Roch: Gunnar and Hall heading to Cleveland to join taxi squad (Update: Gunnar added to 26-man roster on 8/31)

[jerios55]

3 minutes ago, dtk9119 said:

He should be in the line up tonight at 2B (or 3rd and move Urias to 2nd). Again, this move should have been made a week ago. But happy it's finally done.

They have waited a day for game 1s several debuts this year.   Hopefully the taxi squad move counted as day 1 and he plays tonight as you mentioned. 

[Orioles Jim]

 

“3B will be his primary position.”

I wonder if he’ll cut more into Urias or Odor’s playing time. I know what I’m hoping for, but I do wonder.

Hopefully this doesn’t mean that Vavra stays in the doghouse perpetually.

[e16bball]

26 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Or he could hit like Jim Traber, Chris Davis, Chito Martinez, Don Baylor, or David Newhan, all of whom OPS'd in the .900-1.000+ range in their first 30 MLB games.  Manny wasn't even hitting that well in AA, but had a .765 in 2012. Eddie had a .759 his first 30 games.  It's not terribly likely that the best player in the International League is going to hit like Odor for a month.

It’s not terribly likely, I’d agree.  

But Vavra had an .886 OPS at Norfolk and is sitting at a .644 OPS in the bigs. Stowers had an .884 OPS at Norfolk and is sitting at a .649 OPS in the bigs (and is one dropped foul pop away from being at .490). Even Adley posted a paltry .614 OPS in his first month. All those guys are several years older, with several more years of high level experience/instruction.

Gunnar has had consecutive months at Norfolk with approximately an .825 OPS. Still wonderful for a kid his age, but a little more “human” than his early AAA numbers. His K issues have been pretty pronounced, even at that level, over that span, with a 29.6% that feels like a big red flag (particularly given that it’s gotten worse in August, at over 30%). That’s substantially worse than Stowers’s K rate, and he’s been badly exposed so far at the MLB level. 

In all fairness, Gunnar is not like Stowers and Vavra, in the sense that he’s an elite prospect whose performance has always been prodigious for his age. Guys like that often seem to find a way to compete (and at times excel) immediately because their physical gifts and natural talents can carry them through. Perhaps the interminable wait for the inevitable call-up has affected him and now he can lock in.

I think we all believe that there’s a great chance Gunnar will eventually figure things out at the MLB level and be excellent, as he always has. And this period of time will almost certainly help him get there. But he’s got an awfully small window in which to make that jump to the highest level, and I think it’s very much on the table that this first month will be a major struggle as he tries to adjust to the MLB competition/environment.

[SteveA]

4 minutes ago, Orioles Jim said:

 

“3B will be his primary position.”

I wonder if he’ll cut more into Urias or Odor’s playing time. I know what I’m hoping for, but I do wonder.

Hopefully this doesn’t mean that Vavra stays in the doghouse perpetually.

It appears the only lefties we face in the next 12 games are Oakland rookie JP Sears Friday night, and Yusei Kikuchi in one of the games of the doubleheader Monday.

[Orioles Jim]

6 minutes ago, SteveA said:

It appears the only lefties we face in the next 12 games are Oakland rookie JP Sears Friday night, and Yusei Kikuchi in one of the games of the doubleheader Monday.

And figures, Friday night is the game I was gonna go to. 

[LA2]

16 minutes ago, jerios55 said:

They have waited a day for game 1s several debuts this year.   Hopefully the taxi squad move counted as day 1 and he plays tonight as you mentioned. 

Interesting idea.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Gunnar being informed that he's going to make his Orioles debut. 

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by OsFanSinceThe80s

[DrungoHazewood]

54 minutes ago, Orioles Jim said:

 

“3B will be his primary position.”

I wonder if he’ll cut more into Urias or Odor’s playing time. I know what I’m hoping for, but I do wonder.

Hopefully this doesn’t mean that Vavra stays in the doghouse perpetually.

"I'd expect him in the lineup most nights, with rest against tough lefties until he proves he can hit them."

I assume that's just a throw-away statement. Nobody hits tough lefties really well over a long period.  The assumption for everyone is that they have a 75 or 100 point split between L/R pitchers.  Sometimes they have a little bigger or smaller but that's almost always just random variation. If Henderson hits, which he will, he'll hit everyone and he'll play almost all the time. Elias knows all of this, Connolly's statement is just filler.

 

[Tony-OH]

12 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Gunnar being informed that's he's going to make his Orioles debut. 

 

That's awesome. 

I remember being in the clubhouse the day they told Willie Harris he was going to the big leagues. I had known Willie for years so I happened to be right outside the manager's door when he came out. He came out and gave me a big hug! lol I was so excited for him and he ended up having a nice long career in the big leagues. 

[eddie83]

52 minutes ago, SteveA said:

It appears the only lefties we face in the next 12 games are Oakland rookie JP Sears Friday night, and Yusei Kikuchi in one of the games of the doubleheader Monday.

If my memory is correct Sears beat us earlier in year 

[waroriole]

It’s awesome that Gunnar is up today, I just don’t understand why he didn’t come up yesterday. Baltimore and Norfolk had off days Monday. Very odd. 

[RVAOsFan]

11 minutes ago, waroriole said:

It’s awesome that Gunnar is up today, I just don’t understand why he didn’t come up yesterday. Baltimore and Norfolk had off days Monday. Very odd. 

The only logic is Elias wanted Gunnar to play in the absolute most minor league games he could and still be on the big club in time to be potentially eligible for the playoffs.  I don't understand this thought process but that is all I can come up with.

[maybenxtyr]

I love seeing the guys from Delmarva move up like this. I'm excited for him and the team.

[MCO'sFan]

3 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Or he could hit like Jim Traber, Chris Davis, Chito Martinez, Don Baylor, or David Newhan, all of whom OPS'd in the .900-1.000+ range in their first 30 MLB games.  Manny wasn't even hitting that well in AA, but had a .765 in 2012. Eddie had a .759 his first 30 games.  It's not terribly likely that the best player in the International League is going to hit like Odor for a month.

He certainly could and I hope he does but, my point was that it is not a certainty and actually is not likely. 

[Frobby]

47 minutes ago, MCO'sFan said:

He certainly could and I hope he does but, my point was that it is not a certainty and actually is not likely. 

It’s unpredictable.  However, I’ll bet Gunnar outhits Odor.   Not that Odor will sit all the time (he’s not sitting tonight), but I think Henderson will upgrade the offense over the remaining 34 games one way or another, even if he doesn’t set the world on fire.