115 replies to this topic

[DJ MC]

You have to play enough to produce!

If he doesn't, he won't be around.

[Adam Wolff]

If Avery can be this kind of leadoff hitter, I'd love to see him in left and Reimold DHing. I'm not sure what level Avery can realistically sustain, but right now, he's the perfect leadoff guy. I've been incredibly encouraged by everything he's done over the past week. Really fun to watch.

[Oriole85]

You have to play enough to produce!

If he doesn't, he won't be around.

Not sure what it is with options, arbitration, and the like, but my guess is he has until the end of the next season to play enough to produce.

[SportsGuy]

1) you can play both Avery and Reimold.
2) Reimold should be the starter in lf if he doesn't want to dh because, as stated, you need to find out about him...yes, he has injury issues and if they keep up, this won't matter.
3) hopefully we can just trade one of them.
4) Avery is playing well but he has a lot of holes in his game, so who knows if it will continue or not.

[Oriole85]

1) you can play both Avery and Reimold.
2) Reimold should be the starter in lf if he doesn't want to dh because, as stated, you need to find out about him...yes, he has injury issues and if they keep up, this won't matter.
3) hopefully we can just trade one of them.
4) Avery is playing well but he has a lot of holes in his game, so who knows if it will continue or not.

Good points and all, which brings up another point, if Avery can't play and Reimold continues to be plagued, you'll need to find someone either external or internal who can.

[SportsGuy]

Good points and all, which brings up another point, if Avery can't play and Reimold continues to be plagued, you'll need to find someone either external or internal who can.

I like Reimold but even I believe this is the most likely scenario because he can't stay healthy and I am not an Avery fan.

Best case scenario is Avery becomes a piece SD wants for Headley and Reimold is able to stay healthy and be the offensive player he should be.

[Mackus]

If Avery can continue to have this approach at the plate, then I definitely would rather see him in LF than Reimold. Basically, if Avery is hitting well enough to merit starting, he should be the starter. He's perhaps not quite as good as he could be defensively given his speed (based on his minor league reputation moreso than what I've seen so far) but he is absolutely better than Reimold, who is pretty bad defensively, IMO.

If Avery slips, then Reimold isn't so bad out there that you can't play him out there, but ideally we'd have a better defensive option and can use Reimold's bat at the DH spot.

[Oriole85]

Bottomline is this all things being even (which they aren't), you play the 22 year old ahead of the injury-prone 28 year old. Reimold has to be that much better to keep justifying giving him chance after chance given his lack of health. Avery is clearly an upgrade defensively, which doesn't matter as much in LF as other positions but still a factor. Reimold is much more toolsy, I don't think his ceiling even when healthy is as high as most of the fanbase. The longer Reimold can't stay healthy, the more chances others are going to get. Could he break out like a Jayson Werth sure, but the odds aren't too good on that.

[Mackus]

Bottomline is this all things being even (which they aren't), you play the 22 year old ahead of the injury-prone 28 year old. Reimold has to be that much better to keep justifying giving him chance after chance given his lack of health. Avery is clearly an upgrade defensively, which doesn't matter as much in LF as other positions but still a factor. Reimold is much more toolsy, I don't think his ceiling even when healthy is as high as most of the fanbase. The longer Reimold can't stay healthy, the more chances others are going to get. Could he break out like a Jayson Werth sure, but the odds aren't too good on that.

While I tend to agree with your conclusion, I don't really like the way you got there.

Reimold's injury history doesn't prevent you from playing him when he's back and healthy. It may prevent you from relying on him, but you still have to get him out there when he is able to do so. Maybe not in LF, especially not if Avery continues to hit well enough to justify the playing time, but you need Nolan's bat in the lineup if he can go. He's one of the few guys on the roster capable of both hitting for power and drawing some walks. Once he's back and ready, I'd love to see him become the primary DH, maybe only starting in LF against LHP. DH-ing Reimold may also help to keep him in the lineup, as he doesn't have to worry as much about being physically able to field, just swinging the bat.

[Oriole85]

Bottomline is this all things being even (which they aren't), you play the 22 year old ahead of the injury-prone 28 year old. Reimold has to be that much better to keep justifying giving him chance after chance given his lack of health. Avery is clearly an upgrade defensively, which doesn't matter as much in LF as other positions but still a factor. Reimold is much more toolsy, I don't think his ceiling even when healthy is as high as most of the fanbase. The longer Reimold can't stay healthy, the more chances others are going to get. Could he break out like a Jayson Werth sure, but the odds aren't too good on that.

While I tend to agree with your conclusion, I don't really like the way you got there.

Reimold's injury history doesn't prevent you from playing him when he's back and healthy. It may prevent you from relying on him, but you still have to get him out there when he is able to do so. Maybe not in LF, especially not if Avery continues to hit well enough to justify the playing time, but you need Nolan's bat in the lineup if he can go. He's one of the few guys on the roster capable of both hitting for power and drawing some walks. Once he's back and ready, I'd love to see him become the primary DH, maybe only starting in LF against LHP. DH-ing Reimold may also help to keep him in the lineup, as he doesn't have to worry as much about being physically able to field, just swinging the bat.

If you can't rely on Reimold than you have to get backups who can produce at similar levels to what he is expected to produce. DH-ing him makes a lot of sense to me, but you never know how these players are going to do only getting 4 AB's. What about first?

[Adam Wolff]

Avery was 0-4 tonight, but the bases loaded walk he had was really, really impressive.

Down 0-2, he took some pitches, fouled off some pitches, and ultimately worked the walk. Excellent AB for anyone, especially a 22 year old with less than 40 career at bats.

[Mackus]

Avery was 0-4 tonight, but the bases loaded walk he had was really, really impressive.

Down 0-2, he took some pitches, fouled off some pitches, and ultimately worked the walk. Excellent AB for anyone, especially a 22 year old with less than 40 career at bats.

I've been overwhelmed with how good many of his at bats look. For someone without a long track record of being a patient hitter who could work a count, he certainly looks the part of a leadoff guy in his first couple weeks up here.

If he can keep this up, then he's our leadoff guy of the future. Worst case is probably a very reliable 4th OF with great speed off the bench. If the power he flashed in AAA this year is even close to real, then that would increase his value even more. He's going to have a relatively higher slugging than you'd expect of someone with his power level, because he'll stretch a good number of singles into doubles and doubles into triples plus some infield hits, netting a dozen or two extra total bases than most guys.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Camden Crazies: Avery has impressed so far
http://www.camdencra...or-orioles.html

[BSLChrisStoner]

Last night Avery was down 1-2 in a count, and came back to earn a walk. That part of his game has been impressive.

[bnickle]

Avery is starting to be exposed a bit. I'm starting to understand the scouting reports that questioned his fundamentals and baseball IQ. He also looks completely overmatched at the plate vs LHP.

[LanceRinker]

Bunting...a skill that Avery sorely needs to work on...

[Can_of_corn]

Anything beyond good defense that the O's get from Avery is gravy.

Folks that saw him for a couple weeks and had visions of him being a long term solution in left were not being realistic.

[RichardZ]

Anything beyond good defense that the O's get from Avery is gravy.

Folks that saw him for a couple weeks and had visions of him being a long term solution in left were not being realistic.

You're ready to say that Avery, at age 22, based on this last few weeks, is for sure not a long term answer? He should be putting together a solid season in AAA. Because of injuries, he's been forced into the majors and held his own so far. You can certainly have an opinion but to call the other side of that opinion unrealistic, at this point, is shortsighted.

[Can_of_corn]

You're ready to say that Avery, at age 22, based on this last few weeks, is for sure not a long term answer? He should be putting together a solid season in AAA. Because of injuries, he's been forced into the majors and held his own so far. You can certainly have an opinion but to call the other side of that opinion unrealistic, at this point, is shortsighted.

What I said is that the folks judging him on a couple of weeks were not being realistic.

[RShack]

You're ready to say that Avery, at age 22, based on this last few weeks, is for sure not a long term answer? He should be putting together a solid season in AAA. Because of injuries, he's been forced into the majors and held his own so far. You can certainly have an opinion but to call the other side of that opinion unrealistic, at this point, is shortsighted.

What I said is that the folks judging him on a couple of weeks were not being realistic.

Dunno what you meant, but what you wrote implied more Avery-diss than that (to my eyes anyway).

I have no news about how he will hit (or bunt, dammit), but he has taught me to expect mostly good AB's from him... and, yes, that's based on just a couple weeks...