What Elias' "Win Now Plan" means for players at AAA.

[wildcard]

6 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

If Santander is our DH then we have a massive hole in RF. Same if Santander is our RF. 
 

Vavra, Stowers, and O’Hearn, have squandered lots of ABs. Our DH is batting 9th. 

Stowers like Henderson is going through an adjustment period to major league pitching.  But both are likely to be good major league hitters.   Same thing is likely to happen to Westburg, Ortiz and Cowser.

[sportsfan8703]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Stowers like Henderson is going through an adjustment period to major league pitching.  But both are likely to be good major league hitters.   Same thing is likely to happen to Westburg, Ortiz and Cowser.

I agree on the adjustment but Gunnar is a little different. He’s just getting pitched around. Or pitchers are nibbling with breaking pitches hoping to catch corners. 
 

Stowers has no plan. He seems really fooled and just constantly down 0-2, 1-2 in the count. 

[Aristotelian]

1 minute ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I agree on the adjustment but Gunnar is a little different. He’s just getting pitched around. Or pitchers are nibbling with breaking pitches hoping to catch corners. 
 

Stowers has no plan. He seems really fooled and just constantly down 0-2, 1-2 in the count. 

And Stowers has big holes in his swing. Basically appears unable to hit a FB up and in.

[Sports Guy]

Teams don’t usually look to make big changes until Memorial Day. Let’s see where things stand then. 
 

A lot of stuff is GM speak, which can never be taken seriously. That said, Elias is a straight shooter and I tend to think the overall message is what WC is saying but a lot can change in a few weeks.

 

[Ohfan67]

On 5/10/2023 at 5:23 PM, Bahama O's Fan said:

So...the question is...does Elias and company believe the players currently on the major league roster give him a better chance to win than the ones in AAA?

The Orioles have the third best record in all of baseball. I think it’s safe to say that Elias thinks the current roster can win games. 

[bpilktree]

On 5/10/2023 at 7:46 PM, seak05 said:

Honestly Frazier has been playing pretty well, and had some of the teams best at bats in the Atlanta series. I’m not really convinced ortiz or westburg would provide that much of an immediate boost.

I think the most obvious weakness the orioles have right now are the abs going to stowers, maybe Mountcastle 

Mountcastle leads the team in runs, hits, homers and total bases.  He is 2nd in doubles and 2nd in RBI.   Yes he will have at bats that you wonder what he is swinging at or get frosted with his over aggressive approach and lack of walks but for the most part he is going to swing and hits the ball hard more often then not.  If he is our biggest issue at the plate we are going to have a good offensive season.  

[sportsfan8703]

Funny how we’re in “win now mode” but every young player has gotten a chance other than Westburg. The difference is it’s time to produce and not just get your name written in a lineup everyday. 
 

Westburg is the only one that has a gripe, but it’s his defense holding him back. Cowser will get here in June, but also there are worries about him and breaking balls. Look at how Gunnar and Stowers struggle with breaking balls. 
 

Isn’t this how you want hitters to break in?  Come up and hit in the bottom of the order in favorable matchups, all while playing defense?  They’re young, they should be good at defense. 

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Funny how we’re in “win now mode” but every young player has gotten a chance other than Westburg. The difference is it’s time to produce and not just get your name written in a lineup everyday. 
 

Westburg is the only one that has a gripe, but it’s his defense holding him back. Cowser will get here in June, but also there are worries about him and breaking balls. Look at how Gunnar and Stowers struggle with breaking balls. 
 

Isn’t this how you want hitters to break in?  Come up and hit in the bottom of the order in favorable matchups, all while playing defense?  They’re young, they should be good at defense. 

I don’t necessarily think Westburg is as good as Ortiz or Henderson defensively, but he’s no hack.  He’s made one error the entire season.  

[sportsfan8703]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I don’t necessarily think Westburg is as good as Ortiz or Henderson defensively, but he’s no hack.  He’s made one error the entire season.  

Westburg has a hard path because Gunnar, Mateo, Urias, and Ortiz, are not only good defenders, but they’re GG/Elite defenders, and they do that at multiple positions. So that’s already 4 guys for 3 spots. 
 

There are currently ABs that have gone to Vavra/Stowers/O’Hearn this year that those guys haven’t done much. That is where Westburg can impact this team this year. 
 

Even Cowser when ready with the bat, projects to be a premium defender in COF. 
 

Overall, I do think there are currently “shuttle” ABs available for Westburg, but nothing more than 2-3 times a week. We’ll see if Westburg gets the call mid next week when we run into some LH SP. 

[interloper]

I don't understand why this is some kind of surprise.

[emmett16]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

I don’t necessarily think Westburg is as good as Ortiz or Henderson defensively, but he’s no hack.  He’s made one error the entire season.  

……While playing 4 different positions. 

[emmett16]

5 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Westburg has a hard path because Gunnar, Mateo, Urias, and Ortiz, are not only good defenders, but they’re GG/Elite defenders, and they do that at multiple positions. So that’s already 4 guys for 3 spots. 
 

There are currently ABs that have gone to Vavra/Stowers/O’Hearn this year that those guys haven’t done much. That is where Westburg can impact this team this year. 
 

Even Cowser when ready with the bat, projects to be a premium defender in COF. 
 

Overall, I do think there are currently “shuttle” ABs available for Westburg, but nothing more than 2-3 times a week. We’ll see if Westburg gets the call mid next week when we run into some LH SP. 

that would make my day and I’d get tix to go see him play.  I love the Tides but am getting tired of seeing Jordan in Green.  Give the man his chance!  That said - like Gunnar, Adley, and eventually Cowser I think when they bring him up he will be here to stay and they won’t do the shuffle thing.  But what do I know

[Tony-OH]

On 5/10/2023 at 4:59 PM, Bemorewins said:

He an alternative, plausible perspective. It’s not in Elias best interest to reveal all of his true intentions/plans to the public.

Why would he?

This is what I get out of his press conferences. What is going to say about his current players other than they are all doing great? Is he really going to say, "You know, I messed up this offseason when I unnecessarily wasted $8 million of Angelos' money when I had multiple prospects ready to play at the major league level." 

We're all happy with the current record, but we do see weaknesses in his current roster that could easily be improved by mid 20-year old prospects with plenty of AAA time. 

Saying that, I'm not in a rush to change the current formula majorly since they are winning. Should Westburg be up at the major league level at this point, yes, he should. 

Right now his best chance for playing time is at DH, corner outfield, and spelling Gunnar against tough left-handers at 3B. Now I don't want him up here unless he's playing at least 5 times a week since I don't think you bring up a guy like Westburg to be a part-time or platoon player. 

Other good news in AAA is that Irvin has been pitching better and of course, Ortiz is waiting his opportunity there as well. Add in a great start by DL Hall, and there are plenty of options in roles that may need adjustment at some point. 

 

[interloper]

Elias knows he has incredible depth that most contending teams would kill for. He's going to trade some, he's going to call some up when there are injuries. But why change anything while they're winning? Hays and Santander give you a better chance than Stowers and Cowser right now, that's just a fact. We know that won't be true forever, of course. When one of those guys inevitably gets hurt, though, we'll have a stud prospect to plug in. Something most teams can't really say. Same is true for the infield. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by interloper

[NCRaven]

If Westburg could play league average or slightly better defense in the outfield corners, he’d be my Hays replacement for the future.