What do you think Mateo’s final 2023 OPS will be?

[RVAOsFan]

Wow, glad I didn't vote on this one.  

Honestly, who cares where he finishes at this point, I just want someone to replace him as the starting short stop.

[Frobby]

19 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Does he end the year over 700?

I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but it’s mathematically unlikely.  He was at .626 going into today, with the season exactly 4/9 over.   To end at .700, he’d have to be at about .759 for the remainder of the year.  

I’ve said it before, but it’s truly amazing how drastically the switch flipped the moment the calendar went from April to May.  

 

[Sports Guy]

13 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but it’s mathematically unlikely.  He was at .626 going into today, with the season exactly 4/9 over.   To end at .700, he’d have to be at about .759 for the remainder of the year.  

I’ve said it before, but it’s truly amazing how drastically the switch flipped the moment the calendar went from April to May.  

 

Well if he continues to get at bats and has another 3ish week scorching stretch, he gets close but I would say the likelihood of him backing that up with just mere mediocrity is unlikely.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Sports Guy

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Well if he continues to get at bats and has another 3ish week scorching stretch, he gets close but I would say the likelihood of him back that up with just mere mediocrity is unlikely.

I’ve pretty much given up guessing what Mateo will do next.  As you alluded to here, a big question is whether he remains a full time player much longer.  It’s harder to pull up your numbers if you’re having fewer at bats.  So far the O’s have been patient, but we know they have other alternatives.  

[AnythingO's]

I don't think he can go .759 over the next 90 games or so but I wouldn't bet against him throwing off another 4 week spell of .850+ to get to .700 before fading. To me it's impossible to predict where he settles in. He worked hard last summer to change his approach and had his 6+ week heater before fading in Sept. Then he worked on approach in offseason and was scorching in April. Now he is colder than ever, seems to be pressing, and is opening up. What he is now as a hitter is not what he was before last summer, it's worse production wise. At the same time I think he is close to another surge. That would be 3 heaters within 1 season worth of games while he tries to remake himself at the MLB level, I am with ME, he keeps getting regular ABs for another 1-2 months. They need to look at another position to fix at the moment like COF.

[OriolesMagic83]

I wouldn't be surprised to see him under a ,600 OPS by the end of the year.  At the end of April that would have been unthinkable even laughable.  It's just embarrassing to see him flail away at pitches a foot off the plate or barely off the ground.  He needs to go to Sarasota for a month, but no major leaguer w/o options would agree to that.

[Flash- bd]

I remember voting .750-.799 thinking I was being rather conservative / pessimistic! 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

24 minutes ago, Flash- bd said:

I remember voting .750-.799 thinking I was being rather conservative / pessimistic! 

I think, I voted that range too figuring Mateo was going to correct and he did. Mateo corrected to the point he’s worse at the plate than 2022.

Mateo is good with glove and great speed, but he’s just not an everyday player with the other options available at the Orioles’ disposal.

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by OsFanSinceThe80s

[waroriole]

27 minutes ago, Flash- bd said:

I remember voting .750-.799 thinking I was being rather conservative / pessimistic! 

Yeah I voted for that too. Spring optimism I guess. 

[Aristotelian]

If you zoom out, he was at .646 last year and is now at .620 this year and .640 for his career. I think we have to assume that is who he is. No matter how many times I tell myself I will never buy into small sample sizes, it is just too hard to resist. Definitely learned my lesson on this one.

I wonder if he could be more productive in a platoon role to take way the slider in the dirt from RHP's. 

[deward]

Re-reading this thread would be funny if it wasn't so frustrating. Since May 1st, Mateo's line is .160/.190/.191. Just....nothing. No power, no walks. He's not actually striking out as much as you might expect, with 39 k's in 139 PA (28% k/pa). He's just not making any hard contact worth mentioning. What's really frustrating are all the assumptions that his OPS couldn't possibly drop below .700 because the team would surely bench him and play other options in that case. Instead, he's still running out there most nights while Ortiz sits on the bench and watches and Westburg continues to toil away in Norfolk. You'd think it wouldn't be considered a wise allocation of team plate appearances to keep letting him stumble around in the dark looking for another hot streak, but Elias clearly feels otherwise.

[Baltimorecuse]

I like listening to Jim Palmer because he has an encyclopedic memory, and he is a lifetime student of the game he clearly loves like a fan.  

I can't count the times I've heard Palmer say what you look for is steady gradual improvement.  I agree.  I have Mateo listed as my favorite O.  However, I cannot countenance a player who isn't trying to improve his skills.  I see no effort on Mateo's part to get better at the plate.