Zach Lowther

[sportsfan8703]

We DFA’d Leblanc for a reason. We have a bunch of these guys in AAA/MLB that need to play. You can’t sit around and wait for the Mariners or Royals to throw them out there. It’s time for Kremer, Zimmerman, Akin, and Lowther to step up and get results. No more of the Leblancs or Milones of the world. 

No excuses. We have 2 rotation slots to be filled by those two guys and possibly 3-4 spots depending on trades, injuries, and Lopez. 
 

Players are going to get their chances this year. They aren’t a bunch of 22 year olds. They’re actually all 25-26. 

[Frobby]

11 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

I would guess that nothing is more motivating than getting called up for 1 game, pitching poorly and then getting sent back down.

Lowther probably knew his call-up would only last a day.    He would have been sent back down even if he’d pitched well.   

[UMDTerrapins]

Can we fix the thread title to spell his name correctly? 

[Tony-OH]

13 hours ago, RVAOsFan said:

@Tony-OH can you go into any more detail on what you are hearing about the org being run from the top down? Do you think Elias is making in game decisions for Hyde? Just curious. 

No, I don't think he is making game decision at all. It's more about how players in the major and minors are used and played. From what I understand, each affiliate is given a matrix for the positions and amount of playing time each player will get. Pitching is also very detailed on use with only changes being made due to injury or pitch limits reached before innings are used.

Minor league managers have very little or any say in their rosters or even know why certain players are at certain levels. Basically they are given their rosters, told how to play/pitch guys, and then they execute. 

Does this happen at the major league level? I don't know. I know Hyde has been asked something similar and he talks about it being a collaborative experience between himself, Sig and Elias when it comes to roster management. I don't know how much sway he has in those conversations or who else may be involved (ie- Holt for pitchers).

I'm not making an opinion on whether this is right or wrong, just saying this is how it seems to be going right now. 

 

[Tony-OH]

5 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

We DFA’d Leblanc for a reason. We have a bunch of these guys in AAA/MLB that need to play. You can’t sit around and wait for the Mariners or Royals to throw them out there. It’s time for Kremer, Zimmerman, Akin, and Lowther to step up and get results. No more of the Leblancs or Milones of the world. 

No excuses. We have 2 rotation slots to be filled by those two guys and possibly 3-4 spots depending on trades, injuries, and Lopez. 
 

Players are going to get their chances this year. They aren’t a bunch of 22 year olds. They’re actually all 25-26. 

True, and I'd rather Lowther get that start than a LeBlanc type. I'm not saying they had a lot of other good options besides Lowther against a red hot Red Sox lineup, just that it seems Hyde/Elias has no qualms about throwing guys into the fire.

Lowther is going to have better days. He may have just been a little too hyped up (understandable) and couldn't get his changeup down which caused him a lot of problems. 

Lowther is not going to be a statcast hero, but works off deception, command and pitching guile. It was a disappointing start but he'll get many more and will be better.

[RVAOsFan]

4 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

No, I don't think he is making game decision at all. It's more about how players in the major and minors are used and played. From what I understand, each affiliate is given a matrix for the positions and amount of playing time each player will get. Pitching is also very detailed on use with only changes being made due to injury or pitch limits reached before innings are used.

Minor league managers have very little or any say in their rosters or even know why certain players are at certain levels. Basically they are given their rosters, told how to play/pitch guys, and then they execute. 

Does this happen at the major league level? I don't know. I know Hyde has been asked something similar and he talks about it being a collaborative experience between himself, Sig and Elias when it comes to roster management. I don't know how much sway he has in those conversations or who else may be involved (ie- Holt for pitchers).

I'm not making an opinion on whether this is right or wrong, just saying this is how it seems to be going right now. 

 

Interesting, thanks for sharing.  Hard not to wonder what that does for attracting good coaches for our minor league system, as well as retention.  Good coaches want to win.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, RVAOsFan said:

Interesting, thanks for sharing.  Hard not to wonder what that does for attracting good coaches for our minor league system, as well as retention.  Good coaches want to win.  

Good coaches want to be financially compensated for their contributions.

[NCRaven]

5 minutes ago, RVAOsFan said:

Interesting, thanks for sharing.  Hard not to wonder what that does for attracting good coaches for our minor league system, as well as retention.  Good coaches want to win.  

What Tony said about the minor league rosters is very likely true throughout baseball in this era.  The value of minor league coaches has very little to do with in game coaching and everything to do with between the game coaching and teaching.  Today, how minor league coaches relay data to the players and help them use that data to improve their performance is worth more than a third base coaching waiving a player home or telling him to hold at second.  Elias has had no problem hiring minor league coaching talent.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, RVAOsFan said:

Interesting, thanks for sharing.  Hard not to wonder what that does for attracting good coaches for our minor league system, as well as retention.  Good coaches want to win.  

I was reading a Kevin Goldstein chat on Fangraphs yesterday.  He listed the minor leagues’ priorities as:

1. Development

2.  Development

3.  Development 

4.   Winning    

So if you are a minor league coach, you’d better get used to it. 
 

 

[SteveA]

Lowther has been recalled from Norfolk (Tyler Nevin sent back down).

Lowther is available for "bulk relief" tonight so he will likely follow Harvey, who is only expected to go a couple innings.

Lowther had been scheduled to start for Norfolk vs Durham tonight; now Konnor Wade will start for the Tides.

[waroriole]

54 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Lowther has been recalled from Norfolk (Tyler Nevin sent back down).

Lowther is available for "bulk relief" tonight so he will likely follow Harvey, who is only expected to go a couple innings.

Lowther had been scheduled to start for Norfolk vs Durham tonight; now Konnor Wade will start for the Tides.

Is Harvey only expected to go a couple of innings because he sucks and is gonna get pulled early, or is there an injury I’m unaware of?

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, waroriole said:

Is Harvey only expected to go a couple of innings because he sucks and is gonna get pulled early, or is there an injury I’m unaware of?

He's on 3 days rest after pitching in the doubleheader Saturday.   This is our 6th game in 5 days.

But he does suck.

[Sports Guy]

Why not just start Lowther and hold off on Harvey?

[sportsfan8703]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Why not just start Lowther and hold off on Harvey?

Yeah I see very littler reason to start any SP this year on short rest. What do we have to lose?  SMH 

[Frobby]

From Roch earlier today:

Pitching prospect Zac Lowther is going to be used tonight following starter Matt Harvey. Could be right away, could be later in the game. But he’s getting the ball for the third time in the majors.

The Orioles recalled Lowther this afternoon from Triple-A Norfolk, which was in Durham.

“I’m not exactly sure when I’m going to use him. I’m going to kind of see how the game is playing out,” manager Brandon Hyde said in his Zoom call with the media.

——

I guess Hyde decided to use him to keep the bench warm.