McKenna has himself a day

[LA2]

Sorry, but what is everyone getting so excited about? What is better about McKenna than any number of affordable, Mendoza-line, defensively adequate outfielders with above-average speed who have come and gone from the Orioles roster for several decades? Are people convinced that McKenna is better than Mason Williams or Joey Rickard, for two recent examples?--although I'll admit he's an upgrade over Dwight Smith,Jr. I would rather have Little Yaz still, by the way.

[SteveA]

3 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Sorry, but what is everyone getting so excited about? What is better about McKenna than any number of affordable, Mendoza-line, defensively adequate outfielders with above-average speed who have come and gone from the Orioles roster for several decades? Are people convinced that McKenna is better than Mason Williams or Joey Rickard, for two recent examples?--although I'll admit he's an upgrade over Dwight Smith,Jr.; would rather have Little Yaz still, by the way.

I think he's better than just "defensively adequate".   I think he is very good.   That makes a lot of people like him.

But yeah, there is probably a built-in bias towards McKenna as he is someone who was developed from our farm system, we followed his development.   Joey Rickard was a Rule 5, Mason Williams and Dwight Smith didn't come up through our system.

And he is "new" still.  If he continues to hit under .200, enthusiasm will wane rapidly.

[HowAboutThat]

8 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Sorry, but what is everyone getting so excited about? What is better about McKenna than any number of affordable, Mendoza-line, defensively adequate outfielders with above-average speed who have come and gone from the Orioles roster for several decades? Are people convinced that McKenna is better than Mason Williams or Joey Rickard, for two recent examples?--although I'll admit he's an upgrade over Dwight Smith,Jr.; would rather have Little Yaz still, by the way.

Im notvsure anyone is overly excited, but McKenna offers speed and defense in abundance, which we haven’t seen much of lately..

Also, watching him play, he seems incredibly competent, by which he seems to have a good baseball mind, he does the fundamentals well oh, he doesn’t make stupid baserunning mistakes or run east while the ball is going west or let the fly balls bounce off his head, or ignore the cut-off man or throw to an undefended base, Unlike many of the yokels we have bumbling around on the field, he seems like he deserves to be here.

Hes “competent.”

And isn’t that a nice change?

[Aristotelian]

31 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Sorry, but what is everyone getting so excited about? What is better about McKenna than any number of affordable, Mendoza-line, defensively adequate outfielders with above-average speed who have come and gone from the Orioles roster for several decades? Are people convinced that McKenna is better than Mason Williams or Joey Rickard, for two recent examples?--although I'll admit he's an upgrade over Dwight Smith,Jr.; would rather have Little Yaz still, by the way.

I don't think anyone is particularly excited except in the context of him being a potentially decent 4th OF. 

[jabba72]

43 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Sorry, but what is everyone getting so excited about? What is better about McKenna than any number of affordable, Mendoza-line, defensively adequate outfielders with above-average speed who have come and gone from the Orioles roster for several decades? Are people convinced that McKenna is better than Mason Williams or Joey Rickard, for two recent examples?--although I'll admit he's an upgrade over Dwight Smith,Jr.; would rather have Little Yaz still, by the way.

He came up through the Orioles system so that alone makes him a fan favorite, and his glove is ++ for LF. His speed is elite too. Just has to figure out how to hit fastballs. The rest of his game looks legit. Lots of power in Norfolk. Drew 2 walks last night. 

[LTO's]

Useless but fun stat. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, LA2 said:

Sorry, but what is everyone getting so excited about? What is better about McKenna than any number of affordable, Mendoza-line, defensively adequate outfielders with above-average speed who have come and gone from the Orioles roster for several decades? Are people convinced that McKenna is better than Mason Williams or Joey Rickard, for two recent examples?--although I'll admit he's an upgrade over Dwight Smith,Jr. I would rather have Little Yaz still, by the way.

Are people getting that excited?  He’s had a couple of nice games where he made something happen, that’s all.

To me the real issue is whether he can develop into any kind of a hitter.   He’s had flashes in the minors, but never any consistent production, nor has his hitting been impressive in the majors.   He really hasn’t played much at AAA and so there’s at least hope that he’s still developing.   Certainly his defense and baserunning are plus, much better than someone like Richard or Williams.   But not enough to carry his bat at the level he’s hit so far.

 

[Il BuonO]

McKenna is perfect for the role of 4th OF. Nothing to be excited about except when he’s in the field or running the bases, well, it’s fun to watch. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

Im notvsure anyone is overly excited, but McKenna offers speed and defense in abundance, which we haven’t seen much of lately..

Also, watching him play, he seems incredibly competent, by which he seems to have a good baseball mind, he does the fundamentals well oh, he doesn’t make stupid baserunning mistakes or run east while the ball is going west or let the fly balls bounce off his head, or ignore the cut-off man or throw to an undefended base, Unlike many of the yokels we have bumbling around on the field, he seems like he deserves to be here.

Hes “competent.”

And isn’t that a nice change?

It's definitely a nice change for the third outfielder spot next to Mullins and Hays. I think, I'm done with DJ Stewart after this year. DJ's hitting is too uneven and he has no business playing outfield in MLB. 

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

It's definitely a nice change for the third outfielder spot next to Mullins and Hays. I think, I'm done with DJ Stewart after this year. DJ's hitting is too uneven and he has no business playing outfield in MLB. 

It may be a little self-serving to agree with someone who has just agreed with me, but why not…

I agree with your comment!

[Ruzious]

2 hours ago, LA2 said:

Sorry, but what is everyone getting so excited about? What is better about McKenna than any number of affordable, Mendoza-line, defensively adequate outfielders with above-average speed who have come and gone from the Orioles roster for several decades? Are people convinced that McKenna is better than Mason Williams or Joey Rickard, for two recent examples?--although I'll admit he's an upgrade over Dwight Smith,Jr. I would rather have Little Yaz still, by the way.

People are talking about him as a 4th OFer.  How is that getting "so excited"?  

And he's certainly a better defensive OFer than Rickard - who actually did fit the description "defensively adequate".  I have no idea about Mason Williams.  There's nothing wrong with saying that McKenna's a very good defensive OFer.  He clearly is - from everything I've seen and read.      

[NCRaven]

I know that Steward and Severino are capable of coming up with a big hit every now and then, but, their defense is atrocious.  Stewart took bad angles on fly balls and twice missed opportunities to throw batters out at home.  Severino fails at the most basic task of a catcher, catching the damn ball.  McKenna is adequate for now as a fourth outfielder, but those other two could be DFA'd now and I would not be disappointed in the least.

[LA2]

Our new Craig Gentry, if his hitting improves about 20%, as measured by OPS (.551 vs. .672).

[jabba72]

2-4 tonight with an infield hit to SS. Just a routine groundball that the SS double clutched on. McKenna beat it out by a step.