Jorge Mateo 2023

[OriolesMagic83]

6 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

He’s never come close to hitting .400 before, so that would definitely be a career year for him and the first this century. Has any baseball player hit .400 since the great Ted Williams?

I think there's no chance he'll hit .400.  I think there's a solid chance he'll hit .350.  I remember someone on ESPN talking about he doesn't contribute much over a high average, w/ little extra base power.  Sounds like Miami would have been better dealing Lopez to the O's for prospects as they don't look anything like a contender. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

I think there's no chance he'll hit .400.  I think there's a solid chance he'll hit .350.  I remember someone on ESPN talking about he doesn't contribute much over a high average, w/ little extra base power.  Sounds like Miami would have been better dealing Lopez to the O's for prospects as they don't look anything like a contender. 

About 5 years ago, when one of the Red Sox players was on a 30-game hitting streak, i read an article explaining some huge differences between 1941 and today.  First, the player (it was either Betts or Bradley) already had seen more pitchers in his 4-5 year career (if it was even that long) than DiMaggio had seen in his 13-year career.   That’s because in those days (1) there was no interleague play, (2) there were only 8 teams in each league, and (3) teams used fewer pitchers per game.  Second, DiMaggio’s BA against relief pitchers was something like 50 or 100 points higher than off stsrters, because in those days, relievers were simply worse than starters.  So by comparison, today’s hitters have to see a much greater variety of pitchers, and the relievers are generally extremely tough to hit.  So, it’s just way harder to hit nowadays.  I do not expect to see a .400 hitter in my lifetime.  

Edited May 6, 2023 by Frobby

[Otter]

18 minutes ago, Frobby said:

About 5 years ago, when one of the Red Sox players was on a 30-game hitting streak, i read an article explaining some huge differences between 1941 and today.  First, the player (it was either Betts or Bradley) already had seen more pitchers in his 4-5 year career (if it was even that long) than DiMaggio had seen in his 13-year career.   That’s because in those days (1) there was no interleague play, (2) there were only 8 teams in each league, and (3) teams used fewer pitchers per game.  Second, DiMaggio’s BA against relief pitchers was something like 50 or 100 points higher than off stsrters, because in those days, relievers were simply worse than starters.  So by comparison, today’s hitters have to see a much greater variety of pitchers, and the relievers are generally extremely tough to hit.  So, it’s just way harder to hit nowadays.  I do not expect to see a .400 hitter in my lifetime.  

Excellent points.  I remember when the common mantra was to run up the pitch count on the starter and get into the opposing team's bullpen.  But these days, I'd rather face a tiring starter for the 2nd or 3rd time than a fresh reliever coming in throwing 100.

[Frobby]

Mateo makes Ben Clemens’ list of “Five Things I Liked (Or Didn’t Like) This Week,” under the heading “Jorge Mateo’s Intuitive Brilliance.”  Here’s an excerpt describing SS Mateo outrunning KC’s McKistry to 3B and tagging him out after fielding a ground ball in the hole:

“That’s bad luck for McKinstry, who saw Gunnar Henderson sprawled out on the ground and thought he had a free base. Against roughly 29 shortstops in baseball, he did. But Mateo is decisive, and blazing fast to boot. McKinstry isn’t slow, but you can count the number of major leaguers who can beat Mateo in a footrace on one hand. Henderson might be the presumptive shortstop of the future in Baltimore, but right now Mateo is hitting .321/.372/.595 and playing improvisational jazz defense. He’s a key driver behind Baltimore’s surprising start.”

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

3 hours ago, Gurgi said:

This is likely why no one would trade for him in the offseason.  Probably everyone in baseball is expecting him to revert to norm at some point.  No one believes he is the new guy he seems to be.  

Mateo has value because of his glove, but other trading partners aren't going into  negotiations with the Orioles under the assumption Mateo has Xander Bogaerts bat with gold glove defense.

Mateo has to prove it over a couple seasons to be held in that regard. With his defense Mateo provides the most value at SS currently unless his offense falls off a cliff.

Edited May 6, 2023 by OsFanSinceThe80s

[ShoelesJoe]

2 hours ago, Bemorewins said:

He’s never come close to hitting .400 before, so that would definitely be a career year for him and the first this century. Has any baseball player hit .400 since the great Ted Williams?

Back in the mid/late '80s I think there was a 162 game stretch between two seasons where Wade Boggs hit over .400. My memory is that it was post ASB one year and then pre ASB the next. George Brett came a couple three hits shy of .400 in 1980, and I think Tony Gwynn did the same in '94. 

[Bemorewins]

55 minutes ago, ShoelesJoe said:

Back in the mid/late '80s I think there was a 162 game stretch between two seasons where Wade Boggs hit over .400. My memory is that it was post ASB one year and then pre ASB the next. George Brett came a couple three hits shy of .400 in 1980, and I think Tony Gwynn did the same in '94. 

I appreciate you taking the time to provide the clarifying detail. All those guys were amazing hitters! Maybe now that the shift is outlawed Arraez has a chance? 

[ShoelesJoe]

Batting .106 /.155 /.121 in the month of May. Considering how many SS this organization has I have to think Jorge has just about run out of rope. Does he have any options? 

 

[maybenxtyr]

1 minute ago, ShoelesJoe said:

Batting .106 /.155 /.121 in the month of May. Considering how many SS this organization has I have to think Jorge has just about run out of rope. Does he have any options? 

 

No options. Ortiz should have been playing daily while he was up.

[Sports Guy]

His overall OPS is down almost 400 points since the May started.

[Gurgi]

Use him as Super Utility and pinch runner.  Or bite the bullet and put him on waivers.  

[Spy Fox]

Mateo’s first AB against Gray tonight was a perfect encapsulation of where he’s at right now. 

Three straight sliders away, all in the exact same spot, none of them strikes, three straight whiffs. 

[jdwilde1]

On 5/6/2023 at 3:07 PM, Frobby said:

About 5 years ago, when one of the Red Sox players was on a 30-game hitting streak, i read an article explaining some huge differences between 1941 and today.  First, the player (it was either Betts or Bradley) already had seen more pitchers in his 4-5 year career (if it was even that long) than DiMaggio had seen in his 13-year career.   That’s because in those days (1) there was no interleague play, (2) there were only 8 teams in each league, and (3) teams used fewer pitchers per game.  Second, DiMaggio’s BA against relief pitchers was something like 50 or 100 points higher than off stsrters, because in those days, relievers were simply worse than starters.  So by comparison, today’s hitters have to see a much greater variety of pitchers, and the relievers are generally extremely tough to hit.  So, it’s just way harder to hit nowadays.  I do not expect to see a .400 hitter in my lifetime.  

Yep, probably the last real shot was Tony Gwynn in 1994. Gwynn actually hit .406 over a 162 game stretch from 8/1/93 to 5/9/95 by going 242-for-596. Wade Boggs had a stretch of 162 games from 6/9/1985 to 6/6/1986 where he batted .401. He had 257 hits in 641 at-bats  12 HR, 92 RBI, 125 runs scored and 109 walks. He OBP’d .489 and slugged .541.

With the shift going away I guess it’s possible, but extremely unlikely.  With that said, nobody has even hit .350 over a full season since Josh Hamilton in 2010.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

11 minutes ago, Gurgi said:

Use him as Super Utility and pinch runner.  Or bite the bullet and put him on waivers.  

With Urias back it’s an option now. Mateo is very good defensively, but he has to hit at least a little to justify being a starting player. 

[Fiver6565]

Jorge is so fun to watch when he’s going well. It’s a shame he can’t be more consistent but it’s becoming more and more clear that this is who he is. I don’t really know what you do with a player like that. If you bench him he’ll never bust back out. If you don’t you’re stuck with a .250 OPS in the lineup. 
 

I was disappointed they didn’t keep Ortiz up and give him a little more time at short. Option Vavra, since Frazier can play some RF like Vavra can. You have O’hearn so having the extra RH bat isn’t that big a deal. Nows the time to see what Ortiz has. He’s looked smooth as silk on the left side so far.