Jud Fabian, 2024

[DirtyBird]

After a 2-4 game last night with 0 K, he has an .825 OPS.

Really pulling for this guy to keep the K’s down this season and get a promotion within a couple months.

[baltfan]

Fabian and Bradfield Jr. are definitely tests of the development abilities of the Orioles.  I will be very interested to see how this plays out.  

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, baltfan said:

Fabian and Bradfield Jr. are definitely tests of the development abilities of the Orioles.  I will be very interested to see how this plays out.  

Agreed but I’m not sure Bradfield bought into the program.  He may have to taste some failure first before he buys in.  Just a theory.

[baltfan]

2 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Agreed but I’m not sure Bradfield bought into the program.  He may have to taste some failure first before he buys in.  Just a theory.

Didn't it take a bit before Fabian's swing was overhauled?

[RZNJ]

5 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Didn't it take a bit before Fabian's swing was overhauled?

I  don’t know anything about that.  As far as Bradfield goes, I think he needs to get a lot stronger even if it’s at the expense of a little speed.  I think  Joey Ortiz is a great  comp.

“In that lost season of 2020, Joey Ortiz came back a more physical player then in 2019," Britton said. "I think that jump-started his career. He came into the organization as a plus defender and he started to get more physicality and he started to do more damage at the plate. I love Joey and I love the story. Kind of a hidden gem, commits to the weight room and puts himself on that track. Really good glove and really excited to see him on this list. Might have come out of left field for some, not in our organization, but well deserved.

“When he came back for spring training after that 2020 year, he had some of the best exit velocity in the organization. Credit to him for putting in the work to transform his body. Really excited to see him in a couple of weeks."

Britton said some of the adjustments Ortiz made to get the ball in the air more and drive it more consistently really took hold.

“He got his swing on plane more," he said. "At times it could be a little steep to the ball. Giving himself some length through the zone so he is not just sitting on fastballs and only able to hit a fastball. He has some adjustability in there. But our hitting department like (Anthony) Villa has been tremendous down here and obviously (Ryan) Fuller was a part of that before as well. Really fun to watch him come on as a hitter."

[joelala]

20 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Agreed but I’m not sure Bradfield bought into the program.  He may have to taste some failure first before he buys in.  Just a theory.

Not an attack, but what evidence do you have for the hunch?

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, joelala said:

Not an attack, but what evidence do you have for the hunch?

As usual, maybe I’m reading too much into these quotes but that’s the way I think.  I think the Orioles emphasize hitting the weight room and launch angles.  Just read the Joey Ortiz piece.  Ortiz, although not a speedster, had ZERO power his first summer in pro ball and hit the weight room and made the swing adjustments.  My interpretation of the below quotes is that Bradfield doesn’t want to change what’s been successful for him to this point.  Here is part of an interview from MASN blog.

differently.

“I look at angles, but my angles are a little different than most guys,” he said. “The lower flights are going to benefit me. I’m going to run into some baseballs that will get hit at a higher angle and those are going to be good every once in a while.”

While we may eventually see more pop develop for Bradfield, for now he is content to play to his strengths. And to play the game that got him this far.

“That’s who I am. That’s who I am,” he said twice, almost for further emphasis. “I’m going to get bigger and get stronger. But I feel like when that time comes, it’s going to happen naturally. I’m not going to try and force anything.

[Frobby]

As to Fabian, 9 K’s in 28 PA (32.1%) isn’t good, but it’s within the zone of tolerance for a player if he performs well in other areas, and it’s a notable improvement over Fabian’s 36.8% K rate at Bowie last year.   It’s too early to call it a trend though.   

[joelala]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

As usual, maybe I’m reading too much into these quotes but that’s the way I think.  I think the Orioles emphasize hitting the weight room and launch angles.  Just read the Joey Ortiz piece.  Ortiz, although not a speedster, had ZERO power his first summer in pro ball and hit the weight room and made the swing adjustments.  My interpretation of the below quotes is that Bradfield doesn’t want to change what’s been successful for him to this point.  Here is part of an interview from MASN blog.

differently.

“I look at angles, but my angles are a little different than most guys,” he said. “The lower flights are going to benefit me. I’m going to run into some baseballs that will get hit at a higher angle and those are going to be good every once in a while.”

While we may eventually see more pop develop for Bradfield, for now he is content to play to his strengths. And to play the game that got him this far.

“That’s who I am. That’s who I am,” he said twice, almost for further emphasis. “I’m going to get bigger and get stronger. But I feel like when that time comes, it’s going to happen naturally. I’m not going to try and force anything.

Thanks. Agreed, he sounds like he wants to shoot his shot with his game right now. 

[Frobby]

Just now, joelala said:

Thanks. Agreed, he sounds like he wants to shoot his shot with his game right now. 

Question is, is that what the O’s think as well?  We don’t know.  

[joelala]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

Question is, is that what the O’s think as well?  We don’t know.  

Absolutely. He’ll be a really interesting player to watch develop 

[Frobby]

Nice night for Fabian, 4 for 4 with a double and a walk.  Now hitting .297/.395/.486, although weirdly he’s only had one RBI on the young season in 10 games.  At least he’s scoring runs, with 9 in 10 games.  K rate holding steady at 32.4%.   

[CaptainRedbeard]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

Nice night for Fabian, 4 for 4 with a double and a walk.  Now hitting .297/.395/.486, although weirdly he’s only had one RBI on the young season in 10 games.  At least he’s scoring runs, with 9 in 10 games.  K rate holding steady at 32.4%.   

I think the K rate is 27.9% after the 4-4 game and your page hadn’t updated yet? 

I wish we could see his whiff, chase, and in-zone/chase contact rates. Those add a lot of context to a ~30% K rate. 

Not based on anything scientific, but I feel like if Fabian gets to around a 25% K rate at AA this year, he moves up to AAA at some point and has a decent chance of eventually being below 35% in the MLB level. If he does then I think he’s going to be a nice 4th/5th OF type, play vs LHP and pinch run / defensive replacement. 

[RZNJ]

41 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

I think the K rate is 27.9% after the 4-4 game and your page hadn’t updated yet? 

I wish we could see his whiff, chase, and in-zone/chase contact rates. Those add a lot of context to a ~30% K rate. 

Not based on anything scientific, but I feel like if Fabian gets to around a 25% K rate at AA this year, he moves up to AAA at some point and has a decent chance of eventually being below 35% in the MLB level. If he does then I think he’s going to be a nice 4th/5th OF type, play vs LHP and pinch run / defensive replacement. 

Time will tell but when I watch Peyton Burdick with Norfolk he sells out for power way more than Fabian and he’s been able to have an extended cup of coffee in MLB and Fabian might be a better defender.

Rooting for more nights like last night even if the home run numbers suffer a little.

[DirtyBird]

All this K rate talk. Seems the original thread title with “K Watch” was relevant. 
Sorry if the mods were offended.