Albert Suarez 2024

[RZNJ]

56 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Not a chance. Someone will take a look at him in their pen if the Orioles try to move him now. Somebody will ultimately need to be sent down, go on the Jimenez pothole IL, or get DFA'd. 

 

Yohan Ramírez is low man on the totem pole but in a true meritocracy Mike Baumann would be vulnerable.  Jacob Webb has done a nice job so far but I saw a 90 mph and nothing higher than 93 mph yesterday.  I’d put him in that group of not totally secure.  
 

Suarez seems like he could be a high leverage nugget if he can’t last in the rotation.  All things being equal, if Bradish comes back, prefer to see Wells in the rotation and Suarez in the 7th and 8th inning role unless Suarez can consistently do a 5 and dive like yesterday.

P.S.  Jacob Webb’s fastball is down from 94.9 last year to 91.7 this year.   That’s concerning to say the least.

Edited April 18 by RZNJ

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Speaking of Fuji quickly, did anyone noticed he was so bad this spring that he was optioned to AAA despite being on a $3.35 million deal and is now pitching to a 9.00 ERA in AAA. Looks like the Orioles evaluated correctly. 

Elias and company have only missed on evaluation with Evan Phillips when it comes to bullpen arms. 

 

If the O's had evaluated correctly they wouldn't have traded for him last year!

More like the Mets flubbed it.

I think most folks thought that was a bit of an odd signing after the season he had last year.

[Moose Milligan]

8 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Well Vespi has been decent in AAA where almost everyone else has been getting lit up. Matt Krook who is similar to Vespi and Luis Gonzalez have been decent from the left side.

Wandisson Charles may be worth a look for a little bit. I'm not convinced his fastball works despite the velocity since it's a low spin pitch and doesn't seem to have good vertical movement, but he's interesting since he can sit 98 MPH.

Garrett Stallings is a guy that could be a multi-inning guy if he can find a way to get lefties out. 

None of these guys are thrilling, but as the 7th reliever to each a few innings for he bullpen when the team is up or down a lot, sure.

 

That's a good rundown, thanks.

I'm hoping Suarez can be one of the guys that Elias uncovers and can help turnaround.  Yesterday was really encouraging.

[wildcard]

Suarez is the same guy that gave up 5 runs in 4.1 innings to Scranton/Wilkes Barres on April 12th and 5 earned runs in 5 innings to Durham on March 31st.     The Twins have the 28th best offense in baseball right now with several players on the IL.   

Love what Suarez did yesterday but consistency start to start has not been his M.O. this spring.  Hope for the best but know the worst might happen.

[DocJJ]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Suarez is the same guy that gave up 5 runs in 4.1 innings to Scranton/Wilkes Barres on April 12th and 5 earned runs in 5 innings to Durham on March 31st.     The Twins have the 28th best offense in baseball right now with several players on the IL.   

Love what Suarez did yesterday but consistency start to start has not been his M.O. this spring.  Hope for the best but know the worst might happen.

This... (sadly)

[CaptainRedbeard]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Suarez is the same guy that gave up 5 runs in 4.1 innings to Scranton/Wilkes Barres on April 12th and 5 earned runs in 5 innings to Durham on March 31st.     The Twins have the 28th best offense in baseball right now with several players on the IL.   

Love what Suarez did yesterday but consistency start to start has not been his M.O. this spring.  Hope for the best but know the worst might happen.

Worth noting that he had a 3.40 FIP and 2.95 xFIP in his 15.1 AAA innings so his bad AAA ERA was not supported by the peripherals.

Also worth noting that the Orioles have to believe there’s potentially something there with Suárez, because not only did they go with him over Zimmerman (who was on turn and optionable), but they let Suárez have a lot of rope to continue pitching in the 5th/6th innings in a 1-run game with plenty of available RP.

Hyde yanked Irvin with a 2 run lead in the 5th inning on Monday rather than let him go through the order a 3rd time. He let Suárez face the Twins’ 1-2-3 for a 3rd time in the 6th inning yesterday with a 1 run lead. Neither were high in pitch count. Yes Suárez was pitching well, but Hyde could have easily said those 5 IP were plenty good enough, let’s not risk a 3rd time through.

 

[CaptainRedbeard]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Elias and company have only missed on evaluation with Evan Phillips when it comes to bullpen arms. 

 

Tanner Scott broke out in a big way last year, and Shawn Armstrong has been quite good for the Rays. But yes Elias’ track record with RP is exceptional. Those are bound to happen with RP - we got both Cano and Coulombe from the Twins alone.

The Mets cleary like the same qualities the Orioles do because they picked up Fuji, Jorge Lopez and Reed Garrett, and we just got Yohan Ramirez from them.

Reed Garrett may be the latest addition to the Elias RP miss list, he’s been lights out so far this year. Looks like he’s following the Tanner Scott approach of dramatically increasing slider usage. 

[btdart20]

I didn't see the game and haven't seen him pitch yet.  But find his movement profile on Savant interesting.  More vertical on his cutter and more horizontal on his 4S.  Expected stats have questions.  Gotta like the low BB% though.

Gotta think they'll give him another turn or two then make a decision. 

[Tony-OH]

4 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

If the O's had evaluated correctly they wouldn't have traded for him last year!

More like the Mets flubbed it.

I think most folks thought that was a bit of an odd signing after the season he had last year.

Different evaluation. They didn't trade anyone of value for him and gave him a look while evaluating him closely. The fact that they needed another high leverage arm and they let him go spoke volumes. But yes, the Mets messed up.

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

Worth noting that he had a 3.40 FIP and 2.95 xFIP in his 15.1 AAA innings so his bad AAA ERA was not supported by the peripherals.

Also worth noting that the Orioles have to believe there’s potentially something there with Suárez, because not only did they go with him over Zimmerman (who was on turn and optionable), but they let Suárez have a lot of rope to continue pitching in the 5th/6th innings in a 1-run game with plenty of available RP.

Hyde yanked Irvin with a 2 run lead in the 5th inning on Monday rather than let him go through the order a 3rd time. He let Suárez face the Twins’ 1-2-3 for a 3rd time in the 6th inning yesterday with a 1 run lead. Neither were high in pitch count. Yes Suárez was pitching well, but Hyde could have easily said those 5 IP were plenty good enough, let’s not risk a 3rd time through.

 

Great points all around. Also it was worth noting that Suarez had a lot of whiffs in spring training, the minors and i his debut. The stuff is legit. The question is whether he can command it consistently and be able to get more into the 90 pitched areas vs running a bit out of gas by 70 pitches.

[Tony-OH]

3 hours ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

Tanner Scott broke out in a big way last year, and Shawn Armstrong has been quite good for the Rays. But yes Elias’ track record with RP is exceptional. Those are bound to happen with RP - we got both Cano and Coulombe from the Twins alone.

The Mets cleary like the same qualities the Orioles do because they picked up Fuji, Jorge Lopez and Reed Garrett, and we just got Yohan Ramirez from them.

Reed Garrett may be the latest addition to the Elias RP miss list, he’s been lights out so far this year. Looks like he’s following the Tanner Scott approach of dramatically increasing slider usage. 

Good rundown and that's what I get for making a quick comment without doing more research.

Still, I think their system is pretty good at identifying these guys cheaply, and I think that's why they stated away from trading for a big arm this offseason. While I think this system works for you back half of your bullpen, I'm not sure it's great at finding the top half. That half they need to pay for. As much as I like Cano and Coulombe, I'd be more comfortable with them in the 6th or 7th then the 8th if possible.

The 2014 bullpen was absolutely a monster at the tail end with O'Day, Miller and Britton to end things. Games were over for the Orioles if they had a lead going into the 7th inning and those guys were all available. 
 

[doccat]

It will come down to command and consistency for him.  I saw DL Hall give up a HR on a pitch clocked at 100 MPH last year.  My son pitches for his High School team.  He looked at me in amazement and said "How does a guy who throws 100 MPH get hit like that?".  I told him pitching is like Real Estate: Location, Location, Location....

[CallMeBrooksie]

26 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

The 2014 bullpen was absolutely a monster and the tail end with O'Day, Miller and Britton to end things. Games were over for the Orioles if they had a lead going into the 7th inning and those guys were all available. 
 

Not to mention both Miller and O'Day could be counted on to get more than 3 outs if you needed it.

I'm not sure you could top that bullpen even if you were able to hand-pick any three relievers in the game today. I'll never forget how fun that was to watch.

[Malike]

3 hours ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

Tanner Scott broke out in a big way last year, and Shawn Armstrong has been quite good for the Rays. But yes Elias’ track record with RP is exceptional. Those are bound to happen with RP - we got both Cano and Coulombe from the Twins alone.

The Mets cleary like the same qualities the Orioles do because they picked up Fuji, Jorge Lopez and Reed Garrett, and we just got Yohan Ramirez from them.

Reed Garrett may be the latest addition to the Elias RP miss list, he’s been lights out so far this year. Looks like he’s following the Tanner Scott approach of dramatically increasing slider usage. 

Tanner Scott is back to normal this year. Relievers are fungible and Scott is again who we thought he was when he was here. I wouldn't call that a miss at all. Perez put up a great season for us, once. Once.

[Say O!]

Back to Suarez…

• Loved how it seemed the managerial staff and teammates were thrilled for Albert.  Several spoke of how impressed they were of him as a person, making a positive impression during the Spring on how appreciative and humble Albert was for another shot at MLB opportunity.  Gotta root for guys like him.
• His combo of 96mph velocity and horizontal riding movement on the fastball was fun to watch yesterday.  While he did sprinkle in a curveball and changeup, he was 63% 4 seamer and 23% cutter yesterday.  Can that basically 2 pitch mix play as SP over the long-term?  Even if doesn’t stick as a SP, feels like Suarez could be a factor in the BP, whether MIRP or leverage SIRP.
• He’s a bit of unique case, with only 1yr MLB service time and long INTL gap.  So how does his service time factor for future years?  Essentially arb/pre-arb meaning the O’s retain rights for several more years?