Jorge Mateo

[ScGO's]

9 hours ago, connja said:

Mateo hitting .260 in July, and his speed and defense impact the game in ways that aren't always seen in the box score.  

Its showing up in the WAR. He's at 2.0. If he picks up offensively, its not out of the realm to see him get to 4.0 WAR by season's end.

One thing that kills me about Mateo is his inability bunt.  If he could get his bunt game to where Mullins' is, I think he goes up another tick in value.  Doesn't need to bunt all the time, but should shoot for 10 bunt hits a year.

[Ohfan67]

Just watched the highlights from last nights game. He is super entertaining. The Orioles are identifying and seemingly developing "flawed" players into impactful players. Pretty amazing really. 

[Jammer7]

Mateo’s play in 2022 has been a major difference in this team. This team is exciting to watch, and he is a big part of it. Since his injury, he had struggled. It appears he is back to where he was before that collision.

I wanted him to start everyday at SS, but I had no idea he would be this good, defensively. Flaherty spoke very highly of him last year. I wanted to see what all of that was about, and he has brought us joy. I cannot think of a more physically gifted Oriole SS. I never saw Luis Aparicio, and only saw a few years of Mark Belanger. Miguel Tejada was not this quick and tooled up. Ripken, Bordick and Hardy were all great for their steadiness and offensive output, but the athleticism of Mateo is amazing. 

I was also wrong about Odor. I believe he has had a vital role in many things, but he is clearly Mateo’s mentor. I see him talking with him frequently throughout a game. Odor is clearly far more valuable than playing above average defense. His toughness, competitiveness and clutch hitting have all been great. But his mentorship of Mateo may be his biggest contribution.

I wonder what is next for our infield. With the rise and impending promotions of Westburg, Henderson and Vavra, now what? Mateo, Urias and Odor have been fun to watch in 2022, whatever their Oriole fate. 

[Just Regular]

Fangraphs overall sees him 17th of 24 qualified SS YTD in their flavor of WAR.

He was a few spots behind Correa, where there is kind of a fun contrast between hitting ~2nd and hitting ~9th.

Correa: 308 PA in 71 games

Mateo: 311 PA in 87 games

A few pinch running in there to be sure, but regular plug every spot in the batting order 18 PA/season.    Enjoyed seeing Adley taking some high leverage plate appearances 20 and 29 for the team early in the second half.

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

4 hours ago, ScGO's said:

Its showing up in the WAR. He's at 2.0. If he picks up offensively, its not out of the realm to see him get to 4.0 WAR by season's end.

One thing that kills me about Mateo is his inability bunt.  If he could get his bunt game to where Mullins' is, I think he goes up another tick in value.  Doesn't need to bunt all the time, but should shoot for 10 bunt hits a year.

Love it. Glad to prove the haters wrong.

[LA2]

15 hours ago, Just Regular said:

Fangraphs overall sees him 17th of 24 qualified SS YTD in their flavor of WAR.

He was a few spots behind Correa, where there is kind of a fun contrast between hitting ~2nd and hitting ~9th.

Correa: 308 PA in 71 games

Mateo: 311 PA in 87 games

A few pinch running in there to be sure, but regular plug every spot in the batting order 18 PA/season.    Enjoyed seeing Adley taking some high leverage plate appearances 20 and 29 for the team early in the second half.

Can't figure out what you meant in the last sentence and a half. Could you rephrase or explicate? Thanks.

[LA2]

His relay of Mancini's throw to cut down Torres at third was a low-flying rocket. Nice grab and tag by Nevin too.

[Just Regular]

4 hours ago, LA2 said:

Can't figure out what you meant in the last sentence and a half. Could you rephrase or explicate? Thanks.

Adley never hit as high as 2nd until after the All-Star break.    The team's 2nd batter takes Plate Appearance 20 for the team (Mullins usually 1, 10 and 19) third time through the order, and 29 the fourth.

Every game of the 162....one of the lineup spots bats last and the guy in the ondeck circle doesn't, so the higher you regularly hit, the more times up you get.    162 / 9 = 18, so each lineup spot tends to be worth about 18 plate appearances per season for regular players.

[seak05]

If Mateo hits .240 and plays premium defense, he's fine as a below avg 9th place batter. The trick right now for the Orioles is they have a lot of guys who are fine, but nobody who is elite. And if you don't have anyone who is elite...you need everyone to be avg

[sevastras]

1 hour ago, seak05 said:

If Mateo hits .240 and plays premium defense, he's fine as a below avg 9th place batter. The trick right now for the Orioles is they have a lot of guys who are fine, but nobody who is elite. And if you don't have anyone who is elite...you need everyone to be avg

If he somehow keeps up the .260 for the rest of the year, he could be the true SS they need until Holliday hopefully takes over. I’m happy for him right now. He is fun to watch. 

[waroriole]

1 hour ago, seak05 said:

If Mateo hits .240 and plays premium defense, he's fine as a below avg 9th place batter. The trick right now for the Orioles is they have a lot of guys who are fine, but nobody who is elite. And if you don't have anyone who is elite...you need everyone to be avg

Exactly. I was just saying yesterday we have a bunch of slightly above average players. I think Adley or Gunnar are capable of being elite hitters, but it all remains to be seen. 

[jrobb21613]

Is Mateo more valuable to trade right now or hold onto?

[Aglets]

34 minutes ago, jrobb21613 said:

Is Mateo more valuable to trade right now or hold onto?

Worth 2.0 WAR so far with about half a year left.  That is insanely good value for a pre-arb player.   We have control of him for 3 more years after this....all arbitration years.   Really hard to say what the answer to the question is though.

Then you have the TEAM LEADER in WAR is Urias at 2.6.  He isn't even arb eligible until 2024.   I think you have to see what you have with him for a little bit.   

Gonna be very interesting to see how Elias makes room for Westburg and Henderson and Vavra in the near future.   I guess Odor's spot is vulnerable at least.

[jrobb21613]

I would imagine with his athleticism, speed and arm he would play a pretty solid cf? Does anyone know if he's ever played there?

If the plan is to move Henderson to 3rd and Westberg to 2nd Mateo could then be the everyday ss at least until Holliday is closer, but if not it would be nice to have him as a utility guy. With his speed, defense and charisma he would be quite valuable.

[sportsfan8703]

I think we will see Mateo add the bunt over the offseason. Right now, it probably takes all his time just to work on regular hitting.