Mountcastle off Concussion List, McKenna optioned

[SteveA]

Didn't see  a thread.

Just in the nick of time, wouldn't surprise me if Mancini is out tonight.  Wasn't looking forward to Franco at 1B all game.

[Moose Milligan]

I hope Mountcastle can pick up where he left off.  He was doing pretty well.

[interloper]

7 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I hope Mountcastle can pick up where he left off.  He was doing pretty well.

If you take out his April, he's got like an .850 OPS for the season or something (too lazy to look it up, but I promise I read it somewhere lol). Even with the April, it's not a bad season for a rookie.

[interloper]

I think McKenna found his role and shouldn't be bummed about being optioned. He's going to be playing a lot of ML ball with this team while he's under control. I wish he was just a little bit more of a hitter though. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

16 minutes ago, interloper said:

If you take out his April, he's got like an .850 OPS for the season or something (too lazy to look it up, but I promise I read it somewhere lol). Even with the April, it's not a bad season for a rookie.

Just checked and Mountcastle's OPS is .873 since May 1st with 18 home runs and 56 RBI's in 273 at bats. Mountcastle likely is never going to walk much, but his bat is going to keep him in the lineup. 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=mountry01&t=b&year=2021#61-136-sum:batting_gamelogs

[Legend_Of_Joey]

18 minutes ago, interloper said:

I think McKenna found his role and shouldn't be bummed about being optioned. He's going to be playing a lot of ML ball with this team while he's under control. I wish he was just a little bit more of a hitter though. 

I always thought this was a bit funny. When it comes to back ups (4th OF, utility bench, back up catcher), defense is valued and whatever they bring as a bat is a plus. But if they had a better bat, they would be a starter. But we wish they had a better bat…

[Philip]

2 hours ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

I always thought this was a bit funny. When it comes to back ups (4th OF, utility bench, back up catcher), defense is valued and whatever they bring as a bat is a plus. But if they had a better bat, they would be a starter. But we wish they had a better bat…

The flipside is that if they can’t hit, “they have no place here even if they have a splendid glove.”

Well, if they could hit, they would be starters. A glove without a bat is still valuable.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Philip

[Frobby]

McKenna always seems to return before the minimum ten days because someone else gets hurt.   I hope everyone stays healthy this time, though I like seeing McKenna get some exposure.   

[webbrick2010]

3 hours ago, interloper said:

I think McKenna found his role and shouldn't be bummed about being optioned. He's going to be playing a lot of ML ball with this team while he's under control. I wish he was just a little bit more of a hitter though. 

McKenna should have been kept over DJ Stewart but it's not about the best 25, for some reason they want to keep Stewart and release him next Spring instead of now. Oh well

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, webbrick2010 said:

McKenna should have been kept over DJ Stewart but it's not about the best 25, for some reason they want to keep Stewart and release him next Spring instead of now. Oh well

I heard it's just to annoy you.

[SteveA]

10 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

McKenna should have been kept over DJ Stewart but it's not about the best 25, for some reason they want to keep Stewart and release him next Spring instead of now. Oh well

With a 26 man roster, and a 13 man pitching staff, you can have only 1 backup OF/DH/1B, 1 backup IF, and 1 backup C.

So the question becomes, given that, who is more valuable.

When one of your starting OFs is hurt or gets a day off:   probably McKenna's bad offense + good defense is prefarable, but only by a little bit, to Stewart's mediocre-to-bad offense and bad defense.

When you need a defensive replacement late, McKenna is obviously preferable.  But when your starting OF is Hays/Santander/Mullins, you don't really need a defensive replacement badly.

On a night like tonight, when Mancini is out, it is preferable to have Stewart at DH than McKenna.

[BohKnowsBmore]

6 hours ago, SteveA said:

With a 26 man roster, and a 13 man pitching staff, you can have only 1 backup OF/DH/1B, 1 backup IF, and 1 backup C.

So the question becomes, given that, who is more valuable.

When one of your starting OFs is hurt or gets a day off:   probably McKenna's bad offense + good defense is prefarable, but only by a little bit, to Stewart's mediocre-to-bad offense and bad defense.

When you need a defensive replacement late, McKenna is obviously preferable.  But when your starting OF is Hays/Santander/Mullins, you don't really need a defensive replacement badly.

On a night like tonight, when Mancini is out, it is preferable to have Stewart at DH than McKenna.

And as many people seem to ignore when they ask why we have room for Stewart but not Nunez (or some version of that question), Stewart is a LHB, which makes a difference when we carry Mancini and Mountcastle. Not the end-all-be-all, but seems like that's sometimes completely ignored w/r/t roster construction.

[sportsfan8703]

Another homer for McKenna in AAA tonight. That’s 8 in about 100 PA. He’s only 24. There’s a chance he could be something at the MLB level. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Another homer for McKenna in AAA tonight. That’s 8 in about 100 PA. He’s only 24. There’s a chance he could be something at the MLB level. 

I'd rather see McKenna on the team than Stewart right now, but I know it won't happen because Stewart is out of options. 

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Another homer for McKenna in AAA tonight. That’s 8 in about 100 PA. He’s only 24. There’s a chance he could be something at the MLB level. 

He hit 2 homers tonight.  9 homers is 80 AB.    313/404/713/1117.   I doubt Cedric, Austin, Anthony or DJ ever did that at AAA.    McKenna trying to show he can be a starting outfielder in the majors.