Santander taking grounders at first

[Sports Guy]

As he should be 

[MurphDogg]

Absolutely. O'Hearn is unplayable against lefties, and I would rather see Kjerstad lefty on lefty over Rivera, Jimenez and Mayo (at this point anyway), despite their platoon advantage. All three of those guys have just been black holes offensively.

Edited Tuesday at 17:59 by MurphDogg

[Aristotelian]

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Who is our OF vs RHP if Santander is at 1B? Can of Corn was absolutely right, this Mountcastle injury is absolutely killing us and I never thought I'd say that.

[MurphDogg]

1 minute ago, Aristotelian said:

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Who is our OF vs RHP if Santander is at 1B? Can of Corn was absolutely right, this Mountcastle injury is absolutely killing us and I never thought I'd say that.

As I said, I think it is potentially against lefties. Against righties we are pretty set.

[Aristotelian]

6 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

As I said, I think it is potentially against lefties. Against righties we are pretty set.

Right but then we would have at least two of Cowser, Mullins, and Kjerstad in the outfield vs LHP. Santander would plug one hole but open another.

[Sports Guy]

Just now, Aristotelian said:

Right but then we would have at least two of Cowser, Mullins, and Kjerstad in the outfield vs LHP. Santander would plug one hole but open another.

Why is Kjerstad a hole vs lefties?  History says he’s not.

And let’s not forget that OHearn isn’t a good first basemen.

[MurphDogg]

12 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Right but then we would have at least two of Cowser, Mullins, and Kjerstad in the outfield vs LHP. Santander would plug one hole but open another.

They have been playing Cowser against lefties already, and as I said, Kjerstad is a better option than the other righties, despite lacking a platoon advantage.

[Just Regular]

I kind of have Cowser with the Kevin Kiermaier "unlimited defense-driven playing time" role but I do hope he stops hitting like Kiermaier before this year is over.

[Aristotelian]

20 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Why is Kjerstad a hole vs lefties?  History says he’s not.

And let’s not forget that OHearn isn’t a good first basemen.

You're right, I shouldn't assume he's a hole. More of an unknown (11 career AB). Still, an outfield of Slater, one unknown, and one hole isn't exactly ideal. I think Mountcastle 1B/Santander RF is pretty clearly preferable to Santander 1B/Kjerstad RF vs LHP when you include defense.

[Sports Guy]

13 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

You're right, I shouldn't assume he's a hole. More of an unknown (11 career AB). Still, an outfield of Slater, one unknown, and one hole isn't exactly ideal. I think Mountcastle 1B/Santander RF is pretty clearly preferable to Santander 1B/Kjerstad RF vs LHP when you include defense.

We don’t have a current combo that is ideal. You have to go with the best possible grouping you have.

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Who is our OF vs RHP if Santander is at 1B? Can of Corn was absolutely right, this Mountcastle injury is absolutely killing us and I never thought I'd say that.

Kjerstad

[MurphDogg]

Kjerstad should also get some reps in at first so he can be an option there as well, although now is probably not the time, best for him to DH for the rest of the season.

He had 8 starts at first at AAA this season and 37 starts there between AA and AAA in 2023.

[Aristotelian]

19 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Kjerstad

Apologies, I meant vs LHP.

[Aristotelian]

47 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

We don’t have a current combo that is ideal. You have to go with the best possible grouping you have.

Yes, that is my point. I'm not disagreeing with moving Santander just acknowledging it's not a great solution and a significant downgrade from Mountcastle.

[LA2]

2 hours ago, MurphDogg said:

Absolutely. O'Hearn is unplayable against lefties, and I would rather see Kjerstad lefty on lefty over Rivera, Jimenez and Mayo (at this point anyway), despite their platoon advantage. All three of those guys have just been black holes offensively.

I follow you on Jiminez and Mayo, but why do you say Rivera has been a "black hole offensively?" His slash line as an Oriole is .263 / .349 / .526 / .875 (151 OPS+). Is his first-base play as bad as O'Hearn's? He's played there during his career marginally more than Santander.