What do we do about Jorge Mateo?

[wildcard]

2nd half Injuries and tiredness has set in with the O's.   Mullins and Hicks are on the IL.  Wells and Cano are losing effectiveness because of tired arms. Gunnar is out for a couple of days with a sore back.   Rookie replacement Cowser is  hitting for 448 OPS while he adjusts to the majors.

I doubt the O's DFA Mateo because they don't know where the next injury will hit.  He has an 792 OPS vs lefties, he can pinch run and play defense.

My bet is that he will be in the lineup tonight playing SS vs a lefty starter.

Edited July 26, 2023 by wildcard

[TommyPickles]

If Gunnar is out for a few days (gulp), I’m fine with a starting infield of:

vs RHP:

1B- O’Hearn (.864 OPS)

2B- Frazier (.750 OPS) 

SS- Westburg (.689 OPS) 

3B- Urias (.782 OPS)

vs LHP:

1B- Mountcastle (1.043 OPS)

2B- Westburg (.863 OPS)

SS- Mateo (.792 OPS)

3B- Urias (.573 OPS)

 

[TopGunnar]

Jorge Mateo is actually really hurting this team. Since he doesn’t get on base, his value on the bases is minimal. With his current defense, his total value is basically a negative. I don’t know what they’ll do but he really shouldn’t be playing. 

[webbrick2010]

Joey Ortiz is the answer

Does Mateo have options, if so time to stash him at AAA for insurance against injuries

[Moose Milligan]

27 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

 

Hell, most people on this site thought he was going to post an 800+ OPS after the way he started the year.

Sort of.  

I'm not gonna get into a @Can_of_cornsemantics debate with you, though.  

 

 

[Moose Milligan]

12 minutes ago, wildcard said:

2nd half Injuries and tiredness has set in with the O's.  

I agree, going 6-4 over the last 10 and wrestling first place away from Tampa must be exhausting.  

 

[dzorange]

10 hours ago, Frobby said:

Adam Frazier has a league average OPS that is above average for a 2B.   He does a lot of situational things well.  Mateo is a guy you can bring in late in the game to blow a key defensive play.

Frazier has a good approach at the plate and is historically an above average defensive player. For whatever reason his defensive stats have been poor this year, but I think that's an anomaly and he'd be productive situationally in the playoffs. If his defensive numbers looked better this season, I don't think people would complain about Frazier. You could do a lot worse with a bench guy or a spot starter. With that said, they have Urias in a similar role and I prefer Ramon overall.

Mateo is far worse than these two guys, especially now that he's not bringing any value defensively.

I don't really blame Hyde or the Orioles for playing him. They have to see what they got with him. He hasn't developed this year or been able to match his defense from last year. Time to move on from him now.

[dzorange]

21 minutes ago, wildcard said:

2nd half Injuries and tiredness has set in with the O's.   Mullins and Hicks are on the IL.  Wells and Cano are losing effectiveness because of tired arms. Gunnar is out for a couple of days with a sore back.   Rookie replacement Cowser is  hitting for 448 OPS while he adjusts to the majors.

I doubt the O's DFA Mateo because they don't know where the next injury will hit.  He has an 792 OPS vs lefties, he can pinch run and play defense.

My bet is that he will be in the lineup tonight playing SS vs a lefty starter.

Has Cano really been that ineffective lately? 

Is Wells tired or is he just not actually as good as he's been this year? It's just a couple of bad starts. He's not an ace.

Edited July 26, 2023 by dzorange

[dzorange]

8 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I agree, going 6-4 over the last 10 and wrestling first place away from Tampa must be exhausting.  

 

Yes but they lost their most recent game against a decent team on the road by one run.

Edited July 26, 2023 by dzorange

[RZNJ]

10 hours ago, eddie83 said:

Yeah. To see if ball was caught. It’s a natural reaction. He should not have looked back after he rounded bag. I get the frustration over the play but it’s not like he was out by 15 feet. 

If we’re talking about Frazier he would have been safe by 15 feet if he didn’t slow down into 2B.

[Mooreisbetter27]

12 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Sort of.  

I'm not gonna get into a @Can_of_cornsemantics debate with you, though.  

 

 

TBF, some clown actually though he'd OPS over 1.000

[HakunaSakata]

38 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

O'Hearn says hello.

But I don't think anyone here really overrated Mateo.  I think a lot of people (myself included) really liked him for what he was; great/elite defense (Fielding Bible Award) and elite speed.  And when he went on one of his tears like he did last season and earlier this year, we all wondered who he truly was, which was fair.  That whole "toe tap" video on MLB Network didn't do anything to dissuade people in thinking he'd turned some type of a corner.

You were right (shocking, I know) to point out that if his defense slipped at all he'd lose value...and the defense has slipped.  I didn't think it would slip this bad due to the fact that he just turned 28.  However, I would argue that I don't think his range has diminished all that much, if at all...the errors he's made recently have seemed to have been more in line with basic fundamentals and focus.  

So I don't think anyone here really overrated him, there have been cries for Westburg/Ortiz ever since the offseason.  I was fine with letting Mateo start the season as the full time SS with the caveat that if he tanked that he should be replaced.  He's been awful for awhile now and the change needs to be made.

Dude, I got absolutely roasted by folks when I expressed concern (very early in the season) about the team possibly hindering Henderson's growth by DHing him so often (so they could play Mateo). People were vehemently all in on Mateo and it was baffling to me given his limited track record of success. I also remember people arguing that Mateo was part of this team's future in the same breath as players like Henderson and Rutschman. Can you even imagine? 

[Moose Milligan]

8 minutes ago, dzorange said:

Yes but they lost their most recent game against a decent team on the road by one run.

That doesn't mean anything.

 

[Moose Milligan]

4 minutes ago, Mooreisbetter27 said:

TBF, some clown actually though he'd OPS over 1.000

Yeah, well, someone didn't really take it seriously.

[dzorange]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

That doesn't mean anything.

 

It was sarcasm

Edited July 26, 2023 by dzorange