Alex Wells 2021

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

13 minutes ago, Philip said:

Aren’t you ready to see the last of Harvey?

Harvey bought himself one more start with his last outing. I’d give him two more starts and then cut bait if he reverts back to being terrible. 

[Il BuonO]

25 minutes ago, Philip said:

Aren’t you ready to see the last of Harvey?

Don’t you mean the best of Harvey???

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Philip said:

Me too, but the Orioles are made a lot of incredibly surprising moves this season, which could also be described as “head shakers”
 

When Akin ready to return it would not surprise me a bit if Wells Is sent down to make room, and Anderson sacrifices a chicken in gratitude. I do think Wells will get more starts this season But I will wager he goes down between now and OctoberBut I will wager he goes down between now and October

Whether Wells gets sent down again probably just depends on how he performs.    I’ve always thought of Akin as being a slightly better prospect than Wells, but he hasn’t performed well in multiple opportunities so Wells should get his shot for now.   

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Whether Wells gets sent down again probably just depends on how he performs.    I’ve always thought of Akin as being a slightly better prospect than Wells, but he hasn’t performed well in multiple opportunities so Wells should get his shot for now.   

My point is that whether Wells gets sent down or not has little to do with how he performs. We have awful players who remain, awful players who are gone now but were kept way too long, mediocre players who have bounced up and down to no benefit, and guys who need a long audition, who have gotten little or none.
Wells was one of the latter group and if Akin hadn’t had a surprise medical issue, how long would it have been before he got the call? The only reason he got the start was because he was the warm body in the RP@RT.

There seems to be little rhyme or reason to many of the moves we’ve seen. I am joking, but only partially. Wells should have earned another start, and he may get another because of Akin’s Covid quarantine schedule, but I won’t be surprised if he gets sent down when Akin returns.

To be fair, I also won’t be surprised if Akin gets sent down, but I can’t fathom why Anderson or Harvey would be retained over either.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Philip said:

My point is that whether Wells gets sent down or not has little to do with how he performs. We have awful players who remain, awful players who are gone now but were kept way too long, mediocre players who have bounced up and down to no benefit, and guys who need a long audition, who have gotten little or none.
Wells was one of the latter group and if Akin hadn’t had a surprise medical issue, how long would it have been before he got the call? The only reason he got the start was because he was the warm body in the RP@RT.

There seems to be little rhyme or reason to many of the moves we’ve seen. I am joking, but only partially. Wells should have earned another start, and he may get another because of Akin’s Covid quarantine schedule, but I won’t be surprised if he gets sent down when Akin returns.

To be fair, I also won’t be surprised if Akin gets sent down, but I can’t fathom why Anderson or Harvey would be retained over either.

It’s one thing to say that guys are getting called up who don’t really deserve it.   That’s hard to dispute.  At best, you can give some reasons why that’s done (that don’t have to do with trying to lose).

It’s another thing though to anticipate that the O’s will send down someone who is doing well.   That really hasn’t happened, except maybe in 1-2 cases where a guy had just pitched and the O’s were desperate to add a fresh arm.

If Wells were going to be sent down right now, it would have happened today so that the O’s could have another arm available.   So he’s staying in the short term.  If he continues performing decently, he’s not going anywhere.  

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

It’s one thing to say that guys are getting called up who don’t really deserve it.   That’s hard to dispute.  At best, you can give some reasons why that’s done (that don’t have to do with trying to lose).

It’s another thing though to anticipate that the O’s will send down someone who is doing well.   That really hasn’t happened, except maybe in 1-2 cases where a guy had just pitched and the O’s were desperate to add a fresh arm.

If Wells were going to be sent down right now, it would have happened today so that the O’s could have another arm available.   So he’s staying in the short term.  If he continues performing decently, he’s not going anywhere.  

I hope that is correct, but why did it take an Akin Il stint for him to come up? The last time, it was a “blink and you miss it” bounce up and right back down. If Akin hadn’t gone down, when do you think Wells would have come up? The Powers obviously would rather have Anderson than Wells. Meanwhile, we have Anderson, he of the 2.25 WHIP and a 10+ ERA. Why was he brought on board over Wells, or over any of the guys in AAA? Even if Harvey pitches well, he is not a future piece or a trade piece. He’s not even a present piece. He’s not even an inning eater. And he’s been lousy  There’s no reason he’s here.

So although I do hope you are correct, I have reasons for my doubts.

[Frobby]

18 minutes ago, Philip said:

I hope that is correct, but why did it take an Akin Il stint for him to come up? The last time, it was a “blink and you miss it” bounce up and right back down. If Akin hadn’t gone down, when do you think Wells would have come up? The Powers obviously would rather have Anderson than Wells. Meanwhile, we have Anderson, he of the 2.25 WHIP and a 10+ ERA. Why was he brought on board over Wells, or over any of the guys in AAA? Even if Harvey pitches well, he is not a future piece or a trade piece. He’s not even a present piece. He’s not even an inning eater. And he’s been lousy  There’s no reason he’s here.

So although I do hope you are correct, I have reasons for my doubts.

I think Wells was probably 1-2 more good starts at Norfolk away from being called up.  I don’t really see Anderson as a Wells alternative.   Wells should be used as a starting pitcher.   Anderson was brought up to eat some innings in relief.

By the way, I’m no big fan of Anderson, but he’s managed a 3.72 ERA as a minor leaguer and 5.70 as major leaguer in fairly limited action (124.2 IP).   He had a 3.52 ERA last year for the Giants.   So I’d hardly say it’s absurd for the O’s to have given him a look-see.   If everyone was as impatient as you, Chris Tillman (5.58 ERA in his first 180 IP) never would have made it to 2012.

[HowAboutThat]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think Wells was probably 1-2 more good starts at Norfolk away from being called up.  I don’t really see Anderson as a Wells alternative.   Wells should be used as a starting pitcher.   Anderson was brought up to eat some innings in relief.

By the way, I’m no big fan of Anderson, but he’s managed a 3.72 ERA as a minor leaguer and 5.70 as major leaguer in fairly limited action (124.2 IP).   He had a 3.52 ERA last year for the Giants.   So I’d hardly say it’s absurd for the O’s to have given him a look-see.   If everyone was as impatient as you, Chris Tillman (5.58 ERA in his first 180 IP) never would have made it to 2012.

The other hand, I would never have wasted $3 million on Tillman’s arm after it was obviously toast, and lied to the world at large about him.

Regarding Anderson, it means something when the Rangers dump a guy. They both take up up roster spots, and keeping Anderson is a de facto statement that none of the AAA arms is preferable, even though he doesn’t have any obvious advantages to them. Look-see? Why, when there’s multiple guys on the farm who also deserve a look-see, and offer more than he does? The Norfolk guys can eat innings and get blasted as easily as Anderson, and they have a greater chance of not getting blasted. So on the surface, there’s no justification.

[Frobby]

I just watched a video of the seven strike threes thrown by Alex Wells last night.  

- Six of the seven strikeouts came on fastballs.  

- None of those fastballs topped 89 mph.

- Six of the seven strikeouts were swinging strikes

- In the one strikeout that came on a breaking pitch, Choi was fooled so badly on the 80 mph slider that he lost his grip on the bat and it went flying out towards the shortstop.   

The velocity may not be great, but the locations were really excellent on these pitches.   
 

https://www.mlb.com/orioles/video/alexander-wells-fans-seven

 

[Jagwar]

9 hours ago, Philip said:

My point is that whether Wells gets sent down or not has little to do with how he performs. We have awful players who remain, awful players who are gone now but were kept way too long, mediocre players who have bounced up and down to no benefit, and guys who need a long audition, who have gotten little or none.
Wells was one of the latter group and if Akin hadn’t had a surprise medical issue, how long would it have been before he got the call? The only reason he got the start was because he was the warm body in the RP@RT.

There seems to be little rhyme or reason to many of the moves we’ve seen. I am joking, but only partially. Wells should have earned another start, and he may get another because of Akin’s Covid quarantine schedule, but I won’t be surprised if he gets sent down when Akin returns.

To be fair, I also won’t be surprised if Akin gets sent down, but I can’t fathom why Anderson or Harvey would be retained over either.

Pretty sure it's totally about eating innings after a short 2020 season 

[bobmc]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

I just watched a video of the seven strike threes thrown by Alex Wells last night.  

- Six of the seven strikeouts came on fastballs.  

- None of those fastballs topped 89 mph.

- Six of the seven strikeouts were swinging strikes

- In the one strikeout that came on a breaking pitch, Choi was fooled so badly on the 80 mph slider that he lost his grip on the bat and it went flying out towards the shortstop.   

The velocity may not be great, but the locations were really excellent on these pitches.   
 

https://www.mlb.com/orioles/video/alexander-wells-fans-seven

 

I was waiting for this.  He has been "your boy" for a while.  It will be cool to watch him evolve at the MLB level.  HIs command was a bit off with adrenaline flowing in the first two frames but he recovered nicely.  He pitches confidently.

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, bobmc said:

I was waiting for this.  He has been "your boy" for a while.  It will be cool to watch him evolve at the MLB level.  HIs command was a bit off with adrenaline flowing in the first two frames but he recovered nicely.  He pitches confidently.

Having watched Tampa’s Ryan Yarbrough earlier in this series, he’s not a bad comp for what I hope Wells can become.   Yarbrough’s fastball averages 86-87 mph (was 89 when he was a rookie), yet he gets the job done.  Wells’ repertoire is a little different but they are similar in relying on command and mixing pitches rather than velocity.

[bobmc]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Having watched Tampa’s Ryan Yarbrough earlier in this series, he’s not a bad comp for what I hope Wells can become.   Yarbrough’s fastball averages 86-87 mph (was 89 when he was a rookie), yet he gets the job done.  Wells’ repertoire is a little different but they are similar in relying on command and mixing pitches rather than velocity.

Yeah.  I was thinking that TB was watching Wells yesterday and saying to themselves what they could do with him after he's DFA'd.

[Just Regular]

8 hours ago, Frobby said:

If everyone was as impatient as you, Chris Tillman (5.58 ERA in his first 180 IP) never would have made it to 2012.

As many hopes as I have for Rodriguez and Hall, I do think about Tillman's entry.   It isn't just the part that the initial 180 IP were bad, but it was the three years long.   Crash tells Nuke the basic truth that MLB hitters will light him up like a pinball machine for awhile, but I don't think even he meant three entire seasons.

Pedigree snobbery is my comfort there; Tillman was "only" a Gunnar range draftee.

[wildcard]

I have to give SG a shout out here.  He argued strongly for Alex Wells to be protected from the Rule 5 draft last November if memory service me well.