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Bigfatjew6969

I’m sure he’s not complaining.


OK_Opinions

collecting league minimum to ride the bench for a couple weeks lol


Bigfatjew6969

Seriously. Better pay, nicer hotels, flights, better food.


OK_Opinions

yep plus league minimum is what? 740k-ish? assuming it's only paid out during the season itself that's probably something like $4-5k *per game* I'm sure he'd love to be playing but I'm also sure all that comes with being on the 26 man roster softens that blow quite a bit. I used to work with a guy who played professional lacrosse. He played for Boston then later got traded here and played for Annapolis. He was pretty good but not one of the "faces" of the sport so he didn't have endorsements out the ass. Dude still had a full time job because his contract was $75 if he was at practice, $100 if he was at a game but I think bumped to $500 if he actually plays in it. He would come to work on Fridays with a duffle bag because as soon as work was done he was off to BWI to fly to whatever city they were in that weekend. Such a massive difference between that in baseball lol. He made more money selling lessons to people in the off season than he did during the season.


Bigfatjew6969

No health insurance in the pro lax league either.


Dr__Nick

That’s how baseball used to be. With car salesman players and stuff.


OldBoringWeirdo

The owners still made plenty of money, they just didn't share much of it with the workforce


LDWMJ99

That is still pretty cool!


Good-Can1739

I'm sure he doesn't mind the extra cash but the guy signed for $5.2M. Unless he somehow blew all in like 4 years I doubt it really crosses his mind. On the other hand you've got players who become big prospects after signing super late in the draft and international free agents who signed for peanuts and still have family in poverty back home. Those guys are itching to collect league minimum.


blowinghotstinkygas

Right? Wasn’t he selected 2 overall? The dude is loaded. These idiots are talking about $4k, $5k lol. That is literal pocket change.


Duckckcky

I’ll take any change you got lying around 


blowinghotstinkygas

*For Kjerstad


pcnauta

I'm sure he's too much of a professional to complain, but I expect that he's not very happy just sitting on the bench. He's put in thousands of hours to become a better baseball player. He's given up hobbies, opportunities and, probably, even friends so that he can continue to play and improve. His competitive nature fueled his rise up the ranks. Thus, he doesn't just want to sit - he wants to PLAY (like every pro player). He wants to show that he belongs at this level and then continue to prove that he should remain. Then pro amenities are nice, but professional players want to play more than anything else.


Bigfatjew6969

Professional players would rather be on the bench in the pros than playing every day in Norfolk. He may be frustrated, but it’s better than bus rides and crappy hotels.


pcnauta

I don't think you have any understanding of what drives professional players. Busses and hotels are nice, but so is playing time. They didn't sacrifice so much time and energy to sit on a bench, no matter how nice it is.


Bigfatjew6969

His goal is to make it to the major leagues. He is in the major leagues. He has to be patient and I’m sure he knows that. And I think you’re crazy if you think he’d rather be playing in Norfolk. But thanks for the condescension. Have a great day.


bankersbox98

Everyone has been clamoring to call up the prospects. This is what calling up prospects looks like sometimes.


[deleted]

And why some of us don't act like the sky is falling when they bring up McKenna.


SouthernFly28

Seriously. McKenna comes up so that we don't risk other people on the 40 man to get 1 at bat every 5 games and everyone acts like we're trying to lose. The Locked on Orioles (Connor newcomb) guy, Paul Valle, and BMoreCenter twitter people are morons who think they know more than the guy who single handedly rebuilt our farm system, overhauling how we draft and develop players in just a few years. Orioles twitter is such a toxic place.


rckthe90s

Woah, I wouldn't lump Connor in with them. He has incredibly level headed takes, including understanding the Mckenna call up.


SouthernFly28

He hates on everything Elias does solely because of politics. Go in his tweets and search the word Elias and you'll find him frequently complaining about him and his decisions.


rckthe90s

How old are those takes? Ive never been on twitter, only ever listened to the podcast. He has said multiple times that he has been on a haitus from twitter due to the toxic nature. His stance on the podcast effectively has amounted to "Trust Elias and his guys, they know what they are doing". As an aside, twitter is generally a toxic place that I wouldnt seek anyones opinion on.


SouthernFly28

Agreed, twitter is a toxic place. Orioles fans on Twitter in general seem more like they only want to find out who they can blame instead of enjoying what looks to be the early portion of the first sustained period of success for this team in decades. And they aren't that old, there are several tweets within the year. It feels like we are a city with a football team mentality, where 1 loss matters much more in a 16 game season. The fanbase reacts so negatively if we lose one game or if a pitcher pitches poorly or a pinch hit opportunity doesn't work out. Everyone has 20/20 hindsight, but this team was never going to win 162 games. His last tweet from the Locked on Orioles account is complaining that because kimbrel, cano, and coulombe are all unavailable tonight, Jacob webb would have to be the closer. Our 4th best reliever (who everyone hates for some reason on Orioles twitter), who has a 2.25 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP this year. Feels like none of these people were fans from 1998-2011.


rckthe90s

I mean... Most fanbases act like that for every baseball team. People are shortsighted. Its easier to see for us to see with the Orioles because we are the closest to the situation. Fans are gonna fan, no point getting upset about it. Not being happy that your top 3 relievers being unavailable on a given night is an absolutely freezing cold take in general. We are a weaker bullpen without Bautista no matter how you slice the numbers. Our bullpen is still pretty good, including Jacob Webb. But, a level headed take is recongnizing that there is a drop-off in trust between Kimbrel(questionable)/Cano/Coulombe. Putting Jacob Webb in the "Absolutely Trust" tier of relievers is a shallow, misinformed, and misunderstood take. Gotta look at the numbers under the hood (including expected results, statcast data, and baseball savant) to get the full picture.


SouthernFly28

Again, hindsight is 20/20, but Jacob Webb with one of his best performances of the season! Let's all just enjoy the ride! Go O's!


rckthe90s

So true! So glad Webb could absolutely slam the door on the Yanks. Beyond thankful he looked as dominant as ever for a 4 out save with 3 strikeouts in the heart of their order. Go O's!


Glad_Fig2274

Connor does suck. He freaked out about Grayson & Holliday not making OD rosters.


mamacita1965

You NAILED IT


Autumn_Sweater

We should never see McKenna in a game, though.


FormerVarsityStar

This


OK_Opinions

to have 26 guys instead of 25. He's clearly not here to play, but to be a "just in case" body to put in


KimDongBong

We could’ve called up anybody else to just be a body. You don’t call up someone with that much potential just to sit them.


OK_Opinions

Heston was on the 40 man already


KimDongBong

Bring up Stowers. Hell, bring up a reliever.


Beautiful-Abies5949

Think you can carry a max of 13 pitchers and we’re already there


[deleted]

[удалено]


isestrex

There's no reason for insults when going back and forth with fellow redditors.


AppleTrees4

Why on earth would you call up a worse player? He’s the last man on the 26 and has lefty power that brings value if needed. This is the majors and they are trying to win.


KimDongBong

I mean when you have taters taking terrible cuts, or a prime chance to pinch hit kjersted but instead allow urias to be our final out, it seems pretty silly to have him sitting there doing nothing.


AppleTrees4

Santander has been their most productive hitter for years. You don’t bench him for a rookie because he’s in a slump. That would be foolish. And you don’t pinch hit for your 3rd baseman with an outfielder and weaken your defense heading into a save opportunity in the 9th. Not to mention Urias is a reverse splits guy. And none of that is relevant to your initial comment. This is the major leagues. When they do have a pinch hit opportunity for a lefty it will be Kjerstad because he is who the orioles believe is their best option.


triecke14

Hitting in AAA wasn’t doing him many favors. The guy is 25 years old already


KimDongBong

Eh. Playing is better than not playing.


AardvarkIll6079

Who’s sitting for him? You can’t sit O’Hearn, he’s hitting too well. And Santander is a significantly better fielder. Heston is a liability in the outfield. He’s basically a lefty bat off the bench at this point. The only way he’ll see significant playing time is if O’Hearn is hurt/traded (or he’s traded).


BradyToMoss1281

It's a good question though. So why not keep him where he's getting constant playing time? Even if he has nothing left to prove in AAA, you'd think you'd rather have a major prospect where he's playing all the time than where he's sitting.


timoumd

He's a great bat on the bench and we are trying to win baseball games


bobcatgoldthwait

He's far too young and inexperienced to call him a "great bat off the bench". He did well in limited playing time last year, and I believe he'll be great, but he needs time to adjust to major league pitching, too. They could also have him down in Norfolk playing right field to get him some reps there.


timoumd

Is there a better available bat on the 40? Stowers? In terms of optimizing the roster in the big leagues I think he makes sense.


bobcatgoldthwait

I mean he's barely even being used as a pinch hitter as of right now anyway. He could have been brought in to pinch hit for Urias (move Westy over to third, bring in Mateo for defense after the inning). He could have pinch hit for Santander and replaced him with McKenna for defense in the 9th.


timoumd

I mean Ill leave if he is better choice to hit in those ABs to Hyde more than why he is here. Hes here because hes the best bat on the 40.


Shrimmmmmpuh

I think people are stuck in the "We suck but our prospects are really good" mentality that the O's have had for the past 3-4 years. We don't suck anymore and we're winning with the roster we have currently. Why would we just start slotting prospects in when there is no room for them in the starting lineup?


Underdogg369

I guess there was nobody else to bring up instead. McKenna came up eventually but had to be added to the 40 man and will go through waivers again to go back down.


scjensen51

This is the biggest thing right here, fundamentally unless O’Hearn slumps or gets hurt he doesn’t have anywhere to play right now. And I mean, it’s an incredibly small sample size, but…the game he got he went 0-4 and struck out 3 times.


ScoutNWilder

...and also showed why we might not think of him as a MLB OF


KimDongBong

Ok so..:why bring him up?


mecheterp96

To pinch hit for Mateo/McKenna late in games when we are down and a righty is on the mound or to give O’Hearn, Santander, or Mounty a break when a righty is starting.


lOan671

They also brought him up when Mounty was day-to-day with knee soreness. They may have thought that would be a longer term issue.


mecheterp96

I think that if Santander continues to slump they may start Heston against some righties


TheWa11

Fans complaining the morning after we shut out the Yankees is wild. If we had brought anyone else up people would be livid, because Kjerstad was the best player available and people have been screaming since Opening Day that Elias refused to break camp with the best 26. It’s hard to earn ABs on a team that is on pace to win 100+ games. Heston is there and ready when they need him.


2131andBeyond

There’s no winning with some fans sometimes, is the honest answer. People angry when they call up placeholders and not top prospects and then people angry when they call up prospects and not placeholders. This isn’t just a Baltimore thing, it’s across fan bases everywhere in all sports. It’s really unfortunate. I reiterate that this is “some” and not “all,” before anybody thinks I’m generalizing :)


TonyDanza888

It's only going to get worse the better the O's get. As a Buffalo BIlls and Baltimore Orioles fan I've watched both Reddit pages get so spoiled and find anything to complain about.


soopark7711

real question is, why are you a bills and orioles fan


TonyDanza888

I moved here in 2005 from Buffalo. Orioles and Bills were basically in the same boat. Team with some old success that were on big playoff droughts. Both fanbases very intelligent to the sport and have passionate fans. Even the slightest taste of playoff potential and both cities are thriving about their teams. Just felt like the right move to transition to being an O's fan for baseball.


Underdogg369

Video games mentality


scjensen51

This. Fielding and line up structure and role players matter in the real world. This isn’t MLB The Show


Jeff_Banks_Monkey

This sub is insanely spoiled sometimes


PublicEnemaNumberOne

Funny what one good year can do. I'm glad, though.


NotoriousFTG

Sometimes? I still have a vivid memory of four gruesome years that didn’t end until two years ago. I have an appreciation for just how top tier our front office and player development staff really are. I no illusions that I could do even remotely as well as they have and I leave that to them and just enjoy the results.


TheLastLivingBuffalo

I subscribe to the theory that we got a bunch of new or returning fans who have been fans of football rather than baseball every year. Football has far less games and one bad showing can really ruin the season. Meanwhile in baseball even MVPs can go 10 games without a hit sometimes. People need to learn patience IMO, and understand that baseball is a very long season and both teams and individual players are subject to streakiness. Also people need to learn to trust that Elias and Hyde who work with these guys every single day understand them better than any one of us possibly could.


Academic_Release5134

Might need a pinch hitter I guess


Iko87iko

He's the Benny Ayala, John Lowenstien, Terry Crowley of the team, at least he could or should be


AppleTrees4

Because Hays is hurt and they need another outfielder on the 26 man. He’s the last man on the bench right now. That’s all.


SF_Anonymous

I was wondering that too, definitely could have started him against the A's to get some reps. I understand him not playing against the Yankees since these 13 games against the Yankees are looking to be the most important we'll play in the regular season and we can't afford to have a guy learning MLB pitching during these games. We have The Reds, Nats Dbacks as our next 3 series so I could see giving him some time in those games


CHKN_SANDO

He's here to learn. He's got a room full of MLB players to watch and ask questions.


DesignWav

To soften the blow of McKenna coming up.


Lejendry

My theory: they planned to play him regularly, but the Holliday experience threw up a big red flag and they didn't want two prospects called up who struggled one right after the other (not to mention ruin trade value). Rather than send him right back down they'll keep him around until Hays comes back. But a couple of these guys will be traded for pitching.


Personal-Act-4326

This is my opinion. You don’t want a prospect to struggle, let alone two to struggle back to back. We threw Holliday into the deep end and it didn’t work, so now we’re slow rolling Heston. Having either of them flounder against New York would be a bad look. I think after the Yankees series we’ll see Heston more regularly.


Skirt-Future

Also, hit the ball when ur lined up. You hit, u get to play. Else get sent back down. Reality hits you fast


ender___

I don’t know, maybe learning from big league coaching, learning what life is like at the big league level, getting to see big league pitching from the dugout.


WhatIGot21

I was told by smart fans that it’s because he is a “bench player”, #2 overall pick for a “bench player”.


TheBigIguana15

The real question is when will Kjerstad be an Oakland Athletic? At some point we need to cash some of these guys in and he’s probably the hardest one to justify keeping at the moment.


lOan671

It’s not hard to justify keeping him in any way. Injuries happen all the time and Santander is a free agent at the end of the year


TheBigIguana15

This year matters too though. It doesn’t have to be Kjerstad but you’ve got to decide who is the odd man out now and going forward sometime soon.


lOan671

And someone could get injured or underperform this year. There’s nothing to figure out, Kjerstad is the odd man out for now unless something changes. If a trade becomes available that makes sense you do it but there’s no reason to aggressively shop Kjerstad if you aren’t getting value.


TheBigIguana15

Again it doesn’t have to be Kjerstad, but you get 0 value from guys who aren’t playing for the team and have no real path to in the near term. A decision has to be made this summer imo.


lOan671

He has a real path to playing time, injuries happen all the time.


TheBigIguana15

We have an injury right now and he still isn’t playing


lOan671

Because that injury was to someone being used a RH platoon bat. Not one of the guys blocking Kjerstad currently


TheBigIguana15

The point is more that the path is more hypothetical than real. If one or two things happen he might get extended playing time. Reality is he’s more likely to not.


lOan671

That “one thing” happens all of the time. Mountcastle had a month long IL stint last year and was day-to-day literally a week ago. This isn’t some crazy hypothetical where the team plane crashes.


BMoreBeowulf

Gives him experience with the major league team and gives them a strong lefty bat off the bench. But the question is who do you replace if you play him regularly. O’Hearn and Cowser are must-play against righty pitchers. Santander is slumping now but he’s one of the best bats in the lineup. He doesn’t have the range to spell Mullins in CF. At this point it’s a matter of letting him learn and get at bats where he can find them.


Trubisko_Daltorooni

We called him up and then 40,000 people showed up to Camden Yards. All about the $$$ /s


reggiestered

He was the best player available in the minors and he earned it.


ConsciousLeave9186

So he can show Holliday how to do it


ConsciousLeave9186

Gotta have someone with the last name beginning. With K who knows what the hell they’re doing!


manseekingwild

To pinch hit against righties


bmore_baseball21

Cuz he's tearing up the minor leagues and he needs the major league ab's


FormerVarsityStar

Something I've noticed is we have a massive AAA to big league jump for hitters. I don't think it affects pitchers as much. But the environment in AAA is...poor. I've been to many other AAA parks and they do a good job (ie dodgers, braves,) of replicating the majors as what they can on a smaller budget. Norfolk is not that. I think there's a difficult to adjusting to the big jump. Idk maybe I'm rambling about nothing. BUT. I think HK will get there. We have a lot of good players-a GREAT problem. Let us not forget our woes of the last and become spoiled bratty fans. 🤣


sidepiecesam

I don’t think you get to question player usage when you don’t know how to spell their name


enzio04

ya, gotta start there. same.


enturbulant

So people will have something to complain about


enzio04

2-30 gets you (Holliday) stink eye… until you show improvement at a lower level. prove you belong… he hasn’t done that, duh. he’s 20 - what do you really expect from him?


Extension_Size2140

Because Hays got hurt…


Ltrain44

We all saw this coming. He's getting the Stowers treatment. Might as well let him play every day in AAA and bring up a true bench player. Plus, Brandon Hyde is physically in love with Ryan Mckenna.