5-4 Start not horrible but should be better

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

This team? No

Next year's team probably does.

When I say this, I’m talking more about the overall idea of having 3 lefty OFers. I’m not saying you can’t do it but is there an overall issue with too many lefties?

I believe Mayo is going to end up in RF, 1st and DH. Eventually Basallo is up at first, C and DH.

Holliday is a lefty. Henderson is a lefty. Bradfield (if he makes it) is a lefty.

We would have Mayo, Westburg and maybe Norby as the only righties long term. There may not be enough balance there.

[RarityFlaherty]

5 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

But playing more talented players could mean less one run games.

They look like better hitters, but besides Holliday, they all look like they’ll always be worse defenders than what we currently have in the majors. Maybe we end up in more one run games because of poor defense and miscommunication. The bats might mitigate the poor defense, but if they take time to adjust to major league pitching, we’re probably losing a lot of games by more than one run. I think Holliday for Kemp is an easy move when Holliday is ready to start at 2B, but the rest aren’t as easy because we lose a lot on defense with the other guys.

[eddie83]

48 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Let me paint a rosy picture.   NONE of our hitters are off to incredibly hot starts.   Most are off to slow starts and a couple off to super cold starts. 90% of the time in baseball things start to even out.  As horrible as Austin Hays looks right now, the odds are greatly in favor of him getting hot fairly soon.   
 

Ryan Mountcastle (4 walks - 7 strikeouts) looks like 2023 2nd half Mountcastle.

O’Hearn looks like he won’t revert to KC O’Hearn.

Westburg starting to come around.

Cowser looks much better defensively this year and ready to take AB from Hays if necessary.

Mateo, not a total loser at the plate and helping keeping 2nd warm for Kid Holliday.

4 viable starters with Means ready to be the 5th by the end of the month.

Kimbrel looks GOOD.  Besides Baumann, the bullpen looks solid and Baumann has the stuff to turn it around.    
 

Bradish COULD be a big bonus.

We can’t figure out how to get the best 5 hitters in AAA into our lineup.   That’s called a good problem to have.   For a team with one of the lowest payrolls we have one of the best backup plans in baseball.

It’s a numbers game. How do you create space like you say. 
 

Holliday should be fairly easy. Unless it’s an injury, whether it’s Urias/Mateo or somebody else a trade will be required to open up a spot. 
 

I actually think the more Hays struggles the more opportunity it could create for Mayo. You would already have Santander, Mullins and Cowser. Plus O’Hearn at DH. 

[eddie83]

27 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

When I say this, I’m talking more about the overall idea of having 3 lefty OFers. I’m not saying you can’t do it but is there an overall issue with too many lefties?

I believe Mayo is going to end up in RF, 1st and DH. Eventually Basallo is up at first, C and DH.

Holliday is a lefty. Henderson is a lefty. Bradfield (if he makes it) is a lefty.

We would have Mayo, Westburg and maybe Norby as the only righties long term. There may not be enough balance there.

I like the idea of Mayo in RF. That said where does it leave Kjerstad? 
 

 

Short term if Mullins stays in CF then Cowser plays LF. Just feels like right now Kjerstad is waiting for an injury or next year assuming Santander leaves as a FA. 

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

I like the idea of Mayo in RF. That said where does it leave Kjerstad? 
 

 

Short term if Mullins stays in CF then Cowser plays LF. Just feels like right now Kjerstad is waiting for an injury or next year assuming Santander leaves as a FA. 

I think Kjerstad is also in RF (when Mayo is at first) and DH.

Long term, Adley doesn’t need to DH. He can catch and have the normal days off. Maybe you get his bat in there on occasion but basically the DH will be a rotation or Basallo, Mayo and Kjerstad. 
 

If Basallo can’t stay at C, this gets more complicated and a trade likely needs to be made.

[eddie83]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

I think Kjerstad is also in RF (when Mayo is at first) and DH.

Long term, Adley doesn’t need to DH. He can catch and have the normal days off. Maybe you get his bat in there on occasion but basically the DH will be a rotation or Basallo, Mayo and Kjerstad. 
 

If Basallo can’t stay at C, this gets more complicated and a trade likely needs to be made.

That would require Mountcastle moving on which is certainly possible. 
 

Short term -this year- I think Mayo in RF makes a ton of sense. The Orioles need Hays who I know isn’t a big splits guy to hit LHP at least. The more he struggles the more need for a RH bat. 

[interloper]

Our record last year at this time was 4-5.

EDIT: Fixed

Edited April 8 by interloper

[Say O!]

Coby Mayo has played exactly ZERO games in the OF in his minor league career.  Discussion of his viability out there is hugely premature and extremely unlikely to be a MLB possibility in 2024.  So far, the Os seem committed to assessing his capabilities at 3B, and for as much Os state preferences for positional versatility, I find that to be very revealing.

[eddie83]

3 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

That would require Mountcastle moving on which is certainly possible. 
 

Short term -this year- I think Mayo in RF makes a ton of sense. The Orioles need Hays who I know isn’t a big splits guy to hit LHP at least. The more he struggles the more need for a RH bat. 

Of course the issue with my scenario is who plays LF vs LHP? Would have to be Cowser with Santander/Mayo at RF/DH. Of course is he is on the team Hays is still going to play. 
 

Either way it’s way too early but something to think about down the road. 

[eddie83]

2 minutes ago, Say O! said:

Coby Mayo has played exactly ZERO games in the OF in his minor league career.  Discussion of his viability out there is hugely premature and extremely unlikely to be a MLB possibility in 2024.  So far, the Os seem committed to assessing his capabilities at 3B, and for as much Os state preferences for positional versatility, I find that to be very revealing.

I agree it’s premature. It’s just a thought. 
I’m completely get them wanting to see him at 3rd base to evaluate him. 

I’m general this team is more vulnerable in the OF than in the INF. You also could just leave Santander in RF and have Mayo some at DH. 
 

[Spy Fox]

8 minutes ago, interloper said:

Our record last year at this time was 5-4.

Worse than that-- 4-5 and having lost two series against division rivals. 

Of course then they won seven series in a row and were 21-10 by the time they visited Atlanta in early May. Hopefully this year's team can go on a similar run to cool any slow start concerns. 

[Sanfran327]

57 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Kemp has 7 plate appearances in 9 games.    You want to platoon Mountcastle?   How do you propose getting Stowers AB with Cowser, Mullins, Santander, and O’Hearn all batting LH and accounting for the OF and DH?

Don't want to platoon Mountcastle, but maybe he plays 5 games a week. O'Hearn is better in a limited role, IMO. Plenty of ABs to go around for Stowers, Mullins, and Cowser. Maybe you forgot that Santander is a switch hitter. Hays to sit vs RHPs and we have 3 LH bats in the OF and Santander DH'ing, assuming Stowers is a defensive upgrade in RF.

[Malike]

29th in the league in OBP and Gunnar and Westburg are 13-65 to start the year. Horrible defense, they need to figure it out.

[Sports Guy]

16 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

That would require Mountcastle moving on which is certainly possible. 
 

Short term -this year- I think Mayo in RF makes a ton of sense. The Orioles need Hays who I know isn’t a big splits guy to hit LHP at least. The more he struggles the more need for a RH bat. 

Mounty will get moved. I don’t have much doubt about that.

And yes, Mayo needs to be moved around. He will not be a third baseman this year, at least not more than a spot start here or there in the majors.

[Rbiggs2525]

When driving home yesterday I started to think about media relationships with players and coaches. The media travels with the team, stays at hotel, and goes down to spring training. Do we expect them to ask tough questions. For example did anyone ask Hyde why he batted Hays/Mullins in the 7th inning over Hearn/Cowser, vs RHP? Going into the inning I said you hit Cowser for Hays and Ohearn for Mullins, play Kemp in CF after the inning. 1-2 run innings are not enough with a bullpen knowing Kimbrel and Coulombe were out that game.

 Before the game I told the person I was watching with, I’d rather watch Cowser strike out 8 straight times than Hays play. Cowser was a top 100 prospect his entire professional career by all publications, and it is time to see if he sinks or swims.