From DFA’d to producing like one of MLB’s best hitters: Ryan O’Hearn has found his groove in Baltimore

[Malike]

3 hours ago, interloper said:

Mayo's only use to the big league club right now would be against LHP, where we are kind of struggling (disregarding Mateo and McKenna's outlier home runs for now). 

So if we wanted to have Mayo in a strict platoon against LHP, here's a potential lineup:

Henderson - SS
Adley - C
Mountcastle - 1B
Santander - RF
Westburg - 3B
Mayo - DH
Hays - LF
Mullins - CF
Mateo - 2B
 

Why? He's had an OPS over 1.000 in the last two years against RHP. He's not a platoon bat. Not even close.

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, Malike said:

Why? He's had an OPS over 1.000 in the last two years against RHP. He's not a platoon bat. Not even close.

I'm not really saying I'm in favor of it, I'm just saying that might be the only way he regularly gets into this lineup. I guess I just don't buy that the Orioles would actually start him every day at 3B. It's more about that than it is about his R/L splits. There's just more lineup room against LHP. 

Edited May 3 by interloper

[Too Tall]

Since this thread was about Ryan O'Hearn, just posting this to get his name back in it!!  And I do like Mayo! Proceed------------------

[Malike]

Just now, interloper said:

I'm not really saying I'm in favor of it, I'm just saying that might be the only way he regularly gets into this lineup. I guess I just don't buy that the Orioles would actually start him every day at 3B. 

I don't think they are bringing him up until he can play just about every day. His bat is his carrying tool and he's definitely not showing he's a platoon guy. I'd think he'll probably be up either in Sept. or be on the team next year.

[DrungoHazewood]

6 hours ago, LA2 said:

Analysis of the MLB-leading near-.500 xwOBA of Turn-Burn-O'Hearn*:

https://www.mlb.com/news/ryan-o-hearn-is-one-of-best-hitters-in-2024?game_pk=747044

*Epithet from Ben McDonald

So, O'Hearn is a great story, and I'm glad he's an Oriole, and I don't want to talk at all badly about him. But... the headline here is silly. And the article kind of glosses over a few things to make the headline look less silly if you don't peek behind the curtain.

Yes, if you look at xwOBA O'Hearn has great numbers in a tiny sampling of 2024 data. But you have to consider that he's being platooned so strictly that I have to glance at the dugout to see if Earl's come back from the dead. He's 0-for-5 against lefties. Because of this he doesn't have 3.1 PA/G, so he really doesn't even qualify for the batting title or other rate-stat leader boards. Like, presumably, xwOBA.

Most of the players he's being compared to in any xwOBA leaderboards have the disadvantage of facing at least a some same-sided pitchers. Example... he's tied in OPS+ with Colton Cowser. But Cowser has an OPS vs RHP 100 points higher than O'Hearn, dragged down overall by a more pedestrian showing in 28 PAs vs. lefties.

I'm glad O'Hearn is currently 18th in the majors in OPS+, good for him and the O's. But it doesn't need to be faked into more than it is.

Edited May 3 by DrungoHazewood

[emmett16]

This is why O’Hearn must go (sorry, Ryan).  

[LA2]

12 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Most of the players he's being compared to in any xwOBAleaderboards have the disadvantage of facing at least a some same-sided pitchers.

Of this the article speaks, in a section subtitled "A Limited Role":

Quote

The caveat to O'Hearn's production is that the Orioles have employed him in a very strict platoon role against right-handed pitching.

Dating back to 2023, only 34 of O'Hearn's 447 plate appearances have come against left-handed pitching -- including just five against lefties in 79 plate appearances this year. Whereas O'Hearn has faced lefties in 7.6 percent of plate appearances dating back to last year, others like Ohtani, Alvarez and Soto are in the lineup every day, regardless of pitcher handedness.

That's not to diminish O'Hearn's development and production as a hitter. Most pitchers, after all, are right-handed so there are ample opportunities for O'Hearn to be in the lineup. It just means his overall numbers might be skewed when comparing him to the Ohtanis and Sotos of the world. It also means the Orioles can't rely on him as an everyday bat (luckily, that's not much of an issue for a stacked Orioles lineup).

The title of the piece is overblown, but that's the nature of trying to catch eyeballs in the mass media.

In fact, the main benefit of the article for me was its analysis of O'Hearn's success--wch had previously been a complete mystery to me--as being due to his efforts to adjust launch angle and becoming very restrained in his swing decisions. If it weren't for such adjustments, including possibly other ones not discussed or understood yet, then he would not be a story at all.

Before coming to the Orioles, O'Hearn's OPS's vs. RHP during his previous four seasons were .678, .577, .673, and .622 (after a 1.019 in 129 rookie PAs in 2018--10 homers, 10 doubles, 16 walks!). So something else happened besides limiting his ABs to facing RHP; it's to the Orioles' great credit that they saw the potential and to O'Hearn's that he executed it.

Edited May 4 by LA2

[Billy F-Face3]

Wow the timing of creating this thread was impeccable. It was created during the day and then thar night O'Hearn goes out and hits an impressive 2 run home run to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead.