Injuries open new path to an Opening Day roster spot in Birdland

As we watch selected spring training games on what’s left of the MASN television network, we see opportunity and the summer ahead for the Baltimore Orioles. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Sarasota innings and at-bats and what they’ll mean for skipper Craig Albernaz and the Birds as Opening Day looms and injuries abound in Florida.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ spring training, upcoming Opening Day, and the impact of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on the team. They highlighted the increased visibility of spring training games on MASN, noting improvements like Chris Bassett’s performance and Vance Honeycutt’s three home runs. They emphasized the importance of players like Kobe Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle, especially with injuries to Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson. The conversation also touched on the challenges of managing players during the WBC, with concerns about potential injuries and the balance between team and national duties.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Write and send exit and welcome letters this month, starting with John Harbaugh and including notes regarding Jesse Minter, Pete Alonso, and Craig Albernaz
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Bring Harlem Globetrotter scratch-off tickets to the Friday Costas event to use as giveaway prizes
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Run the Maryland Crab Cake Tour appearances as scheduled: Wednesday at Gertrude, Friday at Costas (Dundalk), and Tuesday at Missones in Perry Hall between now and Opening Day
• [ ] Provide breaking Lamar Jackson and Tyler Linderbaum updates on the WNST tech service this week so listeners get the news first

Orioles Spring Training and Free Agency Updates

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the excitement surrounding spring training, free agency, and the World Baseball Classic.
• Nestor mentions the need to hold accountable various individuals within the Orioles organization.
• Nestor and Luke Jones talk about the marketing efforts for the Orioles, including season ticket sales and events like bobblehead nights.
• Nestor shares a humorous anecdote about attending a game at JetBlue Park and the challenges of finding a restroom.

Spring Training Broadcasts and Player Performances

• Nestor and Luke discuss the improvements in the broadcasting of spring training games.
• Luke highlights the importance of seeing players like Chris Bassett and Vance Honeycutt in action.
• Nestor and Luke talk about the significance of players like Kobe Mayo and Ryan Helsley performing well in spring training.
• Nestor expresses his excitement about seeing players like Kobe Mayo at third base and Ryan Helsley’s pitching performance.

Impact of the World Baseball Classic on Roster Management

• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential impact of the World Baseball Classic on the Orioles’ roster.
• Nestor mentions the challenges of having players like Ian Kramer and others away for the WBC.
• Nestor shares his experiences attending games in Tokyo, Dodger Stadium, Havana, and Maracaibo.
• Nestor and Luke talk about the importance of players like Colton Cowser and Kobe Mayo performing well during the WBC.

Player Development and Prospects

• Nestor and Luke discuss the development of players like Vance Honeycutt and Kobe Mayo.
• Nestor mentions the importance of players like Ryan Mountcastle and their performance during spring training.
• Luke talks about the challenges of evaluating players based on a small sample size of spring training games.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of players like Heston Kjerstad and their potential impact on the Orioles’ roster.

Challenges of Spring Training and Player Evaluation

• Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges of evaluating players during spring training.
• Nestor mentions the importance of players like Chris Bassett and their performance in spring training games.
• Luke talks about the significance of players like Kyle Bradish and their performance during spring training.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of players like Tyler O’Neill and their performance during the WBC.

Impact of the WBC on Player Health and Performance

• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential impact of the WBC on player health and performance.
• Nestor mentions the challenges of having players like Tyler O’Neill participate in the WBC.
• Luke talks about the importance of players like Gunner Henderson and their performance during the WBC.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of players like Kobe Mayo and their performance during the WBC.

Orioles Roster and Opening Day Preparations

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ roster and their preparations for opening day.
• Nestor mentions the importance of players like Ryan Mountcastle and their performance during spring training.
• Luke talks about the significance of players like Kobe Mayo and their performance during spring training.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of players like Tyler O’Neill and their performance during the WBC.

Spring Training Broadcasts and Fan Engagement

• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of broadcasting spring training games.
• Nestor mentions the improvements in the broadcasting of spring training games.
• Luke talks about the significance of fans being able to watch spring training games.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of fan engagement during spring training.

Orioles Marketing and Fan Experience

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ marketing efforts and fan experience.
• Nestor mentions the importance of the Orioles marketing their baseball team.
• Luke talks about the significance of fans being able to watch spring training games.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of fan engagement during spring training.

Upcoming Events and Sponsorships

• Nestor mentions upcoming events like the Maryland crab cake tour.
• Nestor talks about the importance of sponsorships and partnerships.
• Luke discusses the significance of the Maryland lottery and other sponsors.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of fan engagement and support during the Maryland crab cake tour.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles spring training, Opening Day, roster spots, World Baseball Classic, Vance Honeycutt, Kobe Mayo, Ryan Mountcastle, Tyler O’Neill, Chris Bassett, Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Gunnar Henderson, Mike Elias, Craig Albernaz.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W n s t am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively getting the march winds blowing into spring training and certainly into free agency and tampering week, any breaking news weapon first on the W n s t tech service that’s all brought to you by our friends at cole roofing and Gordian energy. Luke Jones is going to make that happen for us here this week is we get some Lamar Jackson news, you can get some Tyler Linder bomb news, certainly World Baseball Classic in the in the offing, as well as Orioles opening day up on three weeks now, and Luke Jones joins me now to discuss Orioles baseball in a way that I’m writing letters to a lot of different people. This month, I’m going to start with John har ball’s exit letter and where we are with Jesse Minter and Pete Alonso and Craig Albernaz. A lot of new people to welcome here with letters and some other people to hold accountable. You know the Rubenstein era Getty. And I keep hearing more about era Getty than I do about Rubenstein, in regard to the organization and where all this is going, and trying to sell me season tickets and bird land memberships, and it’s whatever, $350 and come out, you get an opening day ticket. The whole thing, just the fact that, like they have the ability to sell me, and I’m watching games, and they’re floating their bobblehead nights, and I now even know, and I learned this because of your nieces that Nelly is going to be performing on May The ninth, after the SEC

Luke Jones  01:41

lost the athletics

Nestor Aparicio  01:42

Charlie finley’s Athletics will be performing at Camden Yards, their AAA act. But nonetheless, like tis the season, right? It’s spring training, they should be marketing their baseball team. First things first. I’ve watched a few of them. I know. I know what Chris Bassett looks like in an Oriole jersey at this point. And more than that, you and I used to pine away to go to Jet Blue park and see Fenway south, and then we got there, like, where’s the spaceship that what the hell happened here? Then we go in, and then you watch it on TV on Sunday, you’re like, I want to go back. And I think to myself, all I remember about that experience was I had to pee really, really, really bad, and the gates weren’t open for the stadium, and they didn’t have anywhere for me to pee. That’s a bad was a memory that I have of that ballpark that day, and a lot of people, a lot of weird accents.

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Luke Jones  02:34

I remember Albert Suarez pitching that day before anyone really knew who Albert Suarez was two years I did

Nestor Aparicio  02:40

talk to Mike Elias that night, so it’s wonderful. That’s right, life, one or two times in my life I had like Elias, that’s correct.

Luke Jones  02:47

So yeah, but no, your overall point though, it it’s nice to have it on TV. It’s nice that it’s visible, right? I mean, there’s such a sense of not, not, that there’s like, this awful sense of FOMO where, like, Oh, you’re missing out on something. But it’s like, if you can’t see it, if you can’t follow it, is it really happening? You know what I mean? Like, there’s a little bit of that while, yeah, and look, I’m not going to sit here and say that as a fan, that there’s this great need to watch all 20 games are showing on mass and but it’s there. You can watch it on a Sunday afternoon when the Terps have a lousy first half against Rutgers, you know? And and you don’t, you got your fill of that, you could turn it on and watch Chris Bassett pitch, right? So, it’s good, right? Is it perfect? No, but it’s good. It’s better. It’s improvement. And it’s it’s refreshing to be able to watch it on a regular basis. As I’ve said to you all along the the formula that most teams, not all, but most teams, have kind of followed over the years has been, you’re showing most of your home games now Sunday’s example, they they use the Nesson camera feed, right? But they broadcast the game, so it was fine and and you know what? At least in the case of when you have rock, KOCO Rock’s been down there, right? He’s been around players. He’s been around the team. So you get that sense. But it’s just, it’s definitely refreshing. Because, I mean, if there’s one thing that was one of the most legitimate, egregious violations of fans who subscribe to Masson, and you’re putting four spring training games on for something that runs for five weeks. You know? I mean you talk about below the bars. So glad to see that. And look, you get to the seventh or eighth inning, and you’re not necessarily sitting there watching it fully engaged, but at the same time, you get a chance to watch some of these guys, and even guys that aren’t going to be on the on the team this year. You get to see some some of the younger guys, right? You get to see some of that at work. And I mean, how about the fact that you look at the Oriole? Goals. If there were one of the great disappointments in their minor league system last year, it was Vance honey cut who was their first round pick the year before, go look at his numbers. Nestor, disaster of the season at high a coming out of college, struck out, wasn’t hitting at all any of that. He has three at bats. He’s come, you know, he’s not, he’s not in major league camp. He’s been an extra right? They send minor leaguers over to fill out maybe play the last couple innings. He has three at bats in the grapefruit League. Vance Honeycutt has three home runs. Now, you’re not going to be an Oriole this year, but you’re hoping maybe that little bit of success might help his psyche, to get him back on track, that maybe he becomes a prospect again, because he was so bad last year that you’re, I mean, to the point where you’re writing them off. That’s how bad it was, but, but there’s a perfect example, like no one had seen Vance honey cut play before, but if you’re watching on mass and you’ve seen him hit a couple home runs, so good for him. And it’s just for anyone who’s ready for baseball. You’re sick of winter, cold, snow, all that.

Nestor Aparicio  06:06

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It’s a reminder to be Mayo played shortstop. This is your chance, right? Yeah.

Luke Jones  06:10

Well, the big one is, see Kobe Mayo a third base. Can he handle it? Right? We’ve been talking about that big time with the Jordan westburg injury. And whether, you know whether Mayo is going to be able to be able to handle that? Will he hit enough to be in a position where you say, Okay, you can live with the defense if he’s going to swing the bat. But this is how this plays out. And look to sit here and make any sweeping observations 10 days into grapefruit league games, don’t really have that many, but it’s good to see lay eyes on these guys. It’s good to see that you know Ryan Helsley stuff, right? And see Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers have looked like, hey, okay. They look like you’re one and two starters, whichever, whichever order you want to put them in. Boz made his grapefruit league debut the other day. Had really good stuff, right? So you’re getting a chance to not seen necessarily every single day, but you’re getting to see more. You’re getting to see more games than not. And that is a welcome change from what the entire existence of mass and isn’t even go back before Mass. And you know, we’re talking about a previous carriers, you know you weren’t getting that many spring training games. So just good. It’s there. It’s there, especially if you’re someone who has the ability to work from home or, you know, you have some time during the day, you can watch it and, you know, they replay it in the evenings most times. So it’s just been fun in that way. It makes it feel a little more real at knowing that, yeah, we’re about, you know, just over three weeks away from the season starting, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  07:39

is here. He will be there on opening day, which creeps in and comes in on us. Where are you on the WBC, in the in the movement, and what that’s going to do to the roster here the next week and a half or two weeks, if the USA successful and plays into this thing next weekend, as well as other parts of their roster. I saw the Red Sox had 16 guys away. Or else, don’t have that going but they have it going on with Ian Kramer and some other guys that are going to be missing a start or two, or a rotation place or and certainly you don’t want to those guys get injured. We did a whole segment on that and my experiences from Tokyo to Dodger Stadium to Havana, Cuba and Maracaibo, Venezuela, loving baseball, but I would say, for this period of time, other at bats, other opportunities. You mentioned mayo, Blaise Alexander, getting a chance to at least see whatever that is. It really is unfortunate about the holiday in the westburg thing, but they, they skated on pasayio in a way that was, I didn’t text you that day. You know, I figured, leave you alone that day. But I’m like, Man, guys were going down one after another, and the bad news was adding up. Just don’t want anybody getting injured right now. And I do think you want to see Colton kauser Hit the ball. You want to see W Mayo field the ball. You want to see Pete Alonso, at least in the early couple swings. Look the part. So there’s a and you want to see Albernaz screaming into the microphone when they mic him up on Nestor and having a good time. I, you know, look, dude, I love spring training because I love baseball. I don’t love the current scenario. You and I would have been in Sarasota last week. You and I, if this were normal, and Rubenstein and arrogance, he took the thing over, and Katie Griggs treated me like a human. We would have been down there, and I would have run down to Miami and made a big stink about the Venezuela game next week. We would have figured things out. We would have gone down there for a week. I mean, it went and had, like, really made a thing of it, because I think spring training is something that you mentioned, that it was, what was your intolerable, unthinkable, ridiculous, absurd, whatever the words were, for 30 years of not putting their spring training, especially the last 20 years, we gave them a network and paid them money to do right, they didn’t even market their own thing. Then they wonder why the tickets aren’t selling. I mean, just you know, they were run by Koco. Reminds me of America right now. So I would say at least in. This early going, this part of it, and then they don’t ship their broadcasters down. And you mentioned that rock was around the team, yeah, probably helpful if everybody was around the team, because you want people to be around the team, because you’re trying to sell the concept of all of this spring training is wonderful, and the fact that they’re zooming it in, and the fact that we’re seeing the Bassets, and we’re seeing the players, and we’re getting them miked up a little bit, and we’re getting to know the new managers, funny accent and all that. My God, it’s way overdue, and it makes if they ever get normal ownership and invite it makes me want to go down there and be a part of it, because I like all of that. We all should like that in March after shoveling snow here all January, February. You know, it’s a it’s a great awakening for them, and it’s something that should, according to my AI and all the research that they’ve done, it should help stimulate the fact that opening day is not the beginning, but that some of us have been on the soap opera a little bit more because we’ve been allowed to be,

Luke Jones  11:02

yeah, I think that’s fair. And, I mean, I mean, think about the and let’s be clear, most the storylines aren’t that critical, right? I mean, but at the same time, yeah, you do want to see what Mayo looks like at third base, knowing that there’s a need. I mean, there’s going to be a need that’s indefinite, right now, but that’s not just him. It’s Blaze Alexander. Let’s not forget about Jeremiah Jackson, who’s off to a good start this spring. And you know, he’s been playing a lot of second base too, so whereas last year, we saw him right field and third base as the Orioles were playing out the strings. So So you have some of that. Heston Kirsten is off to a great start this spring. Do I think that means he’s going to make the roster? No, but I’m hoping that means for him that one he’s healthy and in a good place, physically and mentally and that too, he can revitalize his career, right? I mean, there have been plenty of guys who’ve had nightmare kind of scenarios or injuries or bad seasons and and, but they they’re able to get back on track. So, you know, it’s been great to see Heston kerstad swing the bat. Well, you know, at the same time, I,

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Nestor Aparicio  12:09

I never know what any of that means for young guys until it translates. Because all those guys are blue chip guys, sure, you know, Sagano or Suarez coming over at the end. These are guys that like they’ve got a lot of investment in Heston Kirsch that that if this is the year he becomes Ryan O’Hearn and figures it out, if this is the year same thing with Kobe mayo, they’ll they’re going to be real happy they didn’t trade him away for Bag of Donuts, right? I mean, as much as we call Elias less names than Jason lock and for called him. I don’t feel like there’s they’ve been village idiots about how they’ve handled their talent and and some of it hasn’t bloomed in the way you want it to boom, but they haven’t been snookered on a deal in some way. Yeah.

Luke Jones  12:54

I mean, obviously, a year ago, at this time, we were saying Kyle Stowers for for Trevor Rogers was looking that way. But then Trevor Rogers looked how

Nestor Aparicio  13:01

he looked last year. Now you think he can start game one of the World Series for

Luke Jones  13:05

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you, or at least on opening might be starting opening day, if it’s not Bradish, but yeah. I mean, it’s a reminder that development is not linear, perfectly linear, right? I mean, you think about it in terms of like, okay, you kind of plan it out, right? You draft someone in the first round and they’re great and low A, they go to high a next year, they’re in double, right? I mean, like, and you just want it to be perfect that way. Or a guy so great that he skips a level, right? And look, there are examples like that, but we also know there are examples of guys that Things Fall Apart sometimes. That’s why I mentioned, like, the Vance honey cut thing is interesting to me. You know? I mean, again, go Google his numbers last year and get back to me how disastrous they were. Him playing at Aberdeen, right? Where you’re just like, like, is this guy? Like, is he a total bust? Well, he’s got three home runs this spring. Now that might be nothing in the big picture, right? I’m not going to sit here and talk about 15 grapefruit league at bats for the starters, or five or six innings for these pitchers at this point, and you’re drawing any conclusions about it, other than just you want guys to get their work in and to be healthy and pitcher velocity look okay, and all that, but, but, yeah, this is a reminder that guys had an off season, and guys did work, and guys, some guys added one or two miles per hour on their fastball. Some guys that are on the older side lose a mile or two a tick on their fastball, right? Not even just necessarily because they’re hurt. They’re just older, right? I mean, Bassett will be an example of that quite like I’m guessing his average fastball velocity will probably be half a mile to a mile below what it was last year. Because he’s 37 years old, doesn’t mean he can’t pitch. Doesn’t mean he won’t be good. But that’s just, you know, Jamie Moyer was just figuring it out. You’re right, right? But you. You’re just, you know, you’re just kind of sorting everything out right now. I mean, and again, most of this statistically, like, for example, Gunner Henderson, three for 17 before he left for the WBC. Is anyone worried about that? No, I’ll be worried if he gets hurt in the WBC. But it’s gunner Henderson, like you’re hoping. Hey, as long as he’s healthy from where he was last year, then it should be fine. But for some of these guys that are less proven, man, this is a big opportunity. And for me, like For Mayo, for example, he has swung the bat. Well, that’s that’s great, and that’s well and good. He went

Nestor Aparicio  15:36

from afterthought being the third guy in the backup Cardinals uniform going to triple A to being a guy that’s gonna, like, get a real have a real March and, like, have a real opportunity to play. I mean that that’s doesn’t happen for everybody. More times than not, guys get blocked or fail and don’t and aren’t heard from again, which we all sort of wrote him off, like, to some degree.

Luke Jones  16:01

Well, how about the fact now he’s not a prospect, but Ryan mountcastle, I’m guessing now, is going to be on the roster, whereas, you know, from the moment that they tendered or that they, you know, signed him instead of non tendered him. I I was kind of confused by that. Now that said I’m I’m also not going to sit here and say that. I necessarily think that’s going to be money well spent, because he just hasn’t hit the last couple years the way he needs to.

Nestor Aparicio  16:28

But what is amazing in some guys, right, like cows are, is a guy that I was the first one saying, trade him while they’re moving. You know, Allen doesn’t like the hole in the swing at all. We’ll be getting together with him on Friday over at Costas, by the way, on the Maryland crab cake tour. I’ll have Harlem Globetrotter scratch offs to give away. And then you’ve been against the Colton cows are saying more of late rushman. We all were in love with him. You thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I told my wife, I’ve never seen a team that’s loaded ever. And the next thing you know, he’s hitting Mendoza, and we don’t know what the hell that is, even, even as we sit here, right? And then you lose holiday and you lose Westberg, at least for the time being, and there’s no Henderson taking at bats around here the next two weeks, probably. So you know, then all of a sudden, did the blaze, Alexander’s blaze in from the side door. And we’re wondering, Hey, can we get Mateo back? Can we call Can we call Ramon? You know, and it really is an incredible thing how the stock goes up and down. And the stocks only as good as it is right now, unless you’re gunner Henderson and you can go three for 16 Kobe Mayo puts a couple three to three for sixteens together and boots five balls here in March. Dude, not good, you know, not good for where they want to be and where we all were on Kobe Mayo when we thought like he’s going to play in the big leagues, he’s going to hit 30 home runs. He’s going to be the thing that replaces the Santander, or, you know, whatever that was going to be at that time, or male Castle, really, right? Right?

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Luke Jones  18:03

I mean, I, for me, it’s, it’s less about the results. What’s the process look like, right? But because you can also go six for 12, and five of those were soft contact, blooped in the right center field, that doesn’t necessarily, isn’t necessarily indicative that you’re swinging the bat all that. Well, it’s just you’re getting good results. Because 12 at bats, when you think about it, in the scope of 162, is nothing, right? I mean, so, so I think you have to be a little more mindful with that. But what’s the contact look like? What do the swing decisions look like? Are are you having good at bats? Are you seeing pitches? Obviously, you and I haven’t talked about this a whole lot. I mean, the ABS system is, it’s, it’s a new wrinkle. I mean, it’s gonna be interesting to see how that plays out, you know, in terms of when you’re challenging, who’s challenged?

Nestor Aparicio  18:50

Well, they’re laughing about it in March, right? I mean, I saw Bassett. We’re gonna challenge us. Are we not that Red Sox guy says, I know I’m going to first base. That was not a strike. And I know it was funny, yeah, and he was right, yeah, right. It is funny, but I don’t think it’s funny when it’s the seventh inning and you got two on and the computer says it was, whatever the computer says it

Luke Jones  19:13

was, well, but there’s, there’s that element, but let’s say, because you only get two, and if you lose those, like you keep them, you know, you keep going if you’re right, but you get two, basically, you get two incorrect challenges, right? You use your two, and then the seventh inning, the umpire completely blows a three two call, and you don’t have a challenge.

Nestor Aparicio  19:37

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My wife playing Scrabble versus Wordle. Wordle, Wordle, you hit the wrong word. It just doesn’t let you play it Scrabble. You get penalized. So, so you know, at some point where you challenge and whether it’s a pitcher’s count, a hitter’s count be interesting where you are in the game. It makes it the manager has to manage more on every pitch. Right? Like, literally, it’s, it makes that job a little different, not a little a hell of a lot different. You say

Luke Jones  20:05

that, remember the manager, it only players can challenge. It’s only the pitcher the hit No No, but I’m just but where I will say the manager comes into play, there is, you’ve got to talk about that as a, as a, as a club, right? You’ve got to talk about it in terms of, from a theory standpoint, in the same way we’ve talked about it for years. You know, if you have a head coach there, there’s a five yard pass where it’s rolled in complete, and it’s a catch, but it’s four minutes into the game, and you’re at your Can you imagine a wide receiver having the red flag and throwing it up in the air, and the coach saying, Well, you better be, you better have caught it. You know, that’s but, right? That’s the element and but you also need to think about when you want to do that. If it’s three minutes into the game, you’re probably saying, you know, if it’s the first inning, you’re probably not going to do that, unless it’s bases loaded in two outs and it’s a three two pitch, that you’re going to get a run out of it. So, so that’ll be interesting. So that’s just an extra wrinkle here. But to go back to the greater point, as far as these players, you know, what’s the process look like for me with mayo? Yeah, of course, I want to see him swing the bat well, but I’m also going to put more stock into what he did in September last year, rather than what he’s doing in a handful of Spring Games. But I do want to see the defense look a certain way. I do want to see that look like he can be capable. I mean, the thing with me with mayo, like there’s a sweet spot and cows are to a lesser extent, because he’s a little more established in the majors, albeit coming off of a frustrating season. But with mayo, I can, I can live with the defense being okay. If he swings the bat and hits right, what you don’t want is him struggling at the plate, and he’s struggling, and then you’re talking about man, that’s, that’s a prop. That’s major. He’s got 13

Nestor Aparicio  21:54

home runs and seven errors on May 15. I can live with that. I mean, it’s Yeah, right, right. I mean, the general point, I’m just saying, yeah, exactly, exactly where. But if it’s, if he’s not really hitting 13 errors and seven home runs, we got right, right, right, you’ve got to figure that.

Luke Jones  22:12

You’ve got to evaluate that. And spring training can be a fuller, you know, because, and this is where it’s helpful to be able to watch the games, because, you know, and this is where I’ll use Vance honey cut as an example, like he’s getting in at the very end of games, and he’s probably facing a single way pitcher, right? I mean, so you know that, okay, great for him, important for him, but it has no bearing on anything pertaining to the major league roster right now. You know, you look at especially when these guys are going, depending on when they’re playing, are they facing more major league and triple A pitching, or are they facing more double A and single a pitching? Right? That matters. So again, the numbers for me aren’t nearly as prevalent. Perfect example, Kyle Bradish the other day. You know, he pitched on Saturday. He gave up two runs in three innings. Statistically, though, like that’s a six era, but Taylor Ward not playing a ball in left field the way he needed to, really led to Bradish giving up those runs. Bradish was great. Looked great on Saturday. Threw the ball well, looked like, look like he’s ready for the season. Yeah. But statistically, it didn’t, you know the era. You know, he gave up a couple runs in three innings,

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Nestor Aparicio  23:28

but you worry about any of that. But that’s the difference between us being able to watch that you can watch it, or having P and looking at a box score here,

Luke Jones  23:36

here, here’s an example of one that I’m not sounding the alarm, but you know what? I’m going to be watching very carefully the next time. Kittridge, the other day, he got bombed. Now, giving up the runs, I don’t care as much about that. You know what I cared about? Fastball velocity was way down. Now I’m hopeful, and I’m not saying that this isn’t the case. I’m hopeful that that’s a guy in the November of his career. He’s ramping up right. I’m hoping it’s that and not because his elbow is bothering him now, when he when he was taken out of the game, you could see him in the dugout. He didn’t look like someone who was overly frustrated, concerned that saw him even smile. So it lends me to believe that he’s okay physically. But I’m going to be watching next time to see what the Velo looks like. This is the difference

Nestor Aparicio  24:27

between the WBC and what kittridge is going to be doing here in the next few weeks, sure, and what Kobe Mayo is going to be doing and what gunner Henderson are going to be doing, are going to be kind of similar like all effort. I’m trying to prove something here, in a different kind of an environment in Bradenton than if Gunnar Henderson is playing against Venezuela or Puerto Rico, or, you know, whatever, in Miami next week, or Cuba in Miami, it’s a whole different thing. And, yeah, so. I would just say the level of competitiveness and the level of where Chris Bassett is and ramping up trying to get ready to make that third or fourth start, and Dean Kramer, who’s trying to win, and trying to get his turn in, and trying to represent and you know, like, this is an interesting week, and a half about who’s going to face, who, what level of competition, where the stakes are, and then really, what gets them ready for March 26 which is like all the Craig Albernaz and Mike Elias are concerned about, and it’s all really probably gunner Henderson’s really concerned about, but it won’t be in those moments when sure the bright lights are on, and he’s in a big league stadium doing big league things next week.

Luke Jones  25:44

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Yeah, I mean, and let’s throw another name out there, because I, I’ll continue to say this about this guy. I mean, look, there’s a perception of what Tyler O’Neill is right now based off of what happened last year, right? It was a disaster, right? He wasn’t healthy, didn’t didn’t hit all that well, even when he was healthy. But there’s a reason why the Orioles gave him the deal they did two winters ago, whether it whether it was wise to give him a three year deal, you know, like that kind of speaks for itself at this point, but you still have them, and he’s still someone who’s hit 30 plus home runs in a season in the majors. That’s why you got him. So he’s off to a really good start. He has swung the bat extremely well. He’s now going to play for Team Canada. Boy, if you’re Mike Elias and you’re Craig Albernaz, a guy like him, especially who has a career history of injuries, boy, you’re holding your breath because you’re just thinking, man, we’ve got, you know, we’ve got him O’Neill swinging the bat. Well, he’s looking good. I mean, you add him to our like, like, a good version of him to the lineup, man, that lineup just gets that much deeper. So there’s an example of someone where you don’t want to say, Hey, don’t play for Canada. And you know, you’re not really kind of

Nestor Aparicio  26:56

weird, because they pack their ish up in Sarasota and go on a road trip, basically, yeah, they leave for 10 days, you know, like a whole different thing, and they say goodbye to everybody. And manager, the GM or line, the dietitians and the trainers are like, Hey man, you know, ice that thing, you know,

Luke Jones  27:11

and like, and I would, and I would assume they come up with a plant, like, it’s not as though there’s no, it’s, I’m sure it’s beyond, but they’re, but they’re still, at this point, there’s still that sense of, you have to trust the player, and you have to trust that team, like that country, their coaching staff, to say, like Mark DeRosa, you know what? What Team USA, and all that, there’s a lot of trust on him to do what do right by the player and by the teams that are lending out there players, right? He’s talked about that. He’s on MLB Network. I remember him talking about that

Nestor Aparicio  27:45

extensive Gaston didn’t get marked, like Messina hurt at the All Star game because he didn’t want to work him. You know what? I mean, there’s always that at all that was hated for it, right? Yeah, there was, you know, there was always that when another manager gets involved.

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Luke Jones  27:57

So, like, it’s, you know, as great as the WBC is, I mean, you know, these teams privately do not like it.

Nestor Aparicio  28:06

I’m sure he’s a good American, you know, because I can hear his accent that he’s an American. He wants Team America to win, but not at the expense of gunner Henderson, you know, like that.

Luke Jones  28:15

Oh, get right. Get me back, get gunner Henderson back to me in one piece and ready to go. Right? I mean, it’s that simple. So, so yeah, but I mean, it’s, it’s an interesting dynamic. And to your point, I mean, the Orioles aren’t even a team that necessarily is being gutted like some of these teams are. Are kind of gutted for the next 10 days or so. And obviously some of these countries will be in, you know, a few days, and then those guys will be returning. But you know, you’re talking about us, Team Japan, the Dominican, Puerto Rico, Venezuela. I mean, go down the list like these are all countries that have designs on being there at the end, right? I mean, Great Britain’s a different story, right? I mean, I know the Netherlands, years ago, made a made a nice run. But you know some of these. You know, Team Israel, you’re not expecting to be in the final, right?

Nestor Aparicio  29:03

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But Venezuela was loaded, and Miguel Cabrera is just a hitting coach. Come on.

Luke Jones  29:08

Yeah, so, but, you know, it’s fun, but at the same time it’s Taurus. Come on. Nerve racking for these, for these Major League clubs where they’re just and that’s where you do. Also have to have a sense of, Look, you can’t put these guys in bubble wrap, in the same way that when a player gets hurt in spring workouts, right for the Ravens or something like that, I mean, or someone gets hurt in spring training the first few days, right? So you know that that can happen, but when it’s not on your watch, man, you’re really nervous. I mean, you just are so so that’s it’s an interesting dynamic at the same time, I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna sit here and be disparaging about the WBC because I enjoy it. I’m looking forward to it. But, yeah, if you’re an Orioles fan, or you’re a Yankees fan or a blue jays fan or a Phillies fan, I mean, you’re. You’re holding your breath get let’s get our guys back in one piece and intact. And then, hey, then, then, then we’ll all look back on it fondly. How about that?

Nestor Aparicio  30:08

Something magic happens on the 26th of the month, it’s opening day. We’re going to be having fun getting up on the Maryland crab cake tour between now and then Wednesday, we’re at Gertrude it’s Friday. We’re at Costas and Dundalk. Tuesday, we are at missones in Perry Hall. I’m wearing my Koco’s gear because I’m in the mood for marcella’s ribs and her burger special down there. So we’ll be making it all happen locally around here. All are brought to you by the Maryland lottery, our partners at GBMC and our newest sponsors at foreigner foreign in and Dermer. I’m always going to mess it up. Uh, Zach gave me a hard time about that last week, although they did fix my HVAC and my plumbing. So I’m very, very appreciative. They also gave me some fun hats to wear, so we’re gonna have that around here as well. They are the comfort guys. They are our newest sponsor. We’re very appreciative. And you’ll hear that around here at AM 1570 as well. He is Luke. I am Nestor. Together. We’re all awaiting the word on Lamar and Tyler linderbaum and all of that. If you’re on the wnst tech service, you’ll get that first. It’s all brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy. We’re back for more. We’re wnsd am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive.