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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 1h

Haha fair

D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 1h

I mean I wasn't necessarily saying this as a bad thing. I actually prefer someone who has no connections to the current org. And I like that Flaherty is a former big leaguer. I just think the former Oriole thing is a bigger deal for the fans than for the players.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 1h

To me he's kind of like if Flaherty got 5-10 more years of big league coaching experience before making the jump to managing. He doesn't have the personal connection to the team/fans but in a vacuum he seems like a more qualified candidate to me.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 1h

@kimschuss.bsky.social what would you think about George Lombard? Like Flaherty he's a bench coach who played a critical role on multiple playoff teams (including a World Series win with the Dodgers in 2020), and a former player. He's 10 years older but at 49 still relatively young for a manager.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 1h

Basallo and Mav both caught 97% percent of pitches in MLB with at least one knee down this year, so it appears to be something they're now preaching through the system.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 1h

Adley Rutschman has been late on this trend but finally caught up this year. Yes, he was hurt a bunch, but those were oblique injuries likely unrelated to catching.

Every Oriole catcher, especially big ones like Rutschman and Basallo, should be receiving knee-down.

Chart showing Adley Rutschman slowly catching up to league averages on knee-down catching percentage, going from 9% to 95% since his debut in 2020.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 1h

For sure, all points in his favor.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 2h

In fact, Lombard is 10 years older with more than twice the big league coaching experience plus an extra 5-6 years of minor league coaching. So of the bench coach options he probably brings the most relevant experience.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 2h

Yeah, this is where I am I think. I wouldn’t mind Flaherty because he’s not a *bad* option, and he’s played an important coaching role on a couple of good playoff teams. But aside from fan familiarity I’m not sure I’d view him similar to George Lombard, and I lean toward real managing experience.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 2h

Oh right he played with Zack of course! Not the same as playing with Buck but I’m sure they have some kind of connection.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 2h

Omg hahaha

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 2h

Yeah and in that sense he’s in the same category as every other external candidate, which is good.

I just think some people are imagining him having some kind of warm homecoming embrace in the clubhouse, but like … he’s just another guy to them?

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 2h

I’m sure there are a few holdovers somewhere in the org that Flaherty knows. And I’m not discounting the value of fan connection. But if they’re considering Flaherty it has to be 100% on the merits.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 2h

Correct me if I’m wrong but no one on the Orioles roster overlapped with Ryan Flaherty. Even Mullins debuted after his last season as an Oriole. No current member of the coaching staff had had him. He left via FA right before Elias took over. Theres no real connection except to the fans, right?

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 16h

Chris Bassitt in 7th inning garbage time. Sigh.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 20h

Get em

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 21h

But he can’t chase a ton *and* whiff in the zone. That ain’t gonna work.

D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 21h

Yeah that’s one area that backslid last year, but I’m not sure he was a demonstrably better hitter when he did improve this (23-24) than he was earlier in his career.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 22h

Yeah, probably not gonna happen at this point unfortunately

Chart showing Ryan Mountcastle consistently posting chase rates at or near 40 percent over his career.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 22h

That said, he was always a flawed player who made it work as a mostly regular by being good-not-great with the bat and turning himself into an above average defender at 1st with sneaky decent speed.

if the +8 DRS in 2024 was a blip he's probably a part-time player going forward even with a 107 wRC+

D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 22h

Exit velocities were solid (hit career high maxEV this year) though his bat speed has been down 1 MPH 2024-25 compared to 2023.

In-zone swing and miss was bad but it's basically always been bad. I'm not necessarily seeing signs that he's falling off a cliff at age 29.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 22h

The biggest red flag there is his plate discipline. It's always been bad but last year's 0.15 BB/K ratio was easily the worst of his career.

But again, injuries, loss of regular playing time, could be a blip. Only 29 next year. Probably has some years of being a second division regular left in him.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 22h

It doesn't explain the drop in defense (+8 DRS in 2024, -1 in 2025) or baserunning (career low -1), but some of that could probably be explained by injuries.

I wouldn't bet on it, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect him to return to the slightly above average hitter he's always been.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 22h

Since I've been posting about apparent bad luck for young Orioles hitters last year, I'll be fair and apply it to Ryan Mountcastle, too.

The -.040 delta between is actual wOBA (.284) and xwOBA (.324) was the third worst on the team, and his xwOBA was in line with career numbers.

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D’Janiel Sanchez @oriolesreview.bsky.social · 23h

I can't think of a more worthless or less interesting exercise than "I asked ChatGPT what (my favorite team) should do this offseason, here's what it said"

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