Heston Kjerstad 2023

[Bemorewins]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I don't think Elias will trade for a TOR starter at the deadline.   He has Wells, Gibson, Kremer and Bradish.     GRod will improve his command at AAA and be back.   They may keep him down there to limit his innings so he is ready for the playoffs.   Means is due back in August.  And Hall is an unknown at this point but not forgotten at least by me.  I think Irvin  may be in the rotation until GRod and Means are ready.

What I think Elias will be looking for at the deadline in a veteran reliever or two.   And he will have young players to trade that don't fit in the O's future.  Stowers, Norby, Haskin  and Prieto to name a few.  The think Frazier could be traded.

Westburg looks like the O's second baseman of the future to me.   And Kerstad is the RF/1B/DH that hits the heck out of the ball.

We’ve been over this ground before, you and I. So, I don’t think it’s necessary to offer any rebuttals.

We simply see the game MUCH DIFFERENT from one another and you are much more optimistic about some players that wear orange and black than I.

I have a question for you though, how much do you follow/keep track of other teams and their rosters? The reason that I ask is because from those pitchers that you listed (in whatever order you want to put them) of which would you take over the rotations of the Twins, Yankees, Rangers, Astros, or Rays?

Certainly being aware that we need to beat 3 of those teams to get to the World Series, do you think it is a reasonable plan for success to go into 3 consecutive series being undermanned/outgunned in the rotation?

Do you just not value starting pitching that much in terms of a major factor for postseason success? 

I know you are VERY optimistic and seem to see things from a very orange and black perspective, but do my questions at least sound logical to you?

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Bemorewins said:

We’ve been over this ground before, you and I. So, I don’t think it’s necessary to offer any rebuttals.

We simply see the game MUCH DIFFERENT from one another and you are much more optimistic about some players that wear orange and black than I.

I have a question for you though, how much do you follow/keep track of other teams and their rosters? The reason that I ask is because from those pitchers that you listed (in whatever order you want to put them) of which would you take over the rotations of the Twins, Yankees, Rangers, Astros, or Rays?

Certainly being aware that we need to beat 3 of those teams to get to the World Series, do you think it is a reasonable plan for success to go into 3 consecutive series being undermanned/outgunned in the rotation?

Do you just not value starting pitching that much in terms of a major factor for postseason success? 

I know you are VERY optimistic and seem to see things from a very orange and black perspective, but do my questions at least sound logical to you?

I think the rotation will do find versus contending team.  It has so far.   I think other then Gibson the O's rotation is inexperienced not untalented.   All pitchers are inexperience before they actually do it on the field.  

For every  Cobb that the team does not hit there is a Bieber that they hit well against.

Edited June 5, 2023 by wildcard

[Bemorewins]

5 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I think the rotation will do find versus contending team.  It has so far.   I think other then Gibson the O's rotation is inexperienced not untalented.   All pitchers are inexperience before they actually do it on the field.  

For every  Cobb that the team does not hit there is a Bieber that they hit well against.

Every time I ask the same question you seem to ignore it and not answer it, so let me state it as plainly as I know how.

Of MIN, TEX, NY, HOU, TB; which team would you prefer the O's rotation to theirs? Which of those teams would be willing to trade their best 3/4 starters for ours (the players that can be pencilled in to start a playoff series)?

Do you follow/keep track of those teams and who they have or just the O's?

[deward]

1 hour ago, Bemorewins said:

Ok this is where we have a point of departure. I have seen absolutely no indication that John Angelo’s is interested in the Orioles winning let alone spending real money to keep/sign an impact starting pitcher. I will have to believe that when I see it.

Eh, if Angelos decides he doesn't want to spend at all, then this is all probably futile. That said, it would still leave open the possibility of trading for a hired gun for a pennant drive, similar to the Dodgers picking up Manny without giving up any of their top 10 prospects.

[Bemorewins]

3 minutes ago, deward said:

Eh, if Angelos decides he doesn't want to spend at all, then this is all probably futile. That said, it would still leave open the possibility of trading for a hired gun for a pennant drive, similar to the Dodgers picking up Manny without giving up any of their top 10 prospects.

We can do that. But we will still have the same problem next year.

[baltfan]

2 hours ago, Bemorewins said:

We’ve been over this ground before, you and I. So, I don’t think it’s necessary to offer any rebuttals.

We simply see the game MUCH DIFFERENT from one another and you are much more optimistic about some players that wear orange and black than I.

I have a question for you though, how much do you follow/keep track of other teams and their rosters? The reason that I ask is because from those pitchers that you listed (in whatever order you want to put them) of which would you take over the rotations of the Twins, Yankees, Rangers, Astros, or Rays?

Certainly being aware that we need to beat 3 of those teams to get to the World Series, do you think it is a reasonable plan for success to go into 3 consecutive series being undermanned/outgunned in the rotation?

Do you just not value starting pitching that much in terms of a major factor for postseason success? 

I know you are VERY optimistic and seem to see things from a very orange and black perspective, but do my questions at least sound logical to you?

This is a fair thing to say, except it is almost never the case that the team with the best starters wins.  I could easily see a scenario where they instead look for another  elite level reliever and go with the starters that they have.   It worked when they picked up Andrew Miller.  The Orioles beat Scherzer, Verlander, and Price in the playoffs.

The starters have actually held their own against the very best teams in the majors.  The issue has been more with the offense.  

Edited June 5, 2023 by baltfan

[geschinger]

34 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Every time I ask the same question you seem to ignore it and not answer it, so let me state it as plainly as I know how.

Of MIN, TEX, NY, HOU, TB; which team would you prefer the O's rotation to theirs? Which of those teams would be willing to trade their best 3/4 starters for ours (the players that can be pencilled in to start a playoff series)?

Do you follow/keep track of those teams and who they have or just the O's?

How much does it actually matter?  In the playoffs, how often does the team with the best rotation on paper actually win the series?  

 

[Bemorewins]

Just now, geschinger said:

How much does it actually matter?  In the playoffs, how often does the team with the best rotation on paper actually win the series?  

 

Are you actually making the point (I don't think you are) that starting pitching is irrelevant in the post season? Or that we should be okay with the worse rotation (by a good amount) entering into the AL postseason because "how much does it actually matter"?

[deward]

29 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

We can do that. But we will still have the same problem next year.

There's probably enough excess depth to pull off at least two of those moves. That might be enough to bring home at least one trophy, in a scenario where they just refuse to increase payroll from here. Can't hope for better in that case.

[geschinger]

Just now, Bemorewins said:

Are you actually making the point (I don't think you are) that starting pitching is irrelevant in the post season? Or that we should be okay with the worse rotation (by a good amount) entering into the AL postseason because "how much does it actually matter"?

Irrelevant, obviously, no.  But if the O's make the playoffs, I'm not writing them off because their rotation on paper is worse than the team they are playing.  

Do I think the O's need more talent in the rotation?  Yes. 
Do I think it's a prerequisite for them to have a chance this year if they make the playoffs?  No

[btdart20]

And now back to Heston Kjerstad discussion…

15% K% is the big factor for him. .324 Babip isn’t wonky.  

Anyone have breaking ball data on him?  How has he done against top prospects or guys on rehab?

[deward]

6 hours ago, glenn__davis said:

Clearly was hyperbole to point out that that lineup might be a bit vulnerable to LHP.  Which it would be.

Maybe not. Gunnar has struggled against lefties so far, but Holliday and Kjerstad have both hit them very well to this point. We know Mullins struggled against them last year, but not so much in 2021 or this year. Cowser is a question mark, but he's hitting .320 against LHP this year (in a small sample). And Adley has been a better RH hitter than LH, historically speaking (last year excepted). Add in a Mayo or a Westburg and it's a line-up that should play against LHP. 

[Bemorewins]

5 hours ago, baltfan said:

This is a fair thing to say, except it is almost never the case that the team with the best starters wins.  I could easily see a scenario where they instead look for another  elite level reliever and go with the starters that they have.   It worked when they picked up Andrew Miller.  The Orioles beat Scherzer, Verlander, and Price in the playoffs.

The starters have actually held their own against the very best teams in the majors.  The issue has been more with the offense.  

That was one series almost TEN YEARS ago. Please go back and look at let’s say the last 7 World Series winners. If those, did ANY have a shaky rotation? Or heck did any of them have a rotation that looks anything like ours?

I hope your point isn’t that because we won a total of ONE series against one team that we were  outgunned in the rotation that one time; then that is a repeatable/sustainable model to chase? If we are being honest about it, the 2014 Orioles starting rotation was way better than this year’s version. I would argue that Tillman and Chen are much better than anything that we have now.

[Big Mac]

Wish we could stop derailing every single thread about how we need more starting pitching in order to compete in the playoffs.  I know the argument verbatim because I've read it from one poster in probably 100 threads at this point. 

 

[sevastras]

28 minutes ago, Big Mac said:

Wish we could stop derailing every single thread about how we need more starting pitching in order to compete in the playoffs.  I know the argument verbatim because I've read it from one poster in probably 100 threads at this point. 

 

Yeah, but Frazier.