Raise your hand if you think Watkins was a better choice than Bradish?

[seak05]

5 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Then again, if Witt was in the Orioles system, he'd probably be in AA.

 It's interesting though, as slow as they've promoted most of their prospects, they've been semi-aggressive with high school hitters. Gunnar isn't yet 21 and he's in double-A, and Mayo was sent to high-A to start the year

(Witt and Henderson were drafter the same year, but Gunnar is almost exactly a year younger)

[NCRaven]

Witt’s game winning first ML hit got a lot of media attention.  How’s he doing since then?

[emmett16]

38 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

Witt’s game winning first ML hit got a lot of media attention.  How’s he doing since then?

3 hits on year in 25 AB.  8ks & 1bb.  

[SteveA]

30 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

3 hits on year in 25 AB.  8ks & 1bb.  

Witt, Torkelson, and Rodriguez are a combined 8 for 64 for the season.

So a little bit better than the Orioles with runners in scoring position, but not much.

[NCRaven]

2 hours ago, emmett16 said:

3 hits on year in 25 AB.  8ks & 1bb.  

I think the hand wringing over Rutschman vs. Witt has always been overdone.  But, if Adley starts 2 for 25, he's obviously a bust!

[Frobby]

You have to admit, Watkins has done a pretty good job this month.   I’d rather have Bradish, but Watkins has held up his end of things.  

[Bmorebirds24]

10 minutes ago, Frobby said:

You have to admit, Watkins has done a pretty good job this month.   I’d rather have Bradish, but Watkins has held up his end of things.  

Is it me or does Hyde have a quick hook on his starters. It’s probably an organizational thing but Watkins couldn’t try to get through the 5th? I think Bradish could have came back out for a hitter or two last night. He left at 81 pitches. Shouldn’t he be ready for 90-100? 

[OriolesMagic83]

3 hours ago, Bmorebirds24 said:

Is it me or does Hyde have a quick hook on his starters. It’s probably an organizational thing but Watkins couldn’t try to get through the 5th? I think Bradish could have came back out for a hitter or two last night. He left at 81 pitches. Shouldn’t he be ready for 90-100? 

I'm not sure the bullpen is going to make it through the season w/o imploding.  Has any starter thrown 100 pitches yet?  If most starters are going to go 5 innings or less, the O's are going to need more multi-inning relievers. 

[wildcard]

6 hours ago, Frobby said:

You have to admit, Watkins has done a pretty good job this month.   I’d rather have Bradish, but Watkins has held up his end of things.  

Holt taught Watkins a slider which has been very effective.

[wildcard]

6 hours ago, Bmorebirds24 said:

Is it me or does Hyde have a quick hook on his starters. It’s probably an organizational thing but Watkins couldn’t try to get through the 5th? I think Bradish could have came back out for a hitter or two last night. He left at 81 pitches. Shouldn’t he be ready for 90-100? 

Are you complaining about Hyde trying to win?  The pen has been outstanding.   Vespi is lined up for a call up.  When Grayson is called up  Watkins or Tyler Wells will need to go to the pen.

 Amazing turn around for the pitching staff.  Some of it might be the catchers.  Some of it might be the ball but the new aggressive approach of going right after hitters in the strike zone has benefited  the O's.  Elias added some power arms over the winter.

 

[Frobby]

7 hours ago, Bmorebirds24 said:

Is it me or does Hyde have a quick hook on his starters. It’s probably an organizational thing but Watkins couldn’t try to get through the 5th? I think Bradish could have came back out for a hitter or two last night. He left at 81 pitches. Shouldn’t he be ready for 90-100? 

I have a feeling that this is an organizational decision, not just Hyde.   We’re seeing the starters on a short leash in the minors, too.  I’m not sure if this approach will persist all season, or if they just want their starters ramped up very slowly.   As to the major league club, the bullpen is shortened, they may not have the luxury of yanking the starters so soon.   

[Morgan423]

11 hours ago, Frobby said:

You have to admit, Watkins has done a pretty good job this month.   I’d rather have Bradish, but Watkins has held up his end of things.  

I'd be super happy if Zimmermann-Bradish-Watkins could settle into consistent #s 3-4-5.  It would solve a lot going forward. 

[Tony-OH]

17 hours ago, Frobby said:

You have to admit, Watkins has done a pretty good job this month.   I’d rather have Bradish, but Watkins has held up his end of things.  

He has been decent for sure and the good news it appears he's added a pitch and improved the movement of another so there's a possibility the improvements (though I doubt he's going to keep a 2.88 ERA or anywhere close to that) could be for real.

He added a slider to go along with his cutter, curveball, changeup and 4-seamer and although he's only thrown it 44 times, it has been his best WHIFF pitch at 32% and batters have put up just a .104 WOBA off the pitch so far. 

He completely remade his curveball adding almost 8 inches of verticle movement and five inches of horizontal movement. So instead of a rolling curveball he's got sharper break and less of a 12-6 movement to more of a 1-7 movement. Surprisngly it's been less effective than last year in the early going.

The changeup has the same well below average movement but batters have put just a .208 WOBA vs a .337 WOBA last year so perhaps he's plaing it better.

At the end of the day, the slider seems to be a good pitch for him and it will be interesting to see if that becomes a pitch that helps his below average fast ball and changeup play up a bit. 

It's still not a great package overall and batters hit him hard, and his 5.14 FIP is probably closer to his talent level at best. Saying that, he could end up being a long guy/bulk reliever.

 

[SteveA]

A noteworthy data point:

The pre-lockout, normal spring training schedule had pitchers and catchers reporting on February 15, and Opening Day scheduled for March 31, 44 days later.   In addition, if there had been no lockout, pitchers would have probably started ramping up some throwing for spring training in January early February.   With no idea when the season would start, I don't think most pitchers did any kind of pre-reporting rampup this year.

This year, pitchers and catchers reported March 12.   44 days later was April 25 (last Monday).   So in terms of time since reporting, we are now just starting the 2nd-time-through-the-regular-season-rotation portion of the schedule.

[Bmorebirds24]

10 hours ago, wildcard said:

Are you complaining about Hyde trying to win?  The pen has been outstanding.   Vespi is lined up for a call up.  When Grayson is called up  Watkins or Tyler Wells will need to go to the pen.

 Amazing turn around for the pitching staff.  Some of it might be the catchers.  Some of it might be the ball but the new aggressive approach of going right after hitters in the strike zone has benefited  the O's.  Elias added some power arms over the winter.

 

Where do I complain About Hyde trying to win? I’m asking a question about yanking starters earlier than I would think. Yes the arms out of the pen have looked great. However them arms can wear down too. No need to twist the narrative when I am simply questioning a philosophy if its organizational thing or is this Hyde’s philosophy.