Latest / Birdland Territory / A few takes on the O's outfield, young core and much more

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A few takes on the O's outfield, young core and much more · Birdland Territory

0:07
Speaker 1: Those fans, welcome to October Baseball, where it gets really
0:10
Speaker 1: exciting in Major League Baseball. But a second straight year,
0:13
Speaker 1: the Orioles will not be participating after a 79-win season.
0:17
Speaker 1: That was terribly disappointing. I don't have to tell you
0:20
Speaker 1: guys that. Steve, Tim, and Brad with our second off-season show.
0:24
Speaker 1: And this one's going to go back a little bit
0:27
Speaker 1: to Monday, the Mike Elias, Craig Albernaz season-ending press conferences,
0:31
Speaker 1: as we address more aspects of the team, their thoughts,
0:35
Speaker 1: and our thoughts. moving forward. So guys, let's get started
0:39
Speaker 1: promptly here. Talk about third base where we got an
0:44
Speaker 1: update from Mike Elias on Jordan Westberg and also some
0:49
Speaker 1: praise for how without him this year, the people who
0:52
Speaker 1: played third base did pretty well.
0:55
Speaker 2: Uh, well, first of all, Jordan is doing well. I
0:56
Speaker 2: think he's starting hitting next week, something like that.
0:59
Speaker 3: You signed a hit, uh, hitting progression this week, this week.
1:02
Speaker 2: Um, and so he's on track. Um, We don't want
1:06
Speaker 2: to overly plan around him, just given that he's still
1:10
Speaker 2: early in a Tommy John rehab, but he is doing well. Obviously,
1:14
Speaker 2: that was extremely concerning to lose him unexpectedly right at
1:19
Speaker 2: the outset of free agency, but everyone else stepped in spectacularly.
1:23
Speaker 2: I mean, everyone that we handed the ball to basically
1:27
Speaker 2: at third base did it in one way or another
1:29
Speaker 2: for us, so that was a bright spot. I think
1:32
Speaker 2: it gives us really good depth at that position now.
1:35
Speaker 2: And then, you know, you got Jordan come back. Hopefully
1:36
Speaker 2: you feel pretty good about our options at third with
1:40
Speaker 2: the guys that you mentioned.
1:43
Speaker 1: Here's how spectacularly they stepped in. In 24 and 25,
1:48
Speaker 1: Jordan Westberg's two-year OPS was 782. That's robust. He was
1:53
Speaker 1: an all-star. O's third baseman this year combined for an
1:56
Speaker 1: OPS of 784. They did as well as Westberg had
2:02
Speaker 1: done collectively, that's 68 starts for Mayo, 45 for CES,
2:07
Speaker 1: 36 for Blaze. They started 93% of the games and
2:11
Speaker 1: a few for West and Wilson. So gentlemen, that's pretty
2:15
Speaker 1: strong stuff.
2:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's one of the least problems you
2:20
Speaker 4: have going into this offseason.
2:22
Speaker 5: Third base is pretty much set.
2:23
Speaker 4: Now it's just trying to figure out who's the guy
2:25
Speaker 4: you want to play there based on how well these
2:27
Speaker 4: guys play.
2:27
Speaker 1: But Yeah.
2:28
Speaker 4: The guy, everyone that stepped in at third base this year,
2:30
Speaker 4: I was super impressed with Kobe Mayo. I mean, what
2:33
Speaker 4: a second half that he had. And really, I mean, April, May,
2:36
Speaker 4: we're talking about almost how can you keep giving this
2:39
Speaker 4: guy a bat? And now it's, how do you not
2:41
Speaker 4: have him in the lineup based off of what he does?
2:43
Speaker 4: Not only against lefties, but starting to come back to
2:45
Speaker 4: the league average towards righty. So for me, third base
2:48
Speaker 4: is just one of those positions. Now it's like, is
2:51
Speaker 4: there somebody else you can move to the outfield? Can
2:52
Speaker 4: you move Jordan Westberg to the out?
2:54
Speaker 6: I don't know.
2:54
Speaker 4: There's, there's a lot of questions, I guess, with third base,
2:57
Speaker 4: but you're, you're, you're happy with where that position is
2:59
Speaker 4: right now. I'd say that to me, third base is
3:01
Speaker 4: one of your biggest, uh, least worries heading into this
3:04
Speaker 4: off season.
3:05
Speaker 3: Yeah. It's something we keep talking about. It's a good
3:07
Speaker 3: problem to have. You'd rather have too many good players
3:10
Speaker 3: in one position than not enough. And you're searching for
3:13
Speaker 3: answers if, and it's a big if because Jordan Westberg
3:17
Speaker 3: has been heard over the past couple of seasons, two
3:20
Speaker 3: and a half seasons, he broke his hand the day
3:22
Speaker 3: after the 2024 playoffs. trade deadline and ever since that
3:25
Speaker 3: point it's just unfortunately been one thing after another for
3:29
Speaker 3: him but if he's healthy he's your everyday third baseman
3:32
Speaker 3: for me and he's got the versatility he can play
3:35
Speaker 3: second base maybe shortstop in a pinch but probably don't
3:39
Speaker 3: want him there uh long term he's a guy that
3:42
Speaker 3: they sorely sorely miss uh over these past couple of
3:45
Speaker 3: years because he's really clutch he's very consistent he'll give
3:48
Speaker 3: you a professional at-bat And he's a solid defender at
3:52
Speaker 3: the hot corner as well. But you look at the
3:55
Speaker 3: guys who filled in. If you're talking about trios and
3:59
Speaker 3: MLB post-All-Star break, Pete Alonso, Kobe Mayo, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand
4:05
Speaker 3: are near the top. They were third in OPS when
4:09
Speaker 3: you're looking at trios since that point. So where does
4:13
Speaker 3: everyone else fit in? Gosh, that's the million-dollar question. Because
4:18
Speaker 3: I think Westbrook's the everyday guy if he's healthy. Kobe male,
4:22
Speaker 3: is there a possibility you try him in right field,
4:25
Speaker 3: you know, blaze, does he go back to what he
4:28
Speaker 3: was originally brought here for?
4:30
Speaker 6: And that's a super utility role.
4:31
Speaker 3: And then see, yes, I, my guess is guys, I
4:36
Speaker 3: keep thinking, but one of these guys probably gets dealt,
4:41
Speaker 3: you know, there's not enough seats at the end for
4:45
Speaker 3: all of these guys. And, and, Maybe you can bring
4:48
Speaker 3: back an outfielder, a pitcher, you know, something that can
4:51
Speaker 3: help you elsewhere.
4:55
Speaker 1: There's been talk about Mayo in right field. He's certainly
4:58
Speaker 1: got a big arm. My concern is the athleticism is
5:03
Speaker 1: not there to be running around the outfield, cutting balls
5:05
Speaker 1: off on the gap, making athletic plays. And think of
5:09
Speaker 1: the frustration fans had this year every time an outfielder
5:11
Speaker 1: boxed one. And so Kobe is a great kid. I'd
5:15
Speaker 1: love him to go out there and prove me wrong
5:16
Speaker 1: and say, Steve, you didn't think I could do it?
5:19
Speaker 1: What do you think now? I'd love that because I'd
5:21
Speaker 1: love to see it, and it might get him every
5:23
Speaker 1: day at bats. I do question his ability to do that.
5:27
Speaker 1: It's a lot of room out there in right field
5:29
Speaker 1: to move around. So the Orioles haven't said they're doing that,
5:33
Speaker 1: but that's one thing to consider, I guess. Yeah, definitely.
5:37
Speaker 4: I just think it's more about, trying to get all
5:41
Speaker 4: these guys in the lineup. So you're trying to think, okay,
5:43
Speaker 4: you know, Encarnacion, Strand, I think more you want to
5:46
Speaker 4: keep them in the corners. Maybe DH, Westberg, especially coming
5:51
Speaker 4: back from Tommy John, that's going to be tough moving
5:53
Speaker 4: him to the, like, it's just, it's like, like we've
5:56
Speaker 4: been saying, it's a great problem to have, but you
5:58
Speaker 4: just don't know which guy you want to attempt to
6:00
Speaker 4: move elsewhere.
6:01
Speaker 5: Yeah.
6:02
Speaker 3: I think, and the reason why, Steve, I feel like
6:07
Speaker 3: there's talk about corner outfield is because that's what Mike
6:10
Speaker 3: Elias brought up during spring training about Kobe Mayall getting
6:13
Speaker 3: some work in a corner outfield spot. And then, unfortunately,
6:17
Speaker 3: that's when Westbrook went down and Jackson Holliday went down
6:19
Speaker 3: and you're keeping him at third base. But I think
6:22
Speaker 3: you're going to have to get creative to try and
6:24
Speaker 3: get as bad in the lineup. But you're 100% right, Steve.
6:27
Speaker 3: I mean, what was one of the biggest gripes about
6:29
Speaker 3: the 2026 Orioles? Well, they gave up the most unearned
6:33
Speaker 3: runs in baseball, 88 unearned runs. So you want to
6:38
Speaker 3: fix this defense and yeah, you want to get Kobe's
6:41
Speaker 3: bad in the lineup, but if he's a liability in
6:43
Speaker 3: the field, it's tough.
6:46
Speaker 6: It's tough.
6:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. The good defensive outfitters are often not the bigger guys.
6:52
Speaker 1: They move, they have good speed, good agility, good first step.
6:55
Speaker 1: That's not Kobe being a corner infielder as a big guy.
6:58
Speaker 1: It's not who he is. But, That bat, he got
7:02
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to get in the lineup.
7:03
Speaker 1: And right when he's coming into his own, you don't
7:05
Speaker 1: want him now to have to fight to get his
7:07
Speaker 1: way in the lineup. He sort of earned it, right?
7:09
Speaker 1: So now the Orioles have to solve this issue. It's
7:12
Speaker 1: probably a good problem to have too many good third
7:14
Speaker 1: basemen because a lot of spots on the diamond, that problem,
7:18
Speaker 1: the Orioles don't have that problem. But this year, their
7:20
Speaker 1: best position for OPS was, of course, first base, Pete
7:24
Speaker 1: Alonso doing heavy lifting. But third base was their second best.
7:28
Speaker 1: So offensively, that was a very good position this year
7:31
Speaker 1: for the Orioles. Now, second base, it was not. Jackson
7:36
Speaker 1: Holiday had his ups and downs again, and so he
7:40
Speaker 1: also had some injuries. So Jackson Holiday was discussed during
7:44
Speaker 1: the season-ending press conference.
7:46
Speaker 2: Injuries with Jackson, you certainly keep it in mind. I mean,
7:50
Speaker 2: he had two upper extremity injuries on either hand this year.
7:55
Speaker 2: That's a pretty big deal on both sides of the ball.
7:57
Speaker 2: He did a great job. working his way through it.
8:00
Speaker 2: Enormous talent, great hand on his shoulders, as I've been
8:03
Speaker 2: talking about with the draft picks. You look at where
8:06
Speaker 2: he is in age and then the other top picks
8:09
Speaker 2: around him. He's way ahead of the curve, and we
8:13
Speaker 2: continue to believe in him and build around him. He
8:18
Speaker 2: is very athletic. We started him at shortstop. He ended
8:21
Speaker 2: up at second base. To the degree that evolves in
8:25
Speaker 2: multiple different directions, I think he's so good. early in
8:28
Speaker 2: his career that we'll see, but we absolutely believe in
8:31
Speaker 2: his ability at second base, and him as a second
8:35
Speaker 2: baseman will be a big part of our planning this winter.
8:38
Speaker 1: So that was a pretty strong defense of Jackson Holliday,
8:43
Speaker 1: who has a career OPS plus of 86. That's well
8:46
Speaker 1: below average. That's 1,200 plate appearances now. So Elias also
8:51
Speaker 1: defended Holliday in terms of a homegrown player in the draft.
8:56
Speaker 1: And I went and looked up what he was talking about,
8:59
Speaker 1: like he's holding his own with others. And if you
9:02
Speaker 1: go to the 2022 draft when Holiday was 1-1, he
9:06
Speaker 1: has 1.2 career war. The first six players, no one
9:11
Speaker 1: has that but him. Now, that's not a big number
9:14
Speaker 1: to brag on, 1.2 for your career. But I guess
9:18
Speaker 1: the bigger point is others haven't torn it up either
9:22
Speaker 1: early in that draft. But still, that doesn't make you
9:26
Speaker 1: We're raving about Jackson Holiday because of this 1.2 number.
9:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I just think– I continue to just harp
9:32
Speaker 4: on the fact that he is still just so young.
9:34
Speaker 4: It's just crazy to have these kinds of expectations on
9:38
Speaker 4: a 22, 23-year-old. I know that's where we're at in
9:40
Speaker 4: MLB these days, but he's also.
9:42
Speaker 1: A number one overall pick.
9:43
Speaker 4: So I just don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon.
9:46
Speaker 4: So they're going to do everything they can to get
9:48
Speaker 4: him in the spot that they need him. So I
9:50
Speaker 4: think the defense there from Mike Elias is just kind of–
9:53
Speaker 4: giving him confidence if he happens to see any of
9:56
Speaker 4: the clips, that, you know, the organization is completely behind
9:59
Speaker 4: him and they believe in him. And I just think
10:00
Speaker 4: for him, it's just getting a full season under his belt,
10:03
Speaker 4: learning how to do it on a daily basis, getting
10:06
Speaker 4: the reps. And I just think the talent's going to come.
10:08
Speaker 4: I mean, just some of the episodes we've had, I mean,
10:10
Speaker 4: we talked about evaluators saying that it's the greatest hitting
10:13
Speaker 4: he's seen since A-Rod. They don't just throw these kinds
10:15
Speaker 4: of things out there. So it's, it's there. I just
10:18
Speaker 4: think it's, once he gets his confidence and learns how
10:20
Speaker 4: to play on an everyday basis, the big league level,
10:23
Speaker 4: I'm hoping we're going to see big things from Jackson holiday.
10:25
Speaker 6: Yeah.
10:26
Speaker 3: That was our buddy, Jim callous, who said that and
10:29
Speaker 3: Jim knows minor leagues more than anybody. So, uh, you know,
10:32
Speaker 3: you value his opinion. Um, but with Jackson guys, I
10:37
Speaker 3: continue to say it. I'm, I'm willing to, to give
10:39
Speaker 3: him grace up until this point. Um, I remember saying
10:43
Speaker 3: early on, I, I, had a feeling that this would
10:46
Speaker 3: end up being a lost year for him just because
10:48
Speaker 3: of the setbacks with the and him coming into the
10:51
Speaker 3: middle of the season when this team was really struggling. Um,
10:55
Speaker 3: you know, he had a really good month of July,
10:58
Speaker 3: I believe, where the OPS was over 900, but outside
11:01
Speaker 3: of that, it was tough and something that I just
11:04
Speaker 3: want to see him getting back to. And this of
11:07
Speaker 3: course is a, element you know why some things haven't
11:13
Speaker 3: translated to the majors um you look at his triple
11:17
Speaker 3: a level guys his career he had 114 strikeouts to
11:22
Speaker 3: 97 walks that's really really good but it just hasn't
11:26
Speaker 3: translated to the major league level 293 strikeouts to 105
11:30
Speaker 3: walks and this year you know numbers were down across
11:34
Speaker 3: the board uh batting average on base slug um but
11:40
Speaker 3: next year's big you know next year for me that
11:43
Speaker 3: the expectations start to ratchet up because you know he's
11:46
Speaker 3: got over 1200 plate appearances now at the major league
11:50
Speaker 3: level and this is all of course assuming health but
11:53
Speaker 3: you know he goes into the season healthy i i
11:57
Speaker 3: think it's fair for expectations to to be higher in
12:01
Speaker 3: in 2027 given the fact that like you said brad
12:03
Speaker 3: you know former one one.
12:06
Speaker 1: Exactly. And on an earlier show, I suggested and I said,
12:10
Speaker 1: I don't endorse this in any way. But I mentioned
12:14
Speaker 1: Westbrook could play some at second, opens third. But then
12:18
Speaker 1: that takes Jackson off the field against some lefties. And
12:20
Speaker 1: then we're back to are we ever going to let
12:22
Speaker 1: these young kids hit left and right?
12:24
Speaker 2: Yeah.
12:24
Speaker 1: You know, it's just this vicious cycle and circle. And
12:27
Speaker 1: so but we go back to that game. We had
12:31
Speaker 1: four hits. He didn't start the next day. So stuff
12:33
Speaker 1: like this, to me, is self-inflicted. And the Orioles sometimes
12:36
Speaker 1: make it harder on their own young players when I
12:39
Speaker 1: think they should be building them up behind the scenes.
12:42
Speaker 4: Yeah. And I think honestly, like Tim, when you brought
12:45
Speaker 4: up that just now, how when you think about how
12:47
Speaker 4: the success all these guys had in.
12:49
Speaker 5: The minor leagues.
12:50
Speaker 4: Yes, I know AAA is different. The pitching is way
12:52
Speaker 4: better in the big leagues. but it almost makes you
12:54
Speaker 4: wonder if there's like a philosophical just disconnect between when
12:57
Speaker 4: they are in AAA and when they get to the
12:59
Speaker 4: big leagues, or if it's just a confidence thing, because
13:02
Speaker 4: we've seen almost every single guy except for Gunnar Henderson
13:04
Speaker 4: when they came up. And I guess Adley too, but
13:06
Speaker 4: like these big time prospects kind of struggle when they
13:09
Speaker 4: first get there or like the, the years after, I
13:12
Speaker 4: guess Colton Couser, his rookie year was pretty good too,
13:14
Speaker 4: but there's a struggle somewhere along the way. And, and, Steve,
13:17
Speaker 4: I know you've mentioned multiple times just the changing of
13:19
Speaker 4: the hitting coaches constantly for these guys. And you wonder
13:22
Speaker 4: if there was a connection for all these guys when
13:24
Speaker 4: they got there. And now with all this changing of
13:27
Speaker 4: the coaches and trying to change how their manufacturing runs,
13:31
Speaker 4: if that plays into it, because these guys are super talented.
13:33
Speaker 4: They're all first-round picks. They get to the big leagues quick.
13:36
Speaker 4: They have somewhat success, enough to keep them there. And
13:39
Speaker 4: then it's just not able to be sustained. There just
13:42
Speaker 4: seems to be some kind of disconnect, whether it's the
13:44
Speaker 4: philosophical side of things or if it's just, the voices
13:47
Speaker 4: that they're hearing while they're up there. It'd be interesting
13:49
Speaker 4: to see if they keep all the same coaches and
13:52
Speaker 4: if they keep the same philosophy moving forward.
13:54
Speaker 6: Well, Brad, it's, it's the million dollar question, right?
13:57
Speaker 3: Because this team, you know, with how it's built undergoing
14:02
Speaker 3: this rebuild, like they're going to sink or swim with
14:05
Speaker 3: how this group does and, and they need to bounce back. And, and,
14:09
Speaker 3: you know, an admission that, Obviously, it wasn't going to
14:13
Speaker 3: plan was trading Adley Rutschman at the trade deadline because,
14:17
Speaker 3: you know, he was Mike Elias's first draft pick. But
14:21
Speaker 3: this group has to bounce back. Gunnar Henderson has to
14:24
Speaker 3: bounce back. Jackson Holiday is going to have to take
14:26
Speaker 3: a big jump. You know, like they're back to form
14:31
Speaker 3: and exceeded for them to get back to the playoff. Yeah.
14:36
Speaker 1: Exactly. Speaking of playoffs, guys, we're in the midst of
14:38
Speaker 1: it now. There's been some interesting games and some blowout games.
14:43
Speaker 1: And so let's check in on that for a moment.
15:03
Speaker 1: On the Fox One app. So, Brad, playoff baseball is
15:09
Speaker 1: a little different than regular season baseball. Obviously, everything's riding
15:13
Speaker 1: on just a few games. And so, went back and
15:16
Speaker 1: looked up your record, which, by the way, is really good.
15:19
Speaker 1: One run in five playoff innings over three seasons for
15:23
Speaker 1: two teams, those and Braves. What was it like on
15:26
Speaker 1: the field when all heck is breaking loose in October?
15:30
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a lot.
15:31
Speaker 4: It's just that everything is amplified from inning one on.
15:35
Speaker 4: You're just kind of When you're a reliever, especially in
15:37
Speaker 4: today's game, you know you're going to pitch. So it's
15:39
Speaker 4: a little bit different of a situation than the regular
15:42
Speaker 4: season where certain scenarios have to come your way. But
15:46
Speaker 4: right now, especially the way the playoffs are, the relievers
15:49
Speaker 4: are going to pitch. So you're on alert from the
15:51
Speaker 4: first pitch. I remember after the first couple games in Baltimore,
15:55
Speaker 4: which was my first playoff experience, I remember having headaches
15:58
Speaker 4: after the game because you're so intensely concentrated on every
16:02
Speaker 4: single pitch that it just takes a lot out of you.
16:04
Speaker 4: But when you get out there, I mean, it is.
16:06
Speaker 4: There's nothing better. The excitement is ridiculous. The fans are
16:09
Speaker 4: so into every single pitch. You throw a ball, the
16:12
Speaker 4: fans are clapping. During the regular season, that doesn't happen.
16:14
Speaker 4: When you're on the road and when you're at home,
16:16
Speaker 4: you throw a strike, the fans are clapping. You get
16:18
Speaker 4: two strikes, everybody's on their feet. It's just a lot
16:20
Speaker 4: of excitement. It's the best part of the year, and
16:22
Speaker 4: that's why everybody loves doing it.
16:25
Speaker 3: And, Brad, I think back, obviously, 2016, and unfortunately it
16:29
Speaker 3: didn't end well for the O's, but you look at
16:31
Speaker 3: the wild card season, round how it works now best
16:34
Speaker 3: of three where it still blows my mind that you
16:37
Speaker 3: play 162 and it was a winner take all back
16:40
Speaker 3: then it's crazy.
16:41
Speaker 4: Yeah it is and I think back to I was
16:43
Speaker 4: actually thinking about that series yesterday because I'm like man
16:45
Speaker 4: it would have been nice to play those guys three
16:47
Speaker 4: games it would have been first of all three unbelievably
16:49
Speaker 4: entertaining games for the fans but I just felt like
16:52
Speaker 4: those teams deserve to have a three-game series just based
16:55
Speaker 4: on how we played each other it was always a
16:57
Speaker 4: good match with teams that were loaded and uh yeah
17:00
Speaker 4: it's just uh The one game was definitely a crazy,
17:02
Speaker 4: crazy scenario.
17:03
Speaker 5: I'm glad they've extended it a little bit.
17:07
Speaker 1: This in no way correlates to you pitching in postseason baseball.
17:10
Speaker 1: But I remember when I was broadcasting at Florida State
17:13
Speaker 1: and those kids got to the postseason, I could feel
17:16
Speaker 1: the pressure on them. And for me as a broadcaster,
17:19
Speaker 1: I felt like this is the biggest game of the year.
17:22
Speaker 1: how do I prepare? What do I say? What do
17:24
Speaker 1: I do? And then finally had to talk with myself.
17:26
Speaker 1: You've been doing a good job. Do what you did
17:28
Speaker 1: a month ago when you got ready for a game.
17:30
Speaker 1: Why would you change anything now? Did you kind of
17:32
Speaker 1: try to do that as a player? Although it obviously
17:35
Speaker 1: isn't the same game.
17:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.
17:36
Speaker 4: Honestly, you, you try to execute and that's, that's the
17:38
Speaker 4: name of the game, especially in the playoffs.
17:40
Speaker 5: It's amplified.
17:41
Speaker 4: So every failure is going to be, you know, talked
17:43
Speaker 4: about way more and every success is going to be
17:46
Speaker 4: celebrated a little bit more, but it's really about just
17:48
Speaker 4: kind of containing it. A lot of times, uh, with
17:50
Speaker 4: the older guys that we have at the Orioles, it
17:51
Speaker 4: was more about containing it. You're going to throw harder.
17:54
Speaker 4: Your stuff's going to be better just because you're so
17:56
Speaker 4: amped up. It was more about trying to take almost
17:59
Speaker 4: a step back that as opposed to like putting a
18:01
Speaker 4: step forward, which is really hard when you're so amped up,
18:04
Speaker 4: like you are when you're on the mound.
18:06
Speaker 3: And Brad, you pitched the half inning before Delman young, right?
18:11
Speaker 6: Yes.
18:11
Speaker 1: Yeah.
18:12
Speaker 4: That was, I mean, obviously Oriole fans, if you were there,
18:14
Speaker 4: go look at, if you weren't there, go look at
18:16
Speaker 4: videos or you haven't heard it. If you're too young,
18:19
Speaker 4: That was the most exciting game I was ever a
18:20
Speaker 4: part of. I mean, talk about a bunch of grown
18:22
Speaker 4: men acting like little kids when you get that ball
18:25
Speaker 4: in the gap.
18:25
Speaker 5: It gives me chills. Every guy's waving at me.
18:28
Speaker 4: It was like you're back in Little League cheering for
18:30
Speaker 4: one of your, you know, seven-year-old teammates. It was just
18:33
Speaker 4: one of the best moments that, like, literally just unified.
18:35
Speaker 4: I've never seen a play almost unify an entire city
18:38
Speaker 4: like that play did.
18:40
Speaker 1: They still talk about that moment today in Birdland.
18:42
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
18:43
Speaker 1: And 20 years from now, they'll still be talking about
18:46
Speaker 1: the Delman-Young moment. So remember, folks, every NLDS, NLCS, and
18:52
Speaker 1: World Series game will be available on the Fox One app.
18:56
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18:59
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19:01
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19:06
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19:10
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19:13
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19:16
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19:21
Speaker 1: Rolling on with Birdland Territory. Let's get back to some
19:25
Speaker 1: of the Mike Elias clips we were playing. And this
19:28
Speaker 1: one is about the young core. Oh, boy, we talk
19:32
Speaker 1: about that a lot, how they have to collectively get better,
19:36
Speaker 1: individually get better, and in some cases reach past levels
19:41
Speaker 1: of performance before in 2027. Yeah, it's been a huge
19:45
Speaker 1: factor for us.
19:46
Speaker 2: A lot of guys that came on like gangbusters or
19:50
Speaker 2: were excellent in the minor leagues have had their performance
19:54
Speaker 2: dwindle or not dwindle, but you know, kind of go
19:58
Speaker 2: backwards a little bit over a year or two in
20:00
Speaker 2: a way that wasn't expected for me internally, but just
20:06
Speaker 2: as important or more importantly to me, like externally, like
20:09
Speaker 2: I don't, I didn't hear anyone saying, oh, this guy's
20:11
Speaker 2: going to regress or read anything.
20:14
Speaker 1: And it's been a problem.
20:15
Speaker 2: We've also had a lot of health factors in some
20:18
Speaker 2: of those regressions, and we're doing our best to address it.
20:22
Speaker 2: Some of it's innate to baseball. There's a lot of variability,
20:27
Speaker 2: and it's really hard to be a player and kind
20:29
Speaker 2: of stay on top of your game. But if there's
20:32
Speaker 2: anything we're doing organizationally to give us more than our
20:36
Speaker 2: fair share of that problem, We're looking at it. And
20:40
Speaker 2: if I'd have that solved, you know, it would have
20:44
Speaker 2: been solved by now. So it's not something easy, but
20:46
Speaker 2: it's at the front of our minds.
20:49
Speaker 1: So what we heard there, those final sentences from Elias
20:53
Speaker 1: is we haven't figured this out. We still got work
20:56
Speaker 1: to do here. And the numbers numerically can tell us
20:59
Speaker 1: that OPS plus 100 is league average. So Kobe Mayo,
21:03
Speaker 1: pretty good, right? Gunner was league average-ish, but we expect
21:06
Speaker 1: a lot more. These other guys were below. Visayo, 96. Couser, 95. Beavers, 93.
21:12
Speaker 1: And we discussed Jackson Holliday, who this year was 82.
21:17
Speaker 1: So work to do.
21:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure.
21:20
Speaker 4: And it's just when you hear Mike talk there, there's–
21:24
Speaker 4: the accountability part of it to me just keeps coming
21:26
Speaker 4: back to my mind it's just yes you're saying that
21:30
Speaker 4: we expect more but we really like what these guys
21:32
Speaker 4: are doing and sometimes it's the hard truths.
21:35
Speaker 5: That need to be said and whether maybe they said
21:37
Speaker 5: it to.
21:37
Speaker 4: Them you know and not on a you know a
21:40
Speaker 4: stage in front of reporters and everything but you just
21:43
Speaker 4: got to hope that these conversations are being had just
21:45
Speaker 4: because when you are drafted so high and the expectations
21:48
Speaker 4: are there I feel like That's not a problem. That's
21:53
Speaker 4: not the issue. It's just being told that and sometimes
21:55
Speaker 4: making the adjustments. And I hope that this offseason there's
21:58
Speaker 4: a clear plan on, hey, we need these guys to
22:00
Speaker 4: do X, Y, Z to get better and make this
22:02
Speaker 4: team better. Because like we've been saying, with those five
22:05
Speaker 4: or six guys we just listed, it's going to be
22:07
Speaker 4: how this team goes. There's no, you know, trading for
22:10
Speaker 4: some huge outfielder. There's no probably signing another Pete Alonzo.
22:15
Speaker 4: It's really the success and the failures are going to
22:17
Speaker 4: come from that core group of guys.
22:19
Speaker 5: And it's just the way this team is built.
22:22
Speaker 3: I think something, and I know we continue to beat
22:25
Speaker 3: this dead horse, but they need to commit to these guys.
22:30
Speaker 6: And for some of them, you know, it's too late.
22:34
Speaker 3: But the end of the season, you know, when they
22:37
Speaker 3: were out of it, like Colton Couser needs to play
22:40
Speaker 3: every day. Dylan Beavers needs to play every day. Jackson
22:42
Speaker 3: Holiday needs to play. Like the platooning, it's way too much.
22:47
Speaker 3: You need to instill confidence in those guys and say, hey,
22:51
Speaker 3: no matter what, you're going to go out there, we're
22:53
Speaker 3: going to pencil you in, you're going to bat seventh,
22:55
Speaker 3: eighth every single night, you're going to be in center field,
22:57
Speaker 3: right field, whatever. I think that that would go a
23:01
Speaker 3: long way in helping this group. And yes, adjustments need
23:06
Speaker 3: to be made and they need to take accountability and
23:09
Speaker 3: everyone can do more across the board. But I just
23:14
Speaker 3: think committing to these guys would go a long way.
23:19
Speaker 1: Put yourself in the shoes of Heston Kerstak.
23:21
Speaker 6: You did all.
23:23
Speaker 1: This incredible work to get yourself healthy and back to playing.
23:27
Speaker 1: You left your wife within 24 hours of the birth
23:30
Speaker 1: of your child to rush back to not play. And furthermore,
23:35
Speaker 1: to watch Reese Hines, I'm not knocking Reese Hines, but
23:37
Speaker 1: come on, his performance was very subpar. And because he
23:41
Speaker 1: hits right-handed, he starts some games that Heston Kerstad could
23:46
Speaker 1: not start. So what must that kid be thinking? They
23:49
Speaker 1: praise him for all he did to get back to
23:51
Speaker 1: the big leagues, big second half, rush back to the team,
23:55
Speaker 1: but we're not putting you in the game.
23:56
Speaker 2: Yeah.
23:57
Speaker 4: And I think like we had kind of talked about as,
23:59
Speaker 4: as they were kind of losing grips on the wild card, like, Hey,
24:02
Speaker 4: we want to see these guys every night because you
24:04
Speaker 4: have to figure out what you're going to do. And
24:05
Speaker 4: if I'm not wrong, Kerstad's out of options next year.
24:07
Speaker 4: So they didn't get to see anything from him. So
24:10
Speaker 4: they have no idea if they're going to be able
24:12
Speaker 4: to keep him in. he could be somebody else's piece
24:15
Speaker 4: that they need. And because they play him every day
24:17
Speaker 4: and because he was such a high pick and the
24:18
Speaker 4: talent is there, somebody else might benefit from this, but
24:21
Speaker 4: he never really got the chance in Baltimore. And that's,
24:24
Speaker 4: I feel like the frustrating part with what's going to
24:26
Speaker 4: happen here, because it's going to start happening with all
24:28
Speaker 4: these guys. Like they're going to be out of options
24:30
Speaker 4: or they're going to be coming up on free agency.
24:32
Speaker 4: And it's going to be like a coin flip.
24:34
Speaker 5: We don't know. And they go to somewhere else and
24:36
Speaker 5: they have success. And to me, that would be the
24:37
Speaker 5: worst part.
24:38
Speaker 4: That would happen with this group is that they just
24:40
Speaker 4: didn't get the chance in Baltimore and they go somewhere
24:42
Speaker 4: else and they go off and they're now an everyday
24:45
Speaker 4: player for some team that really used them correctly.
24:48
Speaker 3: Yeah. Steve, I'm glad you brought up Heston and he's
24:51
Speaker 3: the perfect example where, you know, he was your September
24:54
Speaker 3: call up and we still have no idea what Heston
24:59
Speaker 3: Kerstad is at this stage of his career. And with
25:02
Speaker 3: him entering next year with no options, I just, it
25:06
Speaker 3: was such an easy runway to at least give him a, again, you,
25:11
Speaker 3: you sit him down. Hey, no matter what you go
25:13
Speaker 3: for four with three strikeouts, you're going to be in
25:15
Speaker 3: the lineup the next day. Like, like, and it wasn't
25:18
Speaker 3: like a Reese Hines or a Christian Franklin or any
25:21
Speaker 3: of those guys were hitting the cover off the ball
25:23
Speaker 3: and making web gem catches to keep him, you know,
25:27
Speaker 3: in the dugout.
25:28
Speaker 6: So it, it, it just didn't make any sense. It
25:31
Speaker 6: didn't make any sense.
25:32
Speaker 4: And Tim, Steve, real quick, like to your point, I
25:34
Speaker 4: saw that earlier in my career when I was in
25:36
Speaker 4: San Diego, we did a lot of the same things.
25:38
Speaker 4: The lefties only face righties, righties only face lefties. Next
25:41
Speaker 4: thing you know, three or four of those guys go elsewhere.
25:43
Speaker 4: Logan Forsythe being one of them. And it was just
25:45
Speaker 4: more about getting to play every day, getting.
25:47
Speaker 5: Consistent at bats. And that's really all it took.
25:49
Speaker 4: He was a high round pick, but he never got
25:51
Speaker 4: the chance to play consistently, goes to the Rays, has
25:54
Speaker 4: consistent at bats. And next thing you know, he's a seven, eight,
25:57
Speaker 4: nine year MLB player and just had a great career.
26:00
Speaker 4: So it's just, I guess that's the frustrating part is
26:02
Speaker 4: like seeing it from experience part aside. I saw it
26:05
Speaker 4: happen with some guys and they go elsewhere and they
26:07
Speaker 4: go off and it's just like all it took was
26:09
Speaker 4: consistent at bats. And you talk to those guys in
26:11
Speaker 4: the clubhouse and it's just like, what do you think
26:13
Speaker 4: it would take? It's like, it's hard when I play
26:15
Speaker 4: once every three days or I get pinch hit every
26:17
Speaker 4: here and there. It's like, yeah, it's gotta be tough
26:19
Speaker 4: as a hitter to only see pitches once every three
26:21
Speaker 4: days from a, from in-game action.
26:25
Speaker 1: Number two pick in the draft. Couldn't get on the field.
26:28
Speaker 1: for a non-playoff Oriole team that had to be frustrating
26:31
Speaker 1: for Heston Kerstad. Speaking of outfielders, we'll speak of outfielders
26:35
Speaker 1: when we continue. So Mike Elias got asked about outfield
26:38
Speaker 1: play during the season-ending presser.
26:41
Speaker 6: Kind of a question that was.
27:00
Speaker 1: Muddled with the draft picks. In other words, you drafted
27:03
Speaker 1: a lot of high picks like Kerstad, like Kalzer, some outfielders,
27:07
Speaker 1: and you're still trying to fix your outfield. He touched
27:10
Speaker 1: on all of that.
27:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think outfield is something that we'll have to
27:13
Speaker 2: look at. And, you know, looking at the draft, some
27:19
Speaker 2: of those guys, I mean, in terms of like the
27:21
Speaker 2: first round picks, we're only two that are up here
27:25
Speaker 2: so far from the outfield category. I think Bradfield's somebody
27:27
Speaker 2: that we'll see this coming year. And, you know, the
27:32
Speaker 2: draft is not settled science in baseball. And you look
27:36
Speaker 2: at the picks around where those guys went and those
27:40
Speaker 2: guys are doing really well, relatively speaking, for draft picks.
27:43
Speaker 2: So it's no shortcoming of theirs. But I think statistically,
27:47
Speaker 2: you know, we could have gotten more production on the
27:49
Speaker 2: outfield this year. We had health issues out there. You know,
27:52
Speaker 2: we had players with wavering performance and definitely a part
27:56
Speaker 2: of the field we're going to be looking at as
27:57
Speaker 2: we look at this roster over the off season.
28:00
Speaker 1: And here's the stats. Uh, those left fielders were 12th
28:04
Speaker 1: and OPS offense only here, obviously center fielders, 22nd right fielders,
28:09
Speaker 1: 26th and Warren accounted for a lot of that first one.
28:12
Speaker 1: So they have some work to do in the outfield.
28:15
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's no doubt.
28:16
Speaker 4: And I think that's the group that, you know, there
28:19
Speaker 4: might be some guys that just end up not making
28:22
Speaker 4: the roster. I feel like at this point or, or,
28:24
Speaker 4: you have to go a different direction just because that
28:27
Speaker 4: is such a vital part to this team. I feel
28:28
Speaker 4: like when you have good outfield defense and you have
28:30
Speaker 4: guys that can produce on the offensive side of the ball, you,
28:33
Speaker 4: your infield has a lot of guys that are big pieces.
28:36
Speaker 4: It's just the outfield. I feel like it's just kind
28:37
Speaker 4: of lacking behind that group. So it's a group that definitely,
28:41
Speaker 4: I feel like needs to be addressed to help make
28:42
Speaker 4: this team be successful next year.
28:45
Speaker 1: Yeah.
28:45
Speaker 3: It's tough when you, you look at three guys coming back,
28:50
Speaker 3: you know, Colton Couser, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O'Neill, How many
28:55
Speaker 3: of those guys are everyday starters at this point? And look,
28:58
Speaker 3: we all love Dylan Beavers, and I wish we saw
29:01
Speaker 3: more of him. But he's a very clutch player. He's
29:06
Speaker 3: got four walk-offs. Defensively, I think he would say that
29:11
Speaker 3: he needs to get better there and feel more comfortable.
29:14
Speaker 3: Colton Couser is an extremely streaky player. Tyler O'Neal, we
29:18
Speaker 3: know the injury history with him. I think they need
29:22
Speaker 3: to go out and get a dude. at least one dude,
29:26
Speaker 3: you know, everyday outfielder in free agency or in the
29:31
Speaker 3: draft and, and at least one, at least one.
29:36
Speaker 1: I keep thinking outfield is the trade target here. Now
29:40
Speaker 1: field for me adds up with all these pitching prospects.
29:43
Speaker 1: You part with one or two, maybe one of the
29:45
Speaker 1: premier premier ones that would, might attract a young outfielder
29:50
Speaker 1: who's controllable, someone you can build and grow with someone
29:53
Speaker 1: who hopefully is a good defender too. We need a
29:56
Speaker 1: complete player here, not just one half of the diamond, but,
30:00
Speaker 1: Can't hit, but wow, he's great in the field. Can't field,
30:03
Speaker 1: but wow, he can pop the ball out of the park.
30:05
Speaker 1: So most teams have guys who are good at both.
30:08
Speaker 1: That's the goal, right? Let's get a guy who can
30:10
Speaker 1: be good at both ends of the game.
30:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure. And I honestly would even.
30:15
Speaker 4: Say that if you could get a guy who is
30:17
Speaker 4: a gold glove outfielder but hits okay, I feel like
30:20
Speaker 4: that would be even kind of an improvement, you know,
30:23
Speaker 4: like on what they kind of see at this point.
30:25
Speaker 4: Maybe not so much with Couser. Couser I like. defensively
30:28
Speaker 4: the other corner outfield spots, you had a guy who
30:31
Speaker 4: just go get it and was just league average hitting.
30:33
Speaker 4: I feel like even that would go a long ways,
30:35
Speaker 4: but I agree with Tim. I just think they have
30:36
Speaker 4: to have somebody that you plug out there every single day.
30:39
Speaker 4: You know what you're going to get from both sides
30:40
Speaker 4: of the ball. And I feel like that would solidify
30:42
Speaker 4: a lot what's happening in the outfield.
30:45
Speaker 3: And I hate to do this as we're coming to
30:47
Speaker 3: an end, but this just kind of goes back to
30:49
Speaker 3: the point that we keep in. Do you know that
30:51
Speaker 3: Leote Tavares had the third most at-bats on this team
30:55
Speaker 3: this year? That's crazy to me. And obviously his contract's expired.
31:01
Speaker 3: He's not going to be here in 2027. I just
31:04
Speaker 3: think that's even more of a missed opportunity, guys. Like
31:07
Speaker 3: Leote having the third most at-bats on the team.
31:12
Speaker 1: Felt like Leote kept thinking he was going to hit
31:14
Speaker 1: left-handed pitching, and he just didn't hit left-handed pitching. He
31:18
Speaker 1: certainly got a lot of opportunities. He's a good guy.
31:20
Speaker 1: He had some big hits.
31:20
Speaker 2: Sure.
31:21
Speaker 1: Scoring position, yeah. So maybe that helped him get those
31:26
Speaker 1: at-bats the way he came through in the clutch early.
31:28
Speaker 1: But no question, I think the three of us agree,
31:30
Speaker 1: outfield production has to get better. It might involve different
31:34
Speaker 1: players on the 2027 Orioles. Keep subscribing, keep liking, keep
31:40
Speaker 1: following Birdland Territory, both on YouTube and the podcast networks.
31:45
Speaker 1: And we'll catch you next time with another edition of
31:48
Speaker 1: Birdland Territory.
31:51
Speaker 5: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
31:53
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31:55
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