Westburg Fractured Right Hand

[eddie83]

 

[Fiver6565]

19 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

 

This qualifies as excellent news given the injury news otherwise as of late. LOL. 

[RavensNOsGuy]

26 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

 

Doesn’t sound overly promising coming back anytime soon but who knows.

[Aristotelian]

13 minutes ago, Fiver6565 said:

This qualifies as excellent news given the injury news otherwise as of late. LOL. 

One hand swing actually seems kinda negative if I'm being honest.

[LookitsPuck]

4 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

One hand swing actually seems kinda negative if I'm being honest.

If that was all he was doing, I’d agree. But taking ground balls is a good sign. Presumably he’s throwing after fielding. 

As for one hand swings, not uncommon for hitters to alternate both hands when doing that drill. So I’d be encouraged if he’s incorporating his right hand in it.

That said, it’s a progression. If there isn’t pain from gripping and swinging the bat as well as painless when gripping and throwing, I presume the next step will be hitting off a tee. Then batting practice. But most likely weeks away from anything resembling game action. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

Is he swinging with the injured hand?

[eddie83]

 

[bpilktree67]

7 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

 

I figured he wasn’t throwing yet it has only been 3 weeks.  He probably won’t even get cast off for another 2-3 weeks.  It’s gonna be 7-8 weeks best case scenario.  

[Fiver6565]

I think what these updates are really showing us is what a gym rat (baseball equivalent) that Westie is.  He just can't stand sitting around, only doing cardio, etc so he's doing the bare minimum 'baseball activity' that he can - one handed swing, grounders w/ one arm behind your back, etc.

[Too Tall]

To me, Westy is the most professional hitter of the young hitters we have. Including Gunner. We really miss his bat and approach. But, and it hasn't been said on here that I recollect, we really miss Mateo too. His defense at second, bat against left handers, and base running skill. The spark he could deliver. I think Mateo is a bigger loss than many would admit. Both out really hurts our offense and defense. Subjective I know but that's what I feel.

[Brooks The Great]

33 minutes ago, Too Tall said:

To me, Westy is the most professional hitter of the young hitters we have. Including Gunner. We really miss his bat and approach. But, and it hasn't been said on here that I recollect, we really miss Mateo too. His defense at second, bat against left handers, and base running skill. The spark he could deliver. I think Mateo is a bigger loss than many would admit. Both out really hurts our offense and defense. Subjective I know but that's what I feel.

Not having Mateo is not a loss. He's a bad hitter and his defense is nowhere near what it was in 2022. Mateo has also always been a 1st half hitter, so there's no guarantee he would have kept up his performance hitting against left-handed pitchers.

According to Baseball Savant, Mateo's fielding run value this season is 0 / 46th percentile, while in 2022 it was 9 / 93rd percentile. His range this season is -1 / 34th percentile playing mostly 2B, while in 2022 it was 10 / 97th percentile playing much more SS. Defensive metrics are harder to quantify and evaluate, but his severe decline defensively passes the eye test for me. It was very noticeable starting last season, as he was  much worse at SS than in 2022.

Mateo should have been released last season to give Joey Ortiz and Jordan Westburg more playing time. How Elias and Hyde handled Ortiz and Westburg last season was absolutely terrible, and giving so many unnecessary at bats to Frazier, Mateo, and Urias significantly lowered the talent level of the team for no good reason. They've done the same thing this season with Kjerstad, Norby, and Mayo. 

Since Elias regularly refuses to release mediocre vets to allow far more talented prospects to play at the major league level and as a result we still have Mateo in the organization, Mateo's best usage is strictly as a pinch runner and late inning defensive replacement for Holliday. That's it. And it's no guarantee Mateo even makes it back in time for the playoffs since the injury he suffered was a significant one. 

I don't care at all if he makes it back or not. He seems like a really nice guy, but I hope he's played his last game for the Orioles. If the O's make the playoffs, the rest of the players on the roster will have a far greater impact on winning games than Jorge would. 

[Frobby]

12 minutes ago, Brooks The Great said:

Not having Mateo is not a loss. He's a bad hitter and his defense is nowhere near what it was in 2022. Mateo has also always been a 1st half hitter, so there's no guarantee he would have kept up his performance hitting against left-handed pitchers.

According to Baseball Savant, Mateo's fielding run value this season is 0 / 46th percentile, while in 2022 it was 9 / 93rd percentile. His range this season is -1 / 34th percentile playing mostly 2B, while in 2022 it was 10 / 97th percentile playing much more SS. Defensive metrics are harder to quantify and evaluate, but his severe decline defensively passes the eye test for me. It was very noticeable starting last season, as he was  much worse at SS than in 2022.

What is your impression of Holliday’s defense?  Better, about the same, or worse than Mateo’s?   

In my opinion, it isn’t close.  Mateo has more range, a much better arm, and far better defensive instincts than Holliday.  I’m not saying I’d be starting him over Holliday on a regular basis, but I’d love to have him as an option on certain days and late in games for defensive or baserunning purposes.  
 

[LookitsPuck]

3 hours ago, eddie83 said:

 

OK, now I'm much less sanguine about Westy. This means his one-handed swings were his left arm, and he's not throwing so no stress is being placed on the fractured hand. Which makes sense since, well, it was fractured fairly recently. But I'm thinking we're not going to see Westburg (if at all) until the end of September. 

[Brooks The Great]

15 minutes ago, Frobby said:

What is your impression of Holliday’s defense?  Better, about the same, or worse than Mateo’s?   

In my opinion, it isn’t close.  Mateo has more range, a much better arm, and far better defensive instincts than Holliday.  I’m not saying I’d be starting him over Holliday on a regular basis, but I’d love to have him as an option on certain days and late in games for defensive or baserunning purposes.  
 

I think Holliday's defense is well below average to poor (which is why I want to see him converted to the OF this offseason), but if you had read my post, you would have seen that I specifically said one of Mateo's two roles on the team (if he makes it back from his injury) would be to be a defensive replacement for Holliday. 

[Fiver6565]

2 minutes ago, LookitsPuck said:

OK, now I'm much less sanguine about Westy. This means his one-handed swings were his left arm, and he's not throwing so no stress is being placed on the fractured hand. Which makes sense since, well, it was fractured fairly recently. But I'm thinking we're not going to see Westburg (if at all) until the end of September. 

That was never not the case, this video isn’t needed to know that.  He wasn’t ever going to come back from a fractured hand any sooner that. Any thought that he was was nothing more than desperate speculation.