Ryan McKenna as a 4th Outfielder

[Bahama O's Fan]

I would be okay with more Ryan and less Odor and Nevin. Have him play OF and put Santandar at DH with Vavra at 2B. 

[emmett16]

From Matt Kremnitzer 

“Despite about 300 fewer plate appearances, Ryan McKenna is now tied with Austin Hays in fWAR (1.3). They're tied for 6th among O's position players”

 

Fairly eye opening stat/observation.  Have to admit I’ve been bearish on his swing and ability to hit velocity.  Wonder if he has another gear. 

 

[interloper]

Pretty damning stat for Hays.

[Sports Guy]

54 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

From Matt Kremnitzer 

“Despite about 300 fewer plate appearances, Ryan McKenna is now tied with Austin Hays in fWAR (1.3). They're tied for 6th among O's position players”

 

Fairly eye opening stat/observation.  Have to admit I’ve been bearish on his swing and ability to hit velocity.  Wonder if he has another gear. 

 

I pointed it out last week but in limited innings, OAA likes his defense.  That is helping here.

For me, McKenna is your 5th OFer and a Hays is your 4th OFer.

Hays is hurt and has been hurt for a while now.  Between the wrist, his oblique and whatever else is going on, Hays is beat up and I believe it’s effecting his performance.

Now, with that said, he is also a limited player and should not be playing everyday.  Hays and McKenna playing all over the OF (Hays can DH some as well) and each playing 2-5 times a week(Hays more than McKenna) works well imo.

Cowser and Stowers should be in the OF next year but while we can feel good about Cowser, I still think there are enough questions about Stowers that say you go into the season with him as a platoon type option and see how he does.

There is plenty of playing time for those 4 and whatever CFer you have. 
 

I will reiterate that I think we should be trading Santander and Mullins, get those guys up here (if you want to wait on Cowser for a month or so, they can fill in for him) and get a CFer, like Keirmeier (an example of someone available via FA) and roll with that.

Another option could be keeping Santander and moving Hays.  I’m not that opposed to that but I think Santander gets us more in trade and Hays has more OF versatility.  But McKenna has that too, so they could be a little redundant, so if you want to keep Santander, I can see that.  But I think if you keep him, he becomes more of your everyday DH and plays the OF some.  
 

Now, the other thing with Santander is if he can learn to play a decent enough first base, that opens up some other doors for him as well, especially since Mountcastle isn’t exactly showing he deserves 600+ at bats a year either.

Basically, I’m all in on trading at least 2 of Hays, Santander, Mountcastle and Mullins.  I think Mullins is a big piece to move for a starting pitcher, so he goes.

If Santander keeps this up, he should have good value in the offseason and since he is more expensive, he’s the guy I move.

I don’t see a ton of value there for Hays and Mountcastle unless they are the second piece in a deal for a starter.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Sports Guy

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, interloper said:

Pretty damning stat for Hays.

Not really.  Hays has been hurt for a while and McKenna is played when the matchup works for him.  He would be exposed playing everyday.

But McKenna as a role player and as a piece off the bench has good value while he costs nothing.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, interloper said:

Pretty damning stat for Hays.

Depends how much you like fWAR.  rWAR has Hays at 2.0 rWAR, tied for 4th on the team, while McKenna is at 0.7.   Still, there’s no question that Hays has been slumping for more than a month.  

[Aristotelian]

McKenna is really making himself interesting, just as Hays and Mullins are both struggling.  Maybe there was really something there to that 1.100 OPS at Norfolk last year. Similar to Mateo and Urias, he is showing himself as having potential starter value despite a utility profile. Another great problem to have. 

I don't have any conviction about who to keep versus who to trade of McKenna, Santander, Hays, and Mullins. Santander seems to have the most consistency but the lowest ceiling, Hays and Mullins have the highest upside but are definitely capable of negative value for extended periods. I was in favor of trading Hays but now I'm not sure we would get value for him. 

[sportsfan8703]

McKenna and Mateo went from having solid years defensively and on the bases, to now having solid years all around. 
 

The fact that McKenna has a .700 OPS is amazing. 

[interloper]

I really have not been a fan of McKenna at the major league level, but if he can be the Danny Valencia of speedy 4th outfielders, then that's pretty huge. It really helps mitigate Mullins' struggles against lefties, kudos to Hyde for recognizing a solution here. 

That said, maybe Ced at DH last night instead of Nevin? Struggling or no, I'd take Ced's speed and eye in the lineup over Nevin.

Edited August 16, 2022 by interloper

[DrungoHazewood]

11 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Yeah, a lot of posters refer to him as a 5th OF.  Like any MLB team can carry a 5th OF anymore.  McKenna is a good 4th OF.  Without looking at the stats, I would bet he is a better hitter than several CF w/ starting jobs.

26 man roster now.  A limit of 13 pitchers on the roster.  So 13 non-pitchers. Nine starters. One is the backup catcher.  One is a utility infielder. Usually one is a 4th outfielder. One discretionary spot left. Could be a platoon offense-first guy. Could be another infielder.  5th outfielder who compliments the other four's skills wouldn't be weird.

Right now the O's have both McKenna and Phillips even though Santander is really the only defensively-challenged starting OF.

[RZNJ]

As I've said before, when McKenna doesn't try to pull the ball his swing is much better and he's got a pretty good swing plane.   When he tries to pull, he's got a huge hole in his swing.    Still kind of funny that pitchers don't just attack him with fastballs up but he's been doing a pretty good job lately.

[interloper]

18 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

As I've said before, when McKenna doesn't try to pull the ball his swing is much better and he's got a pretty good swing plane.   When he tries to pull, he's got a huge hole in his swing.    Still kind of funny that pitchers don't just attack him with fastballs up but he's been doing a pretty good job lately.

It's wild that Kukuchi threw him that slider, but we'll take it!

[Aristotelian]

22 minutes ago, interloper said:

I really have not been a fan of McKenna at the major league level, but if he can be a sort of the Danny Valencia of speedy 4th outfielders, then that's pretty huge. It really helps mitigate Mullins' struggles against lefties, kudos to Hyde for recognizing a solution here. 

 

That's a pretty backhanded compliment. I think McKenna's level of plus defense at an up the middle position already establishes a higher baseline value than Valencia's ceiling. If McKenna can hit like Valencia he could be more than a utility role player although it is way too early to predict he is really a 105 OPS+ hitter. 

[forphase1]

I've been down on McKenna in the past, but also can recognize he's playing much better right now.  I'm not 100% sure he can sustain it, but if he can then he's a valuable piece moving forward.  Similar to Mateo in my opinion, earlier their bats were so poor that even though they were great in the field and on the basepaths, the bats just made them role players at best.  But if these recent changes for them are long term, then we've got some very interesting decisions to make as a franchise.

[Natty]

McKenna is now batting 271 320  398 719 

Lets get him lots of AB and see what he can do.