule 5 eligibles in this group?   Is there anyone who is clearly a cut above?

Kline isn't any good.

[DirtyBird]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

Exactly. But he throws mid 90's+, and was pretty unhittable in AA.  My point is the shine hasn't come off of these guys yet.  Perhaps we shouldn't protect any of them.  Alvarado looks pretty good in AA.  So what?

Well perhaps we should DFA Kilne and find out what the others have to offer?

[Just Regular]

Dominant tonight - 13K's in 6.1 shutout innings.  His Hickory counterpart carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the 7th before Rutschman broke it up.

[ScGO's]

2 hours ago, OrioleDog said:

Dominant tonight - 13K's in 6.1 shutout innings.  His Hickory counterpart carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the 7th before Rutschman broke it up.

What is his repertoire?