Why is the book closed on Mountcastle at 3rd?

[sportsfan8703]

We have a huge hole at 3B in the organization. We can afford to let Mountcastle take his lumps for a few years. His he really that bad?  Ruiz and Bannon aren’t exactly world beaters from a short term. 

[Frobby]

He can’t make the throws a 3B needs to make.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

He can’t make the throws a 3B needs to make.  

Exactly, they did their due diligence.  If anything they waited too long to move him off the left side of the diamond.

[Sports Guy]

Because he stinks there...and I disagree we have a hole there.  I just dont think we know who that player is yet.  We have guys who are likely to go there.

[owknows]

29 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

We have a huge hole at 3B in the organization. We can afford to let Mountcastle take his lumps for a few years. His he really that bad?  Ruiz and Bannon aren’t exactly world beaters from a short term. 

Because people make pronouncements...  and they become lore

[linedrive]

Mountcastle has the worst throwing arm I've ever seen in a Major League (or Minor League) player. My throwing arm is pretty bad, but I could make a stronger throw from third to first (well, maybe 10 years ago). I watched him play 3B at AA Bowie, and every throw weak, almost like he was lobbing it over there. Personally, I'd like to see him groomed as a permanent DH, but I understand he might have some value in the OF or 1B.

[sportsfan8703]

Why can’t a position player go to a mechanics place and improve his “4 seamer” to 1B?  Did he at least have good hands on the dirt?   Tony Batista didn’t have a strong arm but was accurate and made the easy plays. 

[Philip]

2 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

We have a huge hole at 3B in the organization. We can afford to let Mountcastle take his lumps for a few years. His he really that bad?  Ruiz and Bannon aren’t exactly world beaters from a short term. 

He’s terrible. Ruiz is terrible too, but hopefully Bannon will not be. But another year or so and Henderson can take over maybe even Jones.

[wildcard]

I want to see what kind of arm and range Valiaka has at 3rd this spring.   He can compete with Ruiz, Sanchez, Mejias-Brean and Wilkerson. Elias will be watching the waiver wire for more competition. I think Bannon needs some more time at AAA.   He needs to show he can hit for a long period and improve his defense to be a regular IMO.

[DrungoHazewood]

11 hours ago, owknows said:

Because people make pronouncements...  and they become lore

Why is it such a challenging concept that the Orioles staff has had years to look at Mountcastle and decided that he is not a major league third baseman?

[Aglets]

6 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Why is it such a challenging concept that the Orioles staff has had years to look at Mountcastle and decided that he is not a major league third baseman?

Because it challenges my preconceived notions of course.  AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE HIRED AND PAID TO EVALUATE MLB PLAYERS TELLING ME THAT WHAT I SEE FROM MY COUCH IS A LIE.

[Frobby]

10 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Why can’t a position player go to a mechanics place and improve his “4 seamer” to 1B?  Did he at least have good hands on the dirt?   Tony Batista didn’t have a strong arm but was accurate and made the easy plays. 

I recall Mountcastle spent a whole winter doing arm-strengthening exercises a few years back, and it just didn’t do  much good.   Bottom line, they tried for a long time to make it work, and it didn’t.   Time to move on and let the guy concentrate on raking.   

[Tony-OH]

Mountcastle does not have the arm strength or throwing motion to adequately play third base at any professional level. It's not "lore" or hearsay, but the absolute truth confirmed by scouting, the naked eye of the casual observer, and I'm sure trackmaster. His defense would be so poor there that it would offset his bat and take away the value he brings to the club. 

By the way, Ruiz is a literally an average defensive third baseman (0 OAA and 0% success added). His bat is what's below average (.286 WOBA in 812 career PAs and .298 last year) and the reason why he's a place holder until Westburg or Henderson arrives.

 

[Sanfran327]

12 hours ago, linedrive said:

Mountcastle has the worst throwing arm I've ever seen in a Major League (or Minor League) player. My throwing arm is pretty bad, but I could make a stronger throw from third to first (well, maybe 10 years ago). I watched him play 3B at AA Bowie, and every throw weak, almost like he was lobbing it over there. Personally, I'd like to see him groomed as a permanent DH, but I understand he might have some value in the OF or 1B.

There's no way his arm is worse than Johnny Damon's. I have (at nearly 39 years old) a better lefty throwing arm than JD did in his prime, and I'm right handed.

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, Sanfran327 said:

There's no way his arm is worse than Johnny Damon's. I have (at nearly 39 years old) a better lefty throwing arm than JD did in his prime, and I'm right handed.

Pretty sure he's referring to infield arms.  Mountcastle's arm in the outfield is clearly superior to someone like Damon, even with the small sample size we've seen.