28 man opening day roster - so who's on it?

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

23 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I agree the Orioles’ pitching has the potential to be really, really bad — as bad as last year, which is awful.   

But at the same time, I think you kind of have to give the younger pitchers the opportunities and see whether 1-2 of them can show significant improvement.  
 

It’s disgusting. It’s negligence. Fans should be upset, a smack in the face. Wasn’t it Elias himself who said we wanted pitchers knocking down the door from AAA? Hard to do that when you don’t have enough starters…we all want to see the kids play but they will get hurt (more so this year probably with the lockout) so the depth just comes from more prospects which hurts their development…vicious irresponsible cycle that really hurts the farm overall. 

[wildcard]

I think Owings makes the OD roster.

[Aristotelian]

17 minutes ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

It’s disgusting. It’s negligence. Fans should be upset, a smack in the face. Wasn’t it Elias himself who said we wanted pitchers knocking down the door from AAA? Hard to do that when you don’t have enough starters…we all want to see the kids play but they will get hurt (more so this year probably with the lockout) so the depth just comes from more prospects which hurts their development…vicious irresponsible cycle that really hurts the farm overall. 

I don't think it's that bad. Last year with Means, Harvey, and Lopez, I thought we had a decent balance of opportunity for the young guys but without rushing them. All of them had strong enough resumes that they should have been ready. Unfortunately Zimmerman was the only one who was really successful. 

This year we still have that same group plus Smith, Grayson, and Hall potentially arriving at some point this year. I'm not sure Lyles is the one I'd want but I don't think we need more than Lyles just to protect young guys. 

[Chuck A]

My stab at it:

SP (5):  Means, Lyles,  whoever has a good ST out of Zimmerman, Akin, Kremer, Lowther, A Wells, T Wells (could go back to BP), Lopez, Baumann, waiver wire pick-up (yes i fully expect at least one).  So that's 2 locks, barring injury.

 

RP: Sulser, Tate, Scott, Fry, Baker, T Wells (if not in rotation), Lopez (if not in rotation), Any of those that don't make the rotation above, possibly Bautista and/or Vespi.  Vespi may even beat out Fry. 

 

C  Chirinos, Taylor

IF  Mountyourcastle, Urias, Mateo, Owings, KGutierrez, Odor

DH Mancini

OF  Hays, Mullins, Santander, McKenna

Owings and Mateo have OF experience so i think they both make it.  Odor is the wildcard, does he make the team?

 

I think it makes the most sense to keep 15 P and 13 Bats but that doesn't mean that's what will happen.  

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

It’s disgusting. It’s negligence. Fans should be upset, a smack in the face. Wasn’t it Elias himself who said we wanted pitchers knocking down the door from AAA? Hard to do that when you don’t have enough starters…we all want to see the kids play but they will get hurt (more so this year probably with the lockout) so the depth just comes from more prospects which hurts their development…vicious irresponsible cycle that really hurts the farm overall. 

Can you keep your rants about the "Orioles' negligence" in threads about that? This is about the opening day 28-man roster. Thanks.

[Tony-OH]

Ok, here's my Crystal ball 4-games into the spring training schedule for the final 28-man roster.

Locks (16)
SP - Means, Lyles, T. Wells (could be RP but he's making team)
RP - Lopez, Sulser, Tate, Scott 
1B - Mountcastle
2B - Odor
SS - Urias or Mateo (Urias is starting somewhere)
C- Chirinos
DH - Mancini
LF - Hays
CF - Mullins
RF - Santander

Bubble players (12)
SP - Bradish and Zimmermann
RP - Bautista, Perez, Baker, Akin (Long guy), Fry, Kremer (Long guy)
3B - Owens (Going out on limb and saying he beats out Gutierrez for 3B)
C - Nottingham
OF - McKenna and Stewart

Possible surprises:

Vespi over Fry but it would cost a 40-man spot

Lowther could beat out either Bradish or Zimmermann (don't think they will keep Lowther as long guy vs sending him down to AAA to start)

Sedlock could make team as RHP long guy instead of Kremer 

Waiver wire pickup for long guy could send Kremer and or Akin back to AAA.

 

 

[LookinUp]

Tony, I thought Zimmerman was a lock, assuming health. Did he not do enough before to earn that in your eyes? I clearly could be wrong.

[Sports Guy]

I’m guessing there will be at least one player on the roster that is currently not in the organization.

[Il BuonO]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I’m guessing there will be at least one player on the roster that is currently not in the organization.

Waiver claim?

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Waiver claim?

Yea something.  A trade, a claim, a small signing.  
 

Im also not convinced someone we think is on the team doesn’t get traded either.  
 

We are 16 days from the start of the season.  A lot can happen in that time.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

Tony, I thought Zimmerman was a lock, assuming health. Did he not do enough before to earn that in your eyes? I clearly could be wrong.

I think he's got a good chance, but we haven't even seen him yet this spring so it's hard to say he's a lock.

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

1 hour ago, Il BuonO said:

Waiver claim?

A lot less waiver claims with 28. 

[seak05]

7 hours ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

The SP is terrifying per usual. Elias’ guarantee to tank. Problem is, some of these kids belong in AAA still so by not signing stopgaps you aren’t exactly rebuilding but just sabotaging. 

I'm not really sure any of the Lowther, Akin, Zimmerman, Kremer group "belong" in triple-A. They're all relatively old, and have spent a lot of time at that level. They're either ready for MLB....or they're probably not MLB players. Bradish and Bauman could maybe use more time in Triple-A, but again it's not like they haven't made a good number of starts at that level, and I don't think the Orioles will rush them. If they're on the roster, it's because the team thinks they're ready. 

I suspect we'll see a lot of piggyback starts in April. I'm curious to see if Bradish makes the team, and I think it would be a surprise if Zimmerman wasn't in the rotation

[OriolesMagic83]

12 hours ago, Just Regular said:

April 2022 could be a month we see big experiments in pushing more innings to Once Through The Order guys en masse.

Between 2020 and 2022's short springs, 2021 became the first season the number of Games Started by pitchers on 5-days of rest outnumbered starts on 4-days rest (1782-1610, or 37%-33% according to BP Annual).   The Brewers were near the vanguard of this and got 3 Cy Young caliber seasons from medium-pedigree guys.   I believe Grayson Rodriguez worked on 4-days rest more than Corbin Burnes last year.

Means and Lyles will have traditional roles dragging the team towards 1450 IP, but I am ready to not be surprised if the Game 3 pitcher is hooked even if the outing's first few innings let in one or zero runs.   On the talent curve, Teams generally know the difference between Pitchers 12-13 and Pitchers 14-15 they temporarily will get to have is almost zero, and they should leverage that roster spot so Jorge Lopez never yields that 5th inning 1.000 SLG into the team's basket of stats.

What isn't as well known is if Tyler Wells or DL Hall can get through six months throwing 2-3 innings every fourth day.

Last year Means threw 6 of his 10 starts on four days rest before the June 5 outing he departed in the 1st inning and then was out a month and a half.   Upon return, Means threw 4 of his final 13 turns on short (used to be regular) rest.   I'm curious to see what they do with him.    Lyles is hale and hearty and here to try for 200 innings so young pitchers don't have to do anything the Orioles don't want.

 

 

 

I have been advocating for short starts for marginal starters too.  There is no reason to keep running someone like Lopez out for a 5th and 6th inning when he implodes the majority of the time in those innings.   Barring a last minute addition, the O's will have 2 major league starters until Gray Rod makes his audition.  Ok, someone like Lowther or Akin could surprise, but I have low expectations.

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

Does anyone have any favorable early impressions from any of these catchers? Most likely backups at best I am sure…