Austin Hays called up, Ryan Mountcastle not called up

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, LA2 said:

If Trumbo wants to play somewhere next season and is actually able to play without pain these last few weeks, they'll do him the favor of giving him playing time. I'm fine with that. The fact that Elias wants to give at-bats to Nunez, Williams, and Santander (if he's being sincere)--and probably not completely bench Mancini, Stewart, Ruiz, Hays, WIlkerson, and Smith Jr.--dictates that Davis will get far less at-bats than if he were the regular first baseman. 10 players for six positions, four of whom have played first base this season, with Davis barred from PAs vs. LHP.

Should be looking forward and that doesn't included Davis, Trumbo or Smith.

[LA2]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Should be looking forward and that doesn't included Davis, Trumbo or Smith.

I think almost everyone on the OH agrees.

The implication of my post and of Elias's statement (explicit mention of Nunez, Williams, and Santander, with Mancini, Stewart, Ruiz, Wilkerson, Hays, and Trumbo having to play somewhere or DH) was that Davis won't be getting many PAs at all. I realize that his poor performance makes it feel like he's been up there K-ing every inning, but he only had 109 ABs (plus 16 BBs, 3 SFs) in all of July and August and now there are three new outfielders, first basemen, and/or DHs on the active roster (Trumbo, Hays, Williams). So I wouldn't be surprised if he gets only 25-30 PAs in September.

After all, it's too late to give a decisive look at Hays, Diaz, or Mountcastle (cf. Mullins and Hays' and Sisco's earlier cans of coffee) and I'm fine if they have a gentleman's agreement with Trumbo, if he's up to it. Smith, Jr., if he plays much at all, might be given a last chance to regain his early-season form as a possible fourth or fifth outfielder / DH versus: Stewart (they seem to be equally bad so far defensively and Smith has actually been better offensively); Williams (advantage: plays CF); and Wilkerson (advantage: plays INF, somewhat switch-hits).

As far as position players are concerned, I'll consider it an informative and enjoyable enough September if Santander, Nunez, Villar, and Hanser can maintain their current levels, Severino doesn't tank, Sisco and Ruiz improve, and Williams proves he's worthy of an invite next spring as a potential 4th-outfielder/stop-gap centerfielder. The verdict is already in on Mancini and Martin, in opposite directions.

[wildcard]

7 minutes ago, LA2 said:

I think almost everyone on the OH agrees.

The implication of my post and of Elias's statement (explicit mention of Nunez, Williams, and Santander, with Mancini, Stewart, Ruiz, Wilkerson, Hays, and Trumbo having to play somewhere or DH) was that Davis won't be getting many PAs at all. I realize that his poor performance makes it feel like he's been up there K-ing every inning, but he only had 109 ABs (plus 16 BBs, 3 SFs) in all of July and August and now there are three new outfielders, first basemen, and/or DHs on the active roster (Trumbo, Hays, Williams). So I wouldn't be surprised if he gets only 25-30 PAs in September.

After all, it's too late to give a decisive look at Hays, Diaz, or Mountcastle (cf. Mullins and Hays' and Sisco's earlier cans of coffee) and I'm fine if they have a gentleman's agreement with Trumbo, if he's up to it. Smith, Jr., if he plays much at all, might be given a last chance to regain his early-season form as a possible fourth or fifth outfielder / DH versus: Stewart (they seem to be equally bad so far defensively and Smith has actually been better offensively); Williams (advantage: plays CF); and Wilkerson (advantage: plays INF, somewhat switch-hits).

As far as position players are concerned, I'll consider it an informative and enjoyable enough September if Santander, Nunez, Villar, and Hanser can maintain their current levels, Severino doesn't tank, Sisco and Ruiz improve, and Williams proves he's worthy of an invite next spring as a potential 4th-outfielder/stop-gap centerfielder. The verdict is already in on Mancini and Martin, in opposite directions.

I am not sure what directions you are referring to on Mancini and Martin.  Mancini is moving toward being the everyday 1B.   Martins .274 avg in the second half is moving him closer to getting move time at SS.  JMO.

[TINSTAAPP]

On 9/3/2019 at 8:41 AM, EricK said:

The NHL 27 or 7 for free agency is along those lines.  NHL teams only have one or two affiliates; so the long player-development process of MLB is different.  But I could see the next MLB CBA being closer to the current NHL model than the counting days of MLB's current CBA.

https://www.liveabout.com/nhl-free-agents-explained-2778995

The NHL has a salary cap. So do every other major team sport in America. If MLB players want more favorable terms in hitting free agency at an earlier date, agree to a salary cap. Otherwise, why would the owners of the Tampa Bay Rays or Kansas City Royals or Cincinnati Reds or Pittsburgh Pirates or Oakland A's or any other small market team agree to that?

[Frobby]

8 hours ago, Ohfan67 said:

Buck publicly called Mountcastle out because of the lack of walks. Told the story about how Mountcastle laughed when challenged about lack of walks. 

Mountcastle actually walked a fair bit the last month of the season.   If progress on drawing walks was what they wanted to see to justify a call-up, he would have done enough to justify it IMO.    He walked 10 times in August, compared to 9 in May-July combined.    I’m sure this is an area he will need to continue to work on, but I don’t think it’s a real reason to hold him back, just a plausible justification along with his working on new defensive positions.   

[TINSTAAPP]

14 hours ago, Frobby said:

“He’s been good in left,” Elias said. “Obviously, he’s not perfect. He just started playing there this year. I think he said he’d only played there, like, once in high school, and he’s shown some good ability in left field. And his arm has been playing well out there, relative to the infield, so we want to continue to keep that as an option, first base and third base, to whatever degree possible.”

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2019/09/more-on-hays-promotion-and-other-roster-decisions.html

Again if his arm is an issue, I don't know why they haven't been trying him at 2B. Are the Orioles sold on Villar as being a long-term option at 2B? They can move Villar to SS. He's been okay defensively when he's played there. 

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, TINSTAAPP said:

Again if his arm is an issue, I don't know why they haven't been trying him at 2B. Are the Orioles sold on Villar as being a long-term option at 2B? They can move Villar to SS. He's been okay defensively when he's played there. 

Obviously it is more than just the arm.

 

[mdbdotcom]

32 minutes ago, TINSTAAPP said:

Again if his arm is an issue, I don't know why they haven't been trying him at 2B. Are the Orioles sold on Villar as being a long-term option at 2B? They can move Villar to SS. He's been okay defensively when he's played there. 

His problems throwing in the infield may have more to do with footwork than arm strength. Throwing from the outfield is very different. 

[spiritof66]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

I am not sure what directions you are referring to on Mancini and Martin.  Mancini is moving toward being the everyday 1B.   Martins .274 avg in the second half has nailed down his spot as Norfolk's starting SS at the opening of the 2020 season. JMO.

Fixed that for you. JMO.

[HowAboutThat]

12 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Probably.

I just don't know why everyone's got their panties in a knot about making room for a guy who's got a good bat, questionable (at best) plate discipline and no position.  He should be a DH, that's it.  I don't care if the DH spot is traditionally looked at as a place where old but good hitters with bad knees go to die, we've seen so many traditional ways of going about things in baseball shattered over the past few years. 

If the Tampa Bay Rays can contend for a playoff berth with the opener strategy, no one can tell me that you can't take a young hitter who LOOKS ATHLETIC (I'm convinced that's why we're trying to find him a position, if he was a fatass like Vlad Jr, we'd be singing a different story) but can't hack it with the glove and just tell him to DH.  Focus on your hitting, stop worrying about your glove, get better at taking walks.  That's all he should be doing.  All this crap about trying to figure out where he's gonna play is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.  

Anyway, back to Santander.  I've railed on here for years that Rule 5 picks are a waste.  I'm glad to see one work out.  I'll amend my stance to say that Rule 5 pitchers are a waste.  

 Very good comment. I have never cared about mountcastle’s walk rate.  Nobody on this team walks a meaningful amount. I remember Toby Harrah drawing over 100 walks one season(1977?) and he didn’t even lead the league. So I don’t care about his walk rate. I care about his bad defense, and it’s kind of funny that people are talking about his walk rate and seem to have forgotten that his defense is currently unplayable. I say currently because he may be able to develop adequate defense in, left field has been suggested, I think maybe third base was mentioned? But at the moment he has no position, he can’t play anywhere, which apparently applies to multiple guys already.

I have no problem with sticking him at designated hitter, though I would be happy if he had a better eye.  But aren’t there a lot of designated hitters ahead of him on the list? 

Regardless, bring him up, send Smith away, do something with Stewart, and let Mountcastle have a glove somewhere and see what he can do. It’s best to confirm his limitations as soon as possible. We’ve got a World Series to win.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Philip said:

 Very good comment. I have never cared about mountcastle’s walk rate.  Nobody on this team walks a meaningful amount. I remember Toby Harrah drawing over 100 walks one season(1977?) and he didn’t even lead the league. So I don’t care about his walk rate. I care about his bad defense, and it’s kind of funny that people are talking about his walk rate and seem to have forgotten that his defense is currently unplayable. I say currently because he may be able to develop adequate defense in, left field has been suggested, I think maybe third base was mentioned? But at the moment he has no position, he can’t play anywhere, which apparently applies to multiple guys already.

I have no problem with sticking him at designated hitter, though I would be happy if he had a better eye.  But aren’t there a lot of designated hitters ahead of him on the list? 

Regardless, bring him up, send Smith away, do something with Stewart, and let Mountcastle have a glove somewhere and see what he can do. It’s best to confirm his limitations as soon as possible. We’ve got a World Series to win.

I'd ask you to provide evidence showing his defense in left and/or first is "unplayable" but I know you can't.

I've seen him throw out a guy at home and make a nice catch at the wall in left, seemed playable to me, at least at a Mancini level.

[wildcard]

28 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

Fixed that for you. JMO.

No, that was for you.  I think if Martin hits .274 and plays the kind of defense he has been playing he is the O's everyday SS.   But he has not proven he can hit like that yet.

[Frobby]

29 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'd ask you to provide evidence showing his defense in left and/or first is "unplayable" but I know you can't.

I've seen him throw out a guy at home and make a nice catch at the wall in left, seemed playable to me, at least at a Mancini level.

Tony has often expressed the opinion that Mountcastle should be fine at those two positions, and is more athletic than guys like Mancini.    And that makes sense, considering that he started at SS.    

[tntoriole]

The only reason that Mountcastle is not up is clock issues, imho.  All the other arguments are absolutely unconvincing to me...i.e. Trumbo, Davis, position concersn, blah blah blah.  If Mountcastle is not playing baseball anywhere in September then how is he improving on anything?  Playing even some up here is better than playing none watching football sitting at home.

Plus there are not so subtle messages to Mountcastle about not promoting him and promoting Hays and Hess and others..i.e.  “you are not good enough yet”.  After doing whatever the organization tells him to do position wise and still being IL Player of the Year at 22 while being jerked all over the diamond is impressive to me as to his focus and concentration.   Same way they did Trey...oh let’s have you play a position you have never played and see how it goes.  But, unlike Ryan, the organization did it for Trey at the big league level because his bat was good enough but now uses that as a reason not to bring Mountcastle up for a look in a meaningless last month of a disaster season.  He could be Alfred E Neuman in left for the rest of September and what possible difference would that make? 

 

 

[wildcard]

38 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Tony has often expressed the opinion that Mountcastle should be fine at those two positions, and is more athletic than guys like Mancini.    And that makes sense, considering that he started at SS.    

I have not read that he was good a SS though.