Jorge Mateo 2024

[Sports Guy]

On a team that has a chance to win a WS and has several really good options in the minors, it’s almost criminal at how often McCann, Mateo  and other vets are playing. 
 

I get the idea of wanting depth but at some point, talent has to matter more.

[webbrick2010]

Feels like Elias/O's are trapped in a no man zone between the past (Mateo/Urias/Hays/Mullins, Mountcastle) and the future (Mayo, Norby, Holliday, Kierstadt, Basallo)

It was a fail not clearing the roster of a few veterans in the off season, and/or not trading prospects for pitching.

The O's seem stuck now, not wanting to upset the roster of a winning team, while staring down another quick post season exit due to a lack of elite pitching.

With only a few quality pitchers available I feel like Elias is going to largely stand pat and try again this winter to create a WS contending roster.

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

Feels like Elias/O's are trapped in a no man zone between the past (Mateo/Urias/Hays/Mullins, Mountcastle) and the future (Mayo, Norby, Holliday, Kierstadt, Basallo)

It was a fail not clearing the roster of a few veterans in the off season, and/or not trading prospects for pitching.

The O's seem stuck now, not wanting to upset the roster of a winning team, while staring down another quick post season exit due to a lack of elite pitching.

With only a few quality pitchers available I feel like Elias is going to largely stand pat and try again this winter to create a WS contending roster.

Yep, this was always coming.  I wanted them to trade off some vets in the offseason.

I get the idea of wanting depth..it’s important and I don’t want to undersell it but you know how talented these guys are and some kind of leap of faith was and is needed imo.

You aren’t replacing stars with these guys. You are replacing decent role players. It’s not some major drop off.

[LGOrioles]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

On a team that has a chance to win a WS and has several really good options in the minors, it’s almost criminal at how often McCann, Mateo  and other vets are playing. 
 

I get the idea of wanting depth but at some point, talent has to matter more.

Yeah Mateo is fine against LHP’s and as a pinch running option but he has a 48 wRC+ against RHP’s since the beginning of 2023. There is no scenario in which he should ever be starting against a RHP for a team with WS aspirations and the IF talent they have in the minors, yet over half his PA’s this year have been against a RHP. He’s a good piece to have and him and Urias when properly utilized are likely a 2-2.5 WAR platoon, but they could still do much better with one of those roster spots. 

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, LGOrioles said:

Yeah Mateo is fine against LHP’s and as a pinch running option but he has a 48 wRC+ against RHP’s since the beginning of 2023. There is no scenario in which he should ever be starting against a RHP for a team with WS aspirations and the IF talent they have in the minors, yet over half his PA’s this year have been against a RHP. He’s a good piece to have and him and Urias when properly utilized are likely a 2-2.5 WAR platoon, but they could still do much better with one of those roster spots. 

They get so enamored by his defense and speed that the black hole he is as a hitter just gets overlooked.

[LGOrioles]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

They get so enamored by his defense and speed that the black hole he is as a hitter just gets overlooked.

Yeah I think he can certainly be useful as shown earlier this year when they were platooning him more. And if he doesn’t start he’s a good piece off the bench. Just seems he can be utilized a little better than he has been so far this year. 

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, LGOrioles said:

Yeah I think he can certainly be useful as shown earlier this year when they were platooning him more. And if he doesn’t start he’s a good piece off the bench. Just seems he can be utilized a little better than he has been so far this year. 

He was utilized fine in April… it then they got excited because he was hitting and starting playing him all the time and, of course, he has been exposed..as anyone who has ever paid attention to him could predict.  They sat Urias, who was awful for 2 weeks this year, and just went with the shiney object instead of the one who can actually make contact with the baseball.

[Tony-OH]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

There are definite signs that Mateo’s annual swoon is now underway.  .190/.217/.293 over his last 19 games, and we’re starting to see some really ugly at bats.   

We all knew it would come, now we just have to see how much Hyde/Elias/Sigbot is willing to allow that hole to exist in order to have better defense. 

 

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

We all knew it would come, now we just have to see how much Hyde/Elias/Sigbot is willing to allow that hole to exist in order to have better defense. 

 

Gotta get Holliday healthy first. I know they could easily just go with Mayo but I think they are starting to tell us they don’t want Mayo at third up here, at least not on an everyday basis.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Gotta get Holliday healthy first. I know they could easily just go with Mayo but I think they are starting to tell us they don’t want Mayo at third up here, at least not on an everyday basis.

This is Mayo's four year in the system.  I'm not sure what gains on defense at third are out there for him. 

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

On a team that has a chance to win a WS and has several really good options in the minors, it’s almost criminal at how often McCann, Mateo  and other vets are playing. 
 

I get the idea of wanting depth but at some point, talent has to matter more.

I feel like the Orioles believe they can survive in the summer by playing these guys to keep other guys fresh in October. The Orioles have also faced a lot of lefties it seems, so that gives them that opportunity to start McCann and keep Rutschman fresh come September and October. 

The issue is McCann looks exactly like a veteran catcher in his last major league season when he's not really a major leaguer skill wise any longer.

As for Mateo, I agree with a statement you made either earlier or later in this thread where you said that the Orioles became enamored with his speed and defense at 2B. Right now, I believe his defense is what's keeping Mayo in AAA despite the fact that he belongs in the majors.

Personally, I'd rather have Mayo bat potential in the lineup over the better defense that Mateo provides over Westburg at 2B. 

At this point, I'm sending Cowser back to AAA and bringing up Mayo. Mateo can back up Mullins who has been hitting and I'm fine with the Kjerstad/Hays platoon LF, though I'd rather see Kjerstad get 80% of all playing time out there at this point.

Mateo is super sub that should get some playing time against lefties and late inning defensive subbing.

 

[Tony-OH]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Gotta get Holliday healthy first. I know they could easily just go with Mayo but I think they are starting to tell us they don’t want Mayo at third up here, at least not on an everyday basis.

I don't think we see Holliday back up here until he starts to play an effective 2B once again. He may not be back until September, though is he starts to playing very well they could push that up. 

[Safelykept]

2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I don't think we see Holliday back up here until he starts to play an effective 2B once again. He may not be back until September, though is he starts to playing very well they could push that up. 

the way its going their both going to be September call ups

[Ceciltrav]

30 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

They get so enamored by his defense and speed that the black hole he is as a hitter just gets overlooked.

You think Mateo can play 3rd base as well?  If so, no reason to have Urias at that point?

[Sports Guy]

8 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I don't think we see Holliday back up here until he starts to play an effective 2B once again. He may not be back until September, though is he starts to playing very well they could push that up. 

Right..that’s what I mean by we need him healthy. 

We just don’t know when he starts to play second base again. They will not bring him up before that happens and he shows he can do it pain free.