Orioles vs. Red Sox, March 20, 2022 (On MLB App, Free Game of the Day)

[Jammer7]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

I don't know, I just think Ryan Mountcastle would probably be well served with getting a few more at bats this spring.

As a for instance.

He will. He actually had three yesterday, I believe. That is more than normal for the first game out. These guys are getting lots of back field stuff, sim games and such. Today would be a day off for most guys anyway, being a Sunday and a road game. I would think it will change in a about a week or so. 

[forphase1]

Nice hr there by Diaz.  I've given up on him really,  but would love for him to get back to what we once thought he'd be. 

[Pushmonkey]

I’d rather have Diaz then McKenna on the team personally. 

[justD]

34 minutes ago, yark14 said:

Yusnial Diaz crushed a homer to center.  Looks like he's put on a quite a bit of weight.

 

[justD]

Really nice play by Richie Martin at SS, wish the Orioles would've included a video clip of that in the twitterverse. 

The ball shot under the glove of Dorrian at 3B, and Martin was covering behind him.  Picked up the ball running towards 3rd, turned and threw a perfect lob exactly on target to get the guy at 1st. 

[Jammer7]

41 minutes ago, yark14 said:

Yusnial Diaz crushed a homer to center.  Looks like he's put on a quite a bit of weight.

Yes, I noticed the same thing. The swing looks great, but he looks to be around 250 pounds, good grief! He’ll be injured shortly if that is how he takes care of himself. 

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I guess when you aren't actually trying to win games you can take it slow ramping guys up.

Hyde did say before games began that he expected to play his starters more than usual this spring due to the abbreviated schedule.   So far that hasn’t been the case, but we’ll see what he’s doing by the end of this week.  

[connja]

1 hour ago, forphase1 said:

Nice hr there by Diaz.  I've given up on him really,  but would love for him to get back to what we once thought he'd be. 

This is definitely the make or break season for Diaz.  I imagine he'll either be on the MLB roster or he won't be in the org to start 2023.

[CharmCityHokie]

1 hour ago, Pushmonkey said:

I’d rather have Diaz then McKenna on the team personally. 

I'm curious...why? What has Diaz done, other than make Top-100 lists several years ago, show that he's a more capable 4th outfielder than McKenna, because that's basically the roster-spot we're talking about at this point. And you want your 4OF to be able to cover CF and as others noted earlier in the thread, given Diaz's conditioning coming into camp, I'm not sure he's capable of that at this point.

[connja]

Nice outings from Tate and Dilpan today. 

[Pushmonkey]

1 hour ago, CharmCityHokie said:

I'm curious...why? What has Diaz done, other than make Top-100 lists several years ago, show that he's a more capable 4th outfielder than McKenna, because that's basically the roster-spot we're talking about at this point. And you want your 4OF to be able to cover CF and as others noted earlier in the thread, given Diaz's conditioning coming into camp, I'm not sure he's capable of that at this point.

McKenna Has zero power. Has zero average. So he provides nothing that Mateo can’t serve which is to spell Mullins on occasion. Hays can do that too, so what does McKenna really bring besides good hair and neat bandannas. 

[seak05]

1 hour ago, Pushmonkey said:

McKenna Has zero power. Has zero average. So he provides nothing that Mateo can’t serve which is to spell Mullins on occasion. Hays can do that too, so what does McKenna really bring besides good hair and neat bandannas. 

But what do you think Diaz provides? At Norfolk McKenna had a higher OPS, higher OBP, higher Avg, and more homers (and McKenna is the best defensive of on the roster)

[MurphDogg]

21 minutes ago, seak05 said:

But what do you think Diaz provides? At Norfolk McKenna had a higher OPS, higher OBP, higher Avg, and more homers (and McKenna is the best defensive of on the roster)

Nobody is arguing that Diaz was any good last year but he significantly outplayed McKenna offensively at Bowie in 2019. With the missed 2020 season, I think it is at least possible that Diaz is a starting MLB corner outfielder.  I think McKenna's ceiling is a very good 4th outfielder / emergency centerfielder, although his floor is certainly higher than Diaz's.

I would prefer Diaz to attempt to actually have success in AAA this year rather than have him mostly ride the bench for the Orioles. If he is having success at Norfolk and a roster spot opens in July (through a Mancini, Santander or Mullins trade) which free up everyday at-bats, that is when I think Diaz should get a shot.

[seak05]

3 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

Nobody is arguing that Diaz was any good last year but he significantly outplayed McKenna offensively at Bowie in 2019. With the missed 2020 season, I think it is at least possible that Diaz is a starting MLB corner outfielder.  I think McKenna's ceiling is a very good 4th outfielder / emergency centerfielder, although his floor is certainly higher than Diaz's.

Sure Diaz has the higher ceiling, but has to go play well at Norfolk. The conversation was about who should make the Orioles this year out of spring training, as presumably the 4th OF

[CharmCityHokie]

3 hours ago, Pushmonkey said:

McKenna Has zero power. Has zero average. So he provides nothing that Mateo can’t serve which is to spell Mullins on occasion. Hays can do that too, so what does McKenna really bring besides good hair and neat bandannas. 

Diaz might have batting practice power, but he sure hasn't shown it in games. Here are their two comprehensive minor league lines:

.266/.354/.404 - .758OPS - 2063 MiLB ABs (https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mckenn001rya)

.262/.338/.416 - .754OPS - 1881 MiLB ABs (https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=efrain000yun)

Quite similar...except McKenna can play center and pinch run. I'm rooting for Diaz, I want him to be succesful, but he sure hasn't shown why he was the gem of the Machado trade at this point.