Pay attention to starters this week

[Philip]

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

2021 AL East cellar dwellers. 

FTFY

[eddie83]

2 minutes ago, interloper said:

More clues perhaps for those adept at figuring out the rotation order.

Last spring game is Monday. One of the issues is then you have 2 off days. Wanting to try to have guys get work at end is tricky. Kremer could pitch Monday and then be on regular rest for Saturday in Boston. 

[Philip]

4 minutes ago, interloper said:

More clues perhaps for those adept at figuring out the rotation order.

Means Kremer, Akin and Harvey... and TBA!!!

[Tony-OH]

20 minutes ago, interloper said:

Hyde may not be ruling him out, but I am.

This kind of stuff is always goofy. I don't know why Hyde was saying something like that. The one thing I liked about Hyde was he's a straight shooter with the press and the fans by proxy. If he's going start saying things like this about Hernandez, then he's quickly going to lose that respect. 

There is no way in hell Hernandez should make the opening day roster. He looked done before the elbow thing and hasn't pitched competitively since then. 

Seriously, why don't he tell us they haven't ruled out Davis either. C'mon Hyde, you are better that!

 

[interloper]

5 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

This kind of stuff is always goofy. I don't know why Hyde was saying something like that. The one thing I liked about Hyde was he's a straight shooter with the press and the fans by proxy. If he's going start saying things like this about Hernandez, then he's quickly going to lose that respect. 

There is no way in hell Hernandez should make the opening day roster. He looked done before the elbow thing and hasn't pitched competitively since then. 

Seriously, why don't he tell us they haven't ruled out Davis either. C'mon Hyde, you are better that!

 

I've noticed he's gotten a lot more short/guarded with the media this year. It's been a little disappointing, but perhaps it's a product of it being his 3rd year. Re: Felix and to a lesser extent Davis, I think the factors here are they are both veterans guys with a ton of ML time and he's probably shading on the side of wanting to appear to give them the benefit of the doubt, whether or not he truly believes what he's saying. Felix probably doesn't want to hear that he's got no shot to make the team, so why ruffle feathers when it really doesn't matter/before Hyde has to have that conversation with him. Not sure. 

[Jammer7]

49 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

This kind of stuff is always goofy. I don't know why Hyde was saying something like that. The one thing I liked about Hyde was he's a straight shooter with the press and the fans by proxy. If he's going start saying things like this about Hernandez, then he's quickly going to lose that respect. 

There is no way in hell Hernandez should make the opening day roster. He looked done before the elbow thing and hasn't pitched competitively since then. 

Seriously, why don't he tell us they haven't ruled out Davis either. C'mon Hyde, you are better that!

 

I get what you’re saying. I think you have to watch the actual zoom to see how much of this is journalist interpretation. I think he has been quite honest and patient.

With Davis, Hyde acknowledged it was possible Davis would begin the year on the 60 day IL. 
 

In the link below, Hyde says it a little differently about Felix. More of a wait and see how it goes after the side tomorrow. 
 

 

[wildcard]

I think two pitchers are in the rotation right now.   Means and Harvey.  They have both have gone 4 innings and have major league experience starting.

I think O's management want Kremer to be in the rotation.   But he can't have three bad starts in a row.  His last start was not good and he goes again tonight.  He has a chance to have one more start after tonight before camp breaks.  They want him to go four innings  and pitch well in one of those starts.

They would like Akins to be in the rotation but he is behind right now.  He has one more start and that is on Thursday night.   He needs to have a good outing and go 4 innings to make the rotation.  If he doesn't do well on Thursday he is probably optioned so he can continue to start at the alternate site and be in the rotation later this  season.  I don't think they are ready to make him a reliever.

Zimmermann has earned a spot in the rotation but for some reason they seem hesitant to give it to him.   He has all ready gone 4 innings.   I would have him in the rotation.

LeBlanc has gone 3 innings.  If any of the above 5 falter he gets a chance to go 4 innings and can be in the rotation.   I think he would be better as a mid to long reliever.

Valdez is a fall back starter.   If  any of the 6 above are not ready, he can start.  He may be one of the two best starters on the team but his flexibility of being able to close, or pitch in any role makes him so valuable that he may not be a fixture in the rotation to begin the season.

Lopez is out of the starter competition for me.  I think he gets a spot in the pen because  he is out of option and the O's don't want to lose any pitchers early in the season.

Felix needs to go the alternate site and show he can be an effective starter.

I think the O's go with 14 pitchers because it sounds like O's management want to keep Tyler Wells and Sceroler on the team.

JMO

 

 

[Sports Guy]

9 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I think two pitchers are in the rotation right now.   Means and Harvey.  They have both have gone 4 innings and have major league experience starting.

I think O's management want Kremer to be in the rotation.   But he can't have three bad starts in a row.  His last start was not good and he goes again tonight.  He has a chance to have one more start after tonight before camp breaks.  They want him to go four innings  and pitch well in one of those starts.

They would like Akins to be in the rotation but he is behind right now.  He has one more start and that is on Thursday night.   He needs to have a good outing and go 4 innings to make the rotation.  If he doesn't do well on Thursday he is probably optioned so he can continue to start at the alternate site and be in the rotation later this  season.  I don't think they are ready to make him a reliever.

Zimmermann has earned a spot in the rotation but for some reason they seem hesitant to give it to him.   He has all ready gone 4 innings.   I would have him in the rotation.

LeBlanc has gone 3 innings.  If any of the above 5 falter he gets a chance to go 4 innings and can be in the rotation.   I think he would be better as a mid to long reliever.

Valdez is a fall back starter.   If  any of the 6 above are not ready, he can start.  He may be one of the two best starters on the team but his flexibility of being able to close, or pitch in any role makes him so valuable that he may not be a fixture in the rotation to begin the season.

Lopez is out of the starter competition for me.  I think he gets a spot in the pen because  he is out of option and the O's don't want to lose any pitchers early in the season.

Felix needs to go the alternate site and show he can be an effective starter.

I think the O's go with 14 pitchers because it sounds like O's management want to keep Tyler Wells and Sceroler on the team.

JMO

 

 

The stuff you say about Akin is written in a way that those are facts.  Do you have anything to back up that paragraph?

[wildcard]

28 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The stuff you say about Akin is written in a way that those are facts.  Do you have anything to back up that paragraph?

Its my opinion of where the starter competition is at this point.   It can and probably will change.

[Just Regular]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Valdez is a fall back starter.   If  any of the 6 above are not ready, he can start.  He may be one of the two best starters on the team but his flexibility of being able to close, or pitch in any role makes him so valuable that he may not be a fixture in the rotation to begin the season.

I did note Hyde's admiration for his "rubber arm" in the dugout interview during the broadcast yesterday.   

I am cribbing by one year (Cesar is 36 this year), but when Doug Jones was 35, he went 11-8, pitched 112 innings, saved 37 games, and earned downballot MVP votes (probably foolishly) for the third time out of four times total he did between 30 and 40 years old.

I half want to say in baseball life, Adley is already older than Valdez, such is the contrast between catchers and changeup artists.

Obviously normal home town root root root stuff, plus lightning having struck twice already in Rodrigo Lopez and Miguel Gonzalez - I'm really curious to see if this can play for more than a few weeks.   I think everyone else in the world getting Driveline-d up maybe helps the few changeup guys left in the landscape.

[Jammer7]

Let’s not over-analyze things. Akin is in, unless he is injured. He has been throwing in B games, sim games and side sessions to improve his command and delivery. We have not seen him throwing, but he is not behind as far as innings progression. 

Hyde and Elias have been consistent with putting their young arms in positions to be successful. They will initially pick spots for Zimm to get lengthy innings. It does not matter if we think he has “earned it.” Who cares if he starts right now? Why does that matter? If Lopez or LeBlanc comes in and starts, and Zimm follows them with 4 innings, who cares? It is all about the long term growth right now. I will say that I wanted Zimm to start before the Matt Harvey signing. And for me, if it means that I can keep a R5 guy, make Zimm a starter, sure. 

The R5 guys are the wildcard. Not many arms in the pen that are optionable, and some with options are Scott, Fry and probably Zimm. Maybe they make Lopez a starter to keep Wells. No way they keep both R5 guys, right? But Sulser looks to be in trouble. Lakins is solid, but he could be optioned and come back often. Abad could allow the team to option Fry as well so he can ride the shuttle. Lots of things in play right now. 

[interloper]

Looks like Wade may be opting out?

[Jammer7]

15 minutes ago, interloper said:

Looks like Wade may be opting out?

Or he could be the fifth starter. 
 

Edit: López was named the Friday starter, so LeBlanc likely not the fifth guy. Good.

[Barnaby Graves]

On 3/23/2021 at 11:12 AM, Tony-OH said:

This kind of stuff is always goofy. I don't know why Hyde was saying something like that. The one thing I liked about Hyde was he's a straight shooter with the press and the fans by proxy. If he's going start saying things like this about Hernandez, then he's quickly going to lose that respect. 

There is no way in hell Hernandez should make the opening day roster. He looked done before the elbow thing and hasn't pitched competitively since then. 

Seriously, why don't he tell us they haven't ruled out Davis either. C'mon Hyde, you are better that!

My guess is that Elias has a large degree of control over personnel decisions and Hyde doesn't want to be in the position of either walking things back or contradicting his boss.  I don't see that as a point of friction between the two, necessarily, but Elias probably has some kind of vision of how this team is constructed and Hyde is just an instrument through which he exercises that control.  With this type of team, with a GM brought in specifically to lead a rebuild and a young, relatively green manager, I expect strong GM control.

[SteveA]

7 hours ago, wildcard said:

I think two pitchers are in the rotation right now.   Means and Harvey.  They have both have gone 4 innings and have major league experience starting.

I think O's management want Kremer to be in the rotation.   But he can't have three bad starts in a row.  His last start was not good and he goes again tonight.  He has a chance to have one more start after tonight before camp breaks.  They want him to go four innings  and pitch well in one of those starts.

They would like Akins to be in the rotation but he is behind right now.  He has one more start and that is on Thursday night.   He needs to have a good outing and go 4 innings to make the rotation.  If he doesn't do well on Thursday he is probably optioned so he can continue to start at the alternate site and be in the rotation later this  season.  I don't think they are ready to make him a reliever.

Zimmermann has earned a spot in the rotation but for some reason they seem hesitant to give it to him.   He has all ready gone 4 innings.   I would have him in the rotation.

LeBlanc has gone 3 innings.  If any of the above 5 falter he gets a chance to go 4 innings and can be in the rotation.   I think he would be better as a mid to long reliever.

Valdez is a fall back starter.   If  any of the 6 above are not ready, he can start.  He may be one of the two best starters on the team but his flexibility of being able to close, or pitch in any role makes him so valuable that he may not be a fixture in the rotation to begin the season.

Lopez is out of the starter competition for me.  I think he gets a spot in the pen because  he is out of option and the O's don't want to lose any pitchers early in the season.

Felix needs to go the alternate site and show he can be an effective starter.

I think the O's go with 14 pitchers because it sounds like O's management want to keep Tyler Wells and Sceroler on the team.

JMO

 

 

In general, I think you overestimate the effects of the results of spring games.   Someone "needs to have a good outing" or "can't have 3 bad starts in a row".

I think they have an idea of who they want, and if those people get their work in and pitch the number of pitches they are supposed to and have the velocity and location expected of them, results just don't matter all that much.

I don't think it's as wide open a competition as you believe.   It's just that we don't know what they are thinking so in our minds that translates into every little thing mattering a ton.