Joey Ortiz 2023

[Sports Guy]

What a great play that was. That was as fast as I have ever seen a player get off the ground and get a throw off.

[Pickles]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

What a great play that was. That was as fast as I have ever seen a player get off the ground and get a throw off.

It was impressive.  So was his at-bat the top of the inning.

[IPlayGM]

And it’s good that this potential transition is happening organically, just through one guy earning it more than the other. Hopefully as we add to our roster this season that will be the case as well. Get Cowser and Westburg up at some point and let the chips fall where they may.

[deward]

So....does Ortiz go down when Urias is back this weekend? Seems like it's either him or O'Hearn, and Elias seems to like having a LH 1B option on the roster. I guess Vavra could be the odd man out.

[HandsomeQuack]

7 minutes ago, deward said:

So....does Ortiz go down when Urias is back this weekend? Seems like it's either him or O'Hearn, and Elias seems to like having a LH 1B option on the roster. I guess Vavra could be the odd man out.

Probably, he struggles to get ABs as is. That is unless the O's decide to give Ortiz a little run at SS.

[Pickles]

9 minutes ago, deward said:

So....does Ortiz go down when Urias is back this weekend? Seems like it's either him or O'Hearn, and Elias seems to like having a LH 1B option on the roster. I guess Vavra could be the odd man out.

I believe they'll send Ortiz down so that he can play every day.  Obviously, they probably aren't worried about that in regards to Vavra or O'Hearn.  And I'm ok with that.

But Ortiz has shown himself well in his time up.

[Bemorewins]

5 hours ago, IPlayGM said:

And it’s good that this potential transition is happening organically, just through one guy earning it more than the other. Hopefully as we add to our roster this season that will be the case as well. Get Cowser and Westburg up at some point and let the chips fall where they may.

If Westburg, Ortiz, Cowser all come up, where do they play? How do they all fit into what we already have? And more importantly where does the pitching come from? Do you believe that we need a major upgrade to our starting staff? Or do you think we can seriously challenge for a WS with what we have? If the answer is no and we are not willing to trade any of Ortiz, Westburg, or Cowser; what can we move that would be valuable enough to land a serious starting pitching upgrade?

[Sports Guy]

12 minutes ago, Pickles said:

I believe they'll send Ortiz down so that he can play every day.  Obviously, they probably aren't worried about that in regards to Vavra or O'Hearn.  And I'm ok with that.

But Ortiz has shown himself well in his time up.

It would be unfortunate if they did this but I agree that it will be the move for now.

[Pickles]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

It would be unfortunate if they did this but I agree that it will be the move for now.

For now.

[IPlayGM]

1 hour ago, Bemorewins said:

If Westburg, Ortiz, Cowser all come up, where do they play? How do they all fit into what we already have? And more importantly where does the pitching come from? Do you believe that we need a major upgrade to our starting staff? Or do you think we can seriously challenge for a WS with what we have? If the answer is no and we are not willing to trade any of Ortiz, Westburg, or Cowser; what can we move that would be valuable enough to land a serious starting pitching upgrade?

I am not in the camp that these guys have to come up and play 6 times a week. Westburg coming up will cut into Frazier some, DH position some, maybe it can be Gunnar’s day off at 3rd. Cowser makes Santander play more DH, Hays sits against a tough RHP here and there, and he can give Mullins a break. All these guys can play and coexist.

 

As far as pitching, I think we can compete with what we have. I would like to add, but I certainly don’t think it is hopeless with what we have. Who in the rotation is pitching to an unsustainable level?  Wells would be the only potential argument.

[Bemorewins]

1 minute ago, IPlayGM said:

I am not in the camp that these guys have to come up and play 6 times a week. Westburg coming up will cut into Frazier some, DH position some, maybe it can be Gunnar’s day off at 3rd. Cowser makes Santander play more DH, Hays sits against a tough RHP here and there, and he can give Mullins a break. All these guys can play and coexist.

 

As far as pitching, I think we can compete with what we have. I would like to add, but I certainly don’t think it is hopeless with what we have. Who in the rotation is pitching to an unsustainable level?  Wells would be the only potential argument.

Oh wow… Wells is the only one pitching at a good level and he got shelled against NY again last night. We have faced the Yanks 5 times so far this year and have ZERO quality starts against them. Those are the types of lineups that we will have to face and defeat for 3 consecutive rounds in the AL. Like those odds? 

Now as far as our starters Fo going through the rest of this season, are you comfortable with the strain and stress that they have put on our bullpen due to the fact that all but one are “5 and dive” kind of guys. Do you think Cano and Bautista are likely to hold up have to pitch multiple innings this often throughout the season because we don’t have any starters except one who can give you any kind of consistent length?

[turtlebowl]

I would like to see them run Ortiz out to short the next few days until Urius is ready.  This will give the team a chance to look at him on a consistent basis to see what he could provide if he was the regular starting SS.  This also gives Mateo a few days to get a mental break because he probably needs a reset at this point.  

If Ortiz kills it in his SSS then maybe you rethink the plan.  If he doesn't then you happily move him back to AAA so he can get consistent reps. 

[ChuckS]

Hate to say it, but additional injuries to infielders and/or outfielders are bound to happen as we go through the season. 

We've been very fortunate on the injury front over the last two seasons.  Even the usual suspects, Santander and Hays, have remained relatively healthy.  There will come a need for Ortiz and Westburg.  Cowser has a place on the team now (once he's healthy) considering the number of starts we are giving to Vavra in RF. 

[btdart20]

I'd like to see Ortiz get the bulk of starts at SS in through the AS break.  4-5 starts a week.  We're already carrying Mateo, so why not use the time to break-in Ortiz.  We're talking about 25-30 games and 120ish PAs.  That's a fringy edge to an adjustment period.

And when Urias is ready, Vavra is the guy sent down.  

[deward]

 

Question answered