Gunnar Henderson 2023

[DirtyBird]

26 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Question for you: What makes you think that Westburg would come up and outperform Gunnar? 

Are we allowed to put any value in spring training? Or do we have to ignore that Westburg hit there and as carried it into the season and Gunnar didn’t and also carried that into the season?

[dystopia]

1 minute ago, DirtyBird said:

Are we allowed to put any value in spring training? Or do we have to ignore that Westburg hit there and as carried it into the season and Gunnar didn’t and also carried that into the season?

Should the Tigers give up on Spencer Torkelson?

[DirtyBird]

8 minutes ago, dystopia said:

Should the Tigers give up on Spencer Torkelson?

Do they have other high draft picks who are performing well at his position right behind him in AAA?

[baltfan]

Gunnar’s selectivity might be hurting him at the moment though better for the long run.  You need actual swings to adjust and hit the ball better.  Many times he has very few swings in a given game because he doesn’t swing at pitches he thinks he can’t drive well.  Of course that’s a good strategy, but when struggling sometimes just more swings helps with timing etc. 

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

Do they have other high draft picks who are performing well at his position right behind him in AAA?

What's with the fascination with high draft picks?

You got problems with International players?  Lower round draft picks that outperform their draft ranking? 

[Bemorewins]

21 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

Are we allowed to put any value in spring training? Or do we have to ignore that Westburg hit there and as carried it into the season and Gunnar didn’t and also carried that into the season?

You are ‘allowed’ to do anything that you want..lol

As far as Spring Training goes, that may not be the best barometer. Holliday looked very good in the Spring but I don’t think that he’s ready for the Bigs.

I get it that you want Westburg to get his shot. That’s cool and I find no fault in what you say. But that’s not going to come at the expense of Gunnar.

As I asked, what happens if we bring Westburg up and send Gunnar down and then Westburg struggles? What do you do then?

Big picture - we have an over abundance of infield prospects. Some will stay and others will go. If we get the right piece back, I don’t really care which is which.

I know some fans/posters don’t want to believe this but Elias has some tough decisions in front of him. But I don’t believe benching Gunnar after a month of struggles or sending him down is or should be one of them…. Just my 2 cents

[Bahama O's Fan]

Gunnar is our cleanup hitter today! Hyde still loves him.

[Jagwar]

1 hour ago, Bemorewins said:

IMO that is not a good way to get value out of top org assets. You don’t platoon top 100 guys immediately out of the gate. You platoon less talented guys, not your most talented ones. You are getting much more value out of the player if that is the case, by simply choosing to play one over the other and playing the other somewhere else. If there is. I where else to play them as is out in our case with some of our young infield prospects, you trade them for something that you need.

I just want to win games. And IMO ditching 1 catcher and adding Westburg increases the likelihood of winning games. There will be plenty of opportunities for Westburg to play if he produces. 

[Ohfan67]

1 hour ago, Chaka Garcia said:

I haven’t jumped ship on Gunnar yet. In lieu Markakis’s rookie year had a similar trajectory (I hope). He struggled the first half (fans clamoring to demote him), but walked then figured it out and exploded. 

Looking around the league, many top prospect rookies are struggling including Walker who was sent down.

Sure, it’s definitely normal. Heck it’s not super unusual for solid veterans to struggle for a month at a time. Gunnar is just doing it in a very unique way IMO. 

[24fps]

If the point is to get Westburg up and playing then I'd much rather rehash the stupidity of the Frazier signing or the need for a third catcher than beat up on a supremely talented 21 year-old rookie who has gotten off to a slow start.  It looks like the O's are making an investment in Gunnar and GrayRod by giving them playing time.  Isn't this what everybody wanted?  I sure did.

[Bemorewins]

18 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

I just want to win games. And IMO ditching 1 catcher and adding Westburg increases the likelihood of winning games. There will be plenty of opportunities for Westburg to play if he produces. 

I hear ya! And I want to win too, but maximizing/optimizing our current roster is much about increasing the talent of the starting pitching staff at the trade deadline, then it is about platooning top prospects or finding a way to squeeze Westburg in.

I mean in reality Westburg is not our only top 100 AAA guy who is ripping the cover off the ball and ready.

[RZNJ]

7 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I hear ya! And I want to win too, but maximizing/optimizing our current roster is much about increasing the talent of the starting pitching staff at the trade deadline, then it is about platooning top prospects or finding a way to squeeze Westburg in.

I mean in reality Westburg is not our only top 100 AAA guy who is ripping the cover off the ball and ready.

Ortiz and Cowser aren’t doing too badly down there and Kjerstad at Bowie.   

[Bemorewins]

3 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Ortiz and Cowser aren’t doing too badly down there and Kjerstad at Bowie.   

Exactly! Guys will eventually get their opportunities or be traded. It’s that simple.

[oriolefan1035]

Gunnar deserves to be sent down for Ortiz or Westburg. He has taken the Orioles general hitting philosophy of being patient too far. I feel like he hardly ever swings before 2 strikes. When in doubt be an athlete. He needs to stop overthinking and swing the bat.

[now]

1 hour ago, Gofannon said:

Kind of glad the Hangout wasn't around for Cal Ripken's end of 1981 (5 for 39, .120/.150/.128) or his first month of 1982 (9 for 65, .138/.164/.231).  He started to turn it around on May 6th.  Maybe Gunnar turns it around on May 7th?

Good comp with Ripken. I've been thinking also of Mike Schmidt's first full year, age 23, hitting .196/.324/.373; or Barry Bonds, age 21, hitting .223/.330/.416