Jordan Westburg’s D

[Aristotelian]

20 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

If the Orioles want to go that route then I would be shopping Urias at the trade deadline. Maybe Elias doesn't want to go too rookie heavy and will hold onto Urias until the season concludes before shopping him.

Urias could be part of a trade package to land an elite bullpen arm. A quality reliever to bridge the gap from the starting rotation to Cano/Bautista would be a huge boost.

I would have traded Urias in the offseason. No idea what Elias is thinking, but yes, Urias would become expendable to shift to deep bench if we have Holliday, Gunnar, Ortiz, and Westburg all on the roster healthy and succeeding. I have to think the odds are pretty strong that something happens doesn't go according to plan, in which case Urias could factor back into the picture. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

11 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I would have traded Urias in the offseason. No idea what Elias is thinking, but yes, Urias would become expendable to shift to deep bench if we have Holliday, Gunnar, Ortiz, and Westburg all on the roster healthy and succeeding. I have to think the odds are pretty strong that something happens doesn't go according to plan, in which case Urias could factor back into the picture. 

I might trade Ortiz and keep Urias as a super sub mostly because Ortiz should have more trade value.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Not sure how sample size affects it, but Westburg is in the 94th percentile for sprint speed on Statcast. His instincts look good, sure handed, enough arm. He does’t seem like he’s a flashy or particularly fluid athlete like Ortiz or Gunnar and he is on the taller side, but so far he looks much more like a plus defender than a potential liability to me. Night and day compared to Frazier.

Hard to reconcile with all the scouting reports. Plenty thought he could handle 2B/3B but others were more negative, and I don’t recall many that felt his 2B/3B defense would actually be an asset. Did he get better? Is this just a small sample and we’re going to see more defensive limitations as time goes on? Or were the negative scouting reports just off base?

[AnythingO's]

3 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

Hard to reconcile with all the scouting reports. Plenty thought he could handle 2B/3B but others were more negative, and I don’t recall many that felt his 2B/3B defense would actually be an asset. Did he get better? Is this just a small sample and we’re going to see more defensive limitations as time goes on? Or were the negative scouting reports just off base?

Tony@OH had a comment in some other thread that JH had improved his defense significantly sine last year. He is a complete ball player.

[Billy F-Face3]

The Ball Girl says she loves the D.

[Sanity Check]

9 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

I would have traded Urias in the offseason. No idea what Elias is thinking, but yes, Urias would become expendable to shift to deep bench if we have Holliday, Gunnar, Ortiz, and Westburg all on the roster healthy and succeeding. I have to think the odds are pretty strong that something happens doesn't go according to plan, in which case Urias could factor back into the picture. 

Given the Orioles record to this point in 2023, I think I'm okay with what Elias has been thinking.  I don't think Urias has cost us any wins.  And since Urias has carried over his glove play from last year and is on a bit of a heater with the bat, maybe he's added some value this season.  Honestly, I don't think he or Mateo would have gotten much in a trade during the past offseason, but that's just my opinion.

[ChosenOne21]

I definitely think he can play a perfectly fine 2B. He could probably, at least for now, cover SS without being an embarrassment. I'm agnostic on his 3B play.

Most of his value will likely come from his being an excellent hitter for these positions

[sportsfan8703]

Joey Ortiz’s D is better. That’s what he wrote when he signed my baseball. Weird. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by sportsfan8703

[Aristotelian]

34 minutes ago, Sanity Check said:

Given the Orioles record to this point in 2023, I think I'm okay with what Elias has been thinking.  I don't think Urias has cost us any wins.  And since Urias has carried over his glove play from last year and is on a bit of a heater with the bat, maybe he's added some value this season.  Honestly, I don't think he or Mateo would have gotten much in a trade during the past offseason, but that's just my opinion.

Absolutely, Urias has been great. Just saying what I would have done. I don't think it has really hurt us or Urias's trade value.

[Tony-OH]

I've said it a few times in other threads but the one thing I was impressed with was the improvement in his defense this year. He still doesn't throw real well moving away from his target (across his body) but he's really cut down the bad errors and has been very consistent all year at every position really. 

I've really thought his ability to play 2B has been a highlight for him so far at the big league level.

[foxfield]

15 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Probably could have saved the O's/Angelos $8 million by having Westburg start the season  in Baltimore.

Yes but you would not have been able to enjoy 2029 Westburg

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Joey Ortiz’s D is better. That’s what he wrote when he signed my baseball. Weird. 

That's funny, but in all reality, Ortiz is better at every position than Westburg. That's not a hit on Westburg, but more of how good Ortiz's glove is overall.

[Frobby]

I always felt that people misinterpreted reports that Ortiz and Gunnar were better than Westburg defensively as meaning that Westburg was either only adequate or below average.  He’s pretty solid if you ask me.  It’s just that Ortiz is really outstanding, and Gunnar is really good.  

[Sports Guy]

I’ll take Westburg at second, Ortiz at SS and Gunnar at third for the rest of the season please.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Sports Guy

[Aglets]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I’ll take Westburg at second, Ortiz at SS and Gunnar at third for the rest of the season please.

Bold prediction time!

I predict Joey Ortiz is no longer in the Orioles organization after August 1 of this year.  I think that is the best explanation for how things have played out thus far in 2023.