Because Buck is not stupid

[wildcard]

There is something happening this spring and I think it is noteworthy.   The O's actually have some depth in their position players.    Santander, Hays and Valencia offer more depth then Buck has had in a while. To me this means that Buck does not have to sit on his hands and watch Davis and Trumbo have bad years.    He has replacements.

No, no, no.  I am not saying the Buck is going to bench Davis and Trumbo.   At least not initially and probably not ever.  But they don't have to play everyday when they are no hitting well.   Buck likes matchups.  He looks at who is pitching for the other team before each series and probably long before that and he  projects who is going to start against what pitcher.   In the past there was not much choice.    But this season is different.

Santander looks like he knows how to be productive.  He understands that a fly ball deep to the outfield will get in a runner  in  from 3rd with less than two outs.   He has all the makings of a RBI guy.    He does not have  great range in the outfield but he is improving.  He can play left if Jones and Rasmus are covering the other two OF spots.   That frees up Mancini to play first or DH.  Not every day but when the matchups dictate.    

We have not seen the real Austin Hays this spring but the guy has a plus arm, runs well and can hit.   He is not going to stay in AAA long if he lives up to his potential.   That is someone the Buck can use.....soon.

Valencia hits lefties.   He can play first or DH and rest Davis or Trumbo when he matchups says its a smart move.

Jones may play a lot to start the season but he will hit the ball off his left leg when batting and limp out of the batters box.  He does dive for balls  and hurt himself.  That is when Adam's range is  diminished.   When he is playing hurt.  But with Rasmus, Gentry and Hays in the organization he doesn't have to play hurt.  He can take days off and be more productive by playing healthy.

In 2018, I don't think of Davis and Trumbo as middle of the order hitters.   Manny, Schoop and Mancini will probably hit 2 through 4 in the lineup.   Jones maybe 5.  That makes Davis and Trumbo hitting somewhere between 6 and 8 in the order.  Unless they are on a hitting streak.  So Buck should treat them like the hitters they are and disregard how much they make.

I anticipate that the response from some will be that Buck is too loyal to his veteran players to do any of this.   My answer is that Buck is not stupid.   If he has the horses he will find a way to make use of them.

  

[Moose Milligan]

I don't disagree with this, I think Buck uses his guys when he has them as well as anyone.  But if the backups aren't that good and the depth isn't there, Buck is going to ride with his starters.  

[Can_of_corn]

I think that when you look at how he handled Hardy, Roberts and Davis/Trumbo last year that Buck is going to give his vets a lot of rope before cutting into their playing time.

[Aglets]

Yea how many times have we heard Buck say he has a 'long memory' and he respects guys with 'track records.'

It will probably be late May before Buck starts eating into the playing time of vets who aren't performing.

[wildcard]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think that when you look at how he handled Hardy, Roberts and Davis/Trumbo last year that Buck is going to give his vets a lot of rope before cutting into their playing time.

Davis has not had great years the last two.   Trumbo has a career year followed by a down year.   Its not like either of them  played like All-Stars last year.  They will get their chance to play but if they play like the did in 2017, I think Buck plays the matchups for both of them.

[interloper]

Santander is an exciting player who makes the lineup better. It's on Buck to figure out how to get him in there. 

[wildcard]

28 minutes ago, Aglets said:

Yea how many times have we heard Buck say he has a 'long memory' and he respects guys with 'track records.'

It will probably be late May before Buck starts eating into the playing time of vets who aren't performing.

Neither Davis nor Trumbo's recent track records are very good.   Winning and performance will probably determine how soon Buck reaches for other players.

[interloper]

I'll say one thing: if the O's hope to get through the April gauntlet at anything resembling .500 or just below, it's going to take all of Buck's creativity. Hopefully he makes it clear to the players that getting through April means playing matchups and everyone kindly swallow their ego for awhile.

[Frobby]

I’m only going to debate one point in the OP, and it’s not really relevant to wildcard’s main point.   

Adam Jones isn’t just slower when he’s banged up — he’s slower than he used to be, period.    Of 58 players who played at least 10 games in CF, Jones’ sprint speed was 53rd last year.   https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sprint_speed_leaderboard?year=2017&position=8&team=&min=10.   Statcast’s methodology is to use the player’s fastest one-second window.   Jones’ sprint speed has gone from 27.7 to 27.6 to 27.1 feet/second over the last three seasons — and 27.7 wasn’t fast to begin with.    Jones is smooth and athletic out there, but he just doesn’t have the speed of most centerfielders, period.

[Aristotelian]

We all know Davis will be hitting 4th on opening day. Buck will not "play matchups" with his star player. Trumbo will probably be right behind him, maybe 6th. No way, no how, is Trumbo going to bat 8th. I don't see any big changes except Rasmus replacing Seth Smith. Give it 400 ABs or so and maybe Buck considers dropping them in the lineup. Buck will play matchups with Santander and Valencia. This team would be so much better as well as more interesting if we could get rid of Trumbo but as long as he's on the roster you have to play him.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

We all know Davis will be hitting 4th on opening day. Buck will not "play matchups" with his star player. 

I don’t know that.   Davis only batted 4th in 43 games last year.   He had a pretty steady diet of 6th and 7th in August and September, as did Trumbo.  

[Aristotelian]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I don’t know that.   Davis only batted 4th in 43 games last year.   He had a pretty steady diet of 6th and 7th in August and September, as did Trumbo.  

Haha, Trumbo hit 4th a lot against LHPs. They were 4/5 together until August. I predict the same this year.

[jtschrei]

Um. Buck does have more depth and he does like matchups. However, he also talks about "track records" alot. I see him sticking with Davis and Trumbo through thick and thin. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, jtschrei said:

Um. Buck does have more depth and he does like matchups. However, he also talks about "track records" alot. I see him sticking with Davis and Trumbo through thick and thin. 

At this point I just hope that if Trumbo has another sub-replacement season he isn't back in 2019.

[atomic]

How many Platoons has Buck used over the years? How many times has Buck sat a veteran hitter when he was struggling?  I think you might have Buck and Earl Weaver confused?