Cedric Mullins

[Baltimorecuse]

4 minutes ago, BRobinsonfan said:

So if we don't use minor league stats to evaluate minor league talent, then why keep them?   

People want a crutch?  Keep in mind, I started this argument with someone who wanted to get rid of Urias for Cowser.  

[deward]

29 minutes ago, Malike said:

It's quite easy to armchair GM. Elias should have done this, Elias should have done that. I think the chink is the team played much better than he thought last year and he let it ride as they were in contention until the last week of the season. I feel like this season he didn't expect this team to take such a drastic jump and was hoping to get a better look at some guys and they just played crazy baseball through July 17th. 

Cowser hasn't hit a lick since he came up and his defense has been awful. Westburg hit when he came up and was pretty solid all around but he's not hitting right now and is 0-8 with 4K's in the  two games he's been in since the break, and I think they are going to start staggering the young guys and the veteran players as the grind continues.

They clearly think they have a chance at the division and it seems obvious that they aren't going to hand AB's to players on a daily basis who aren't producing and are playing bad defense.

They didn't cut McKenna after he cost them a game by dropping a fly ball that a little leaguer would have caught; I doubt they're passing judgement on Cowser based on a couple of bad plays in the field. People act like they haven't been watching and evaluating him all along since he entered the org. I'm sure they know if he has a problem on defense or if he just had a bad couple of days. 

As far as his hitting, he hasn't looked overmatched, he's kept his plate discipline, and he's made some hard contact that hasn't produced results. What exactly has he done wrong? 

[Malike]

3 minutes ago, deward said:

They didn't cut McKenna after he cost them a game by dropping a fly ball that a little leaguer would have caught; I doubt they're passing judgement on Cowser based on a couple of bad plays in the field. People act like they haven't been watching and evaluating him all along since he entered the org. I'm sure they know if he has a problem on defense or if he just had a bad couple of days. 

As far as his hitting, he hasn't looked overmatched, he's kept his plate discipline, and he's made some hard contact that hasn't produced results. What exactly has he done wrong? 

I never said he did anything wrong. I've said repeatedly that I'd like to see him play every day but clearly, this team thinks they have a much better chance at the WS than I do and while I might be on the "record be damned" train, they don't seem to be. His average exit velocity is lower than anyone who has played for the team this year but Hicks, Lester, Frazier, and Vavra. He's not really scalding the ball and he's hitting barely anything in the air.

Again, I'd rather he play every day but I have no doubt that right now he isn't likely the best option for a winning team. You can hide the bat until it develops, but you can't hide bad defense, which impacts the game in a big way as well. OAA in Left field 0, CF -1, RF 0. 

[Baltimorecuse]

20 minutes ago, deward said:

They didn't cut McKenna after he cost them a game by dropping a fly ball that a little leaguer would have caught; I doubt they're passing judgement on Cowser based on a couple of bad plays in the field. People act like they haven't been watching and evaluating him all along since he entered the org. I'm sure they know if he has a problem on defense or if he just had a bad couple of days. 

As far as his hitting, he hasn't looked overmatched, he's kept his plate discipline, and he's made some hard contact that hasn't produced results. What exactly has he done wrong? 

Dropping fly balls isn't a problem for you?  We'll just ignore he hasn't hit diddly and he fields like crap.  Let me ask you, what's left?  

But I made my judgement the first couple of games I watched him.  He'll never be more than middle of the road.  We have three much better outfielders now.  He won't replace any of them.  That's what I think.  

 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Baltimorecuse said:

Dropping fly balls isn't a problem for you?  We'll just ignore he hasn't hit diddly and he fields like crap.  Let me ask you, what's left?  

But I made my judgement the first couple of games I watched him.  He'll never be more than middle of the road.  We have three much better outfielders now.  He won't replace any of them.  That's what I think.  

 

[deward]

3 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

Dropping fly balls isn't a problem for you?  We'll just ignore he hasn't hit diddly and he fields like crap.  Let me ask you, what's left?  

But I made my judgement the first couple of games I watched him.  He'll never be more than middle of the road.  We have three much better outfielders now.  He won't replace any of them.  That's what I think.  

 

Good to know. Guess there's nothing to discuss here. 

[foxfield]

5 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

Dropping fly balls isn't a problem for you?  We'll just ignore he hasn't hit diddly and he fields like crap.  Let me ask you, what's left?  

But I made my judgement the first couple of games I watched him.  He'll never be more than middle of the road.  We have three much better outfielders now.  He won't replace any of them.  That's what I think.  

 

This is a perfectly fine opinion. I personally do not agree nor do I think the position is very well grounded. But there is nothing wrong with stating the opinion and why you have it. 
 

I’d bet a cold beer your judgement is off. 

[interloper]

8 minutes ago, Baltimorecuse said:

Dropping fly balls isn't a problem for you?  We'll just ignore he hasn't hit diddly and he fields like crap.  Let me ask you, what's left?  

But I made my judgement the first couple of games I watched him.  He'll never be more than middle of the road.  We have three much better outfielders now.  He won't replace any of them.  That's what I think.  

 

Pretty silly thing to do, muchacho. 

[Baltimorecuse]

1 minute ago, foxfield said:

This is a perfectly fine opinion. I personally do not agree nor do I think the position is very well grounded. But there is nothing wrong with stating the opinion and why you have it. 
 

I’d bet a cold beer your judgement is off. 

I'm not big on consensus thinking.  

[deward]

11 minutes ago, Malike said:

I never said he did anything wrong. I've said repeatedly that I'd like to see him play every day but clearly, this team thinks they have a much better chance at the WS than I do and while I might be on the "record be damned" train, they don't seem to be. His average exit velocity is lower than anyone who has played for the team this year but Hicks, Lester, Frazier, and Vavra. He's not really scalding the ball and he's hitting barely anything in the air.

Again, I'd rather he play every day but I have no doubt that right now he isn't likely the best option for a winning team. You can hide the bat until it develops, but you can't hide bad defense, which impacts the game in a big way as well. OAA in Left field 0, CF -1, RF 0. 

To me, the short-term question is all about whether Cowser can outperform Hicks. Hicks, over his last 21 games, has an OPS of .720; .625 over his last 17. Those numbers make me look at how he's played over the last three years and wonder if his O's renaissance will prove to be pretty short-lived. In that case, playing Cowser becomes in both the short and long-term interest of the team. As far as the defense, I'll be surprised if it turns out there is an actual problem there that needs to be hidden, especially if he's playing in a corner.

[Malike]

1 minute ago, deward said:

To me, the short-term question is all about whether Cowser can outperform Hicks. Hicks, over his last 21 games, has an OPS of .720; .625 over his last 17. Those numbers make me look at how he's played over the last three years and wonder if his O's renaissance will prove to be pretty short-lived. In that case, playing Cowser becomes in both the short and long-term interest of the team. As far as the defense, I'll be surprised if it turns out there is an actual problem there that needs to be hidden, especially if he's playing in a corner.

I agree it's going to be interesting to see how the Hicks thing plays out. He has the advantage of being a better CF and a switch hitter, who also gets on base, so we'll see how he fares down the stretch.

[Baltimorecuse]

10 minutes ago, interloper said:

Pretty silly thing to do, muchacho. 

If I'm wrong you can call me silly.  Maybe he'll breakout tonight against the Dodger's  rag arm.

[Spy Fox]

4 minutes ago, Malike said:

I agree it's going to be interesting to see how the Hicks thing plays out. He has the advantage of being a better CF and a switch hitter, who also gets on base, so we'll see how he fares down the stretch.

I'm not convinced yet Hicks is the better CF. The O's seem to trust him in CF but his statcast defense #s are middling to bad for the past several years. He hasn't posted a positive Outs Above Average since 2017. 

[Malike]

2 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

I'm not convinced yet Hicks is the better CF. The O's seem to trust him in CF but his statcast defense #s are middling to bad for the past several years. He hasn't posted a positive Outs Above Average since 2017. 

He's not elite but his OAA is positive in CF this year, not so much in the corners.

[BRobinsonfan]

1 hour ago, Baltimorecuse said:

People want a crutch?  Keep in mind, I started this argument with someone who wanted to get rid of Urias for Cowser.  

So if you don't evaluate players on their performance (statistics are just a measure of performance), then what do you evaluate them on?