Infield Alignment

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Ok, this is a far cry from you saying “whenever he plays, it will be at second base”. That’s not true and it’s not what Elias said.

RZNJ and SG just agreed on something!

[DrungoHazewood]

3 hours ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

I keep hearing a future (or present) move of Holiday at 2B, Gunnar at SS and Westburg at 3B. Is this the best defensive alignment? I was thinking it might better with Westburg at 2B, Holiday at SS and Gunnar at 3B. What do y'all think? 

If I'm aligning an infield I prefer it to go northeast-southwest. That's the way most ballparks are built.

[Sports Guy]

11 minutes ago, Frobby said:

RZNJ and SG just agreed on something!

We also agree that neither of us likes the other one!  

[Just Regular]

I've speculated that at 2023 exits the Orioles may have told Coby Mayo to prepare as an outfielder this winter, and I know internet folk talk about it a lot, but have I missed Mike Elias or Matt Blood or Brandon Hyde make a public statement about Mayo moving off the dirt?

I mean they'll probably have to say something if/when OH community members literally see him practicing with Heston Kjerstad and Anthony Santander in a couple weeks.

First day of spring I still hope a nosy baseball journalist digs for how Mayo divided the hours of his defensive practice the last few months?

It still seems possible that in applying growth mindset as is his probable character (and amplified by that sweet sweet Club-recommended reading list), Coby Mayo relentlessly honed his 3B skills in recent months just like he's been doing much of his baseball life.

[Aristotelian]

37 minutes ago, Frobby said:

RZNJ and SG just agreed on something!

It took me being wrong to get them to agree. I'm happy to play that role to make everyone happy!

[kidrock]

4 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I believe they will settle in, at some point, with Westburg at second, Holliday at SS and Gunnar at third. I don’t know if that is this year, next year or the year after but eventually, I feel that’s where it ends up.

Mayo does come into play here as well but if he looks good enough in RF and first base, I think that’s what they do with him.

The one thing I do hope they eventually do is stop moving every one around and let these guys settle in at one spot. That’s not to say in freak occurrences you don’t move them if needs be but overall, this is your everyday spot. I feel like these guys will get into a better rhythm at the position when that happens.

Sports Guy - I like the alignment you have laid out and I agree that they should try to get to the point of not moving people all over the place.

A question for you: do you know (cant remember what Tony said) how well Holliday projects at short?  Does he project to have the range and arm?  Gunnar graded pretty well at short last year (I believe), but definitely looks to be a good fit at 3rd as well.

[Sports Guy]

43 minutes ago, kidrock said:

Sports Guy - I like the alignment you have laid out and I agree that they should try to get to the point of not moving people all over the place.

A question for you: do you know (cant remember what Tony said) how well Holliday projects at short?  Does he project to have the range and arm?  Gunnar graded pretty well at short last year (I believe), but definitely looks to be a good fit at 3rd as well.

The thought right now is that he can play SS but not at the level of Gunnar. Holliday’s arm isn’t as strong as you would like over there and there are varying opinions of his range, hands, etc…Law said the other day that he thinks Holliday is a better SS than Gunnar right now but I haven’t seen anyone else say that.

I tend to believe Holliday will be the best option long term and I happen to believe that Gunnar at third and Holliday at SS is the best combo for those 2 positions.

I also believe that some on here put Gunnar’s defense on a pedestal that it doesn’t belong. That’s not to say the defense isn’t good or even above average but reading some people on here and they seem to think he’s already GG caliber. I personally don’t see that. Some of the advanced defensive metrics do and some think he’s closer to average. I think he falls in the middle. He’s an above average SS but at his size, I think he only goes down from here..just a matter of when that happens and how well Holliday improves on his arm and overall defense as he gains more experience.

Edited February 9 by Sports Guy

[Aristotelian]

46 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The thought right now is that he can play SS but not at the level of Gunnar. Holliday’s arm isn’t as strong as you would like over there and there are varying opinions of his range, hands, etc…Law said the other day that he thinks Holliday is a better SS than Gunnar right now but I haven’t seen anyone else say that.

I tend to believe Holliday will be the best option long term and I happen to believe that Gunnar at third and Holliday at SS is the best combo for those 2 positions.

I also believe that some on here put Gunnar’s defense on a pedestal that it doesn’t belong. That’s not to say the defense isn’t good or even above average but reading some people on here and they seem to think he’s already GG caliber. I personally don’t see that. Some of the advanced defensive metrics do and some think he’s closer to average. I think he falls in the middle. He’s an above average SS but at his size, I think he only goes down from here..just a matter of when that happens and how well Holliday improves on his arm and overall defense as he gains more experience.

I have been leaning toward Holliday at 2B for a while now, but that was more because of non-stellar reports on his defense at short (rather than being wedded to Gunnar at SS). Gunnar has the tremendous arm and good range but we did see some erratic play there (like when he knocked out the cameraman).   

The other piece of the puzzle is that Mayo could make a bid for 3B soon. In that case, Gunnar pretty much has to stick at short and that leaves Holliday at 2B. 

We also had Ortiz in the picture until recently. Not that you build your team around Ortiz, but the reports on his defense were so good it seemed like SS would be the best way to maximize his skill set. Trading him does signal that they have confidence in Holliday to be a SS option.