The battles I want to see in ST

[Tony-OH]

Just now, NCRaven said:

Agree with all this.  But, I still hold out hope that Mountcastle will improve enough defensively that he doesn't have to come out in the late innings.

Honestly, I don't see him coming out of most games unless his defensive numbers show he's really poor. Obviously Hays is a better defensive outfielder in LF (he may be GG caliber there) than he is in CF where he's adequate, but Hyde will have to look at lots variables including the bullpen arms available to keep the lead before taking an impact bat like Mountcastle for Mullins' bat.

[wildcard]

17 hours ago, Frobby said:

I said his major league track record was not overwhelming.  To that point, 108 games to a .670 OPS (69 OPS+).   If that blocked Valaika, well I guess the Rockies didn’t think much of Valaika.   

Come on Frobby,  McMahon did not get the start job at 2b for the rockies in 2019 because  of his  play in the majors in 2018.   He got the job because  he was a high draft choice that did well  in the minors especially at AAA.   You know better than that.

[Sports Guy]

34 minutes ago, DrinkinWithFermi said:

Sure, but he also hit .289/.333/.605 in 83 PAs against LHPs in 2017 so I don't really see much reason to think his success against lefties is a mirage and that he couldn't handle the RHB side of a 2B platoon just fine.

I'd honestly be far more worried about whether or not Sanchez can handle the LHB side of the platoon at a passable level than Valaika not being able to hold up his end of the arrangement.

He had 66 Pa in 2018 and his OPs vs lefties was barely over 500.

His career MiL is very underwhelming despite playing in leagues at advanced ages.  
 

I think there is plenty of reason to doubt he is even a borderline MLer, much less an asset.  
 

Now, we do agree that if he is on the team, that you see if he can continue to show he can hit lefties but he has no business starting and he really shouldn’t be in any conversation w/r/t that.  
 

His defense is also not good.

[wildcard]

55 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I'll be honest, I think the SS-2B combo is going to be Galvis-Sanchez unless an injury occurs. I don't really think there is an actual "battle" for second base although I expect they are going to want to take a look at Jones but more towards seeing what he looks like for the future. Sure, Valaika, Urias and Martin may get some time there (Martin will probably mostly play SS), but second base is Sanchez's job for no other reason than his defense is going to be head and shoulders above the other candidates.

I also don't think the Orioles are looking at Valdez as a starter. He's almost like a knuckleball pitcher in that he has a pitch that few batters see often, but I would imagine the second time through the order players would make some adjustments. 

WC made some interesting thoughts about the pen and if the Orioles start looking at a 3rd left-handed reliever Abad makes some sense. Saying that, I think he needs some injuries to make the pen unless he's totally lights out.

As for outfield, the team is at it's best defensively with Hay-Mullins-Santander is out there, but with Mountcastle needing to be in LF with the return of Mancini, I see Mullins as the 4th outfielder spelling Hays and or Mountcastle against tough right-handers (Hays moves to left when Mountcastle gets a break). Hays will be the everyday center fielder if he stays healthy, and yes, I know that's a BIG IF!

I think what you have described is pretty main stream.  And it has a lot of logic behind it.  As I said in the first line of the OP.  What I want to see is probably only me.   But that does not change  that I want to see the battles.

We will see what happens in ST.

 

[DrinkinWithFermi]

6 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

He had 66 Pa in 2018 and his OPs vs lefties was barely over 500.

2018 was easily his worst year overall, but even still, he hit lefties much better than righties (.365 OPS vs. RHPs, .539 OPS vs LHPs in just 133 total PAs), so in 3 of the last 4 years, he has hit lefties well, and even in his down year in 2018, he still hit them significantly better than righties, which ultimately works out to that previously cited .786 career OPS against LHPs (including his 19 PA cup of coffee in 2016).

Meanwhile, Sanchez is sporting a paltry .626 against LHPs for his career.

So yeah, I don't really see any problem with Valaika starting against lefty SPs in a platoon with Sanchez.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Come on Frobby,  McMahon did not get the start job at 2b for the rockies in 2019 because  of his  play in the majors in 2018.   He got the job because  he was a high draft choice that did well  in the minors especially at AAA.   You know better than that.

He got the job because the Rockies thought he was probably better than Valaika.   

[Sports Guy]

34 minutes ago, DrinkinWithFermi said:

2018 was easily his worst year overall, but even still, he hit lefties much better than righties (.365 OPS vs. RHPs, .539 OPS vs LHPs in just 133 total PAs), so in 3 of the last 4 years, he has hit lefties well, and even in his down year in 2018, he still hit them significantly better than righties, which ultimately works out to that previously cited .786 career OPS against LHPs (including his 19 PA cup of coffee in 2016).

Meanwhile, Sanchez is sporting a paltry .626 against LHPs for his career.

So yeah, I don't really see any problem with Valaika starting against lefty SPs in a platoon with Sanchez.

2018 was just a “down year”. Damn, you are an easy grader.

The problem is defense.  But sure, he can play vs some lefties...assuming he makes the team and/or isn’t cut quickly.

[wildcard]

19 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He got the job because the Rockies thought he was probably better than Valaika.   

Agree.   Doesn't mean that Valaika can't have a better year at 2nd than Sanchez.

[Frobby]

24 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Agree.   Doesn't mean that Valaika can't have a better year at 2nd than Sanchez.

Right.  We don’t disagree there.  

[HowAboutThat]

6 hours ago, wildcard said:

Come on Frobby,  McMahon did not get the start job at 2b for the rockies in 2019 because  of his  play in the majors in 2018.   He got the job because  he was a high draft choice that did well  in the minors especially at AAA.   You know better than that.

The Rockies didn’t think much of Arenado either, you know...

[Ruzious]

Would it be crazy to try a platoon of Ruiz and Bannon at 3B?  Neither probably has what it takes to play ever day with consistency, but if you can limit Ruiz to batting against righties and Bannon against lefties, maybe that can work effectively to their strengths, and you end up getting good production at the position.  Platoons seem to have mostly gone out of style, but now they might be a way to hide what would be a weakness. 

What?  It's a no because they need Bannon at catcher?  

  

[Aristotelian]

24 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

Would it be crazy to try a platoon of Ruiz and Bannon at 3B?  Neither probably has what it takes to play ever day with consistency, but if you can limit Ruiz to batting against righties and Bannon against lefties, maybe that can work effectively to their strengths, and you end up getting good production at the position.  Platoons seem to have mostly gone out of style, but now they might be a way to hide what would be a weakness. 

What?  It's a no because they need Bannon at catcher?  

  

Slight issue with that: Ruiz actually has reverse splits and is even more terrible against RHP. 

[Frobby]

22 hours ago, wildcard said:

Agree.   Doesn't mean that Valaika can't have a better year at 2nd than Sanchez.

Hyde today:

“I think we brought Freddy in here to be our shortstop,” Hyde said. “Yolmer’s got a lot of experience at second base, won a Gold Glove, so we brought him in to play a lot. I can see him playing second base. And Rio has been part of our infield the past couple years and looking forward to him getting a lot of at-bats this season, also. So I think it’s safe to assume the two guys we brought in, we’d like to see them play up the middle, and Rio’s going to get every opportunity to win the third base job again.”

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2021/02/hyde-on-mancini-harvey-hernandez-jones-the-infield-and-more.html

Sounds like Sanchez is the presumptive starter, which is not to say that Valaika won’t get his shot.  

[wildcard]

Just now, Frobby said:

Hyde today:

“I think we brought Freddy in here to be our shortstop,” Hyde said. “Yolmer’s got a lot of experience at second base, won a Gold Glove, so we brought him in to play a lot. I can see him playing second base. And Rio has been part of our infield the past couple years and looking forward to him getting a lot of at-bats this season, also. So I think it’s safe to assume the two guys we brought in, we’d like to see them play up the middle, and Rio’s going to get every opportunity to win the third base job again.”

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2021/02/hyde-on-mancini-harvey-hernandez-jones-the-infield-and-more.html

Sounds like Sanchez is the presumptive starter, which is not to say that Valaika won’t get his shot.  

Yes,  I saw that.  That is the mainstream thought.   Just like Tony said.   

If Valaika  plays regularly he will out hit Sanchez, Ruiz or Galvis.  If he plays a couple of times a week he is another 660 OPS guy.   When Hyde gets tired of watching Ruiz, Galvis and Sanchez in the lineup maybe he will play  Valaika regularly.

I still look forward to battle for 2B in ST.

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Yes,  I saw that.  That is the mainstream thought.   Just like Tony said.   

If Valaika  plays regularly he will out hit Sanchez, Ruiz or Galvis.  If he plays a couple of times a week he is another 660 OPS guy.   When Hyde gets tired of watching Ruiz, Galvis and Sanchez in the lineup maybe he will play  Valaika regularly.

I still look forward to battle for 2B in ST.

I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that Valaika will hit if given regular playing time.   He did last year.   I certainly wouldn’t call what he got in 2017 (195 PA in 110 games) “regular playing time.”    These aren’t big samples but you are drawing pretty big conclusions from them.