Wade LeBlanc, Really?

[Tony-OH]

15 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Baseball Reference says for 2020

1st inning    828 OPS

2nd inning   748 OPS

3rd Inning   899 OPS

Yep, it also says the 1st time he faces a batter as a SP in 2020 he held them to the slash line I provided before.

Look, if you want me to tell you LeBlanc is very good I'm not going to make that argument. My only argument is I can see them wanting some length guys in the pen and he fits that over a guy like Sulser or Lakins. 

Basically he could potentially fill a role that will be needed this year because of the lack of innings pitchers pitched last year. If they use him or some other waiver wire fodder, they are probably more valuable then a one inning guys like Sulser or Lakins.

[interloper]

Why are we worried that baltimorebaseball dot com thinks Wade LeBlanc has made the roster? I'm so confused.

[Jammer7]

LeBlanc, for me, is a fall back option. If he is in the pen for length, ok. My concern is I would like to have more optionable pieces there. I guess we use him for a month, and then DFA him when we need a fresh arm. If we have more injuries and he needs to start, fine. But we are likely to see an ERA over 6 in 4-6 weeks, and a WHIP of 1.5. He is what he is. 

If we have a shot to keep Tyler Wells, I'd rather do that if it comes down to the two of them. But I still think the chances of keeping an R5 are very slim, at least for the entire year. Perhaps keeping more length guys will afford an opportunity to keep Wells. We'll see. 

[Sports Guy]

25 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Holt says a 6 man rotation is not effective.   And Holt runs the pitching staff.

You are clearly missing the point.

[wildcard]

13 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

You are clearly missing the point.

We all have our points.

[Can_of_corn]

40 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Holt says a 6 man rotation is not effective.   And Holt runs the pitching staff.

So if Elias calls Holt into his office and says, I want you to run a six man rotation what does Holt do?

[Beef Supreme]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

So if Elias calls Holt into his office and says, I want you to run a six man rotation what does Holt do?

For years, certain teams have been running 6-man rotations when they see their seasons are over, sometimes as early as mid-August. For the Orioles, I don't even know what it means to say a 6-man rotation would be ineffective for a team looking at 100 losses. The most effective thing about using this approach would be if they could avoid hurting the arms.

[wildcard]

12 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

So if Elias calls Holt into his office and says, I want you to run a six man rotation what does Holt do?

What makes you think that Elias wants a 6 man rotation.  The O's have been on a five man rotation all ST.

[interloper]

8 minutes ago, wildcard said:

What makes you think that Elias wants a 6 man rotation.  The O's have been on a five man rotation all ST.

Can I just pause here and ask if you really think Wade makes the roster? I find his path onto the roster very implausible, if not impossible.

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, interloper said:

Can I just pause here and ask if you really think Wade makes the roster? I find his path onto the roster very implausible, if not impossible.

Depends on what happens in the next two week.  Who is injured. Who Elias picks up on waivers. Etc.

Do I want him on the 26 man roster? No.   I am fine with him going to Alternate Site.

[Beef Supreme]

45 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Yep, it also says the 1st time he faces a batter as a SP in 2020 he held them to the slash line I provided before.

Look, if you want me to tell you LeBlanc is very good I'm not going to make that argument. My only argument is I can see them wanting some length guys in the pen and he fits that over a guy like Sulser or Lakins. 

Basically he could potentially fill a role that will be needed this year because of the lack of innings pitchers pitched last year. If they use him or some other waiver wire fodder, they are probably more valuable then a one inning guys like Sulser or Lakins.

LeBlanc has been durable. I can see how the team might value the innings he eats over whatever Sulser would bring them. And there is no guarantee they would lose Sulser if they DFA him.

Even if LeBlanc starts the year with the Orioles, it doesn't mean they have to keep him around all year. His biggest contribution might be taking some of the innings off the arms through the All-Star Break. That doesn't sound like such a bad thing.

[interloper]

7 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Depends on what happens in the next two week.  Who is injured. Who Elias picks up on waivers. Etc.

Sure, agree. I think it would take an injury or two. He also has done most of his pitching, I would guess, on the backfields considering he's only thrown in 2 games. I just don't think it's very likely, and therefore, we shouldn't worry about a blogger's roster predictions. 

[wildcard]

7 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

LeBlanc has been durable. I can see how the team might value the innings he eats over whatever Sulser would bring them. And there is no guarantee they would lose Sulser if they DFA him.

Even if LeBlanc starts the year with the Orioles, it doesn't mean they have to keep him around all year. His biggest contribution might be taking some of the innings off the arms through the All-Star Break. That doesn't sound like such a bad thing.

LeBlanc has been durable?  He missed 32 of 60 games last year with a elbow injury.

[eddie83]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

If they keep LeBlanc, they have to DFA someone, because he has to be added to the 40-man. It’s actually EASIER to keep Zimmermann. You risk losing whomever you DFA. I’m not losing sleep over Goudeau but the next guy dumped might be more meaningful.

 

They aren’t foolish enough to keep LeBlanc at the expense of someone they really want to keep. 

[Beef Supreme]

42 minutes ago, wildcard said:

LeBlanc has been durable?  He missed 32 of 60 games last year with a elbow injury.

True, he had a stress fracture last year. Healed fully in three months. But the tendons have been healthy. He threw @ 120 IPs in 2019 and 160 in 2018. Sulser can't do that. If it comes down to those two, I'd choose LeBlanc. But I would keep TWells and Greene on the MLB roster over Wade.