Ramon Urias 2022

[Just Regular]

Before tonight, both Urias and Adley on page 1 of Batter WAR this month per Fangraphs.

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=50&type=8&season=2022&month=7&season1=2022&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=&enddate=

Spoilers, but July O-Swing Adley in Month3 flirting with the 99th percentile MLB-wide month to date.

[SteveA]

Ramon's brother Luis also had a HR and the game winning RBI tonight, though not on the same swing like Ramon.

Luis homered early in the game for Milwaukee, then hit a walkoff sac fly in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Twins 7-6.

[ShoelesJoe]

I'm thinking Urias needs to be moved into the #2 spot in the lineup, with Rutschman batting 3rd. Ramon is hitting .400 / .431 / .673 in July, while Adley is at .268 / .400 / .500 for the month. Whether these are "just" hot streaks or not is irrelevant. Having these guys batting 6th and 7th in the lineup is not the optimum use of their production. 

[Sydnor]

5 hours ago, forphase1 said:

He's never hit like this.  He's been solid in the past.  But right now he's being amazing.  

Maybe not, but as @Tony-OH explained earlier in this thread he had been unlucky earlier this year. Urias is in the 73 percentile for average exit velocity, 90th percentile for hard hit percentage, 79th percentile for expected batting average, 75th percentile for expected slugging percentage, and the 65th percentile for barrel percentage. These numbers have increased marginally recently, but he has been hitting the ball with authority since he was given a real opportunity last year. In fact, his barrel percentage for 2021 and 2022 is the same at 9.7 percent. He has also been worth 3 outs above average at third.

I don’t think he will continue at this level, but some of this is a progression to the mean given how unlucky he was earlier this year. I like prospects as much as the next guy, but Urias is establishing himself as an above average starter. Good teams need to hit on waiver claims  and minor league signings too (i.e., Dodgers and Justin Turner and  Max Muncy)  because no team wins with a completely homegrown 26 man roster. We should be happy that Elias appears to have nailed a few of his waiver claims starting with Urias who could absolutely be a starter on a playoff team.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Sydnor

[DrungoHazewood]

10 hours ago, forphase1 said:

He's never hit like this.  He's been solid in the past.  But right now he's being amazing.  

 

In the majors. He had a .964 in the Mexican Winter League in 2018-19.  He had a .907 as a 21-year-old for Diablos Rojos in the Mexican League, then a 1.011 for the same team in '17.   In 2017 between regular and winter league he hit .333/.432/.520 in 600 PAs.  

Sure, you have to take a lot of helium out of those numbers. Mexico City is at nearly 7000' altitude. But a .778 OPS in the majors at 28 doesn't seem too crazy.

[ChuckS]

8 hours ago, ShoelesJoe said:

I'm thinking Urias needs to be moved into the #2 spot in the lineup, with Rutschman batting 3rd. Ramon is hitting .400 / .431 / .673 in July, while Adley is at .268 / .400 / .500 for the month. Whether these are "just" hot streaks or not is irrelevant. Having these guys batting 6th and 7th in the lineup is not the optimum use of their production. 

I agree with batting him # 2.  I'd like my free swingers further down (Hays and Mountcastle around 5 and 6).  Not that lineup order matters a whole lot. 

CF Mullins

3B Urias

C  Rutschman

DH Santander

1B Mountcastle

LF Hays

RF Stowers

SS Mateo

2B Vavra

 

[LA2]

I question leading off with Mullins (very poor performance in first ABs of the game). Mancini has the team's highest OBP. Rutschman hasn't found his power stroke yet but lets the team see a lot of pitches. Urias is on fire. Hays hasn't shown he is recovered from injury. Alternating righty hitters with lefties or switchhitters:

Mancini

AR

Urias

Santander

Mountcastle

Mullins

Hays

Odor / Vavra

Mateo

 

[RZNJ]

Wow. Try reading this thread from the beginning. Haha 

I'm posting because I'm intrigued by Urias' swing.  His bat is pretty flat through the zone.  No uppercut at all.  He's not a big guy and yet he's hitting them as far as anyone else on the team.  Launch angle is great but a flat swing through the ball creating backspin is a beautiful thing.  Even when you watch the replay it's like where is all of this power coming from.  Timing, leverage, backspin.  Urias probably has the best RH swing on the team.  

[SilverRocket]

His xBA and xSLG are pretty close to his actual numbers. He was pretty unlucky in April and has been lucky lately, with his hard grounders finding holes. I think the overall year is about what he is for real... a high .700s OPS hitter, like he was last year.

I'm fine with moving him up in the lineup during the hot streak, but I can see not wanting to disrupt too much. He should never hit after Odor though.

[Pickles]

40 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Wow. Try reading this thread from the beginning. Haha 

I'm posting because I'm intrigued by Urias' swing.  His bat is pretty flat through the zone.  No uppercut at all.  He's not a big guy and yet he's hitting them as far as anyone else on the team.  Launch angle is great but a flat swing through the ball creating backspin is a beautiful thing.  Even when you watch the replay it's like where is all of this power coming from.  Timing, leverage, backspin.  Urias probably has the best RH swing on the team.  

This is a good observation.  That shot last night, for instance, I watched with the sound off and quickly unmuted it.  Upon contact it looked like it had a chance; it didn't look like it was going 425 ft.  And yet it did.

[DEOriolesfan]

Urias has been nothing short of phenomenal since coming off the IL. He plays a very good 3B and obviously has been on fire at the plate. 

I would not mess with moving him up in the order. For the time being, I like Ruschman as the #2 hitter and I would move Mancini down in the order to #6 or #7.

[foxfield]

3 hours ago, LA2 said:

I question leading off with Mullins (very poor performance in first ABs of the game). Mancini has the team's highest OBP. Rutschman hasn't found his power stroke yet but lets the team see a lot of pitches. Urias is on fire. Hays hasn't shown he is recovered from injury. Alternating righty hitters with lefties or switchhitters:

Mancini

AR

Urias

Santander

Mountcastle

Mullins

Hays

Odor / Vavra

Mateo

 

Other than last night....you mean.   

[LA2]

2 hours ago, foxfield said:

Other than last night....you mean.   

Of course, but for the season the stats are pretty stark; even after last night:

90 PAs, 82 ABs, 19 Ks, 15 Hits, 6 BBs, 2 Doubles, 2 HRs. .183/.256/.281 with a .536 OPS.

It's like leading off with your #9 hitter. Mancini leads the team in OBP.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Of course, but for the season the stats are pretty stark; even after last night:

90 PAs, 82 ABs, 19 Ks, 15 Hits, 6 BBs, 2 Doubles, 2 HRs. .183/.256/.281 with a .536 OPS.

It's like leading off with your #9 hitter. Mancini leads the team in OBP.

I just don’t worry about things like this.  Mullins has led off for most of his career.   He’s very used to it.  The fact that he hasn’t done that well at it in 90 PA this year is not all that meaningful.   He’s got an .823 OPS in his career when leading off the game, in 300 PA.  For me, that’s more meaningful.   

[LA2]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

I just don’t worry about things like this.  Mullins has led off for most of his career.   He’s very used to it.  The fact that he hasn’t done that well at it in 90 PA this year is not all that meaningful.   He’s got an .823 OPS in his career when leading off the game, in 300 PA.  For me, that’s more meaningful.   

210 PAs before this year and 90 this year. Not sure I'd want to swear that the former is more indicative than the latter. But clearly it's not working this season and I am not banking on Mullins having anything approaching last year's probably all-time career year. I think he can get used to hitting elsewhere in the lineup.

More interesting to me would be to see Mancini with his OBP lead off a la Brian Downing, Alfonso Soriano et al. It might calm him down and get his bat going. Mullins can do whatever hitting he does further down the lineup without hurting the offense, I'm sure. Well, he's about to come up, bottom of the first.

Edited July 27, 2022 by LA2