Don't bet against "Mr Everywhere"

[ChuckS]

47 minutes ago, owknows said:

I think he's a 3-4-5 hitter too.

As do several writers.

Maybe let's see if he can hit at the major league level first, before calling him a 3-4-5 hitter. 

He's not Gunnar Henderson.  He's not Adley Rutschman.  Again, he's a borderline top 100 prospect so I'm not sure why anyone would treat him as a can't miss guy.  

Edited January 30, 2023 by ChuckS

[Aristotelian]

38 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I bet there are 6  teams that would trade for Westburg right now and play him at 2B/3B/DH almost everyday.

Do any of them have surplus pitching assets?

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, ChuckS said:

Maybe let's see if he can hit at the major league level first, before calling him a 3-4-5 hitter. 

He's not Gunnar Henderson.  He's not Adley Rutschman.  Again, he's a borderline top 100 prospect so I'm not sure why anyone would treat him as a can't miss guy.  

Adley is a #2 hitter.  Is that not MOO?

[ChuckS]

6 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Adley is a #2 hitter.  Is that not MOO?

MOO implies impact power bat.  I don't care where someone hits in the order.  It's all relative to the other talent on the team. 

Adley is a MOO type bat.  Yes.  

Do I think any other major league team would trade for Westburg with the expectation that he is going to be an impact power bat in the middle of the lineup.  No. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by ChuckS

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Adley is a #2 hitter.  Is that not MOO?

Do the math.

[owknows]

1 hour ago, ChuckS said:

Maybe let's see if he can hit at the major league level first, before calling him a 3-4-5 hitter. 

He's not Gunnar Henderson.  He's not Adley Rutschman.  Again, he's a borderline top 100 prospect so I'm not sure why anyone would treat him as a can't miss guy.  

I'm not sure Gunnar Henderson is Gunnar Henderson yet.

But given that the point of discussing the potential of players is to predict their future performance... it would seem only reasonable to me that we predict what we believe their future performance will be.

This seems to trouble you.

But some of us do it without a net, or spotters, or anything.

[ChuckS]

21 hours ago, owknows said:

I'm not sure Gunnar Henderson is Gunnar Henderson yet.

But given that the point of discussing the potential of players is to predict their future performance... it would seem only reasonable to me that we predict what we believe their future performance will be.

This seems to trouble you.

But some of us do it without a net, or spotters, or anything.

There is nothing wrong with having that belief and it's not out of the realm of possibility.  I just don't believe it's a reasonable expectation based on his national standing or minor league track record.  I see a low average hitter with moderate power and a decent walk rate as being more reasonable.  

By the way, if there was any other team out there who thought he was a MOO type bat in a Major League offense we would have already traded him for a decent starting pitcher.  Considering we added Frazier in the offseason, it appears the O's don't even view him as an obvious starter right now. 

Edited January 31, 2023 by ChuckS

[AnythingO's]

1 hour ago, ChuckS said:

 Considering we added Frazier in the offseason, it appears the O's don't even view him as an obvious starter right now. 

This!! Westburg isn't pushing Mateo, Ortiz, Gunnar off SS, especially with Jackson in the picture. He isn't pushing Gunnar off 3B and probably not Urias either. So that leaves 2B and they brought in Frazier. If Mateo hits enough to stay at SS then Ortiz is ahead of Westburg at 2B as well. Either they don't see Westburg there defensively or they don't think he is fully baked yet. What they do with Westburg and Norby this year position wise should be interesting.

[RZNJ]

1 minute ago, AnythingO's said:

This!! Westburg isn't pushing Mateo, Ortiz, Gunnar off SS, especially with Jackson in the picture. He isn't pushing Gunnar off 3B and probably not Urias either. So that leaves 2B and they brought in Frazier. If Mateo hits enough to stay at SS then Ortiz is ahead of Westburg at 2B as well. Either they don't see Westburg there defensively or they don't think he is fully baked yet. What they do with Westburg and Norby this year position wise should be interesting.

This year  Mateo will get a chance to see if he can become a hitter.    Gunnar gets time at 3B and SS.   The less Mateo hits, the more time Gunnar gets at SS.   The more Mateo hits, the less time Gunnar gets at SS.    Whether Mateo hits or doesn't hit, he's gone either mid season or at the end of the year.   Frazier is gone mid season or end of the year.    Eventual plan is for Westburg at 3B, Gunnar at SS, and Ortiz at 2B.    If the Orioles are not in the playoff hunt you could see this as soon as mid season this year.

I suspect Norby will continue to get reps at 2B at Norfolk.    The more reps he gets at 2B, the more likely he is to be traded because I don't think the O's see him as their 2B of the future.   If they really see him as a future part, you'll see a position change.  LF?  1B?

This is all courtesy of my crystal ball which does malfunction from time to time.

[NCRaven]

20 hours ago, owknows said:

I'm not sure Gunnar Henderson is Gunnar Henderson yet.

I saw his birth certificate.  He really is Gunnar Henderson.

[Frobby]

19 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

 Eventual plan is for Westburg at 3B, Gunnar at SS, and Ortiz at 2B.    If the Orioles are not in the playoff hunt you could see this as soon as mid season this year.

If it’s those three players, I think the best defensive alignment is Westburg at 2B, Ortiz at SS, Gunnar at 3B.

[RZNJ]

20 minutes ago, Frobby said:

If it’s those three players, I think the best defensive alignment is Westburg at 2B, Ortiz at SS, Gunnar at 3B.

You could make a case for that.  I'm just guessing at what they actually do.

[owknows]

42 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

I saw his birth certificate.  He really is Gunnar Henderson.

Bah.  I won't believe it til he hits for 3 years in the majors.

[wildcard]

Elias just said that he thinks the place for Westburg to play is all over the field. (paraphrased)

[Just Regular]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

Elias just said that he thinks the place for Westburg to play is all over the field. (paraphrased)

I noticed that too.    He said the OF introduction was to get him more at-bats when he comes up, so your Mr. Everywhere OP looking good.

Now, we'll see if he can emulate Zobrist being good everywhere.

Vavra redeeemed himself next time through order but that meek groundball for the 1-2-3 double play had me momentarily at Bemboom levels of frustration about a player getting reps for the MLB club.