REALITY: Jonathan Schoop is on his rehab assignment in Bowie.
PERCEPTION: It is widely assumed that Jonathan Schoop is the starting second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles. That means when he is deemed healthy enough to come back to the Orioles, he will start and Ryan Flaherty will go back to his back-up/utility IF role.
But I am not sure I am all for that decision. Flaherty is proving himself to be a valuable member of this team. No, he is not going to slug a bunch of home runs (though he does have three triples). But he constantly finds a way to come through when the team needs him to.
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Schoop has more power, but I think Flaherty is better defensively. Flaherty just continues to shine.
Buck Showalter loves Flaherty also, but I think as long as Schoop can stay healthy and produce offensively, he’ll probably be handed the starting job and Flaherty will move back to being the utility player. But if Schoop can’t return to form, then Flaherty should be given the chance to continue to produce as he has this season.
Jonathan Schoop adds 2B in the 5th for Bowie. Now 3-for-3 with solo HR, 2 doubles and 3 RBIs. Closing in on O’s return?
— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) June 22, 2015
But if Schoop keeps doing this, I guess I really can’t say much. Even Flaherty couldn’t fight that.
REALITY: The Orioles are carrying six outfielders.
PERCEPTION: Normally, teams would carry two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. The Orioles have been able to keep six OFs because of the way that have been sending pitchers down to the minor leagues. Wei-Yin Chen was sent down last week and will be available to be called back up to Baltimore this week. When he returns, unless there is another injury, someone will need to be sent down or designated for assignment (basically meaning they will be cut). Unless there is a trade, most likely that person will need to be an OF.
So who goes? Adam Jones is obviously safe. But any of the other five players (Chris Parmelee, Nolan Reimold, Delmon Young, Travis Snider, and David Lough) could possibly go.
I saw some on Twitter Monday making the argument that it should be Young. Most fans (me included) can’t shake the image of Young hitting that double down the line in the playoffs from our mind and think he is safe. I think Buck likes his pinch hitting ability also.
This season, Young is 4-for-10 as a pinch-hitter. Lough is 1-for-3 as is Reimold. Snider is 1-for-8.
Young still has value.
Parmelee is the hottest hitter in the OF right now, so I don’t see him going anywhere.
Snider is under the Orioles control through next season. He is hitting better than Young, Reimold, or Lough. I think Snider is safe.
That leaves Lough and Reimold. Both are good defensively. Both have speed. Both are cheap (Lough is on a 1-year $525,500 contract, while Reimold is on a 1-year $507,500 contract).
This decision is going to come down to who Buck thinks can be the most help long-term, and who Dan Duquette thinks he might be able to get a trade partner for.
After seeing the Orioles try Reimold in CF on Saturday, I lean towards Lough being the odd man out.
REALITY: The Orioles sent Kevin Gausman down to AAA Sunday.
PERCEPTION: No one likes what the Birds have done with Gausman over the last two seasons, but it is what they feel they need to do to be successful. Remember, DD and Buck are given the job to make this team be successful this season. DD needs to worry about the future seasons in the long-term, but for now they are looking at only 2015.
When you look only at this season, you have to consider one thing… who has the minor league option flexibility to help this team… that is Chen and Gausman. So the Orioles are using that to their advantage. Is it what Chen and Gausman want for their careers? No. But it’s about the team in 2015.
If they can keep shuffling Tyler Wilson, Oliver Drake, T.J. McFarland, Mike Wright, Gausman and Chen while not having to DFA or trade someone else, then that is the best thing for the club.
Gausman hasn’t helped his cause with a 4.24 ERA in nine games. Some would say that it’s because he is getting sent up and down too much and that it is breaking his routine. I’m not sure I agree. There is not a huge difference in his routine. He gets moved up and down, just like a team plays home and away games. Most of the time they call him up when they are home and he’s just down the road in Norfolk. He still gets his days off, his normal rest between starts. Gausman is just going to have to learn to adjust.
Wilson has been really good in his few games, and the Orioles have called him up and sent him down a few times. He has been a starter and come in as a relief pitcher and it doesn’t seem to affect him. No one is saying it is messing up his routine.
Baltimore just has high hopes for Gausman and he hasn’t been able to prove, yet, that he can live up to them on a consistent basis.
I am not saying I approve 100% with the way the O’s have handled Gausman. Last season, I was on the whole “why are they jerking him around?” train. But this year, I have softened on my stance after seeing others in the same role succeed.
The front office has to do what is best for the team. And right now, if the Orioles keep Gausman on the roster for all 162 games that means someone else has to be cut (not sent down).
Are you really going to cut Chris Tillman? The guy who has been the anchor of this team since they started winning a few seasons ago?
Stop saying “send him down!” Some fans need to learn the rules of running a baseball franchise before they tweet. Tillman has no options meaning he can’t be sent down. You would have to cut him.
I am not into wishing bad things upon people on the team I cheer for. But if you are, then your lone hope is that Bud Norris fails. That might be the only way Gausman stays on the roster for every game the rest of this season. I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.
2 Responses
You have no idea what you are talking about if you think that the way they are handling Gausman doesn’t mess with his routine. They constantly shuffle him in and out of the bullpen, back and forth between the majors and minors. This is a career-long starter up to this point. Handling the way they have messes with his confidence.
As far as saying “Gausman hasn’t helped his cause with a 4.24 ERA in nine games”, most of that has been in relief. One or two bad relief appearances, and it happens to the best of relievers, jacks up the ERA. He’s only made one start this year in the majors and I would argue it’s just as good or better than most of Bud Norris’ starts. His 7.57 ERA would attest to that.
If they truly believe that Gausman is a future front line starter, they need to start treating him as one. If they keep handling him this way, we’ll never know what his true potential could be because his confidence will be shot.
You forgot Steve Pearce. He has to be in the discussion too.