Two sagging; one surging

[wildcard]

DJ Stewart seem on his way to the majors in late June.   He had an 823 OPS on June 30.    But July has hit him hard.   He has a 169/290/247/537   in 77 at bats in July.  That probably puta his promotion to the majors on hold waiting for better times.

Cedric Mullins bears watching.  Not that his defense is not still of major league quality  but his offense may be following a familiar pattern.   Before the AAA All-Star break Mullins had a  282/354/479/833 stat line in AAA.    In 65 at bats since the break he is 246/286/323/609 in 65 at bats.    That would not be that concerning if it were not for his 2017 numbers.    A 900 OPS at Bowie before the break and a 626 OPS after the break.    Its hard to promote a guy that is struggling at AAA to the majors.

Jonathan Schoop is on fire in July.   A 1.067 OPS in July.    That coupled with his O's MVP performance from last year have people starting to talk about Jon being becoming the leader of the O's in the near future.

Quote

 

With the torch now in Schoop's hands, there's been an increased need for his leadership in the infield with his double play partner gone -- a role for Schoop that manager Buck Showalter says is not new.

"A lot of people you'd love to follow his lead," Showalter said. "He's just real sincere. But Jon hasn't changed at all. Jon is the same guy, he's always approachable, a pleasure to be around every day."

 

 

Leader of the infield now, he may soon be the leader of the clubhouse depending on what happens to Adam Jones.

 

[Frobby]

I knew Stewart was slumping, but hadn’t realized Mullins was slumping too.   It’s not quite as pronounced and I’m still looking forward to seeing better defense in CF.

[Es4M11]

At this point it's probably best to keep them down until September, anyway. The team has waited this long and still has not called them up, might as well not stop short now.

[Moose Milligan]

I know we could get a good haul for Schoop but...this is a guy they should look to extend. 

Didn't realize that about Mullins and Stewart.  Hopefully they're just slumps that any player would go through and they can rebound.

[Going Underground]

20 minutes ago, Es4M11 said:

At this point it's probably best to keep them down until September, anyway. The team has waited this long and still has not called them up, might as well not stop short now.

Gentry should be back in about a week or 10 days.Pedro Alvarez might be worth a shot again at third.Bring on the youngsters. 

[Yardball85]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I know we could get a good haul for Schoop but...this is a guy they should look to extend. 

Didn't realize that about Mullins and Stewart.  Hopefully they're just slumps that any player would go through and they can rebound.

Yes.  I wanted them to extend him during his poor first half.  I wonder if something like six years 78 gets it done.

[orioles22]

Mullins had three hits in a game about a week ago and was up to .286, then went hitless for about four games. He did score two runs in a comeback win the other day and had a diving catch to save a run.

I agree on Schoop - rebuild around him.

[joelala]

33 minutes ago, Yardball85 said:

Yes.  I wanted them to extend him during his poor first half.  I wonder if something like six years 78 gets it done.

I think if we want to extend him we'd have to overpay and give him 100 or more.  And I don't see us doing that, nor do I think it would be the best idea. 

 

[Lucky_13]

I'd call up Mullins for his glove alone. Even if Jones doesn't move from center having Mullins in right or left would be a huge upgrade

[25 Nuggets]

1 hour ago, joelala said:

I think if we want to extend him we'd have to overpay and give him 100 or more.  And I don't see us doing that, nor do I think it would be the best idea. 

 

I'm with you - I don't see contract negotiations going any better with Schoop than with Machado and therefore he will not be part of the next good Orioles team.  Trade him in the winter if he finishes hot.

[spiritof66]

It's hot in Norfolk, and OFers there do plenty of running. I wonder whether this pattern might be in part a conditioning issue and, if so, whether Stewart and Mullins would be good projects for Brady in the off-season.

I like the idea of extending Schoop to anchor a lineup and an infield full of young guys. Here's my concern. I doubt Schoop will be an adequate second baseman in four years. I'd like to have a better idea of how he'd do at third. He looks like a third baseman, and he throws like a third baseman, but can he field like a third baseman? 

Buck must have noticed that the team hasn't had an adequate third baseman since he moved Manny to shortstop. It's good that Nunez has gotten some time there rather than Beckham or Valencia. I'd like to see another possible Oriole baseman of the future. If Buck were managing this team with an eye towards the team's future, he would have said to Schoop last September or this May/June something like, "Jon, I like you as a second baseman, but as you get bigger and stronger (and older) you might help a team more at another position. Over the next year or so, you're going to be negotiating a contract with either the Orioles or with other teams as a free agent. Either way, you'll be more valuable if you've shown you can play third base, too. I'd like you to take a lot of ground balls at third, and in a couple of weeks I'm going to put you at third. And by the way, keep hitting." (Maybe some part of that, or something like it, has happened.) Schoop won't be the Orioles worst third baseman in 2018, but even if he's bad there that would be a good thing to know.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 hours ago, joelala said:

I think if we want to extend him we'd have to overpay and give him 100 or more.  And I don't see us doing that, nor do I think it would be the best idea. 

 

Schoop also might need to change positions in a few years.  His range at 2B is only going to get worse in the coming years.

[glenn__davis]

I've always disagreed pretty strongly with wildcard's mindset that a player needs to be playing well in the moment to be promoted to the next level.  If you look just a week or so ago Mullins had been on a pretty good run.  Baseball players are streaky.  If you're always waiting for them to be going well before you promote them you could drive yourself crazy.

That said, Stewart has been in a pretty extended funk.  I know he was out with injury for a short time and I think he's been struggling since.  Can't remember what it was but I'm guessing it's still bugging him a bit.

[vab]

If they're going to wait until a minor league player has no slumps before they get a call-up they're not going to call anybody up.

[wildcard]

3 minutes ago, vab said:

If they're going to wait until a minor league player has no slumps before they get a call-up they're not going to call anybody up.

Cody Carroll should be up soon.

The young starters of Hess, Ramirez  (currently up) Yacabonis, ( on the 40 man roster) and Means( not of the 40 man roster) could be on the Norfolk Shuttle for the rest of the season.

Reliever Meisinger  has been up and could be again.  He is pitching well at AAA.

Wilkerson is due to come off the DL in early August. He may join the O's at that time though he does have options.

Bringing up AAA players that are not doing well probably  puts the odd against the staying in the majors.