McGregor on Rutschman: "They're throwing it (fastballs) by him right now"

[interloper]

Key word is right now. He needs to go get his velocity timing in AA. I think it will come and I was encouraged by that epic AB others mentioned. But yeah this spring he's mostly been handled easily by fastballs. Pretty easy to see that.

[wildcard]

Kind of weird to think that the #2 prospect in all of baseball is being thought of as not being able to hit a fastball.

[eddie83]

Multiple stories today by local writers on Witt and Rutschman. 
 

Hmm...

 

[BohKnowsBmore]

36 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Kind of weird to think that the #2 prospect in all of baseball is being thought of as not being able to hit a fastball.

Again, this is one person making one comment, not an industry-wide consensus.

[BohKnowsBmore]

44 minutes ago, interloper said:

Key word is right now. He needs to go get his velocity timing in AA. I think it will come and I was encouraged by that epic AB others mentioned. But yeah this spring he's mostly been handled easily by fastballs. Pretty easy to see that.

Handled all the way to an .817 OPS. Yes it's a SSS, but he hasn't even been bad in that SSS. Maybe you'd rather not see the high K% (40% right now), but that could easily normalize as he gets his timing down. Anyone getting alarmed or anything more than mildly concerned needs to relax.

[Tony-OH]

11 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

You know what I wasn't expecting?  Mono and a pandemic.

Well hell, 2-for-2, congrats! lol

[interloper]

15 minutes ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

Handled all the way to an .817 OPS. Yes it's a SSS, but he hasn't even been bad in that SSS. Maybe you'd rather not see the high K% (40% right now), but that could easily normalize as he gets his timing down. Anyone getting alarmed or anything more than mildly concerned needs to relax.

It is indeed the k-rate that has caught my eye for the spring. That said, his PAs have been super scattered and he's facing guys he's never seen before, and no one else on the roster is really hitting great other than Hays. It would have been interesting to see what he would have done with the same PAs as Witt. 

I would have liked video of that 10-pitch AB, too. 

[Tony-OH]

3 hours ago, eddie83 said:

How would we know Witt Jr can handle the heat when all he faced was high school arms? Witt ripping a bomb in spring training may be evidence of his raw power. Doesn’t tell me how he will be vs elite arms.  
 

You know a hell of a lot more about scouting than me but if Adley can’t hit the heat that speaks volumes about the ineptitude of the experts. These people praised him as a superstar. All these scouts are wrong? 
 

We need some damn games for all these guys. Real ones, even if it’s against AA competition. 

Just to be clear here, I have never said that Rutschman can't hit good fastballs. I do think it's tough to evaluate any amateur hitters against good consistent heat as well as major league offspeed pitches because they non of them see that before they get into pro ball. 

I 100% agree with you that a full season of games against pro competition will tell us a lot more than anything we have right now with Rutschman.

From what I've seen and heard from other player evaluators, Rutschman just needs experience and from my perspective, some approach adjustments. 

I don't know what McGregor was basing his comments from, but I do know the man has seen a lot of baseball and knew what to look for in hitters as a pitcher. Now maybe that was an offhand comment based on his ABs this spring, or maybe it was after hearing from others how he looked in his pro debut and at Bowie last year at the alternate camp. Saying that, I heard Adley was the best hitter at that camp "by far" and he was facing some pretty good heat with DL Hall, Grayson Rodriguez, Kremer and Akin throwing at him to name a few.

It is worth keeping an eye on this year and if for some reason he struggles at Bowie, I'll be paying extra attention on whether guys with good velocity give him struggles. 

If I had to guess right now, I'm betting it has more to do with his approach and outthinking himself at the plate while also perhaps pressing a bit to make a great impression. His stats this year should give us a much better understanding.

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, interloper said:

It is indeed the k-rate that has caught my eye for the spring. That said, his PAs have been super scattered and he's facing guys he's never seen before, and no one else on the roster is really hitting great other than Hays. It would have been interesting to see what he would have done with the same PAs as Witt. 

I would have liked video of that 10-pitch AB, too. 

I saw it in real time.  It was a thing of beauty.  

[Frobby]

Honestly I don’t know whether to have concerns about Rutschman or not.   The lack of a minor league season last year robbed us of the chance to get much information about how his development was coming along and what flaws were observable in game competition.   I think it’s silly to put any emphasis on his performance in what amounts to four games’ worth of plate appearances (which hasn’t been terrible at all, just a mixed bag), and as to McGregor’s comments,  I have no idea what it’s based on.    Bottom line, I’m just going to be patient and see how the season goes rather than trying to make sense of sketchy data points.   

[wildcard]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Honestly I don’t know whether to have concerns about Rutschman or not.   The lack of a minor league season last year robbed us of the chance to get much information about how his development was coming along and what flaws were observable in game competition.   I think it’s silly to put any emphasis on his performance in what amounts to four games’ worth of plate appearances (which hasn’t been terrible at all, just a mixed bag), and as to McGregor’s comments, all I have is wildcard’s report of what he said and I have no idea what it’s based on.    Bottom line, I’m just going to be patient and see how the season goes rather than trying to make sense of sketchy data points.   

I posted the video and even pointed to where the video the comment was made.  I guess you can lead to horse to water but you can't make them drink. Tony obviously watched it because he as posted about other things in the video.

[eddie83]

7 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I posted the video and even pointed to where the video the comment was made.  I guess you can lead to horse to water but you can't make them drink. Tony obviously watched it because he as posted about other things in the video.

Imagine if the Orioles were ran properly. That video could he shown all over their social media platforms. 
 

These teams being cheap impacts their ability to promote the team. Somebody at Ravens camp makes a diving catch in a meaningless 7 on 7 drill would get more publicity. Instead a great at bat from basically the face of your franchise isn’t available to the very people who would love to see it.  

[scOtt]

1 hour ago, eddie83 said:

Sure if he wasn’t human. 
 

He needs to settle in and actually play everyday for an actual extended period of time. Then we can start to judge him.

From what I have seen he has a very good eye at the plate which in general can’t be taught. We know how good an athlete he is. All the skills are there. 

Yes. Once he gets reps he is just going to get better and better. He has, and he said this, he's played well in every step up in every league he's played in.

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, eddie83 said:

Multiple stories today by local writers on Witt and Rutschman. 
 

Hmm...

 

 

So it begins....

Quote

The two players will be tethered based on their selections first and second overall in the 2019 draft. Rutschman wasn’t the universal choice within the Orioles, but he was No. 1 on most draft boards and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias enthusiastically made the pick.

21 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Honestly I don’t know whether to have concerns about Rutschman or not.   The lack of a minor league season last year robbed us of the chance to get much information about how his development was coming along and what flaws were observable in game competition.   I think it’s silly to put any emphasis on his performance in what amounts to four games’ worth of plate appearances (which hasn’t been terrible at all, just a mixed bag), and as to McGregor’s comments,  I have no idea what it’s based on.    Bottom line, I’m just going to be patient and see how the season goes rather than trying to make sense of sketchy data points.   

I'm right there with you, Frobicito.

Also, it's hard to see all the Witt love (and rightfully so, he looks like a beast) and not see AR perform similarly.  While we're talking about sample sizes in ST here, seeing Witt and Vaughn absolutely rake while seeing AR not do as well isn't what any of us want to see.  We want to see AR playing like those guys...but again, it's ST, it's a small sample size and it's not worth getting worked up about.  

That said, I'm a bit peeved that Witt and Vaughn have way more plate appearances.  We discussed this yesterday, but I was hoping AR would get significantly more playing time in games this spring.  There's no real reason he shouldn't be.

[scOtt]

Just now, interloper said:

It is indeed the k-rate that has caught my eye for the spring. That said, his PAs have been super scattered and he's facing guys he's never seen before, and no one else on the roster is really hitting great other than Hays. It would have been interesting to see what he would have done with the same PAs as Witt. 

I would have liked video of that 10-pitch AB, too. 

Yeah! Me too. It was pretty impressive, just "watching" it on Gameday. That last FB he fouled was 96 or 97, and at his shoulders! Way protecting but he got a piece. Next pitch slider down and in was ripped to right for the double.

I think there is video on youboob MASN of the actual hit. Not the whole AB.