“We’ve got to start playing better defense"

[wildcard]

This is what Hyde said after a sloppy defensive game yesterday.    Pretty comical, actually.   He had just put Urias at SS and Valaika at 3B.   Neither are good defensively at those positions.  He had Jones at 2B where he is a work in progress.  And Sisco catching. He can hit a little but he is not a good defensive catcher.   That was Hyde's doing.  And there is nothing wrong with it in ST.   Just don't expect great defense from that group.  

Hyde can put a decent defense on the field when Sanchez is at 2B,  Galvis is a short, Ruiz plays a solid average at 3B and Severino at least has the arm to be a catcher.     Its not the league best but its a decent defensive lineup.     Valaika and Urias can play a decent 2B.    Sanchez is the best backup at 3B and SS.  Yes, I know Hyde is not playing Sanchez at either of those positions but he is the best backup at both positions  according is fielding percentage.  And if the goal is to cut down on errors that is where to start looking.

Catching gets solved when Adley is ready.  We all know it.  Its not a secret.  

I fully expect Elias to be checking the waiver wire for a better 3B. or infielder,  or catcher.  Whether he finds one for under a million is anyones guess.

[Moshagge3]

Kind of a bitter irony he would say that on the same day that Jose Iglesias goes viral for an incredible play he made in the field.

[weams]

2 hours ago, Moshagge3 said:

Kind of a bitter irony he would say that on the same day that Jose Iglesias goes viral for an incredible play he made in the field.

Pounding the ball too!

[Moose Milligan]

2 hours ago, Moshagge3 said:

Kind of a bitter irony he would say that on the same day that Jose Iglesias goes viral for an incredible play he made in the field.

It remains to be seen what happens with Stallings and Jean but I'm thinking we'll probably regret trading Iglesias.  Even though he wasn't going to be a part of the next winning team here, he (when healthy) shored up the infield defense at a position of need.  I think the notion of "OMG WE NEED A STRONG DEFENSE WITH A YOUNG DEVELOPING STAFF" is a bit overrated but I'd have liked a DP combo of Iglesias and Sanchez this year.  It would have helped.

 

[Sports Guy]

14 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

It remains to be seen what happens with Stallings and Jean but I'm thinking we'll probably regret trading Iglesias.  Even though he wasn't going to be a part of the next winning team here, he (when healthy) shored up the infield defense at a position of need.  I think the notion of "OMG WE NEED A STRONG DEFENSE WITH A YOUNG DEVELOPING STAFF" is a bit overrated but I'd have liked a DP combo of Iglesias and Sanchez this year.  It would have helped.

 

I tend to doubt Galvis is that much worse defensively unless he really falls off a cliff this year, which is certainly possible.

We made out much better overall with what we have vs just having Iglesias.

That being said, wtf does Hyde expect?  You have a built a team where the intention is to not win games.  You don’t usually acquire good players when you are actively trying to lose.

I think this team will be fine defensively.  I don’t see them as some bad defense but I also don’t see them as an overly talented defensive team that will be a big help to the pitchers.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

I tend to doubt Galvis is that much worse defensively unless he really falls off a cliff this year, which is certainly possible.

We made out much better overall with what we have vs just having Iglesias.

That being said, wtf does Hyde expect?  You have a built a team where the intention is to not win games.  You don’t usually acquire good players when you are actively trying to lose.

I think this team will be fine defensively.  I don’t see them as some bad defense but I also don’t see them as an overly talented defensive team that will be a big help to the pitchers.

Galvis is at that age where he could fall off defensively.  We'll see.

I agree, with your overall assessment though, wtf does he expect?  It's also the 2nd week of games, they're still going to be a bit rusty.  I expect the defense to be average, overall.

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Galvis is at that age where he could fall off defensively.  We'll see.

I agree, with your overall assessment though, wtf does he expect?  It's also the 2nd week of games, they're still going to be a bit rusty.  I expect the defense to be average, overall.

Well Iglesias is at that age too, so it goes both ways there.

Plus, as was pointed out, he’s playing players in positions they shouldn’t be in.  I know that’s the Oriole way though..square peg/round hole and expect the best but it’s not going to happen.

[spiritof66]

14 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

It remains to be seen what happens with Stallings and Jean but I'm thinking we'll probably regret trading Iglesias.  Even though he wasn't going to be a part of the next winning team here, he (when healthy) shored up the infield defense at a position of need.  I think the notion of "OMG WE NEED A STRONG DEFENSE WITH A YOUNG DEVELOPING STAFF" is a bit overrated but I'd have liked a DP combo of Iglesias and Sanchez this year.  It would have helped.

 

I agree with that. But I also think it's a bad idea to put a bad defensive infield behind young pitchers whose ability to pitch in the ML is uncertain, in that a well-below-average inner defense might both impair the building of pitchers' confidence and make it harder to judge how effective they would be with a good defense behind them. I can't prove any of that. It's just a feeling -- call it intuition. And I think even the Orioles' best IF defense right now is well below league average, especially with no defensive wizard on the bench. 

I also agree with the suggestion that Elias's off-season roster-building does't seem to emphasize either offense or defense. It looks like his guiding principle so far has been to fill out the infield with the cheapest available guys who  have been major league players, even if they're of the fringe variety, so that he won't be forced to promote any infielders until he otherwise wants to. 

[jabba72]

30 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

It remains to be seen what happens with Stallings and Jean but I'm thinking we'll probably regret trading Iglesias.  Even though he wasn't going to be a part of the next winning team here, he (when healthy) shored up the infield defense at a position of need.  I think the notion of "OMG WE NEED A STRONG DEFENSE WITH A YOUNG DEVELOPING STAFF" is a bit overrated but I'd have liked a DP combo of Iglesias and Sanchez this year.  It would have helped.

 

Statcast has Galvis as 33 OAA from 2015-20 with Iglesias at 22 during the same time period, so I dont think the O's are losing anything defensively unless some age regression happens. Statcast is saying Galvis was the better defender.  I think the O's look like they'll be a above average defensive team this year. Probably no GG winners, but solid. Mountcastle and Cisco /Severino are the only real question marks. 

[Sanfran327]

Plenty of good points made already as to why the defense was so bad with that lineup, but there's still nothing wrong with Hyde trying to set a precedent and push the backups to play better defense. I think it was a cultural statement, so I like it. "You've gotta act like winners before you can become winners" or whatever. 

[Tony-OH]

10 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

Statcast has Galvis as 33 OAA from 2015-20 with Iglesias at 22 during the same time period, so I dont think the O's are losing anything defensively unless some age regression happens. Statcast is saying Galvis was the better defender.  I think the O's look like they'll be a above average defensive team this year. Probably no GG winners, but solid. Mountcastle and Cisco /Severino are the only real question marks. 

You conveniently left off last year's numbers. Now maybe Galvis struggled for a reason last year defensively, but he was not good according to statcast while Iglesias was excellent.

[Moose Milligan]

11 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

I agree with that. But I also think it's a bad idea to put a bad defensive infield behind young pitchers whose ability to pitch in the ML is uncertain, in that a well-below-average inner defense might both impair the building of pitchers' confidence and make it harder to judge how effective they would be with a good defense behind them. I can't prove any of that. It's just a feeling -- call it intuition. And I think even the Orioles' best IF defense right now is well below league average, especially with no defensive wizard on the bench. 

I also agree with the suggestion that Elias's off-season roster-building does't seem to emphasize either offense or defense. It looks like his guiding principle so far has been to fill out the infield with the cheapest available guys who  have been major league players, even if they're of the fringe variety, so that he won't be forced to promote any infielders until he otherwise wants to. 

I'd be more inclined to agree with defense being important if strikeouts weren't so emphasized today.  Pitchers are striking out more batters than ever...I'm not saying defense isn't important because it certainly is...but I'm assuming that the overall amount of defensive chances have gone down as baseball has become a three outcome game (strikeout, walk, homer) with less emphasis on putting the ball in play and putting pressure on the defense.

I don't think we have good defenders on the corners, however I think we should be decent up the middle.  A lot of that rests on Galvis, as SG noted...he could be Iglesias level or he could fall off a cliff...it remains to be seen.  Sanchez at 2nd base is a Gold Glove winner.

 

[Just Regular]

I could agree Iglesias is a little bit better player than Galvis but think it is mostly hairsplitting.   This is what Selling High feels like!   I think Galvis probably has about 25% shot to straight up outplay Iglesias this year.   I hope Jose does good job for Bundy and Cobb's last ride.

Angels I learned recently have only Canning under control next year for SP if Ohtani can't make it back in that role.   With the pipeline, could Means and/or Scott and/or Mancini get to Jo Adell this summer?    No lefties among their Top 4 relievers.

If Adell isn't ready to help Trout/Rendon win this year or next, there's a fair argument to be made he best serves Trout as the part of the Farm that helps bolster the MLB club.

[jabba72]

23 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

You conveniently left off last year's numbers. Now maybe Galvis struggled for a reason last year defensively, but he was not good according to statcast while Iglesias was excellent.

I think its a wash defensively between the two unless some scouting reports say Galvis clearly lost a step in 2020. Iglesias is 31, so there could be some regression for him too. 

[HowAboutThat]

As long as I have been following the Orioles, the focus has been on a fence at the expense of defense, regardless of what anybody said. The fact that we had Sterling Defense for a few years was apparently luck more than anything else.

any team with a lineup that includes Valencia, Trumbo, Alvarez, and a couple other names that escape me at the moment, doesn’t care about D.