Vespi plans to be ready by Opening Day

[wildcard]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Fits in the category of “I’ll worry about it when it happens.”   There’s so many permutations of health and performance by the various potential starters that it’s not possible to answer this question right now.  

If the OH is going to discuss Vespi and Hernandez to the pen I think they have to consider Hall also.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

If the OH is going to discuss Vespi and Hernandez to the pen I think they have to consider Hall also.

Listening to Elias, it sounds to me like he’d prefer Hall being a starter in AAA to begin the year if he doesn’t win a job in the big league rotation.   Circumstances could change that, but that seems to be the default position.  

[wildcard]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Listening to Elias, it sounds to me like he’d prefer Hall being a starter in AAA to begin the year if he doesn’t win a job in the big league rotation.   Circumstances could change that, but that seems to be the default position.  

I agree.  That is why I said Hall is light out for 4 to 6 weeks at AAA.  Then is there room for him in the rotation?  Maybe not.  Is not he probably goes to the O's pen.

[Frobby]

9 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I agree.  That is why I said Hall is light out for 4 to 6 weeks at AAA.  Then is there room for him in the rotation?  Maybe not.  Is not he probably goes to the O's pen.

Like I said, it depends on too many other factors.   Let’s say the five spots go to Gibson, Irvin, GRod, Kremer and Bradish.  Are they all healthy?   Are they all pitching well?  What’s up with Wells and Voth?   And just how “lights out” is Hall?   Let’s say for sake of argument he’s got an ERA under 2.00 and has a k/9 of 13, while Bradish’s ERA is over 5 and he’s walking a lot of guys.   In that case, Halk’s probably replacing Bradish.  But let’s say Hall’s in the low 3’s and the worst Orioles starter is in the low 4’s.   In that case my guess is that nothing changes.   And honestly, it could depend who the worst starter is.   A guy like Gibson will get a longer leash than Bradish or Kremer.  

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Like I said, it depends on too many other factors.   Let’s say the five spots go to Gibson, Irvin, GRod, Kremer and Bradish.  Are they all healthy?   Are they all pitching well?  What’s up with Wells and Voth?   And just how “lights out” is Hall?   Let’s say for sake of argument he’s got an ERA under 2.00 and has a k/9 of 13, while Bradish’s ERA is over 5 and he’s walking a lot of guys.   In that case, Halk’s probably replacing Bradish.  But let’s say Hall’s in the low 3’s and the worst Orioles starter is in the low 4’s.   In that case my guess is that nothing changes.   And honestly, it could depend who the worst starter is.   A guy like Gibson will get a longer leash than Bradish or Kremer.  

Hall has clearly better stuff than four of those five.

Maybe all five.

First thing they need to work on with Hall is fixing his tipping pitches.

[btdart20]

3 hours ago, wildcard said:

So Hall goes to AAA and is lights out for 4 to 6 weeks.   Then is there room in the rotation for him or does he go to the pen?

If he’s lights out as a SP in AAA, then he’s next man up when there’s a rotation need.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

If he’s lights out as a SP in AAA, then he’s next man up when there’s a rotation need.

If he's lights out in SP he should be in the rotation.

The issues he has can be fixed in the offseason.

[Pickles]

6 hours ago, RZNJ said:

I can only go with what I have now.  They don't pay me to predict the unpredictable.   Under you're rules we can't guess on the starting lineup, rotation, or bullpen because something might happen.

Well, I wouldn't say I have rules.  I guess I'm just saying injuries imo are more predictable than unpredictable.

[btdart20]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

If he's lights out in SP he should be in the rotation.

The issues he has can be fixed in the offseason.

Fine by me.

[orioles22]

I usually disagree when someone says a player has "nothing left to prove in the minors," but he didn't give up an earned run. I guess he could pitch more innings there and do it again, but I'd expect him to be the third lefty in the Orioles bullpen.

[wildcard]

7 hours ago, orioles22 said:

I usually disagree when someone says a player has "nothing left to prove in the minors," but he didn't give up an earned run. I guess he could pitch more innings there and do it again, but I'd expect him to be the third lefty in the Orioles bullpen.

The reason Vespi probably begins the season in AAA is because the O's have 13 pitchers that are better than him.   He has earned a spot on the 40 man roster and he has 2 options left.   So he can go to AAA and wait for the next time the O's have a  need for him.  That how he gets  another chance.

[CaptainRedbeard]

18 hours ago, RZNJ said:

No 3rd lefty.  Bullpen is set, pending a ST trade.

Bautista

Tate

Baker

Wells

Perez

Givens

Akin

Voth

I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that Wells is in the bullpen to start the season. I think there’s a good chance they will want him stretched out as SP depth, and he showed decent potential as a SP last year so they probably don’t want to close the door on that just yet. Sending him down to AAA for a few weeks will also buy back a year of control. I think it’s more likely that we see Politi make the team out of spring training, although if Politi doesn’t look worth keeping that could open the door for Wells/Vespi/Khrebiel. 

[sportsfan8703]

On 2/5/2023 at 1:34 PM, RZNJ said:

No 3rd lefty.  Bullpen is set, pending a ST trade.

Bautista

Tate

Baker

Wells

Perez

Givens

Akin

Voth

Politi could be in the mix. He’s stuck around this long. We have good depth behind the top 8. Khreibel, Vespi, and Darwinzon. Baumann and Zimmerman if we need a long man to eat innings. I think we keep Watkins and Hall, on a SP routine in AAA, and don’t bounce them around. 
 

Keep in mind that nobody saw the Sulser/Scott trade last year. That was special because the Marlins parted with a comp pick and we weren’t “trying” to make the playoffs. 
 

 

[jamalshw]

On 2/6/2023 at 7:39 AM, CaptainRedbeard said:

I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that Wells is in the bullpen to start the season. I think there’s a good chance they will want him stretched out as SP depth, and he showed decent potential as a SP last year so they probably don’t want to close the door on that just yet. Sending him down to AAA for a few weeks will also buy back a year of control. I think it’s more likely that we see Politi make the team out of spring training, although if Politi doesn’t look worth keeping that could open the door for Wells/Vespi/Khrebiel. 

This is an interesting idea. I don't think they send him down unless he doesn't look good in the spring, but given he has options, it's a possibility. It's also possible he could be used as a guy they send down later in the year when they need the fresh arm. I assume Politi doesn't make the team unless he surprises, but that could happen. 

I do think they'll stretch out both Voth and Wells in spring and we will see if all 5 projected starters get through March healthy, but assuming they do, I could see Wells piggybacking Rodriguez for at least the first couple starts. I imagine they'll stretch him out very slowly. We may see 4ish innings from each of Rodriguez and Well the first few times through the order. That would allow Wells to stay mostly stretched for a few more weeks and save Rodriguez a few innings. 

[wildcard]

4 hours ago, jamalshw said:

This is an interesting idea. I don't think they send him down unless he doesn't look good in the spring, but given he has options, it's a possibility. It's also possible he could be used as a guy they send down later in the year when they need the fresh arm. I assume Politi doesn't make the team unless he surprises, but that could happen. 

I do think they'll stretch out both Voth and Wells in spring and we will see if all 5 projected starters get through March healthy, but assuming they do, I could see Wells piggybacking Rodriguez for at least the first couple starts. I imagine they'll stretch him out very slowly. We may see 4ish innings from each of Rodriguez and Well the first few times through the order. That would allow Wells to stay mostly stretched for a few more weeks and save Rodriguez a few innings. 

GRod has 6 weeks to get to 5 innings.  If he does not have an injury he should have not problem doing that.

Edited February 10, 2023 by wildcard