Joey Ortiz 2023

[DirtyBird]

11 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Agreed. I want to see the young guys too. They have earned the chance. What could eliminate the logjam and benefit the team would be some trades. I have to think something is coming and Elias has feelers out on all the pitchers who might be becoming available, but we're going to have to be patient for teams fall out of contention. Hope Ortiz goes 4-4 tonight with a couple spectacular plays to force the issue. 

Correct. I thought all offseason, while people were complaining about lack of activity, that Elias is waiting to see how things look at the deadline. Then we will know if we are a contender, what we need to make a run this season and be set up well for future, and there will be clear sellers.

[Moose Milligan]

Ortiz turns 25 in July, so I'm not expecting much here but I think he can be better than what we have.

Does anyone know if he's in the lineup tonight?

[Frobby]

32 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

After Stowers, I have zero faith that the Orioles will start the best player on the roster. Maybe Ortiz will be used differently, but for now, I would expect Ortiz to get very few starts against right-handed pitching. 

I hope to be proved wrong, but I just don't see them benching Frazier and besides, Urias still needs PAs. 

I would like to see Ortiz getting more PAs than Vavra was getting.  I don’t expect him to assume Frazier’s role while Frazier becomes the new Vavra, but some halfway between place would be nice.  

Frazier has been getting 3.5 PA per game, Vavra 1.3 per game.  I’m hoping the new mix will be closer to 2.4 PA per game for both.  I’m guessing Frazier will play a bit more than Ortiz (contrary to what I’d prefer), but I hope at least the split is less drastic.  Ortiz can help himself by hitting better than Vavra did when his name gets called.  
 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Frobby

[Bemorewins]

15 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Agreed. I want to see the young guys too. They have earned the chance. What could eliminate the logjam and benefit the team would be some trades. I have to think something is coming and Elias has feelers out on all the pitchers who might be becoming available, but we're going to have to be patient for teams fall out of contention. Hope Ortiz goes 4-4 tonight with a couple spectacular plays to force the issue. 

However dons the orange and black I want to succeed! To be clear, I'm not advocating for just "bringing up all the young guys". I would like for the org to become a little less risk adverse and pick the players that they want to stick with (whether they be on the Major League roster now or at AAA or wherever) and the rest I would like to maximize their values in trade to acquire the assets that we need to compete in October.

Whether that means trading Ortiz, Westburg, Urias, Norby, all or none of them. It makes no difference to me.

[Pickles]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I would like to see Ortiz getting more PAs than Vavra was getting.  I don’t expect him to assume Frazier’s role while Frazier becomes the new Vavra, but some halfway between place would be nice.  

Frazier has been getting 3.5 PA per game, Vavra 1.3 per game.  I’m hoping the new mix will be closer to 2.4 PA per game for both.  I’m guessing Frazier will play a bit more than Ortiz (contrary to what I’d prefer), but I hope at least the split is less drastic.  Ortiz can help himself by hitting better than Vavra did when his name gets called.  
 

I think it will be a pretty straight forward platoon at 2b.  How Ortiz performs will dictate whether he gets more ABs or sent back down.

[Mooreisbetter27]

16 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Ortiz turns 25 in July, so I'm not expecting much here but I think he can be better than what we have.

Does anyone know if he's in the lineup tonight?

He is batting 9th and playing 2B. 

[Pickles]

10 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

However dons the orange and black I want to succeed! To be clear, I'm not advocating for just "bringing up all the young guys". I would like for the org to become a little less risk adverse and pick the players that they want to stick with (whether they be on the Major League roster now or at AAA or wherever) and the rest I would like to maximize their values in trade to acquire the assets that we need to compete in October.

Whether that means trading Ortiz, Westburg, Urias, Norby, all or none of them. It makes no difference to me.

Good thing we didn't trade Mateo this offseason.  I kept hearing he was blocking people and his value was at peak.

[Tony-OH]

14 minutes ago, Pickles said:

I think it will be a pretty straight forward platoon at 2b.  How Ortiz performs will dictate whether he gets more ABs or sent back down.

I would not put it past the Orioles to do something like this, but it will be a waste of a mlb ready player to have him as the right-handed hitting side of a pure 2B platoon. 

The Orioles already had 4 infielders for 3 spots and now they have 5. Someone will need to give up some PAs and I'm hoping it will be Frazier, though I fear he will continue to get those PAs a very light hitting corner outfielder/DH. 

[NCRaven]

Glad to see Ortiz earn an early promotion.  Hope he gets to play.  Keep in mind that with expanded playoffs, more teams will consider themselves in contention at the deadline.  That means fewer teams willing to sell and higher demand and cost in prospects for the fewer available impact starting pitchers.  Our playoff run is likely to remain heavily, but hopefully not totally, reliant on those already here or in our system.

[Otter]

28 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I didn't bring up his age to insinuate that the O's have been holding him back. I brought it up because I'm concerned how long he will retain value as a prospect. I'm not too aware of 26/27 year old prospects. At some point you get into prime years already having passed and other orgs may not see 6 years of someone aged 26/27 the same as someone aged 25 and under.

Exactly.  If you hold onto a prospect too long without giving them a legit shot in the majors, it sends the message they are a AAAA player.  Other teams figure the current team knows the prospect better than anyone, so there must be something wrong for them not to give him a legitimate shot in the majors.  Our four top prospects at AAA were all drafted out of college and close to or in their mid 20s; it's time to you-know-what or get off the pot...

[Pickles]

Just now, Tony-OH said:

I would not put it past the Orioles to do something like this, but it will be a waste of a mlb ready player to have him as the right-handed hitting side of a pure 2B platoon. 

The Orioles already had 4 infielders for 3 spots and now they have 5. Someone will need to give up some PAs and I'm hoping it will be Frazier, though I fear he will counitue to get those PAs a very light hitting corner outfielder/DH. 

Well, clearly a lot of Ortiz' abs are going to come at Frazier's expense.  Some will come at Henderson's expense vs. LH.  If Mateo cools down some will come from his allotment.  But I am certain they are not planning on playing Ortiz ever day.

Frazier is in the outfield today.  I think this is temporary because of Hays' injury.  However, if it becomes regular, then they need to get another OF up and DL Hays if necessary.  

[spleen1015]

Starting tonight at 2B. I'm surprised.

[btdart20]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

I don't think Gunnar is going to be benched all three games, but I do think we'll see at least two out of three games this combination. I'm just hoping Ortiz is not treated like Stowers when it comes to right-handers. He's a better player all around than Frazier. Hopefully Frazier moves into Vavra's role as 26th man, but I would bet on it.

Frazier's playing time will be interesting to watch.  I suspect Ortiz' floor defensively will give him more leash than Stowers had.  The only 'trend' (for lack of a better word) is the Odor Effect.  Will 'veteranosity' matter?  Or will 'lift off' matter?

Hopefully the hydration celebration is an appropriate metaphor for 2023.  It's like big brother Elias cinched the hose of MI depth while us little brothers are trying to quench our thirst he created with the prospect pipeline!  The W's have started trickling down the line and the only thing left is for Elias to uncinch it for us to revel in the summertime fun!

[Bemorewins]

22 minutes ago, Otter said:

Exactly.  If you hold onto a prospect too long without giving them a legit shot in the majors, it sends the message they are a AAAA player.  Other teams figure the current team knows the prospect better than anyone, so there must be something wrong for them not to give him a legitimate shot in the majors.  Our four top prospects at AAA were all drafted out of college and close to or in their mid 20s; it's time to you-know-what or get off the pot...

I don't think there's a place for all of them on the O's. Logic suggests that the plan all along with the heavy positional player preference and picks at the top of each draft, that it had to be anticipated that the day would come when some of these guys would need to be used in a trade to acquire the pitching that we NEVER took in the past 5 drafts. 

[EdwinRip]

I doubt Ortiz plays much if at all against RHP….I hope I’m wrong but I have my doubts.