Richie Martin hype

[Es4M11]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

I'm trying to control my hype on him, too.

If the Orioles come away with a Rule 5 steal I might start wondering about other things, like if the earth is flat.

Throw enough **** at the wall and something is bound to stick.

[jabba72]

I like Martin. As a Rule 5 pick, he's a Home Run. Its obvious Martin and Jackson are going to get every opportunity to stick with the club. Santander is starting to show why the O's picked him two years ago. 

1 hour ago, Es4M11 said:

Throw enough **** at the wall and something is bound to stick.

Having the #1 Rule 5 pick helps alot, instead of say the 20th.  

[Rene88]

I am so happy to have a legitimate prospect with a Rule 5 pick! I like Martin a lot too. Wildcard didn't sound too impressed, curious his take.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

Martin is cool, but Drew Jackson has been a complete steal with his ability to play everywhere, his rocket arm, and he has been handling the bat very well too.

[HowAboutThat]

5 hours ago, interloper said:

I'm trying to control my hype on this kid.

0-3 last night but a spectacular diving play. Seems to have an idea at the plate. 3 of his 9 hits this spring have been XBH, and not just doubles that squirt past the third baseman either. They've been hit deep. 

@Luke-OH - prior to ST you mentioned wanting to see his swing path change. Have you seen any evidence of that to this point?

At the very least we have a fast, defense-first guy with a little bit of offensive upside. I enjoy watching him play and feel like he could be a nugget of some sort. 

He definitely looks like a shortstop out there in a way that, say, Beckham did not. What I mean by that is he seems fluid and natural, and makes good throws.

 He wasn’t protected because Oakland had a bunch of guys and they liked better, Not because he himself was bad. I really wonder about those guys who were ahead of him on the depth chart, and how they are doing this spring. If nothing else it certainly shows that the Oakland system is better than the one in Baltimore.

[HowAboutThat]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

It would be pretty telling if Elias hit on his first Rule 5 pick in a way that Duquette never did.   And don’t sleep on Jackson, either.    

Of course, I think mlb.com predicted the O’s would pick Martin, so it wasn’t exactly earth-shattering news when they did.    And it helps a lot to have the first pick.

Did the orioles ever take the Rule 5 pick thy were predicted to take? I think Flaherty, but I’m not sure. And no one ever predicted they’d take Jason Garcia.

[HowAboutThat]

5 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yep.  I'm trying to remember if DD ever picked a position player for a Rule 5 pick.  Flaherty, right?  Other than that, it almost always seemed like he was going after quad-A type arms, guys that you just knew wouldn't pan out.  

He also picked Almanzar, Rickard, Santander, hmmm and that’s it I think.

[Luke-OH]

6 hours ago, interloper said:

I'm trying to control my hype on this kid.

0-3 last night but a spectacular diving play. Seems to have an idea at the plate. 3 of his 9 hits this spring have been XBH, and not just doubles that squirt past the third baseman either. They've been hit deep. 

@Luke-OH - prior to ST you mentioned wanting to see his swing path change. Have you seen any evidence of that to this point?

At the very least we have a fast, defense-first guy with a little bit of offensive upside. I enjoy watching him play and feel like he could be a nugget of some sort. 

He definitely looks like a shortstop out there in a way that, say, Beckham did not. What I mean by that is he seems fluid and natural, and makes good throws.

The glove looks real, I don’t think he’s shown anything to change my opinion of the bat though.

If you look at the batted ball profile (it’s too small of a sample for these numbers to be too meaningful, but the jive with his MiLB number and lack of swing change).

GB - 62.5%

FB - 21% (60% of FB are of the IFFB variety)

LD - 17%

That’s not a profile that plays in the majors without elite contact skills or elite exit velocity on contact. I don’t think Martin has either of those abilities. I still think he’s worth giving and half season (at least) tryout, but I think we should temper expectations.

 

[SteveA]

5 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yep.  I'm trying to remember if DD ever picked a position player for a Rule 5 pick.  Flaherty, right?  Other than that, it almost always seemed like he was going after quad-A type arms, guys that you just knew wouldn't pan out.  

Flaherty

Santander

A 3rd baseman whose name began with A that didn't stick

 

[Spy Fox]

16 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Flaherty

Santander

A 3rd baseman whose name began with A that didn't stick

 

Wow, good memory. Michael Almanzar. Picked Rule V in 2013, hasn't made the majors yet but still floating around AAA for the Nats last year. 

[SteveA]

Just now, Spy Fox said:

Wow, good memory. Michael Almanzar. Picked Rule V in 2013, hasn't made the majors yet but still floating around AAA for the Nats last year. 

But I forgot Rickard!

[Moose Milligan]

23 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

The glove looks real, I don’t think he’s shown anything to change my opinion of the bat though.

If you look at the batted ball profile (it’s too small of a sample for these numbers to be too meaningful, but the jive with his MiLB number and lack of swing change).

GB - 62.5%

FB - 21% (60% of FB are of the IFFB variety)

LD - 17%

That’s not a profile that plays in the majors without elite contact skills or elite exit velocity on contact. I don’t think Martin has either of those abilities. I still think he’s worth giving and half season (at least) tryout, but I think we should temper expectations.

 

Are there any prospects you can think of in recent years that were able to cut down on the ground balls and increase the flyballs/line drives?  I'm assuming since he's still a prospect and hasn't fully developed yet, there might be some room for change.  Or is he what he is at this point with a chance for slight but not drastic transformation?

[Can_of_corn]

13 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Are there any prospects you can think of in recent years that were able to cut down on the ground balls and increase the flyballs/line drives?  I'm assuming since he's still a prospect and hasn't fully developed yet, there might be some room for change.  Or is he what he is at this point with a chance for slight but not drastic transformation?

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/has-the-fly-ball-revolution-begun/

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/here-is-your-fly-ball-revolution/

https://tht.fangraphs.com/tht-annual-2018/the-next-stage-of-the-air-ball-revolution/

[weams]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

He also picked Almanzar, Rickard, Santander, hmmm and that’s it I think.

Santander is awesome. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, weams said:

Santander is awesome. 

I'll wait till the lights come on to make any judgment.