Who is the Orioles 2021 #5 prospect?

[ChosenOne21]

I will be shocked if Stowers hits .260-.280 in the majors year in and year out. He strikes out too much in the minors and it's probably going to get worse in the majors.

He's a great player who will probably have a good MLB career, but I just can't see that high of an AVG

[waroriole]

49 minutes ago, interloper said:

Man, Baumann's stint this year really took the shine off for me. All the years of fuss for a dude with a middling fastball?

Straight as an arrow fastballs don’t play well in MLB. 

[LookinUp]

39 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

A reminder that Tony had Hall 6th last year, behind Gunnar.

Did anything happen to have Tony have Hall ahead of Gunnar now?  If something did happen, it would be more of a downgrade of Gunnar as opposed to showing a lot more confidence in Hall.

Henderson had massive L/R splits and below average fielding. I don't think Tony sees the same prospect that was being hyped a few months ago. I too love the power and think he'll take a major step forward this year, but Tony's seen a lot more than me, that's for sure.

Hall also took steps forward, not just in what he showed in his 7 games last year but also in offseason reports re: control. He looked to be putting together a terrific starter's profile before he went down with injury. That's a different look than the last time Tony saw Hall before last year's rankings, when his control had gone haywire. 

[NCRaven]

See my comments on Hall for #3 and #4.  Not changing now.  Huge talent from a left-handed starter.  Understand the injury risk, but on talent alone I think he should have been higher.  Having said that, it's a really solid group of prospects.

 

[Frobby]

I’ll pick Hall again and think he and Henderson are the next two, though I’m not confident Hall will be ahead of Henderson.  

By the way, it’s nice to have an actual season to judge these prospects on, unlike last year where  six weeks of early college ball, rumors about the alternate site and fall instructs were all we had to go on.
 

[LookinUp]

2 hours ago, ChosenOne21 said:

I will be shocked if Stowers hits .260-.280 in the majors year in and year out. He strikes out too much in the minors and it's probably going to get worse in the majors.

He's a great player who will probably have a good MLB career, but I just can't see that high of an AVG

We'll see. He also has very high walk rates, so I think the K rate is related to selectiveness and contact rates, not just contact rates.

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’ll pick Hall again and think he and Henderson are the next two, though I’m not confident Hall will be ahead of Henderson.  

By the way, it’s nice to have an actual season to judge these prospects on, unlike last year where  six weeks of early college ball, rumors about the alternate site and fall instructs were all we had to go on.
 

That’s a good point.  Could be a reason Hall jumps Gunnar for Tony.  (As lookinup also alluded to)

[Chuck A]

I took Gunnar here as I have been doing since #3.  Just can't look past the upside of the hit, power, speed, and fielding tools.  Yes, he made a lot of errors but from all reports i've read his range is what caused the errors.  He will learn when to pocket the ball when he gets to almost impossible throws (hopefully).  Also I liked what i seen with his approach and maturity in coming out of the massive slump in Aberdump.  And he was still drawing walks like crazy throughout the slump.

Regardless of the order, I really do see the fact that there are arguments for placements this high for many prospects as a HUGE improvement.  DL needs to get him a Jobu statue to avoid injuries. 

[Aristotelian]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I think a case can be made for Pinto but agree with you about the AA and up guys.
 

Pinto is the next pitcher imo.

Rom is another. Probably both end up outside the Top 10 though, more due to the strength of the Top 10. Probably looking at some combo of Hall, Henderson, Westburg, Stowers, Norby for 5-9. Hard to see Vavra moving into the top 10 with all the injuries. It's possible Rom or Pinto could sneak in at 10. 

[LookinUp]

29 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Probably looking at some combo of Hall, Henderson, Westburg, Stowers, Norby for 5-9. 

And Kjerstad has to go somewhere.

[UMDTerrapins]

23 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Hard to see Vavra moving into the top 10 with all the injuries.

I'm a total hypocrite because I'm not penalizing Hall for his injury issue, but I am reducing my optimism with Vavra because of his injury issue. If Hall's elbow needs TJ, he can lose a year and likely return to his prior self over time. I'm hoping that Vavra's back/hip issues are not a chronic thing. Particularly since he lost so much of the season, wasn't included in the AFL roster, and wasn't invited to the fall camp. I'd love to hear an update on his prognosis, because I really liked his early season at bats, before he started having issues. 

[Yossarian]

5 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Yea, I figure he is in the 8-10 range.  The conversation starts with him vs guys like Norby and Stowers imo.

And guys like Rhodes, Basallo, Pinto, and Rom can't be too far behind.  I am really interested to see what Rhodes does in 2022.  I don't know why, I just think he has some real potential.

[BohKnowsBmore]

8 hours ago, Chuck A said:

I took Gunnar here as I have been doing since #3.  Just can't look past the upside of the hit, power, speed, and fielding tools.  Yes, he made a lot of errors but from all reports i've read his range is what caused the errors.  He will learn when to pocket the ball when he gets to almost impossible throws (hopefully).  Also I liked what i seen with his approach and maturity in coming out of the massive slump in Aberdump.  And he was still drawing walks like crazy throughout the slump.

Regardless of the order, I really do see the fact that there are arguments for placements this high for many prospects as a HUGE improvement.  DL needs to get him a Jobu statue to avoid injuries. 

Also, ended up with a respectable .775 OPS despite the slump, while being 2.9 years younger than the league average age.

[Philip]

After being admonished regarding Westburg vs Gunnar, it’s clearly not Westburg, and Hall had an injury-plagued year, and Kjested is a tease, and Baumann also dealt with injuries, so that leaves Gunnar.

Now watch it be Hall…. But no…

[ChosenOne21]

17 hours ago, LookinUp said:

We'll see. He also has very high walk rates, so I think the K rate is related to selectiveness and contact rates, not just contact rates.

I thought the more strikeouts you have, the higher your BABIP has to be if you want a good batting average and Stowers is at the level where your BABIP has to be well over .350 to have a batting average in the .260-.280 range.

Though if they are related to selectiveness as you say, that gives me hope that with more practice he could cut down on the strikeouts a bit