Promotions by June 1

[survivedc]

21 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

 

Hopefully DL Hall as well. Outside of the one game AA hitters seem pretty overmatched against him. I think he’ll benefit from facing hitters that are more selective and can fight off more pitches. TBH I think he should be working out of the MLB pen, but that won’t happen.

[UMDTerrapins]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

If the Ironbirds have Henderson, Westburg,  Ortiz and Hall they can play 2B/SS/3B/DH and rotate around. 

I don't know. You can do that, but then Welk and Graffanino have to go somewhere. I'm glad I don't have to figure this out, and I'm glad we have this problem. It was just a month or so ago that I recall a number of people saying we need to focus on infield in the next draft because we have no depth there. I'm all for taking another Henderson or Westburg if they're available and the best player available, but I like our infield depth. I'd rather stock up on pitching/1B/OF this year. Sorry, I digress. I'm happy to get a look at our prospects at multiple positions, but I'm not a huge fan of rotating our top prospects around on a daily basis. With Henderson and Westburg moving up parallel to each other, I'd like us to make a decision which plays where (doesn't have to be etched in stone if it isn't working). You'd like to think defense and offense do not impact each other, but it's my observation that players struggling to learn a new position generally suffer somewhat offensively. And players at demanding defensive positions (particularly catcher) often see their offensive production lag when they move up. Machado was a freak in that you could move him to third and he's instantly a defensive standout there, with no impact on his bat. It's fairly projectile that Westburg/Henderson will occupy short and third (one way or the other) in our future Baltimore infield. We already have Vavra/Jones at second. So for the Hernaiz, Ortiz, Servideo, Hall group, I'm all for them moving getting experience at multiple positions. They'll need that versatility because who knows what path will be available to them down the road. Side note, but when he returns we're going to have issues with Jones as well. Vavra is a potential promotion to AAA, and Jones' defense is a problem. Do we make the spring training experiment at OF permanent with him? Again, I'm glad I don't make these decisions. 

[UMDTerrapins]

19 minutes ago, survivedc said:

Hopefully DL Hall as well. Outside of the one game AA hitters seem pretty overmatched against him. I think he’ll benefit from facing hitters that are more selective and can fight off more pitches. TBH I think he should be working out of the MLB pen, but that won’t happen.

I'd like to see him against better hitters for sure. Other than command issues, my other concern with Hall is the meltdown factor. He's pretty wired out there. One of my takeaways I had watching one of his starts this year was him giving up a bases empty, one out single. He jumped up and yelled out a very visible expletive in anger. It was a reaction that wasn't at all proportional to the moment. Not a big deal at all, but one of those things you tuck in the back of your memory with the curiosity that his intensity might be a problem against tougher competition when things go wrong. A mild concern about meltdown innings. If it doesn't affect his ability to execute his pitches then who cares if he's amped up? Not me. But if it does, that's a problem. 

[jamalshw]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

If the Ironbirds have Henderson, Westburg,  Ortiz and Hall they can play 2B/SS/3B/DH and rotate around. 

I'm onboard with rotating around IF you believe each has a shot to stay at SS. If you believe Henderson will ultimately move to 3B, I'd rather just do that now. Same with anyone else potentially moving off the position. On the flip side, if you are confident that Henderson and Westburg stay at SS, I'd prioritize them for reps at the position (while still rotating). 

[Sports Guy]

Yea, this is why I said I would have no issue having Westburg or Henderson skip Aberdeen.  
 

If it ends up being too much for them so be it but I tend to believe it wouldn’t be, especially for Henderson, since he faced that level of competition at the alternate camp last year.  Witt is in AA and skipped A ball.  Henderson at least has some A ball experience, plus the camp last year.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Yea, this is why I said I would have no issue having Westburg or Henderson skip Aberdeen.  
 

If it ends up being too much for them so be it but I tend to believe it wouldn’t be, especially for Henderson, since he faced that level of competition at the alternate camp last year.  Witt is in AA and skipped A ball.  Henderson at least has some A ball experience, plus the camp last year.

Witt was a 1:2 pick.   Much better pedigree.   Also, he’s 380 days older than Gunnar even though they were in the same draft class.    So, it’s not surprising that he is getting pushed along faster.    That said, Gunnar is proving that low A was too conservative a placement for him.    Who knows, maybe he’ll show A+ is beneath him as well.    But I think he should be tested there rather than skipping him to AA.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Frobby said:

Witt was a 1:2 pick.   Much better pedigree.   Also, he’s 380 days older than Gunnar even though they were in the same draft class.    So, it’s not surprising that he is getting pushed along faster.    That said, Gunnar is proving that low A was too conservative a placement for him.    Who knows, maybe he’ll show A+ is beneath him as well.    But I think he should be tested there rather than skipping him to AA.

I think it has a lot more to do with the organizational philosophies.

[Sports Guy]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Witt was a 1:2 pick.   Much better pedigree.   Also, he’s 380 days older than Gunnar even though they were in the same draft class.    So, it’s not surprising that he is getting pushed along faster.    That said, Gunnar is proving that low A was too conservative a placement for him.    Who knows, maybe he’ll show A+ is beneath him as well.    But I think he should be tested there rather than skipping him to AA.

Why?  Why does he need to go to A ball first?  Age means nothing.  It’s all about ability.  
 

Going to Aberdeen is fine...but I don’t think it’s a must either.  

[Frobby]

12 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think it has a lot more to do with the organizational philosophies.

It’s hard to tell without really studying their system.    In 2017 they drafted a HS hitter, Nick Pratto, and he’s moved up one level a year starting at low A in 2018, then high A 2019, now AA in 2021 with the skipped season.  So, they’ve been more aggressive with Witt.   But that’s not surprising.  

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Why?  Why does he need to go to A ball first?  Age means nothing.  It’s all about ability.  
 

Going to Aberdeen is fine...but I don’t think it’s a must either.  

It’s also about experience. 

By the way, I’m not saying a stop in Aberdeen is a “must.”    I’d prefer it.  
 

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It’s hard to tell without really studying their system.    In 2017 they drafted a HS hitter, Nick Pratto, and he’s moved up one level a year starting at low A in 2018, then high A 2019, now AA in 2021 with the skipped season.  So, they’ve been more aggressive with Witt.   But that’s not surprising.  

They are obviously more interested in a faster return to relevance than the Orioles are.  Look at their off season acquisitions.

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

They are obviously more interested in a faster return to relevance than the Orioles are.  Look at their off season acquisitions.

Exactly.  KC just flat out cares more about winning ML games than the Os do right now.

[LookinUp]

6 hours ago, wildcard said:

If the Ironbirds have Henderson, Westburg,  Ortiz and Hall they can play 2B/SS/3B/DH and rotate around. 

I think this idea might look better on paper than it does in real life. These guys need time at their position. Even the 50/50 split is tough. Making it 25/25/25/25 is out there from my perspective.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

I think there should be a lot of movement next week throughout the entire organization.

[eddie83]