Who’s your choice for most pleasant surprise of 2019?

[Just Regular]

17 hours ago, osfan83 said:

Why does the Ruiz/Nunez battle remind me of the Harriston/Roberts battle? 

I'm aging myself here, but gotta think Leo Gomez/Craig Worthington is the best team history comparable.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Philip said:

To be honest I don’t think anyone on the team is going to hit very well, but Jackson will balance out his bat with good defense, so he can still be a benefit.

There have been a lot of positive comments about Sisco’s defense this spring.    For example, here:   http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2019/03/hyde-and-elias-on-the-catching-situation-and-more.html

Also, in this interview at 17:12:  https://livestream.com/MASNAllAccess/events/8584249/videos/188324942

So, while I always take remarks like these with a grain of salt, I don’t just assume that Sisco will be terrible defensively.    

[HowAboutThat]

57 minutes ago, Frobby said:

There have been a lot of positive comments about Sisco’s defense this spring.    For example, here:   http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2019/03/hyde-and-elias-on-the-catching-situation-and-more.html

Also, in this interview at 17:12:  https://livestream.com/MASNAllAccess/events/8584249/videos/188324942

So, while I always take remarks like these with a grain of salt, I don’t just assume that Sisco will be terrible defensively.    

I hope you’re correct, but it is significant that the catchers we kept are Defense first guys. That implies that defense is the priority(but not in Left Field, apparently) and that Sisco’s defense, even if improved, was considered inadequate. Possibly they also didn’t think he’d hit any better than last year. I haven’t read a word about his framing or pitch-calling, though his blocking was improved.

He’s not a prospect anymore, so there’s no fuss about service time. is he still a rookie?

[Number5]

13 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

Don't mean to be a jerk..but Im afraid a surprise would be to win 55 games...no one excites me too much on this club...

 

There it is!  The official Roy Reverse Jinx!  So expect the O's to win 107 and lose 55!  

[AceKing]

Chris Davis is going to be good at 1b, and will again be driving baseballs and will hit close to 40 bombs, with a 230 avg.

[Frobby]

28 minutes ago, Philip said:

I hope you’re correct, but it is significant that the catchers we kept are Defense first guys. That implies that defense is the priority(but not in Left Field, apparently) and that Sisco’s defense, even if improved, was considered inadequate. Possibly they also didn’t think he’d hit any better than last year. I haven’t read a word about his framing or pitch-calling, though his blocking was improved.

He’s not a prospect anymore, so there’s no fuss about service time. is he still a rookie?

There’s a difference between saying Sisco’s defense is inadequate and saying that Sucre and Severino are better defenders. I think this is a case where the O’s are content to let Sisco continue honing his skills (both offense and defense) in AAA while they test out Sucre and Severino for a couple of months.    I’ll be pretty surprised if Sisco stays in the minors all year if he’s playing well and Sucre and Severino both continue to post sub-.600 OPS’s.     

[DrungoHazewood]

18 hours ago, spiritof66 said:

I was going to mention that we're probably too late for Lew Ford (who turned 42 last summer), but I was trying to uphold the dignity of the board.

Lew is still active as a player/coach for the Long Island Ducks.  Or he was last year and his wiki page says he's still active.  .784 OPS, just 40-50 points behind teammate Travis Snider.

[Redskins Rick]

12 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Lew is still active as a player/coach for the Long Island Ducks.  Or he was last year and his wiki page says he's still active.  .784 OPS, just 40-50 points behind teammate Travis Snider.

Maybe we can get Reimold back.

 

[AnythingO's]

I believe Mancini will only see time at !b and DH as we sort thru Davis/Trumbo and will respond by improving on 2017.

Long will help him tweak launch angle and we will have our DH for the next few years.

[spiritof66]

41 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Lew is still active as a player/coach for the Long Island Ducks.  Or he was last year and his wiki page says he's still active.  .784 OPS, just 40-50 points behind teammate Travis Snider.

The Ducks, about to enter their 20th year, pretty regularly sign guys with ML experience, but they're usually not there for long. With nine seasons as a Duck, Lew is something of an institution.

How much he's hated by Long Island fans, I don't know.  

http://www.liducks.com/ducks/roster/index.html?player_id=82

[Redskins Rick]

7 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

The Ducks, about to enter their 20th year, pretty regularly sign guys with ML experience, but they're usually not there for long. With nine seasons as a Duck, Lew is something of an institution.

How much he's hated by Long Island fans, I don't know.  

http://www.liducks.com/ducks/roster/index.html?player_id=82

[spiritof66]

5 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

[atomic]

I think Joey Rickard is going to have a break out season and ends up being our All Star.

[ChipTait]

Dallas Keuchel, when he signs a back-loaded five year deal with the Orioles next week.

[El Gordo]

Maybe Dwight Smith?