Catching is another area the Orioles need to address

View Comments

• At the moment, it's kind of hard to identify areas of strength for this team. CF may be in good hands with Mullins. He's got room to grow, but he was respectable overall. And Villar in the middle infield can be solid. I like that both have speed, and good defense up the middle is a great place to start. But we only really have one middle infielder who can hit reliably and the corner infield spots are both incredibly weak. Nuñez was a pleasant surprise at 3B compared to what he was supposed to be. I like his bat for the most part, but I'm not sold on his defense at a position where we need strong defense.

  Mancini has been stuck out of position, at least in theory because he's blocked by Davis at 1B (which is a conversation unto itself,) and while he's done as well as one can expect from a slow-footed 1B/DH type, he helps make the OF way too porous. Jones won't be back. Of that I'm nearly certain. I suspect he front office is feeling a little chapped in the nether regions since he exercised his 10-5 rights, and he's probably going to make too much money to justify keeping him around as he's slowing down a bit. His bat still plays, but he's not going to be the future in RF. If Stewart pans out, we could see 2/3 of a decent defensive outfield between he and Mullins. I still like Hays, but I'd like to be pretty sure about him before bringing him up for good.

  Pitching. Oh. My. Goodness. Aside from Cobb, who was as solid as one could have hoped after the All-Star break, pitching was horrendous. Yes, we had a few good showings here and there. I do like Cashner because he's a competitor and he works his butt off. Maybe he returns to form with a good spring training. If so, there's 2/5 of a rotation. But we're back to where we were last off-season with two guys we have some degree of confidence in and a bunch of I don't knows in the 3-5 slots. What is happening with Bundy? I've read that he was overused at nearly a criminal level as an amateur, which contributed to his TJ surgery. Are we getting the ragged ends of his career this early? Gausman seemed to be coming into his own, and I hope that we can parlay the return from Atlanta into something reasonable to justify letting him go, especially with years of control remaining.

  I agree with the premise of the article about catching having been a strength but now appearing to be a big weakness. I remember being very enthusiastic about Sisco coming up based on his MiLB numbers, but it's pretty frustrating seeing how he's struggled at a level where we thought we'd be adding a solid bat that would grow into a decent defensive catcher. Makes letting Wieters and (without prior knowledge of PEDs) Castillo go seem questionable at best. Although Wieters never became the player he was, probably unfairly, expected to be, he handled a pitching staff well. I favored letting him walk for what he would cost, and I thought Castillo was a pretty fair acquisition to replace him at the same productivity for half the price.

  So, here we sit, looking back at years of some players exceeding expectations, some stars that were not locked down and/or were allowed to walk, questionable trades and FA signings, raiding other teams for minor leaguers they didn't feel inclined to protect, and the worst season in franchise history where there was hope of contention. Yes, finding an area of strength is a tall task at the moment.

  • Wieters was a dud in Washington, right? (They under performed more than the Orioles.)

    • He was not what they had hoped. They thought he'd replace Wilson Ramos more effectively than he did. He certainly wasn't worth the money he got in his contract based on his production. He was injured some this year, which limited him to 76 games, but last year he wasn't much either.

  • A very interesting summary here, Big Daddy.

    • I just call 'em like I see 'em.

• I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that the team we fielded for the last half of the season was as successful W-L wise as the team in the first half. If you look at the roster now and added all the "stars" we traded away, you would think we would have a better team for next year. Yet the record says no. OK, throw in Wieters. Would that make a difference? There's something eerie about the team's collapse that makes it hard to identify concrete changes to make.

  • I was a huge supporter of Matt Wieters, but the Orioles clearly got his prime, Will.

• What area doesn’t need attention? Just saying....

• To me, Wynns has the most promise. Dempsey consistently praises his instincts and mechanics. He looks like he belongs. I do wonder how the three differed in terms of pitcher ERA when they caught. Does anyone know?

  • I found my own answer. Wynns was better than the other two, by half a run per game.

    • Boss, I'm afraid that is incorrect. Caleb Joseph's ERA was 5.00. Chance Sisco's was 5.02 and Austin Wynns' was 6.02. in seven games, Andrew Susac's was 4.05.

      • Hmm. Foxsports published a sortable database that had Wynns at 4.61. I guess it was in error.

• Need to start with who is the GM (aka vice-president of baseball operations) and manager. If you are gonna cut both Duquette & Buck loose....do asap! I know this can happen during the playoffs. MLB prefers teams wait until after the World Series. The O's don't have any time to waste.

  If Brady and the Angelos Boys are the GM so be it. Nothing we as fans can do about it. Get Joe Girardi in here or some younger recently retired ballplayer manager. See Boston, NY Yanks, Milwaukee Brewers! Minor leagues coaching and management staff need to be enhanced and overhauled too. I'd even give Rick Dempsey a shot at managing if he was interested.

  Wynns is the only catcher with potential in my opinion. I'd sign the best FA catcher available and I know the field of FA catchers is thin. Maybe Martin Maldonaldo with Houston or someone else. These other Catchers got to go as do most of the players on this AA roster! Mullins, Mancini, Villar are definites but just about every position including SP and RP need attention and depth.

  • Os Fan, I'll address Duquette and Showalter tomorrow morning.

• Rich, the Orioles recently signed Bobby Witt’s uncle to join their scouting staff. Do you think this means that the Orioles will pick Witt with the first pick? I ask because Adley Rutschman is a switch hitting catcher who might be a long term answer to our catching problems, should he be selected by the birds.
  I also echo the disappointment in Sisco’s performance with the stick. If his defense doesn’t improve his bat is not speaking loud enough to warrant another position. Between him, Wynns, Cervenka and Cumberland it seems like we have a lot of depth that isn’t quite up to major league caliber.

  • Disco, it's way too early to think about the June draft. Obviously, the armchair scouting directors have Witt and Rutschman as the top two picks, but when you're talking about 17-21 year-olds, there are others who may emerge next spring.

• You are entirely 100% mistaken. Catcher is the one and only position on the team that does not need to urgently be addressed. And why focus on offense so much? Catcher is a defense-first position. Sisco is bad on defense. His caught stealing rate was shown to be a mirage because the pitchers were helping him, which was confirmed by an article over at Camden Depot. And with a 40% strike out rate, Sisco’s offense is bad as well. He has no future unless he drastically improves on both sides of the ball.
  Joseph and Wynns provide excellent defense, and adequate offense, and remember, please, even while the fools in the front office forget, defense is more important from catcher then offense. Wynns and Joseph offer quite good Defense and Joseph is also an excellent framer.
  No, Catcher is not an area of immediate need, although every other position is.

  • Joseph and Wynns provide “adequate offense”. Lol. I like Wynns as a backup catcher potentially but as a nearly 28 year old who had an OPS+ of 85 I don’t think it gets much better for him than this. Joseph is 32 and had 60 OPS+ last year. He has peaked.

    • I think Wynns can do well and Joseph is a good defender.
      But remember, his is a 50-win team.
      Catcher is, at the moment, the LEAST of our troubles, and the last thing that needs to be addressed. If GM-to-be brings in a pricey free agent catcher, he’s a fool, and if he brings in a cheap minor league catcher( the 2019 version of Susac) he’s also a fool.
      Joseph and Wynns are adequate for now, and Joseph remains a fine framer and game caller. Who cares how he hits?

  • Pip, if other offensive positions on a ballclub are strong, you can get by with relatively weak offensive catchers. The Orioles don't have that luxury.

    A point I was trying to make was that there isn't much immediate help with the free agent market for catchers weak unless the Orioles promote Cervenka.

    • You almost completely ignored defense in favor of taking about offense. Drives me nuts when guys focus on offense, especially at catcher.
      The front office focused only on offense( that’s why we had multiple DHs and no utility infielder to start the season) and we won 45 games.
      Catching is about defense, handling the pitchers, and framing.
      Wynns and Joseph do that well enough.
      Hitting is a bonus.
      Catching is the least of our problems. We can find our offense elsewhere.
      Thank you for your reply I appreciate it.

• I agree with other posters that defense needs to be the #1 priority in a catcher. Hopefully the O's get with the times and start considering more advanced metrics when they're drafting and developing catchers. Gone are the days where all that mattered was number of passed balls and what percentage of runners you threw out. We can now track who frames pitches well and who doesn't. Oriole catchers are HORRIBLE at framing, as every Oriole catcher posted a negative in framing runs saved in 2018. Do the pitching staff a favor and get a catcher who can get you that called 3rd strike every once in a while!!! FRAA (Fielding Runs Above Average) is just as bad. Sisco, Wynns, and Joseph all graded as below average defensive catchers last year.

  How many runs could a good defensive catcher shave off of this team's ERA? I'd argue that's way more valuable than any contribution they might make with the bat.

  • Interesting thoughts, Justin.

• “Catching is another area the Orioles need to address”! Along with hitting, pitching, base running, scouting, coaching, etc. etc. etc.