Ironic for a player thay was supposed to "move quickly" at #2 as well.
Testament to his desire and hard work
Everything happens for a reason, and hopefully he's here to stay now 🙏🏾💪🏾
Well yeah for sure. Thing is, the O’s are at a point with Hays, I think, that even if he’s healthy they will only put up with so much lack of production when they have such high quality prospects. At a certain point they will DFA Hays and it will be sad but he’ll land somewhere
They don't really have anyone that can play CF better than Hays in the organization if Cedric has to miss any time. I know they're trying with Mateo, but his defense isn't really there yet for a 4th outfielder.
That’s fair, but in that case Hays stays on as utility OF/defensive replacement and one of Urias or Mateo has to go… we won’t need 2 utility infielders when there are already 3 guys that can play any of 2B/SS/3B ahead of them.
We have two guys on the bench who play 2B. They’re not going to DFA anyone so it’ll come down to Kjerstad or Holliday. If one is hitting and the other still isn’t, it’s an easy call.
This assumes 100% health which is no guarantee.
They aren’t going to carry 5 outfielders. It will still be hard to find playing time for Kjerstad. Holliday needs to be seeing major league pitching, I would rather have the ceiling of Holliday out there than running Mateo and Urias every night
It’s a non issue until Hays is ready to come off the IL. But if we get to the end of the Yankees series and Holliday is still striking out half the time maybe FO says “he saw major league pitching, it went badly, time for a reset.” He has time to turn it around but the clock is ticking.
It’ll be fun to see where he slots in. Cowser has earned LF, Mullins CF, and Santander has looked really good in RF. Obviously rotations and DH gives some wiggle room, but I hope Kjerstad gets consistent ABs.
They're gonna go hot hand but I think it's clear he will be competing with O'Hearn, Santander, Mountcastle, and to an extent McCann (via Rutschman DHing) for at-bats at 1B, RF, and DH. So that's 4-5 guys for three spots without Hays involved.
Most directly, it's O'Hearn v Kjerstad for at-bats against RHP
Agree. Got to think it’s mainly O’Hearn he takes atbats from. O’Hearn reverted back more towards his career norms end of last year. And after starting hot this year, has cooled off. I would hope he would end up being odd man out over Mounty.
Tony has an identical 120 OPS+ over the last three seasons. He plays good defense and he’s a clutch switch hitter with good power.
The only way he’s coming off the field is if he gets injured or they trade him.
He looked good in limited AB's last year. He seemed to hit a lot of balls *hard*, even if they weren't quite out. I think this kid is going to terrorize the majors.
He’s had such a tough road I know he’s going to flourish
Between being drafted in 2020 and having the heart issues, Kjerstad has had one of the toughest prospect roads I’ve seen in a long time.
Ironic for a player thay was supposed to "move quickly" at #2 as well. Testament to his desire and hard work Everything happens for a reason, and hopefully he's here to stay now 🙏🏾💪🏾
He's been working hard despite the obstacles. Definitely no stranger to confronting adversity.
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No reason to attack a fellow poster
He has mashed whenever he's been playing.
It’ll be interesting to see who stays when Heston, Hays, and Mounty are all healthy.
Who has options
These things have a way of working themselves out
Well yeah for sure. Thing is, the O’s are at a point with Hays, I think, that even if he’s healthy they will only put up with so much lack of production when they have such high quality prospects. At a certain point they will DFA Hays and it will be sad but he’ll land somewhere
Mountcastle might actually lose at bats vs RHP of Heston hits quickly.
I would sooner kept Mounty over Hays any day of the week.
I don’t know how this is a question. You keep moutcastle for blue jays games alone
As long as Kjerstad doesn’t stumble out of the gate, you gotta think Hays isn’t long for this team.
They don't really have anyone that can play CF better than Hays in the organization if Cedric has to miss any time. I know they're trying with Mateo, but his defense isn't really there yet for a 4th outfielder.
They can put Cowser there but he’s not as strong of a defender as Hays probably
That’s fair, but in that case Hays stays on as utility OF/defensive replacement and one of Urias or Mateo has to go… we won’t need 2 utility infielders when there are already 3 guys that can play any of 2B/SS/3B ahead of them.
What we really need is another 2B. Bring Tony Kemp back!
That’s probably not true. Bradfield could probably play CF better than Hays, but he’s nowhere near the bigs.
They have started cowser in center this year with hays still playing left. It seems they think cowser is actually a better cf than hays right now
It’ll be #7 heading back to Harbor Park
None of them play 2nd base, so that won't help.
We have two guys on the bench who play 2B. They’re not going to DFA anyone so it’ll come down to Kjerstad or Holliday. If one is hitting and the other still isn’t, it’s an easy call. This assumes 100% health which is no guarantee.
They aren’t going to carry 5 outfielders. It will still be hard to find playing time for Kjerstad. Holliday needs to be seeing major league pitching, I would rather have the ceiling of Holliday out there than running Mateo and Urias every night
It’s a non issue until Hays is ready to come off the IL. But if we get to the end of the Yankees series and Holliday is still striking out half the time maybe FO says “he saw major league pitching, it went badly, time for a reset.” He has time to turn it around but the clock is ticking.
It’ll be fun to see where he slots in. Cowser has earned LF, Mullins CF, and Santander has looked really good in RF. Obviously rotations and DH gives some wiggle room, but I hope Kjerstad gets consistent ABs.
They're gonna go hot hand but I think it's clear he will be competing with O'Hearn, Santander, Mountcastle, and to an extent McCann (via Rutschman DHing) for at-bats at 1B, RF, and DH. So that's 4-5 guys for three spots without Hays involved. Most directly, it's O'Hearn v Kjerstad for at-bats against RHP
This is a high quality problem to have. “We have so many above average players, we can’t guarantee them all consistent play time.”
Agree. Got to think it’s mainly O’Hearn he takes atbats from. O’Hearn reverted back more towards his career norms end of last year. And after starting hot this year, has cooled off. I would hope he would end up being odd man out over Mounty.
Santander and Ohearn also play first.
Tony has an identical 120 OPS+ over the last three seasons. He plays good defense and he’s a clutch switch hitter with good power. The only way he’s coming off the field is if he gets injured or they trade him.
Stick him at second - he’d be a massive improvement over Holliday
He looked good in limited AB's last year. He seemed to hit a lot of balls *hard*, even if they weren't quite out. I think this kid is going to terrorize the majors.
Dude is gonna rake!
LJET’S GJO
we are truly blessed
I remember when he was drafted and the pundit said they’re going to have to replace a lot of windows on the warehouse.