Tony-OH on Vinny & Haynie (105.7)

[Frobby]

Sisco mentioned last night that he feels he’s made significant improvements in his framing.   

“I feel really good receiving the ball,” he said. “I’m in a really good spot. Done a lot of work this season and offseason and the end of last year on receiving the ball. And trying to do different things with receiving and feel I’m in a really good spot with that.”

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2020/08/ruiz-drew-gains-from-minors-trip-sisco-with-something-to-prove.html
 

Well, that’s his opinion, anyway.    I haven’t watched enough to really have an opinion.   
 

[OFFNY]

o

 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20th

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VINNY & HAYNIE:)l Trying to be as unbiased as possible, what do you make of Randal Grichuk killing the Orioles ??? The guy has 16 Home Runs in 137 Plate Appearances in his career against the Orioles, with a .349 Batting Average and an OPS of 1.232.

TONY PENTE:)l Yeah, Grichuck seems to be, for whatever reason, an Oriole killer. He has a lot of power, but he also strikes out a lot and has a low OBP. His career OBP is under .300 (.296) ...... but when he gets hot, he just plain sizzles. He's always been a streaky guy, and for whatever reason(s), those hot streaks often include games against the Orioles. That said, you also have to take into consideration the fact that the Orioles' pitching has been pretty bad for the last few years. Add to that the fact that we have a couple of soft-tossing lefties in our starting rotation, which are pitchers that he feasts on, and you have a recipe for disaster when he comes to the plate against us.

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l John Means has had a major increase in his fastball velocity, but he has not yet been effective in his outings so far this season. Are you concerned that he may have just had a lightning-in-a-bottle half-season last year ???

TONY PENTE:)l I'm not overly concerned, because of the surrounding circumstances which have arose upon him as of late. As you pointed out, his velocity has had a major increase compared to last season. Plus, his change-up is still pretty successful ...... but he has had no routine so far this season. First, he had the tired arm that he was dealing with a few weeks ago. Then his father died. That's really a lot for a young guy to have to deal with in such a compact amount of time, especially in this very strange, pandemic-shortened season. I don't see him as a flash-in-the-pan, I think that he will eventually settle in and start pitching better again. I think that he has a good chance to be in the starting rotation for a number of years. 

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l How about Chance Sisco ???

TONY PENTE:)l Sisco won't be a good defensive catcher, he doesn't receive ball well. He's slow on base-paths on offense. He's also not known as being a heads-up player. He is simply a guy who can hit, but not much else. He is who he is. He may be a DH,  and/or play some 1B, and/or be a back-up catcher, but he is not guy that you want behind the plate if you're trying to build a championship team. I don't understand what happened on the base-paths yesterday in the first inning, when he apparently was running on contact from 3rd to home with nobody out. It was similar to Dwight Smith Jr's mistake the night before on Mullins' base hit in extra innings, when he ran right through a stop sign and was thrown out easily at the plate. These guys have been playing baseball for years at the Little League level, the Pony League level, the High School level, the College level, and the Minors ...... if they don't have good baseball instincts in them now, they never will. You just have to deal with it, and accept that they are who they are.

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l How about the surprisingly respectable 12-12 start to the season ???

TONY PENTE:)l The Orioles have been incredibly streaky so far this season. They win 6 games in a row, and then they get swept. They sweep the Rays, and then get swept by the Marlins.  But considering the low expectations that most people had in regard to their W-L record this season, 12-12 at this stage is certainly better than I expected. There are several guys outperforming their numbers. Guys like Alberto, Severino, Sisco, and especially Santander are hot on offense. But as we talked about last week, these guys are just entering their primes, in their mid-20's. 

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l Especially Santander ??? 

TONY PENTE:)l Santander in particular is the guy whom I am most excited about, because he doesn't have a lot of weaknesses, if any. He is a switch-hitter that hits the ball to all fields, he has power, and he's good on defense. We have to give credit back to Dan Duquette for selecting him out of Advanced-A ball back in 2016. He had a shoulder injury at that time, and I think that the Indians thought that no one would take him. But the Orioles saw his potential. I always liked his approach. He goes the other way at the plate, and he never looks over-matched. We're really seeing him mature right before our eyes. Oriole fans are excited about him because it has been a while since we have had a switch-hitting guy in the outfield batting that well who also plays good defense. 

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l What do you see happening at the alternate sight in Bowie ???

TONY PENTE:)l I've seen good things with Mountcastle swinging the bat. He also looked OK playing defense. DL Hall has been struggling, and has been really wild. He has pure stuff, but his command is very bad. As you move up the ladder to Advanced-A, AA, AAA, and the Majors, the hitters get better, and they will time that stuff if you don't have good command. It took Tanner Scott a few years to get his stuff together, but now he is finally coming into his own ...... I'm hoping to see something similar happen with Hall. But these guys are playing in an empty Minor League stadium, so I don't necessarily read too much into their struggles because of that.

 

o

[OFFNY]

On 8/20/2020 at 1:55 PM, OFFNY said:

o

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20th

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l Especially Santander ??? 

TONY PENTE:)l Santander in particular is the guy whom I am most excited about, because he doesn't have a lot of weaknesses, if any. He is a switch-hitter that hits the ball to all fields, he has power, and he's good on defense. We have to give credit back to Dan Duquette for selecting him out of Advanced-A ball back in 2016. He had a shoulder injury at that time, and I think that the Indians thought that no one would take him. But the Orioles saw his potential. I always liked his approach. He goes the other way at the plate, and he never looks over-matched. We're really seeing him mature right before our eyes. Oriole fans are excited about him because it has been a while since we have had a switch-hitting guy in the outfield batting that well who also plays good defense. 

o

o

 

He just saved Wojciechowski and company at least 2 runs, maybe more. ) 

 

o

[Frobby]

So Tony, where are you getting your information about what’s going on at Bowie?    Patrick’s summary makes it sound like you’ve seen some of the action there, but I assume that’s not the case.   

[OFFNY]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

So Tony, where are you getting your information about what’s going on at Bowie? Patrick’s summary makes it sound like you’ve seen some of the action there, but I assume that that’s not the case.   

 

o

 

My bad, if that's the case.

 

o

[OFFNY]

o

 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27th

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VINNY & HAYNIE:)l What about Keegan Akin, and what are Hyde's plans for him ???

TONY PENTE:)l Hyde is in "win now" mode overall. I think that Akin's long-term plans will be as a bullpen piece. He is a starter by trade, which is what he has been doing for his whole Minor League career, but I believe that his best role will ultimately be as a reliever. He has been inconsistent with his breaking stuff. He does have a good change-up and slider. He is a 3-pitch pitcher. I think that his stuff will jump up a little in a relief role. He may take some time to make the adjustment from being a starter to being in the bullpen, but I think that his long-term role will be as a reliever ...... he may be a starter this season, but I think that that's OK because of the length of it (60 games.)

 

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l Do you envision a shortstop of the future ???

TONY PENTE:)l Not really right now. I think that Iglesias probably won't be here, and Valaika makes too many errors. Right now there really is not someone in the organization, or we probably would have seen him this year. For now, Iglesias is a plus-defender with good speed. Long-term, there may be multiple options. Gunnar Henderson was a 2nd-round draft pick in 2019 out of high school, so he's a possibility. Jordan Westbutg was another high-draft pick out of Mississippi State in 2020 (30th overall.) Even Darell Hernaiz is a possibility (a 5th-round draft pick on 2019.)  It may wind up being a tough position to fill. I like Elias drafting a lot of shortstops, because it is an athletic position ....... Mountcastle was drafted as a shortstop, not but he didn't have the arm for that position. They moved him to 3rd base and he didn't have the arm there, either. But he has transitioned very nicely into the outfield, where he clearly is better defensively than he was on the left side of the infield. I like the notion of grabbing these athletic shortstops in the draft, and then moving them to other positions. 

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l What do you think of Tampa Bay ??? 

TONY PENTE:)l  Tampa has always found a way to field good pitching. Their bullpen arms can really throw. But now, they also have good hitters. Most of their hitters do at least one thing well ...... even if a guy doesn't have power, he finds a way to get on base. As was the case in 2018 and 2019, they were expected to be right there in contention again this season, and they are.

 

 

VINNY & HAYNIE:)l  We're at the halfway-mark of the season ....... what do you see overall ???

TONY PENTE:)l I have to admit that I'm surprised that they are hanging around the .500-mark. I didn't expect them to win more than 15 or 20 games overall. The possibility of upcoming trades will be interesting, as the Orioles could conceivably be moving Givens, Cobb, and/or Castro before the deadline.

 

o