Claimed: Pitcher Carson Fulmer

[interloper]

I think there's absolutely no reason to get worked up about this waiver claim at all. It's just inventory. Sounds like he'll slip through waivers if we DFA him later anyway. 

[jamalshw]

A bit late commenting, but I love this move. He's got good stuff. He's just never been able to find consistent command. Maybe they can help him...maybe not. But if they think the have a chance to straighten him out, it's a good move...even if it doesn't work out. After all, what do we have to lose?

[Can_of_corn]

13 minutes ago, interloper said:

Armstrong.

In 12 and a third innings?  He was pretty horrid last season over 54.

[DrungoHazewood]

I see a guy who was mostly a bad starter, then moved to the pen in AAA last year.  His overall numbers weren't good, but he had a step change in K rate from 8-something to over 13.  They probably see some glimmer of something that he changed when he finally was told he was a reliever going forward. 

He's free, and he may have some plausible path to being a decent pitcher.  I think that's more sane and reasonable than assuming the front office is cheap, stupid, and devious.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I see a guy who was mostly a bad starter, then moved to the pen in AAA last year.  His overall numbers weren't good, but he had a step change in K rate from 8-something to over 13.  They probably see some glimmer of something that he changed when he finally was told he was a reliever going forward. 

He's free, and he may have some plausible path to being a decent pitcher.  I think that's more sane and reasonable than assuming the front office is cheap, stupid, and devious.

Stupid devious is the most annoying kind of devious.

[interloper]

51 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

In 12 and a third innings?  He was pretty horrid last season over 54.

I think he's absolutely improved since being claimed, even last year before fading. We know he's embraced the analytics and worked on very specific pitch selection/improvement things over the offseason. It looks like it was paying off before getting hurt. But everything about Elias is a small sample, so the question is kind of pointless. 

Alberto and Severino are also good picks with small samples. They feel more like luck/guys just figuring it out than anything to do with Elias, though. But good claims are good claims. 

[section18]

I llike this pick up and am willing to let the staff try to fix him. Nothing to lose !

[Just Regular]

2 hours ago, interloper said:

We know he's embraced the analytics and worked on very specific pitch selection/improvement things over the offseason.

Wasn't the Armstrong diagnosis/prescription was the thing that lost us Luke?   Totally rooting for him to wear LUKE-OH some future Players Weekend.

[MurphDogg]

 

[Sports Guy]

He’s a lottery ticket.

Worth the minimal risk.

[MurphDogg]

15 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

He’s a lottery ticket.

Worth the minimal risk.

Much better chance of being a contributor on a future competitive Orioles team than Wojo or Eshelman, among others. 

Don't have to squint too hard to see him as a potential 7th-9th inning option down the road if he adjusts and buys into being a reliever like Harvey seemingly has.

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, MurphDogg said:

Much better chance of being a contributor on a future competitive Orioles team than Wojo or Eshelman, among others. 

Don't have to squint too hard to see him as a potential 7th-9th inning option down the road if he adjusts and buys into being a reliever like Harvey seemingly has.

Agreed.  
 

There is zero reason not to try and see what he has.

[Frobby]

On 9/7/2020 at 10:48 PM, OriolesMagic83 said:

I am cautiously optimistic that Elias's plan is working/will work.  Akin and Kremer not only had good raw stuff but an idea of how to use it.  A contrast from the past would be Cabrera and Bedard who had superior arms but no idea how to pitch when they got to the majors.  I'm not saying that Elias system or any other system will turn every talented arm into a major league pitcher, but it seems like these new pitchers (and position players) have an idea of what they need to do to be successful MLB players. 

It’s worth pointing out that Cabrera and Bedard were really rushed to the majors, much more so than most other O’s prospects in that era.   Cabrera in particular — he’d pitched 5 games above Delmarva when he was brought to the majors.  Bedard, at least, had thrown 17 games at Fredrick and 13 at Bowie before losing a year to TJ surgery.    But he basically went from a half year at AA to the majors with a year of inactivity and 19 innings of low minors rehab in between.    

[Just Regular]

A Fulmer interview was part of the pregame show last night - - he said he'd watched some college tape (perhaps a curated selection by our analysts), and felt good about adjustments that were happening.

The more interesting bit of the interview to me was his candor about how as he entered pro ball he relied on his "competitiveness"; it basically gave the impression that through 21/22 (until pro ball surpassed his sheer pure talent), he just went out there and tried to win and did mostly.   The blend of 26 and us maybe having one or two new insights for his reliever self is enough for curiosity about how the next 5 or so innings go.

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

It’s worth pointing out that Cabrera and Bedard were really rushed to the majors, much more so than most other O’s prospects in that era.   Cabrera in particular — he’d pitched 5 games above Delmarva when he was brought to the majors.  Bedard, at least, had thrown 17 games at Fredrick and 13 at Bowie before losing a year to TJ surgery.    But he basically went from a half year at AA to the majors with a year of inactivity and 19 innings of low minors rehab in between.    

This is going waaaaay back, but I remember that there was some reason related to options or six-year eligibility or something that forced the O's to call up Cabrera.  It's not obvious from his playing record, he only spent 3.5 years in the minors, but I know there was something like that going on.  Maybe he signed much earlier but was in a complex or something?  I don't remember...

That was the era where they called up Screech after a full month of seasoning Frederick and put him in the Orioles' starting lineup.  @Can_of_corn must be swooning just thinking about it.  My guess is that when Syd Thrift left he put some notes on Beattie's desk that included "don't forget about the Bonus Baby rule!  It'll bite you!"