Hicks and Mullins back this week…what happens with the roster?

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, tntoriole said:

You didn’t want Frazier to be signed at all and you along with many here have  said throughout that you wanted him replaced by  Ortiz, Westburg,  or the fan behind the dugout.   I disagreed then and throughout and now. 
 

Hicks made substantial contributions when Mullins went down.. maybe he falls off or maybe with a rest break he again streaks .. I am fine with him being the backup 4th outfielder unless he performs say like Cowser has. 

 

I have been done with the Elias obsession with Mateo for some time. I thought he was fixable but isn’t.   As his defense has declined, I would not keep him for speed alone.  I think they want to still try to fix him and not DFA him. 

And Westburg has been better in a shorter period of time than Frazier. We likely would have been better off the whole season with Westburg vs Frazier.  Frazier hasn’t been worth his contract. His power is better than expected but the OBP and defense have been worse.

Hicks was good for a few weeks..pretty much terrible since.

[Sports Guy]

23 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Unfortunately, it looks like you can say the same of Cowser.  I’ve been very disappointed in his defense in CF.

I haven’t been because I never thought he was a CFer. Square peg round hole.

I have been disappointed in his COF defense though although I think he’s getting more comfortable and statcast rates his arm highly so far.

[Sports Guy]

16 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I know we are beating this to death and don't expect to convince you, but over any timeframe, whether it is the last 50 AB's or 100 AB's or 1000 AB's, Hicks has easily outperformed what Cowser has shown so far. He's hit .784 for us, .695 for the year. Even with .642 last year, if you conservatively put Hicks' expectation over/under at .650, could you honestly say you expect Cowser to exceed that right now? Hicks has produced 0.6 WAR for us, so he has contributed. Even at 0.0 WAR for the year, that exceeds Cowser. Defensively, I'd call it a wash at best.

Finally, in addition to not being a switch hitter, the other thing that works against Cowser is the option. If Hicks is as terrible as you think over the next month, we can always call Cowser back for 3-4 weeks. If we get rid of Hicks, he is gone.

You have to be taking a gigantic leap of faith to believe that Cowser will turn things around right now. It is impossible to argue with faith, either you believe or you don't.  

 

Yes it’s a giant leap of faith to expect an advanced hitter who is a top 15 prospect in the game to get better as he gains more experience and be better than a declining vet whose team couldn’t wait to pay him a lot of money to leave.

Yep, giant leap of faith. 

FFs, the patience of people and their awful inability to evaluate young talent is insane. You would think you guys would learn not to judge guys so quickly but here we are.

[24fps]

16 minutes ago, Getz said:

Glad they didn't send Cowser down.

Yeah, me too.  Time for him to change gears though.

[Sports Guy]

It’s so great to have Mullins back. Glad they gave him some extra at bats down in Bowie too.

Just a different team with him and when he is going good, which has been the case for most of the year.

I wonder if they put him back in lead off? Adley has done well in that spot. They did have Mullins hitting down in the lineup a little more than in the past but still, it will be interesting to see how they do things.

We just saw that Houston lineup and how hard it was to navigate that top 4.

Edited August 11, 2023 by Sports Guy

[Aristotelian]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

Yes it’s a giant leap of faith to expect an advanced hitter who is a top 15 prospect in the game to get better as he gains more experience and be better than a declining vet whose team couldn’t wait to pay him a lot of money to leave.

Yep, giant leap of faith. 

FFs, the patience of people and their awful inability to evaluate young talent is insane. You would think you guys would learn not to judge guys so quickly but here we are.

I emphasized right now. I am absolutely willing to give Cowser a long leash and even willing to see him back this year. I don't know why your patience for Cowser doesn't extend to Hicks, who has actually shown the ability to hit a major league home run. Honestly I would not even be opposed to sticking with Cowser, I just don't think he is the better option right now. 

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Aristotelian said:

I emphasized right now. I am absolutely willing to give Cowser a long leash and even willing to see him back this year. I don't know why your patience for Cowser doesn't extend to Hicks, who has actually shown the ability to hit a major league home run. Honestly I would not even be opposed to sticking with Cowser, I just don't think he is the better option right now. 

If you don’t understand why I have the patience with Cowser and why I don’t care we drop Hicks, it tells me that you have zero idea how to evaluate Cowser, how to read a scouting report and that you have paid zero attention to Hicks for most of the last 3 years, especially his time here since that first few weeks ended.

Thats my answer to you. If you continue to want to scratch your head about it, that’s a you problem not a me problem. Either way, you don’t have to keep asking the same question over and over again because it’s been the same answer and it’s the same answer in basically any conversation regarding up and coming, young top prospect vs declining almost out of the league vet player.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

It’s so great to have Mullins back. Glad they gave him some extra at bats down in Bowie too.

Just a different team with him and when he is going good, which has been the case for most of the year.

I wonder if they put him back in lead off? Adley has done well in that spot. They did have Mullins hitting down in the lineup a little more than in the past but still, it will be interesting to see how they do things.

We just saw that Houston lineup and how hard it was to navigate that top 4.

I would keep Mullins towards the bottom until he’s hitting well.  .150 BA in his 4 rehab games, and he started very slowly when he came back from his last IL stint.  Let him settle in, then move him up when the bat heats up.  

[interloper]

Just now, Frobby said:

I would keep Mullins towards the bottom until he’s hitting well.  .150 BA in his 4 rehab games, and he started very slowly when he came back from his last IL stint.  Let him settle in, then move him up when the bat heats up.  

I almost don't care if Mullins hits. I'm just glad to have some professional CF defense out there again and the ability to have a half decent AB. 

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I would keep Mullins towards the bottom until he’s hitting well.  .150 BA in his 4 rehab games, and he started very slowly when he came back from his last IL stint.  Let him settle in, then move him up when the bat heats up.  

Yea that’s fine but my point is more about overall, not tonight. 

[Aristotelian]

9 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

If you don’t understand why I have the patience with Cowser and why I don’t care we drop Hicks, it tells me that you have zero idea how to evaluate Cowser, how to read a scouting report and that you have paid zero attention to Hicks for most of the last 3 years, especially his time here since that first few weeks ended.

Thats my answer to you. If you continue to want to scratch your head about it, that’s a you problem not a me problem. Either way, you don’t have to keep asking the same question over and over again because it’s been the same answer and it’s the same answer in basically any conversation regarding up and coming, young top prospect vs declining almost out of the league vet player.

You have engaged in the back and forth and pushed repeatedly for Cowser. I'm happy to call it a day if you are. 

[tntoriole]

28 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

And Westburg has been better in a shorter period of time than Frazier. We likely would have been better off the whole season with Westburg vs Frazier.  Frazier hasn’t been worth his contract. His power is better than expected but the OBP and defense have been worse.

Hicks was good for a few weeks..pretty much terrible since.

Yeah all he does is keep making game winning plays. 

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, tntoriole said:

Yeah all he does is keep making game winning plays. 

Yep, .3 fWAR just screams winning plays!  Lol. So delusional.

[LookitsPuck]

Very surprised Cowser wasn't sent down. His defense has been lackluster even in the corner OF spots, and his bat and approach has gotten worse. I really don't understand the value of keeping him up at this point over McKenna. But maybe they just want a couple more looks until Hicks is back. I'm super high on Cowser, but you can't keep running him out there or even clogging up a roster spot. At least with McKenna you get speed, defense, bunting ability, the occasional hit. I'm just not sure what Cowser is bringing to the club this year. 

[spleen1015]

The really unfortunate thing about all of this is that Hicks is even in the conversation. He never should have been signed to begin with. All it accomplished was taking development time away from players who've earned it.