Mountcastle is heating up (August edition)

[TommyPickles]

Real happy to watch Mountcastle heat up. I was starting to feel a bit pessimistic about him when the OPS dropped to the .720's and I saw a few shaky defensive plays.

Hope he can be a middle of the order bat for us going forward.

(On a side note, I also like Urias batting second)

[interloper]

Yeah Mountcastle playing well really does a lot for how optimistically I view the team. Not sure if that's the case for others, but he's pretty key for me. And he's a pretty dynamic player when he's going well. I feel pretty good that while he may not be the stone cold stud some projected him to be, he's going to be an effective major leaguer for a long time. 

[NCRaven]

Was cold to start in April and May and slid back a bit in July.  But, don't forget he had an excellent June and was the AL Rookie of the Month.  I'm not surprised that he's heated up again.  Thought it was interesting that he mentioned watching video of Miguel Cabrera when we were in Detroit.  If you're going to learn from a hitter, that's not the worst choice.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, emmett16 said:

Got me thinking more about Markakis' rookie year - what else is there to do in 2021 as an O's fan. 

 

After 99 games in 2006 Markakis had 86 hits / 14 doubles / 4 home runs /27BB  & a .746 OPS.    In his last 48 games he hit 11 dobules and 12 homers / OPS .879 and He finished the year @ .799. 

 

After 99 games in 2021 Mountcastle has 95 hits / 18 doubles / 18 Hr/23BB & a .775 OPS.  He has some work to do, but he has put himself in position to finish season above .800.  I don't he has 11 doubles and 12 homers in the tank.  As you said, .850 down stretch is what he will need to play to.  Safe was an overstatement, but I believe he has a very good shot to finish better than Markakis did his rookie year. 

I’d agree he’s got a decent shot.   He just raised his OPS 50 points in 10 games, so if he can ride the current hot streak a while it might not take that long for him to get over .800.   Then it would just be a matter of how he finishes.   Still a third of the season remaining, so there’s time for ups and downs either way.   

[Pickles]

I feel like we have learned a lot about Mountcastle this year, and you have to feel pretty good about his future.

He's a first baseman.  No more of that outfield crap.  But with his size and athleticism, there's no reason he can't be a good defensive first baseman, and we've seen flashes of that this year.

He's going to hit.  Enough to justify playing first base.  Now he may never be an MVP candidate, or even an all-star because of the offensive bar being so high, but he's not Casey Kotchman.  

The biggest concern most had for him entering the bigs was his plate discipline/walk rate.  He's dispelled a lot of that from me.  I do think it keeps him from being a 900+ OPS monster- and thus that all-star/mvp candidate I referenced.  But it's not going to keep him from 1) hitting and 2) justify hitting him in the middle of an order.

He's got a 6% BB rate this year.  That's not good.  It also isn't embarrassing- particularly for a rookie.

You got to feel pretty good about his year to date in my opinion.

[crowmst3k!]

Ryan is now at .3 RWAR.  Considering he was at -1 RWAR not too long ago, that's an impressive turnaround.  

Dude still needs to get on base more before I get particularly excited about him.  

 

[Pickles]

5 minutes ago, crowmst3k! said:

Ryan is now at .3 RWAR.  Considering he was at -1 RWAR not too long ago, that's an impressive turnaround.  

Dude still needs to get on base more before I get particularly excited about him.  

 

His WAR #s are going to be a bit misleading this year, as he was heavily dinged out in LF in a very short period of time.

[Frobby]

24 minutes ago, Pickles said:

His WAR #s are going to be a bit misleading this year, as he was heavily dinged out in LF in a very short period of time.

From what I can see, his time in LF cost him about .5 WAR.

[Pickles]

Just now, Frobby said:

From what I can see, his time in LF cost him about .5 WAR.

That's about 10 games too.  It's hard to believe.

[yark14]

2 hours ago, Pickles said:

Now he may never be an MVP candidate

I disagree.  I think he'll be part of the annual MVP discussion starting as early as next year.  His bat is that good.

[emmett16]

36 minutes ago, crowmst3k! said:

Ryan is now at .3 RWAR.  Considering he was at -1 RWAR not too long ago, that's an impressive turnaround.  

Dude still needs to get on base more before I get particularly excited about him.  

 

He had 7 walks in first 57 games for a 3.6%. He's had 16 in the last 42 games for a 9.3%

He walked 101 times in 2217 plate appearances in minors or a 4.5%

I don't' think he's *figured it out, but there is room for optimism.  

[Yossarian]

9 hours ago, Frobby said:

Good question.  Eddie didn’t.  Cal didn’t.  Not sure who else would even be a candidate.   

Edit: Jim Gentile did it in 1960, leading the team with 98 RBI and finishing second in the rookie of the year voting.   His teammate, Ron Hansen, won Rookie of the Year and finished third on the Orioles with 86 RBI, behind Gentile and Brooks Robinson.  
 

Who lead the team in Eddie's rookie year?  Singleton?

[emmett16]

2 minutes ago, Yossarian said:

Who lead the team in Eddie's rookie year?  Singleton?

Singleton & May had 99.  Eddie had 88.

1977 Baltimore Orioles Batting Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com

[SteveA]

2 minutes ago, Yossarian said:

Who lead the team in Eddie's rookie year?  Singleton?

Could have been May too.   He was still going strong in '77.

I believe he was the  MLB RBI King for the decade of the 1970s.

[Sports Guy]

He’s still the #1 good young player we have that I would look to include in a trade for a controllable starter.