Do the Orioles need to 'develop' a FIRST BASEMAN in the minors?

[CHIP]

Looking at AAA Norfolk there is no 'true' 1st Baseman position player on the roster.  They will play 1 of their four (yes 4) catchers to get them AB's while another catches and another DH's.  But the DH spots have gone down since promotion of Henderson and Westburg and the return of Vavra.  SO... no 1st baseman by definition.

Looking at AA Bowie, we have Daschbach & Mundy.  Daschbach is striking out at a 37% rate but has increased his walk rate to 13%.  Mundy has a 27% K rate and 7% walk rate.  Ultimately, right now, Daschbach has a OPS of 0.685 and Mundy is at 0.677.  Are these good enough for 1st baseman?  Mundy had a 2 day surge to really help his numbers.  THE FACT IS, in my opinion of FACT anyway...  Mundy has no position!   if anyone actually watches the games, he is a liability at 1B and he isn't good enough to be a pure DH.  Daschbach is a high level 1B defender and can play LF on occasion.  I think it is time to cut MUNDY LOOSE.  We need a spot to put Welk when he returns from the IL.  In the mean time, Handley and Roberts could be getting Mundy's AB's.  Handley more C time and Roberts gets more time in OF and 1B.  

Looking at A+ Aberdeen (I don't watch the games because I can only handle so much 'sounds of the game background noise') we have Bowens & Teter respectively.  Bowens has improved is OBP by doubling his walk rate.  His SLG numbers down.  But he is still sitting at 0.815 OPS.  Teter has a higher AVG ad SLG but a bit lower OPS.  I don't know how the play defense.  But their numbers seem okay for getting game AB's.

Ultimately, isn't 1B in MLB for a strong bat with the ability to NOT BE A LIABILITY defensively?  I just don't know if we have those bats in the middle minors to justify taking AB's from infielders/outfielders/catchers that could be using those AB's.

[Aglets]

No.  Since we have Mountcastle.   Good question though.  

[waroriole]

No. 1B is where you put guys who couldn’t play elsewhere. See Mountcastle. 

[Just Regular]

Despite Ron Washington assuring Chris Pratt it's incredibly hard, one of the things I feel about 1B defensive excellence is that like many other things if you do the 10000 hours of practice you can get really good at it, but unless you hit like Ryan Mountcastle a Club probably isn't going to waste its/your time growing that skill.    Unlike other baseball skills, you can probably grow it at an advanced age ala Hatteberg too.

Up the middle positions are where even the 10000 hours of practice might not be enough to get you competent without some other baseball blessings.

There might be 30 Ozzie Smiths of 1B on campuses who could outfield Eddie Murray but they can't hit so who cares.

 

[RZNJ]

I believe Stowers played some 1B in college and was considered good there so I think he might be an option depending on the rest of the team configuration.   I'm actually a little surprised with all of the positional flexibility in the minors that he hasn't seen some time at 1B.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

I think Ryan Ripken might still be a free agent…

[SteveA]

3 hours ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

I think Ryan Ripken might still be a free agent…

Apparently Ryan just announced his retirement from baseball today on Instagram.

[JustLearning]

On 7/12/2022 at 1:50 PM, CHIP said:

Looking at AAA Norfolk there is no 'true' 1st Baseman position player on the roster.  They will play 1 of their four (yes 4) catchers to get them AB's while another catches and another DH's.  But the DH spots have gone down since promotion of Henderson and Westburg and the return of Vavra.  SO... no 1st baseman by definition.

Looking at AA Bowie, we have Daschbach & Mundy.  Daschbach is striking out at a 37% rate but has increased his walk rate to 13%.  Mundy has a 27% K rate and 7% walk rate.  Ultimately, right now, Daschbach has a OPS of 0.685 and Mundy is at 0.677.  Are these good enough for 1st baseman?  Mundy had a 2 day surge to really help his numbers.  THE FACT IS, in my opinion of FACT anyway...  Mundy has no position!   if anyone actually watches the games, he is a liability at 1B and he isn't good enough to be a pure DH.  Daschbach is a high level 1B defender and can play LF on occasion.  I think it is time to cut MUNDY LOOSE.  We need a spot to put Welk when he returns from the IL.  In the mean time, Handley and Roberts could be getting Mundy's AB's.  Handley more C time and Roberts gets more time in OF and 1B.  

Looking at A+ Aberdeen (I don't watch the games because I can only handle so much 'sounds of the game background noise') we have Bowens & Teter respectively.  Bowens has improved is OBP by doubling his walk rate.  His SLG numbers down.  But he is still sitting at 0.815 OPS.  Teter has a higher AVG ad SLG but a bit lower OPS.  I don't know how the play defense.  But their numbers seem okay for getting game AB's.

Ultimately, isn't 1B in MLB for a strong bat with the ability to NOT BE A LIABILITY defensively?  I just don't know if we have those bats in the middle minors to justify taking AB's from infielders/outfielders/catchers that could be using those AB's.

I think they tried Welk at 1B when he was in Aberdeen. They made Welk an outfielder in Bowie but in my humble opinion, the Orioles system has a crowded outfield -- 3 MLB guys, Stowers, Diaz, Neustrom, Cowser, Kjerstad, Rhodes, etc. They even have Vavra playing the outfield frequently, not to mention Adam Hall.  I think some of these guys would have a better shot making it to the Show, if they were traded. 

[Chaka Garcia]

It’s probably Coby Mayo (if he progresses) if Henderson or Westburg own 3rd base. Adley would backup on his rest days from catching. 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chaka Garcia

[OriolesMagic83]

I would think a lot of defensively challenged corner outfielders make decent 1B.  Of course some of them will be lost there.  I don't see the need to specifically draft 1B guys with Mountcastle there.

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

I would think a lot of defensively challenged corner outfielders make decent 1B.  Of course some of them will be lost there.  I don't see the need to specifically draft 1B guys with Mountcastle there.

I don't see a need to specifically draft a 1B guy unless a special bat falls in your lap.

 

[Aristotelian]

Mayo if he is not needed at 3B.

[RZNJ]

I mentioned Stowers but why not Vavra as well for 1B consideration?

He's more of the Keith Hernandez type offensively if not a big bopper.  2B and CF may be tough to crack.  I could see the Orioles moving Mountcastle in a deal.

[Ridgway22]

On 7/12/2022 at 12:52 PM, Just Regular said:

Despite Ron Washington assuring Chris Pratt it's incredibly hard, one of the things I feel about 1B defensive excellence is that like many other things if you do the 10000 hours of practice you can get really good at it, but unless you hit like Ryan Mountcastle a Club probably isn't going to waste its/your time growing that skill.    Unlike other baseball skills, you can probably grow it at an advanced age ala Hatteberg too.

Up the middle positions are where even the 10000 hours of practice might not be enough to get you competent without some other baseball blessings.

There might be 30 Ozzie Smiths of 1B on campuses who could outfield Eddie Murray but they can't hit so who cares.

 

One of my favorite scenes in baseball movie history, nicely done.

[Jammer7]

12 hours ago, Chaka Garcia said:

It’s probably Coby Mayo (if he progresses) if Henderson or Westburg own 3rd base. Adley would backup on his rest days from catching. 

You may be correct, but I hope not. I don’t have a lot of confidence he’ll remain at 3B, but I would hope he would be sent to a corner OF first. His arm is a weapon. He may end up at 1B, eventually.