Tuesday September 21: a bullpen game in Philly on the last full day of summer

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Just now, Il BuonO said:

Thank goodness. 
 

Cesar Valdez, persevering the Orioles chance at a number one pick. 
 

I place more blame on Santander for that. Just need to keep reminding myself the Orioles getting the #1 pick is a good thing. 

[Il BuonO]

1 minute ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

He would have had that year. It wasn't the easiest catch, but any RF average or better probably snags that fly ball. 

I wouldn’t go that far, but he certainly won’t be nominated for a GG again. 

He’d better hope another team still believes he can put together a comeback.

[Il BuonO]

Just now, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I place more blame on Santander for that. Just need to keep reminding myself the Orioles getting the #1 pick is a good thing. 

As Frobby stated, ball was hard hit, not an easy play. But one he was making routinely last year. 

[SteveA]

I agreed with the decision to walk Harper when it happened.  But when you think about it, he could only win the game with a HR.  

Maybe you see if you can pitch to h carefully.  Of course there probably isnt a hitter in the majors less likely to chase outside the zone.

I don't know.  Sometimes you push the right buttons and still lose. 

We had Pedro up with two outs to try to get a critical insurance run.  They had Realmuto in the situation in the bottom of the 9th.  Just a difference in talent.

[LA2]

2 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Hasn’t been moving well all season. 

I’m ready to move on. They have a glut of outfielders I’d rather see. 

Well, I hope he recovers during the off-season. He put up good numbers in 2019, 2020, and second half of this season.

[LA2]

3 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

I wouldn’t go that far, but he certainly won’t be nominated for a GG again. 

He’d better hope another team still believes he can put together a comeback.

Why do you think he can't?

[Legend_Of_Joey]

This is where things confuse me. Santander has been dealing with the ankle issue all season. Stewart has been having knee trouble. Stewart gets 60 day IL’ed while Santander continues to struggle in the field.

[Il BuonO]

22 hours ago, LA2 said:

Why do you think he can't?

I didn’t say he can’t. I’m not convinced after watching him battle through the injury this year that he’s moving any better in the OF than he was when he was in the midst of it. 

It was a bad call to keep him in the lineup early on instead of an extended stay on the IL. If anything, it hampered his recovery. He had a good couple of weeks with the bat and I’m confident he’s through the worst of it. But make no mistake, a hitter needs his legs healthy to be effective. More so for Santander because he’s a switch hitter. You can’t plant your back leg on a bad ankle, which is where a hitter transfers weight from back to front. That can’t be stressed enough. And he’s landing on it when he’s hitting from the other side. (Santander takes a big stride and he’s listed at 235) To me, it was a noticeable difference when got hot and started driving the ball. 

However, his OF play has not been good by any metric. And it doesn’t pass the eye test either.  He looks like a different guy going after the ball. 

I was excited about Santander when they made him a Rule 5 pick. I remember posters here bashing his defense, not without cause, but not entirely accurate either. I remember reading Kendall’s comments on him and about how hard he worked at getting better on defense. There’s a lot to be said for a guy with a guy who has a good work ethic. 

Santander has a ton of athletic ability, or had. I broke my right ankle and it’s never been the same. I hope he does come back.