Connor Norby 2023

[emmett16]

9 hours ago, seak05 said:

I feel bad for someone like Norby. On another team he probably has a shot at a call up right now, and definitely a shot at the roster next season. For the orioles he’s barely in the discussion.
 

Playing careers don’t last forever, it feels like there should be a better way for minor leaguers to be able to move rather than being help as depth at triple A

There is away for minor leaguers to be moved and not be stuck in an org., it's the rule 5 draft.

 

Do you think it would be beneficial for him to come up and flounder in MLB?  Or beneficial to continuing improving his craft.  He hasn't exactly knocked it out of the park this year.  If the O's thought he was MLB ready, he'd be up.  Cowser and Westburg both has struggled a bit in MLB and had far superior AAA numbers and are also far superior defenders.  The O's wouldn't be doing him any favors by exposing him to MLB just yet.  I'd like to see what one more yera of development looks like.  He's only 23, if he makes it up next year, starts his clock, and becoming a contributing MLBer he could be FA by 30.  Not the end of the world. 

[LookinUp]

I have no problem with the fact he's been in the minors this full year and likely will next year unless he's moved. He's good enough to be in the majors now, but not in this org. So hopefully he can be determined to be the best he can be and force his way up sometime next year.

The math just sucks for him. He's not the next man up and he's not the one after that. Those spots are for Ortiz and Holliday.

Now I could see the 2024 Orioles jettison Frazier, Mateo and Urias, in which case Norby, Holliday and Ortiz could all have spots on the ML roster, but that seems very unlikely. 

 

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

There is away for minor leaguers to be moved and not be stuck in an org., it's the rule 5 draft.

 

Do you think it would be beneficial for him to come up and flounder in MLB?  Or beneficial to continuing improving his craft.  He hasn't exactly knocked it out of the park this year.  If the O's thought he was MLB ready, he'd be up.  Cowser and Westburg both has struggled a bit in MLB and had far superior AAA numbers and are also far superior defenders.  The O's wouldn't be doing him any favors by exposing him to MLB just yet.  I'd like to see what one more yera of development looks like.  He's only 23, if he makes it up next year, starts his clock, and becoming a contributing MLBer he could be FA by 30.  Not the end of the world. 

I think you learn more through facing adversity.

That being said he does look redundant.

[Just Regular]

Norby's .800 OPS has kind of become my framework for following the @Frobbyobservation how International League numbers are up this year.     After the good weekend, FG still has it a 97 wRC+.     Its been an okay year, and I still have hopes for him, but Westburg has solidly outplayed him this year.    Entering this year I thought that one might have been closer.

[emmett16]

8 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think you learn more through facing adversity.

That being said he does look redundant.

To a certain extent, yes.  But when you are overwhelmed, I don't think it does much good.  If he was posting a .950+ OPS instead of a .803 it might be beneficial.  I thikn he still has some work to do at AAA.  

[Frobby]

Norby is kind of the forgotten man in the organization this year, but he’s 2nd in the org in runs scored (1 behind Holliday), 1st in hits, 2nd in doubles, 6th in homers (tied), 2nd in RBI.   He’s having a solid year, even if his path to the majors isn’t clear.  

[Sports Guy]

27 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Norby is kind of the forgotten man in the organization this year, but he’s 2nd in the org in runs scored (1 behind Holliday), 1st in hits, 2nd in doubles, 6th in homers (tied), 2nd in RBI.   He’s having a solid year, even if his path to the majors isn’t clear.  

His OpS is lower than it should be, especially with offense up in AAA.

He is a good prospect. Haven’t heard much about his defense this year but I know the talk has been that it was going to be tough for him to stay at second.

He’s a prime trade candidate.

Im looking to package Norby, one of Ortiz or Westburg and one of Hays/Santander/Mountcastle (Hays being the guy that makes the most sense to keep) and maybe one of the other offensive prospects in the Stowers/Beavers/Fabian/Wagner, et al group and see what type of pitcher that can net.

Of course, you also just look to deal young guys for the pitcher and move Santander (for example) in a separate deal for prospects.

But all in all, something along those lines is where I would be looking this offseason to improve the rotation.

[Tony-OH]

Over his last 51 games Norby has really come on with the bat slashing .296/.377/.517/.894 with 14 homers and a 26 BB to 54 K ratio in 231 PAs. Unfortunately he's committed seven errors and watching his errors they are just brutal. He struggles on short hops, just literally missed a soft liner at him and McKenna'd a pop up in the infield that he sat under for several seconds. He seems to make inaccurate throws when he has to really throw hard. He's committed 15 errors this year and has not improved at all defensively since being drafted.

I just don't see anyway the Orioles would have him at 2B the way they value defense. He's got Westburg, Ortiz and potentially Jackson Holliday ahead of him on the 2B chart. He's too short to be a first baseman and doesn't have the arms strength for the left side of the infield.

I went back and watched some video of him LF and let's just say he looks very inexperienced out there. Hard to tell jumps from the minor league game footage but looks like an infielder playing the outfield. Catches balls weirdly at times and just generally looks like his routes aren't great. He did make this nice play https://www.mlb.com/video/connor-norby-s-diving-catch?q=norby&cp=CMS_FIRST&qt=FREETEXT&p=0 .

He's got the speed to play out there, but I think the Orioles have decided he's a guy that's going to get traded this offseason because they are trying to make that glove work at 2B. He will make a flashy play here and there, but some of his errors were downright little league stuff. 

If I'm the Orioles, I'm making him a left fielder and see what they have with more experience, but they've only started him in LF 3 times since the beginning of August.

 

[btdart20]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

Over his last 51 games Norby has really come on with the bat slashing .296/.377/.517/.894 with 14 homers and a 26 BB to 54 K ratio in 231 PAs. Unfortunately he's committed seven errors and watching his errors they are just brutal. He struggles on short hops, just literally missed a soft liner at him and McKenna'd a pop up in the infield that he sat under for several seconds. He seems to make inaccurate throws when he has to really throw hard. He's committed 15 errors this year and has not improved at all defensively since being drafted.

I just don't see anyway the Orioles would have him at 2B the way they value defense. He's got Westburg, Ortiz and potentially Jackson Holliday ahead of him on the 2B chart. He's too short to be a first baseman and doesn't have the arms strength for the left side of the infield.

I went back and watched some video of him LF and let's just say he looks very inexperienced out there. Hard to tell jumps from the minor league game footage but looks like an infielder playing the outfield. Catches balls weirdly at times and just generally looks like his routes aren't great. He did make this nice play https://www.mlb.com/video/connor-norby-s-diving-catch?q=norby&cp=CMS_FIRST&qt=FREETEXT&p=0 .

He's got the speed to play out there, but I think the Orioles have decided he's a guy that's going to get traded this offseason because they are trying to make that glove work at 2B. He will make a flashy play here and there, but some of his errors were downright little league stuff. 

If I'm the Orioles, I'm making him a left fielder and see what they have with more experience, but they've only started him in LF 3 times since the beginning of August.

 

I don't see how Norby plays 2B in Baltimore either.  But the same can be said for COF in Baltimore too (Hays, Santander, Cowser, Kjerstad, Hicks?).

The O's have a hit lab and pitching lab.  Have they invested in some type of bio lab (aka a rack) to make shorties taller? 

[Gurgi]

He said he sometimes dreams about getting traded.  I think he knows he is blocked here and is just not quite good enough to break in.  Three years ago he would be our best prospect and we would be drooling over him.   Now no one really talks much about him on the OH.  

I think he is gone by the end of next spring training.   

[baltfan]

1 hour ago, Gurgi said:

He said he sometimes dreams about getting traded.  I think he knows he is blocked here and is just not quite good enough to break in.  Three years ago he would be our best prospect and we would be drooling over him.   Now no one really talks much about him on the OH.  

I think he is gone by the end of next spring training.   

Yeah, I hope they can move him too so that he gets a chance somewhere.  It’s tough for these guys to see these guys with the talent of the Orioles’ prospects ahead of them. 

[scarey1999]

4-4 with a 2B so far tonight. Only in the 6th inning. 

[Brian88]

https://x.com/norfolktides/status/1699844357820448865?s=46&t=p-sSOqBmVdkpOJGHfaOnEg

 

[Sports Guy]

The long term outlook for the Os OF is all lefties.

Does a guy like Norby have a future as a part time DH/OFer and perhaps occasional second baseman? Can he be a platoon type guy? Someone to get 300-400 at bats in? Will his play in the OF justify that?

I think trading him is the best option but he has to be valued to do that and if he’s not, finding him a role where he can contribute to us isn’t a bad option. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Sports Guy

[CaptainRedbeard]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

The long term outlook for the Os OF is all lefties.

Does a guy like Norby have a future as a part time DH/OFer and perhaps occasional second baseman? Can he be a platoon type guy? Someone to get 300-400 at bats in? Will his play in the OF justify that?

I think trading him is the best option but he has to be valued to do that.

The best outcome would be to trade Norby to a team that values him as a potential starting 2B, but given the concerns about his 2B defense I think he probably projects to be the RH bench bat that you described.

Teams generally like to have the flexibility of 5 players on the 26 that can collectively cover 2B/3B/SS, but really you only need to play 4 regularly.  Norby fits nicely with the Orioles as the 5th guy, somebody who can get by at 2B if you need it but plays there rarely and otherwise is just in the lineup as a LF/DH vs LHP.

Long term, if the Orioles keep both Westburg and Ortiz that’s 4 infielders with Gunnar and Holliday. Norby would complement them as the 5th, but they may also view Mayo as a similarly passable seldom-used 3B. Most likely, somebody is traded and it’s a moot point.