Minor League Player Promotions

[86this]

Etzel definitely earned his promotion.  It's a head-scratcher for Maikol Hernandez who hasn't done much since the O's signed him as an Int'l signing.

[EdwinRip]

Hernandez hasn’t hit at any level.  I guess you are committed to playing someone for a certain amount of time when you spend a million on them.  Similar to Carter Young.

[emmett16]

Good for Etzel.  Well deserved. 

[Aristotelian]

30 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Good for Etzel.  Well deserved. 

+1, I'm excited to see what he does at AA.

[Frobby]

Congrats to Etzel on a well-earned promotion.  With Hernandez, I suspect this might be a case of trying to break him out of stagnation by putting him in a sink or swim situation and seeing if it provokes a response.  Or, perhaps Hernandez is replacing an injured player?  In any event, I think this is probably the last year Hernandez gets a chance to show something.  

Notice the wording of Melewski’s tweet.  The O’s are “promoting” Etzel but “moving” Hernandez.  Sounds right to me.  
 

Edited June 10 by Frobby

[RZNJ]

42 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Congrats to Etzel on a well-earned promotion.  With Hernandez, I suspect this might be a case of trying to break him out of stagnation by putting him in a sink or swim situation and seeing if it provokes a response.  Or, perhaps Hernandez is replacing an injured player?  In any event, I think this is probably the last year Hernandez gets a chance to show something.  

Notice the wording of Melewski’s tweet.  The O’s are “promoting” Etzel but “moving” Hernandez.  Sounds right to me.  
 

Technically, Hernandez was already on Delmarva’s roster and was on a rehab in the FCL, thus the wording.

[Cuellar35]

Looking forward to watching both Etzel and Basallo this upcoming Sunday in Harrisburg!

[Tony-OH]

6 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Technically, Hernandez was already on Delmarva’s roster and was on a rehab in the FCL, thus the wording.

Bingo. His rehab time is probably up so they're just going to move him up to be infield depth in Delmarva. I doubt they have any real thoughts he's still a prospect after the way he's not hit during his professional career, but he reportedly is a good defender at SS so perhaps he can help there although they probably want to give Arias as much reps as possible there. 

This will allow them to give Estrada more reps at 2B and LF vs SS where he's out of position.

[Tony-OH]

Who had the Orioles 2023 tenth rounder as the first to reach AA from that class? 

You have to love baseball. I'm really interested to see how his bat plays against the better AA pitching and in a better hitting environment in Bowie. Etzel is a top 20 prospects for me right now and he can cement that or move up with a good performance in AA. 

I still don't know if there's enough pop in the bat to be an everyday guy, but he's very interesting and has not missed a step since turning pro.

 

[interloper]

55 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

 

I still don't know if there's enough pop in the bat to be an everyday guy, but he's very interesting and has not missed a step since turning pro.

 

If this was Bradfield we'd be thrilled with what he's doing, right? Bradfield is more elite when it comes to speed and defense, obviously, but I'm not sure why we need to see power from Etzel if he's doing basically the same things we'd expect Bradfield to be doing. I'm happy to have a speed/defense CF with a nice hit tool. If he adds power, that's a game changer. 

Edited June 10 by interloper

[Tony-OH]

Just now, interloper said:

If this was Bradfield we'd be thrilled with what he's doing, right? Bradfield is more elite when it comes to speed and defense, obviously, but I'm not sure why we need to see power from Etzel if he's doing basically the same things we'd expect Bradfield to be doing. 

Etzel is no where near the same as Bradfield defensively nor with top end speed. While Etzel is an effective defensive outfielder, he doesn't have nearly the range that Bradfield has nor does he have that elite top end speed. Etzel is fast and is also a very good base stealer, and clearly his bat is ahead of Bradfield. Heck, he may end up a better player than Bradfield overall when it's all said and done, but the fact that Etzel has been moved in to play some 1B at times gives you some indications about his defense in the outfield. 

Saying that, I hope to get better video of his jumps and routes in AA where the broadcasts are typically better than the Sally League.

[Bird Lady]