Orioles sign Kohl Stewart, DFA Marcos Diplan, Diplan clears waivers, outrighted to AAA.

[MurphDogg]

Major League deal.

One time top-50 prospect, 4th overall pick in 2013. Will presumably be in the starting rotation mix.

A little surprised it took an MLB deal.

He was added to the Twins 40-man roster in 2018 when he was promoted to the Majors and was not optioned that year, so he used his first option last year and has two options remaining. 

He was Rule 5 eligible after the 2017 season and was not selected.

 

[Enjoy Terror]

itshappening.gif

[Pushmonkey]

First. I do like kohl’s better then target but Burlington is about the same. Oh we are not talking about stores. 

[interloper]

Split contract, can be optioned, $800k if in Majors.

[Luke-OH]

Here’s what I saw when researching him for my MiLB FA piece.

Sinker 90-94, ok pitch, but doesn’t miss many bats and can get barreled

Above average slider

Potential above average curveball, but it doesn’t play that way presently because he doesn’t locate it

Below average changeup

Scattershot command

He did throw a 4S fastball on occasion that he a near vertical spin axis, so the play might be to shift away from the sinker to the 4S. Probably needs a curveball or change improvement as well to be able to get lefties out.

[Scalious]

Bigger name then talent. He's been a bleh sinker/slider guy most of his time in the majors (62 IP). Guessing the plan will be to have him to focus on his 4-seamer and try a go improving on a secondary offering

Edit: Didn't see Luke's post's above mine, so...what he said

Edited December 29, 2019 by Scalious

[Just Regular]

Somewhere pedigree diehard Dan Duquette is nodding in approval.

[Roll Tide]

58 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

Here’s what I saw when researching him for my MiLB FA piece.

Sinker 90-94, ok pitch, but doesn’t miss many bats and can get barreled

Above average slider

Potential above average curveball, but it doesn’t play that way presently because he doesn’t locate it

Below average changeup

Scattershot command

He did throw a 4S fastball on occasion that he a near vertical spin axis, so the play might be to shift away from the sinker to the 4S. Probably needs a curveball or change improvement as well to be able to get lefties out.

His minor league numbers look ok and he really has only had 60 MLB innings. But his WHIP is 1.3+ in the minors.

[Just Regular]

Skimming his background, I'm guessing he is (or at least once was) a premium athlete for a pitcher as BP 2015 reports he turned down an offer to quarterback Texas A&M.

He pitched full A ball seasons in 2014/2015 and just 6 HR allowed in 41 starts seems good.  The WHIPs got ugly, and I am guessing the underdeveloped part of the command manifested as sinkers too much below the zone to be competitive.

The 4S vs. 2S observations above sound right - it's kind of reminiscent of the Astros and Gerrit Cole (why are you throwing so many sinkers?).

On the 2S side he still has barely relieved, so there might also be the Jim Johnson/Zack Britton fork in the road to try if he can turbo it for 20 pitches.

His 5.14/1.47 in the IL last year in the same ballpark as Keegan Akin's 4.73/1.51, and he's about 6 months older than Akin.

 

[mdbdotcom]

First, you make Diplan. Then, you change Diplan. Got it.

[Philip]

Diplan crashed...

[Philip]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

Split contract, can be optioned, $800k if in Majors.

What does that mean? If he’s in the majors does he get a percentage of 800k for as long as he’s up, and minor league pay if he’s down? Or is the 800k guaranteed if he spends a certain amount of time in MLB?

[Philip]

1 hour ago, Luke-OH said:

Here’s what I saw when researching him for my MiLB FA piece.

Sinker 90-94, ok pitch, but doesn’t miss many bats and can get barreled

Above average slider

Potential above average curveball, but it doesn’t play that way presently because he doesn’t locate it

Below average changeup

Scattershot command

He did throw a 4S fastball on occasion that he a near vertical spin axis, so the play might be to shift away from the sinker to the 4S. Probably needs a curveball or change improvement as well to be able to get lefties out.

Any idea what the FO saw in him?

[Luke-OH]

3 minutes ago, Philip said:

Any idea what the FO saw in him?

I mentioned some of it in the above post, he has the potential for 2 above average breaking balls. Perhaps he’d benefit from moving away from his lackluster sinker and to a 4S fastball. 

Also, the guy used to throw notably harder, maybe there is something mechanical they see that could help get some of that back. That’s just speculation.

It’s mostly that this is a guy with some MLB experience, pedigree, and the potential to be a useful backend type with a few improvements. How likely those improvements happen is not something I can predict. It’s low risk (split contract), so it really doesn’t need to be more than that.

 

[Luke-OH]

I think Jake Thompson is a better version of the same type of pitcher. But like I always say, the FO has better tools and more data than I do to look into these things, so it’s possible I’m missing something.