Jorge Mateo 2023

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

What if this is something more than a hot streak? He has always had the talent, but had a tremendous whole in his swing. If he has actually been able to fix that, could he be one of those high ceilinged late bloomers like JD Martinez?

So what are you saying, that Mateo could sustain a 1.050 OPS the whole year?   I’d put the odds of that at 0.00000.  But there’s a lot of room between 1.050 and last year’s .646.   As I’ve said about ten times, it partly depends what his cold spells will look like.  How cold are they, and how long do they last?   

[Bemorewins]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

So what are you saying, that Mateo could sustain a 1.050 OPS the whole year?   I’d put the odds of that at 0.00000.  But there’s a lot of room between 1.050 and last year’s .646.   As I’ve said about ten times, it partly depends what his cold spells will look like.  How cold are they, and how long do they last?   

Definitely not a 1.062 OPS or a .347 BA. That would be like Barry Bonds steroid/PED enhanced numbers that I don't think are humanly possible (without a little help). 

What I would suggesting is what if he is reaching his full potential as a player? Otherwise stated, what if it's all starting to click and the skills have caught up with the tremendous athletic talents?

We all said, if he could ever lay off of that low and away pitch OR that high fastball above the zone, then he would be awesome. What is what we are seeing is that and he has been able to reach his 'awesome'?

[Sports Guy]

9 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

What if this is something more than a hot streak? He has always had the talent, but had a tremendous whole in his swing. If he has actually been able to fix that, could he be one of those high ceilinged late bloomers like JD Martinez?

Of course. 
 

Look, no matter what you thought of Mateo heading into last year, the talent was undeniable.  No one ever denied the talent.

Now, what he did last year was show us how good he can be defensively, which there was zero indication of prior to last year.

I think this site gets too excited about flashy things…the offense was so putrid that his great defense and baserunning was knocked down to him only being a 3ish WAR guy last year.

So, you bring that to now and maybe he has made adjustments.  Maybe he has become a guy that will enter into that JD Martinez and Jose Bautista universe..guys who did very little until later into their 20s.

Those guys are rare and I don’t think I would ever count on that happening but it does happen and maybe Mateo can be one of those guys. 
 

[Il BuonO]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

So what are you saying, that Mateo could sustain a 1.050 OPS the whole year?   I’d put the odds of that at 0.00000.  But there’s a lot of room between 1.050 and last year’s .646.   As I’ve said about ten times, it partly depends what his cold spells will look like.  How cold are they, and how long do they last?   

So, assume an .800 OPS. Now what?

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Il BuonO said:

So, assume an .800 OPS. Now what?

Someone should start a thread on that!  

ZiPS has updated its projection to .761.   That would be an extremely good year, but I do have some hopes of a better year than that.    Just keep riding the wave!

[Bemorewins]

7 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Of course. 
 

Look, no matter what you thought of Mateo heading into last year, the talent was undeniable.  No one ever denied the talent.

Now, what he did last year was show us how good he can be defensively, which there was zero indication of prior to last year.

I think this site gets too excited about flashy things…the offense was so putrid that his great defense and baserunning was knocked down to him only being a 3ish WAR guy last year.

So, you bring that to now and maybe he has made adjustments.  Maybe he has become a guy that will enter into that JD Martinez and Jose Bautista universe..guys who did very little until later into their 20s.

Those guys are rare and I don’t think I would ever count on that happening but it does happen and maybe Mateo can be one of those guys. 
 

After the last 30 years, as O's fans we deserve some good things to finally happen to us.

[Il BuonO]

7 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Look, no matter what you thought of Mateo heading into last year, the talent was undeniable…..

So, you bring that to now and maybe he has made adjustments.  Maybe he has become a guy that will enter into that JD Martinez and Jose Bautista universe..guys who did very little until later into their 20s.

Those guys are rare and I don’t think I would ever count on that happening but it does happen and maybe Mateo can be one of those guys. 

It’s a good point. It can happen. Will it? He’s got a ton of talent and he’s moving in the right direction.

[Bemorewins]

6 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

So, assume an .800 OPS. Now what?

Leave him be and let us enjoy.

The good thing about how our org talent is set up, we can afford to keep the awesome guys and trade the redundant (a little less talented/productive guys) for more (at least one) awesome guys in the form of frontline pitching.

I don't think there should be any rush to do anything with Mateo for the time being. When it is time and Holiday is ready, then we can move Mateo. That's why I am for trading some of the excess talent in AAA infield. We only need one of them to play second going into the future. Short and 3B are already covered. The outfield looks well staffed and eventually Cowser will take over LF and move Hays to right. Hopefully Kerjstad will eventually man 1B or DH or split it with Mounty.

All we have to do from there is get the guy to go upfront in the starting rotation and then we should have true 'lift off'.

[Il BuonO]

5 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Leave him be and let us enjoy.

The good thing about how our org talent is set up, we can afford to keep the awesome guys and trade the redundant (a little less talented/productive guys) for more (at least one) awesome guys in the form of frontline pitching.

I don't think there should be any rush to do anything with Mateo for the time being. When it is time and Holiday is ready, then we can move Mateo. That's why I am for trading some of the excess talent in AAA infield. We only need one of them to play second going into the future. Short and 3B are already covered. The outfield looks well staffed and eventually Cowser will take over LF and move Hays to right. Hopefully Kerjstad will eventually man 1B or DH or split it with Mounty.

All we have to do from there is get the guy to go upfront in the starting rotation and then we should have true 'lift off'.

The question was rhetorical because of the other Mateo thread. 

However, to play Devil’s Advocate I’ll just say they could probably get a pretty good haul for an athletic SS who has started to figure it out offensively. Give him another two months of sustained production and there’s gonna be offers. 

[Bemorewins]

1 minute ago, Il BuonO said:

The question was rhetorical because of the other Mateo thread. 

However, to play Devil’s Advocate I’ll just say they could probably get a pretty good haul for an athletic SS who has started to figure it out offensively. Give him another two months of sustained production and there’s gonna be offers. 

Why would we want them? We are no longer in a position as an org to consider doing things like that. The goal MUST be winning and competing now. Other contenders are not fielding offers on guys who are helping them win in a major way. We are beyond this now. We should now longer be sellers, but buyers. Playing this way, Mateo is a nugget. 

IMO we need to be figuring out how to add MORE pieces to the puzzle, not take them away. I know the old saying goes, that you can never have too much talent. But as an org, we already have an embarrassment of riches in terms of positional talent. Guys who are Major League ready can't even find spots and in some cases there are guys behind them. But what we don't have is the requisite starting pitching to win in the Fall. I believe the org's top priority should be to figure out a way to get that. Bradish, Kremer, and Gibson are NOT those guys IMO. Grayson is developing nicely but that's only one. I don't want to put any post season eggs in the Means basket as I view that as a very iffy proposition.

[emmett16]

6BB & 12K on season for a .5bb/k rate.  Still holding strong.  

[waroriole]

20 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

The question was rhetorical because of the other Mateo thread. 

However, to play Devil’s Advocate I’ll just say they could probably get a pretty good haul for an athletic SS who has started to figure it out offensively. Give him another two months of sustained production and there’s gonna be offers. 

If he keeps this up for two more months no way in hell we’re trading him. 

[Jagwar]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Someone should start a thread on that!  

ZiPS has updated its projection to .761.   That would be an extremely good year, but I do have some hopes of a better year than that.    Just keep riding the wave!

After his hot April, Mateo would basically have to average a 748 OPS over the next 5 months to finish at 800 OPS. (Someone check my math)

If you had suggested in March that he could OPS 748 this year with the same level of defense, I would have taken that all day and every day.  

Edited May 1, 2023 by Jagwar

[InsideCoroner]

42 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

6BB & 12K on season for a .5bb/k rate.  Still holding strong.  

One of the most encouraging signs to me was on Saturday with two runners on when he drilled a ball inside the left field foul pole, narrowly missing a big homer. He held on from a 2-2 count after that and drew a walk to load the bases. Last year, I’m convinced he would have hacked his way right out of that at bat.

[sportsfan8703]

Mateo has broken out and put it all together. Schoop and Mountcastle are both still chasing the low and away sliders.   I give Mateo a ton of credit. Last year improved his SS defense. This year it’s been offense.