Orioles in the Outfield

[IPlayGM]

4 hours ago, orioles22 said:

Mountcastle in left (at least by May, even though I agree they should start him there on opening day)

Hays in center (and hope he can stay healthy)

Santander in right (with Diaz challenging in another year or Hays eventually moving there if McKenna or some other prospect can take the job in center)

Mancini at first base

To me, a lot of this hinges on whether the Os bite the bullet and get Davis off the roster. It is only one roster spot, but it does clog things up and limit the flexibility of the entire non pitching roster.

[Greg Pappas]

Short Term... LF: ???,  CF: Hays,  RF: Santander

Long Term... LF: Santander (or Mountcastle),  CF: Hays,  RF: Diaz

Stewart should play the OF only in emergencies. I'm not sure I see a role/future on this team moving forward, outside of maybe DH/PH.

Mountcastle could certainly be a factor in LF, if he is at least close to as good as Santander is defensively.  Yet, I still would prefer him as our 1B long term. I'd love to read later on how Mount worked hard this off-season with top defensive coaches at both LF and 1B, to accelerate/improve his skills in order to provide a solid option at either spot. I doubt I'll read that, but it would be a very nice surprise.

[ScGO's]

11 hours ago, Three Run Homer said:

The only reason Mountcastle would start at AAA is if they are trying to fiddle with his service clock.  He has nothing to prove at AAA.  

He's got to prove he can play a position well in MLB.  LF or 1B will probably be his focus in the first half of the AAA season.  A lot of that will depend on whether Mancini is traded or not.  He will be up at some point next year if he is still hitting like did in 2019

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

He's got to prove he can play a position well in MLB.  LF or 1B will probably be his focus in the first half of the AAA season.  A lot of that will depend on whether Mancini is traded or not.  He will be up at some point next year if he is still hitting like did in 2019

Why should he be held to a higher standard than folks like Sisco and Mancini?

The defense is an excuse to hold him back, just like it was with Vlad Jr.

[ScGO's]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Why should he be held to a higher standard than folks like Sisco and Mancini?

The defense is an excuse to hold him back, just like it was with Vlad Jr.

It is not a higher standard; its actually because he is such a young, talented hitter, and we have plenty of time to refine the final product.  We will be getting our butts stomped again next year, so lets see if Mancini is traded, and give him seasoning at either LF or 1B next year.  I would prefer to trade Mancini and put Mountcastle at 1B as I am a fan of an athletic OF and I think in the next 5 years or so we will have more athletic options in the OF than Mountcastle.  I would hate to see Mountcastle start in LF next year on the MLB club and struggle mightily defensively, potentially compromising his offensive game through the mental struggles of taking that kind of criticism as a rookie. 

[Going Underground]

Santander needs to walk more and have  more patient at bats .17 walks and lately trying to just hit homers.I think he starts the season in the outfield  I see no given that he is the everyday outfielder in September of  2020 Not sure Stewart is an everyday outfielder either. All the outfielders have question marks,either health and everyday production.

[HowAboutThat]

It has been shown that outfield defense is very important, and my own hope is that they will be willing to sacrifice a little bit of offense for an outstanding defense of outfield. With that in mind, is the best balance of defense and offense Hays, Santander, and who? Williams? Mullins Wasn’t very good, and doesn’t throw fast, hard, or far, so I sadly agree with the comment that he’s coming off the 40 man. Stewart hasn’t shown good D, Smith will probably go away, so what would a good defensive OF look like?

[Going Underground]

Is Santander a good defensive outfielder? I know he was playing out of position in center.But my friend said he has been just decent at  the corners and a few times people have went to second on nonchalantly getting to a grounder to the outfield 

[ChuckS]

15 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Is Santander a good defensive outfielder? I know he was playing out of position in center.But my friend said he has been just decent at  the corners and a few times people have went to second on nonchalantly getting to a grounder to the outfield 

He's average in the corners from what I've seen.  He appears to get pretty good reads and he's got slightly above average sprint speed per Statcast.  I honestly thought his arm would be a little stronger, but I think it at least qualifies as average as well. 

[Can_of_corn]

36 minutes ago, Philip said:

It has been shown that outfield defense is very important, and my own hope is that they will be willing to sacrifice a little bit of offense for an outstanding defense of outfield. With that in mind, is the best balance of defense and offense Hays, Santander, and who? Williams? Mullins Wasn’t very good, and doesn’t throw fast, hard, or far, so I sadly agree with the comment that he’s coming off the 40 man. Stewart hasn’t shown good D, Smith will probably go away, so what would a good defensive OF look like?

By who?  When?  Using what metrics?

[7Mo]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

By who?  When?  Using what metrics?

Chapter 7 of the Unwritten Rules of Baseball.

Summarized it says "it's better to catch the ball in the air and get an out when you're on defense".

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, ScGO's said:

It is not a higher standard; its actually because he is such a young, talented hitter, and we have plenty of time to refine the final product.  We will be getting our butts stomped again next year, so lets see if Mancini is traded, and give him seasoning at either LF or 1B next year.  I would prefer to trade Mancini and put Mountcastle at 1B as I am a fan of an athletic OF and I think in the next 5 years or so we will have more athletic options in the OF than Mountcastle.  I would hate to see Mountcastle start in LF next year on the MLB club and struggle mightily defensively, potentially compromising his offensive game through the mental struggles of taking that kind of criticism as a rookie. 

Yes it is a higher standard.  Look at this team, Davis, Mancini, Sisco, Smith, Stewart, Wilkerson in center...bad gloves all over the place but Mountcastle, wink wink, needs time in AAA to polish his glove.

Yes they will be getting stomped again next year so when better to let a kid learn defense in the majors?  Why have him learn the outfield in AAA only to bring him up and force him to adjust to playing outfield in the majors (third deck, different ballparks)?

What makes you think Mountcastle isn't athletic?  Because his arm wasn't good enough to stick at short?  I would be not at all surprised to find out he's already better than Smith and Mancini in left.  Poor shortstops tend to be more athletic than poor corner outfielders.

As for handling criticism, kid shrugged off Buck publicly berating him, I think he's got a thick skin.  I can't think of a single player to crack under the pressures of being a corner outfielder.  Got any examples?

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, John Welch said:

Chapter 7 of the Unwritten Rules of Baseball.

Summarized it says "it's better to catch the ball in the air and get an out when you're on defense".

I find chapter 8 to be superior.  Strike them out and leave nothing to chance.

[bobmc]

11 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I find chapter 8 to be superior.  Strike them out and leave nothing to chance.

Well except for a catcher "fanning" on the catch, letting ball roll to backstop and looking for someone to cover home, that is.  

[HowAboutThat]

28 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

By who?  When?  Using what metrics?

I’m sorry, I was wrong, outfield defense is not important. Let’s get three guys named Mark Trumbo hitting 47 homeruns each and lumbering around the outfield like the Africa Korps, and everything will be peachy.