Optimal position player roster for second half and playoffs?

[Tony-OH]

12 hours ago, Hallas said:

I wouldn't call it falling off because he didn't grade particularly well there last year either.  Meanwhile he's been +8 in OAA at 3rd.

 

His 2nd base numbers do feel a little off, he didn't look that bad there.

He was -1 OAA in 229 chances last year and he's -5 OAA in 82 chances this year. Defensive Runs saved (DRS) had him at 3 last year and -4 this year. His FRV has gone from 0 to -4. Here's his OAA in detail.

That's a pretty deep fall off in my opinion. 

I think these numbers are why they hesitant to move Westburg over full time to 2B and bring up Mayo. They may be concerned that Mayo will be worse than Westburg at 3B and Westburg is certainly worse than Mateo at 2B defensively.

So while the team certainly upgrades offensively with Mayo in the lineup, Elias may be hesitant to downgrade defensively at two positions.

Now maybe with everyday reps Westburg does better? Maybe Mayo will be just as good or even better than Westburg at 3B? I mean, Mayo has a much better arm than Westburg just more erratic. 

It's an interesting dilemma for Elias/Hyde to figure out what's best for the team.

Without an injury, or Mateo going into a deep slump at the plate, I don't know if they are willing to allow their defense at two positions be at risk for decline. 

 

[sportsfan8703]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

He was -1 OAA in 229 chances last year and he's -5 OAA in 82 chances this year. Defensive Runs saved (DRS) had him at 3 last year and -4 this year. His FRV has gone from 0 to -4. Here's his OAA in detail.

That's a pretty deep fall off in my opinion. 

I think these numbers are why they hesitant to move Westburg over full time to 2B and bring up Mayo. They may be concerned that Mayo will be worse than Westburg at 3B and Westburg is certainly worse than Mateo at 2B defensively.

So while the team certainly upgrades offensively with Mayo in the lineup, Elias may be hesitant to downgrade defensively at two positions.

Now maybe with everyday reps Westburg does better? Maybe Mayo will be just as good or even better than Westburg at 3B? I mean, Mayo has a much better arm than Westburg just more erratic. 

It's an interesting dilemma for Elias/Hyde to figure out what's best for the team.

Without an injury, or Mateo going into a deep slump at the plate, I don't know if they are willing to allow their defense at two positions be at risk for decline. 

 

I think we can try and develop Mayo at 3B, and Westburg at 2B, while rotating Mateo in to keep him getting reps, in July and August. Then reevaluate and coalesce for September+.

I say throw the best offensive lineup out there and hope whatever defensive loss we have is leveled out by the offensive increase. You can always go back to defense and Mateo. Usually defense and speed doesn’t slump. 

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

He was -1 OAA in 229 chances last year and he's -5 OAA in 82 chances this year. Defensive Runs saved (DRS) had him at 3 last year and -4 this year. His FRV has gone from 0 to -4. Here's his OAA in detail.

That's a pretty deep fall off in my opinion. 

I think these numbers are why they hesitant to move Westburg over full time to 2B and bring up Mayo. They may be concerned that Mayo will be worse than Westburg at 3B and Westburg is certainly worse than Mateo at 2B defensively.

So while the team certainly upgrades offensively with Mayo in the lineup, Elias may be hesitant to downgrade defensively at two positions.

Now maybe with everyday reps Westburg does better? Maybe Mayo will be just as good or even better than Westburg at 3B? I mean, Mayo has a much better arm than Westburg just more erratic. 

It's an interesting dilemma for Elias/Hyde to figure out what's best for the team.

Without an injury, or Mateo going into a deep slump at the plate, I don't know if they are willing to allow their defense at two positions be at risk for decline. 

 

He has had a lot of bad fluky plays at second though.  Concentration type things like the dropped pop up.  That will affect those numbers greatly. I wouldn’t worry about him long term over there and I think those numbers are a bit skewed by a SSS and bad mistakes.

He may be better At third vs second but he’s not going to end up at second unless Holliday is eventually at SS.

[interloper]

I also tend to think that Westburg has been flat exhausted the last couple weeks. Guy plays nearly as much as Henderson, and almost never DHs. Neither does Henderson, but the guy's a freak so it doesn't count. 

Edited July 2 by interloper

[Allan Bryant]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

I also tend to think that Westburg has been flat exhausted the last couple weeks. Guy plays nearly as much as Henderson, and almost never DHs. Neither does Henderson, but the guy's a freak so it doesn't count. 

I would give Westburg and Gunnar a day off here or there, so they stay fresher . Of course, base of pitching matchups . We have three full months of regular season left also 

[Sports Guy]

Right now, the regular OF should be Cowser, Kjerstad and Santander with Hays getting at bats vs lefties and Mullins playing a few games a week.

Cowser and Kjerstad should play most of the week but don’t need to play everyday. (4-5 games a week basically)

The best OF for October isn’t going to be Hays and Mullins playing much at all.

 

Edited July 13 by Sports Guy

[bpilktree67]

8 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Right now, the regular OF should be Cowser, Kjerstad and Santander with Hays getting at bats vs lefties and Mullins playing a few games a week.

Cowser and Kjerstad should play most of the week but don’t need to play everyday. (4-5 games a week basically)

The best OF for October isn’t going to be Hays and Mullins playing much at all.

 

Cowser is hitting .183 the last 3 months.  It kinda hard to justify him getting all the time but Mullins hasn’t been much better though he is hitting just under .300 the last 30 days so he been better more recently.  

[Allan Bryant]

On 7/2/2024 at 9:16 AM, Tony-OH said:

He was -1 OAA in 229 chances last year and he's -5 OAA in 82 chances this year. Defensive Runs saved (DRS) had him at 3 last year and -4 this year. His FRV has gone from 0 to -4. Here's his OAA in detail.

That's a pretty deep fall off in my opinion. 

I think these numbers are why they hesitant to move Westburg over full time to 2B and bring up Mayo. They may be concerned that Mayo will be worse than Westburg at 3B and Westburg is certainly worse than Mateo at 2B defensively.

So while the team certainly upgrades offensively with Mayo in the lineup, Elias may be hesitant to downgrade defensively at two positions.

Now maybe with everyday reps Westburg does better? Maybe Mayo will be just as good or even better than Westburg at 3B? I mean, Mayo has a much better arm than Westburg just more erratic. 

It's an interesting dilemma for Elias/Hyde to figure out what's best for the team.

Without an injury, or Mateo going into a deep slump at the plate, I don't know if they are willing to allow their defense at two positions be at risk for decline. 

 

Nice post 

[LGOrioles]

8 hours ago, bpilktree67 said:

Cowser is hitting .183 the last 3 months.  It kinda hard to justify him getting all the time but Mullins hasn’t been much better though he is hitting just under .300 the last 30 days so he been better more recently.  

Mullins is hitting .200 since the 2nd half of last season, a much larger sample size. Cowser is going to K more but he’s also going to BB more. His defense has been better in a SSS. And offensively, I’ll bet on Cowser’s batted ball profile every day over Mullins. He’s in the bottom 5% of the MLB in contact quality. There’s really not much to point to in terms of upside. He was great in 2021. He’s been in the 20th percentile in xwOBA ever year since (and prior to that) and trending down. This is probably who he is. And he’s not unplayable against RHP’s by any means, but it doesn’t really make sense for him to keep getting consistent AB’s in place of Cowser. 

Edited July 13 by LGOrioles