McCann activated Stowers optioned

[emmett16]

11 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Vavra leaping ahead of Stowers is hilarious to me.

Why? He’s outperformed him in MiLB and limited MLB appearances and plays better defense. 

[emmett16]

12 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t get it. It makes no sense to me.

Pretty simple.   Vavra can handle the bat and has consistent professional PAs.  He’s a better outfielder.  Can play multiple positions.  What’s so difficult to understand?.  I get that chicks dig the long ball but, how on earth do you deem Stowers a better player and a player who can be a full time regular?  Only thing I see that Stowers has over Vavra is raw power and his ability to stay on the field.  What am I Missing?

Edited April 11, 2023 by emmett16

[Sports Guy]

36 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Pretty simple.   Vavra can handle the bat and has consistent professional PAs.  He’s a better outfielder.  Can play multiple positions.  What’s so difficult to understand?.  I get that chicks dig the long ball but, how on earth do you deem Stowers a better player and a player who can be a full time regular?  Only thing I see that Stowers has over Vavra is his ability to stay on the field.  What am I Missing?

He’s not a better OFer.  He has no power. He has limited upside.

You are missing a lot.

[emmett16]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

He’s not a better OFer.  He has no power. He has limited upside.

You are missing a lot.

How many times have you seen him play? Seen Stowers play?

Edited April 11, 2023 by emmett16

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

He’s not a better OFer.  He has no power. He has limited upside.

You are missing a lot.

He actually showed a bit of power this spring.  He had a .217 ISO.   Obviously I don’t expect to see that from him, but if he could replicate his .162 from the minors, or close, he’d be fine.  I don’t think he’s as powerless as his first 100 PA in the majors showed.  

I doubt he’s a better OF than Stowers are this point, considering he’s played 12 games there as a major leaguer and 33 in the minors, compared to several hundred games for Stowers.  Stowers has a much stronger arm, too.  
 

[emmett16]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He actually showed a bit of power this spring.  He had a .217 ISO.   Obviously I don’t expect to see that from him, but if he could replicate his .162 from the minors, or close, he’d be fine.  I don’t think he’s as powerless as his first 100 PA in the majors showed.  

I doubt he’s a better OF than Stowers are this point, considering he’s played 12 games there as a major leaguer and 33 in the minors, compared to several hundred games for Stowers.  Stowers has a much stronger arm, too.  
 

Vavra is faster, runs solid routes and is a gamer.  Arm is weaker but accurate.  I’d put Vavra in field over Stowers all things considered.  Fangraphs has Vavra 50 hit/55speed/50D. Stowers 35hit/50speed/50D FWIW. 

[emmett16]

7 hours ago, emmett16 said:

How many times have you seen him play? Seen Stowers play?

[Sports Guy]

49 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Lol

Enough to see the obvious difference. 
 

I have also read scouting reports, listened to what Tony (who saw him a bunch) has said, etc..Vavra is a failed second baseman that they are trying to make into something.

Stowers is an OFer.

It’s not close. 

[emmett16]

35 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Lol

Enough to see the obvious difference. 
 

I have also read scouting reports, listened to what Tony (who saw him a bunch) has said, etc..Vavra is a failed second baseman that they are trying to make into something.

Stowers is an OFer.

It’s not close. 

Got it.  So you are simply regurgitating other peoples opinions and have not had a chance to see the players yourself and come to your own conclusion.  Noted. 

[Sports Guy]

14 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Got it.  So you are simply regurgitating other peoples opinions and have not had a chance to see the players yourself and come to your own conclusion.  Noted. 

I have seen them but yes, I’m going off the opinions of people who have seen them over a far larger sample size and have scouted them over relying on things for a few games.  It’s the smarter way to go about it until we see a larger sample size.

[Sanity Check]

20 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I think if the Os liked Vavra more, he would have been sent down for everyday at bats. They don’t care if Vavra plays once a week up here.

Or is it the fact that Vavra can put together more professional at-bats playing on a limited basis than Stowers can?   If you need a pinch hitter with a higher probability of putting the ball in play and not striking out, which is the better option?  I don't think this is a mystery.....plus the versatility factor. 

That's why Vavra seems better equipped in a more limited role vs. Stowers, who really needs to (and should be) playing regularly....he's not getting that opportunity in Baltimore.....yet.  So, if Stowers is not going to be a regular, which seems to be where the O's are right now, having him rot on the bench is not doing him any good right now.  

[Bahama O's Fan]

12 minutes ago, Sanity Check said:

Or is it the fact that Vavra can put together more professional at-bats playing on a limited basis than Stowers can?   If you need a pinch hitter with a higher probability of putting the ball in play and not striking out, which is the better option?  I don't think this is a mystery.....plus the versatility factor. 

That's why Vavra seems better equipped in a more limited role vs. Stowers, who really needs to (and should be) playing regularly....he's not getting that opportunity in Baltimore.....yet.  So, if Stowers is not going to be a regular, which seems to be where the O's are right now, having him rot on the bench is not doing him any good right now.  

I agree and I think this is why people were expecting him to play more. I think the expectation was he would be in the OF more and Santander would DH more than he has. 

[Sports Guy]

29 minutes ago, Sanity Check said:

Or is it the fact that Vavra can put together more professional at-bats playing on a limited basis than Stowers can?   If you need a pinch hitter with a higher probability of putting the ball in play and not striking out, which is the better option?  I don't think this is a mystery.....plus the versatility factor. 

That's why Vavra seems better equipped in a more limited role vs. Stowers, who really needs to (and should be) playing regularly....he's not getting that opportunity in Baltimore.....yet.  So, if Stowers is not going to be a regular, which seems to be where the O's are right now, having him rot on the bench is not doing him any good right now.  

You are making my argument for me. If they liked Vavra more, they wouldn’t want him in a limited role. They are fine with him playing sparingly because he’s not much more than a bench guy who can give you some positive at bats from time to time.

So yes, he’s better equipped for that role because he’s a lesser player.

[jamalshw]

18 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

I agree and I think this is why people were expecting him to play more. I think the expectation was he would be in the OF more and Santander would DH more than he has. 

Exactly. I figured Stowers would be playing 4-5 times a week, mostly in RF. I figured Santander would be a primary DH with occasional games in the OF and Stowers would spell Hays on occasion as well. I really wasn't expecting McKenna to see the field more than Stowers. 

[Tony-OH]

Now I like Vavra as a bench guy overall, but if one of them is going to sit the bench while the other plays everyday in AAA, I'm fine with sending Stowers down if the choice was between the two. 

Saying that, let's look at the two by skills.

Hitting average: Vavra edge
Vavra has a career .306 average in 1099 minor league PAs while Stowers is at .261. Vavra hits the ball better gap to gap. 

Hitting power: Stowers big edge
Stowers has a 52 homers in 1165 PAs while Vavra has 21. Stower's .158 ISO last year in limited major league play doubled Vavra's .071.

Hitting OBP: Edge Vavra 
Now Stowers is no slouch here with a 11.1% BB rate in AAA and a .377 OBP in AA and .361 OBP in AAA. Vavra though has a career minor league OBP is .410. 

Hitting left-handers: Big edge Stowers
Stowers slashed .330/.441/.577/1.018 in 118 AAA PAs and .292/.384/.567/.951 in 138 PAs in 2021. Vavra slashed .239/.372/.310/.682 in 86 AAA PAs and .162/.311/.189/.500 in 45 PAs in 2021.

Defense: Edge Stowers
Stowers has better more accurate arm with a peak max of 96 MPH to Vavra's 89.1. Feet covered are about the same though Stowers is a little better on ft vs avg on similar balls hit to him.

Player        Reaction    Burst   Route  ft vs avg   ft/sec

Vavra                -2        -4.3     0.7          -5.6       29.7
Stowers          -1.9         -2      0.2          -3.8       29.4

Running: About even
Both are surprisingly below average runners with Stowers being in the 42.7 percentile and Vavra at 44.6. 

The issue here is that OBP typically does not translate to the major leagues without a threat of power and Vavra's .327 major league OBP kinda already suggests that in a small sample size of 113 PAs. 

As bench players, it depends on what player you want and Vavra's defensive flexibility (though he's not very good at 2B and has limited experience at 3B) gives him a little edge. We've already seen Vavra's lack of experience in the outfield in the Boston series and I've seen Stowers enough in the minors to know he's an adequate, better than Santander defensive outfielder.

As a starter, I'm going to take the power from Stowers everyday of the week in my lienup over a Vavra type.