Why is Rasmus on the team again?

[cheecks]

I know this may sound like a knee jerk reaction to him striking out with the base loaded just now but I've never been a fan of this guy and didn't understand the signing. I know he's a left handed bat, but his numbers are unimpressive, and he can't even start in the field over Mancini. I'd rather have Ryan Flaherty. Flaherty would also be a nice backup at 3B when Beckham eventually gets on Buck's nerves.

[ChuckS]

I rather have had Dyson or Jay.

[LocoChris]

His at bat with the bases juiced was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. 

[Babypowder]

Because when healthy he has been a productive player and he was available for a minor league deal, then he had a decent spring. 

[Frobby]

As everyone knows, I’m always preaching patience at the beginning of the season when a player or the team is struggling.   Saying that, I’ve rarely seen a hitter look worse at the plate.   13 strikeouts in 23 PA?     I’m not sure Chris Davis has ever done that.   (I will look.)

Edit — Davis actually had stretches of 13 K’s in 22 PA and 13 in 20 last year.    

[VaBird1]

Yeah, he looks bad at the plate right now.  I wonder how long the leash is.

[webbrick2010]

Why the O's thought adding a high K low OBP batter to this roster had any merit is beyond me

[glenn__davis]

Not gonna pile on Rasmus this early in the season, but chief homer Mike Bordick had some great commentary before that AB.  Talking about how Chad Green had a great fastball but Rasmus was a "fastball crusher".  And then Rasmus swings through 3 fastballs and doesn't come close to any of them.

[mdbdotcom]

The weird part of how they are using him is that they said he was brought in to improve outfield defense and they aren't playing him in the outfield. Is he hurt?

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

Not gonna pile on Rasmus this early in the season, but chief homer Mike Bordick had some great commentary before that AB.  Talking about how Chad Green had a great fastball but Rasmus was a "fastball crusher".  And then Rasmus swings through 3 fastballs and doesn't come close to any of them.

I did see Rasmus line a hard single off a 100 mph fastball from Syndergaard during spring training.   So, bat speed isn’t the issue.    But his timing is just way off at the moment. 

[Luke-OH]

Just now, Frobby said:

I did see Rasmus line a hard single off a 100 mph fastball from Syndergaard during spring training.   So, bat speed isn’t the issue.    But his timing is just way off at the moment. 

Doesn't look like he knows where the bat head is either.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Luke-OH said:

Doesn't look like he knows where the bat head is either.

I’m not enough of a mechanics guy to understand what that means.  

[ReclaimTheCrown]

12 minutes ago, VaBird1 said:

Yeah, he looks bad at the plate right now.  I wonder how long the leash is.

I bet we give him about a month and change of semi-regular playing time. By that point, hopefully we’ll have a sense of whether or not Saunders might be an option (I’m not hopeful but you never know) or more likely if Hays is ready. Hays would need to stay down for what, a month and a half or so, to buy us an extra year of service time? Even a guy like Stewart or (less likely) Mullins could be a consideration. Same with the depth guys like Presley or Rickard.

Additionally, we need to figure out Santander. It looks like he’s playing his way into staying beyond just his 44 days, and part will depend on if Rasmus keeps tanking and Anthony is clearly our best option.

[gmelson26]

I know he's better than he's playing, and will- if continues to play- produce something.  But that being said, surely we have an speed/defense+ utility player in Norfolk?  For the record, I thought he'd be a good platoon player in LF/RF for us and was looking forward to seeing him fully healthy for us.

[Luke-OH]

22 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’m not enough of a mechanics guy to understand what that means.  

More of an eye-hand thing than mechanics in his case I think. Of course it can be mechanical if the backside collapses and causes the bat head to dip or the front shoulder comes open too soon and causes the batter to fly off the ball. Those are just a couple of common examples.

For Rasmus, it looks more like he's just not seeing the ball and he's not just barely missing pitches (like Schoop does when it's offspeed and he's sitting FB), his swing path isn't even matching where the ball is.