3 Up, 3 Down – August 16, 2021

Welcome to ‘3 Up, 3 Down’, the weekly column breaking down the three hottest and three coldest Orioles players based on their performance during the previous week. It has proven to be an interesting exercise and good opportunity to highlight the highs and lows of a long baseball season. This week comes after series against the Tigers and Red Sox.

(You can discuss this on the BSL board here.)

3 Up

Anthony Santander – .333/.391/.762 (1.153), 3 R, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB, 21 AB

Half way through August and Santander is finally showing why the Orioles came into the season expecting him to be their biggest trade chip and one of their best hitters. He is batting .378 with a 1.106 OPS for the month over 45 at bats. His ankle must be feeling better because he even stole a base this week as part of a double steal where Cedric Mullins stole home. Maybe that ankle is why he batted .216 with a .619 OPS in June and .156 with a .561 OPS in July. His average exit velocity  is in the top quarter of the league and it appears he has been unlucky with his batting average considering he is in the top 15% of expected batting average despite only batting .248 for the season. The problem with Santander is that he doesn’t walk, he chases pitches outside of the strike zone, and he is getting slower and slower despite being only 26. I’m sure the bum ankle is playing a big part but he looks bulkier and bulkier every season and is hobbling around in the outfield. He went from being a gold glove finalist in right field to being in the bottom three percent in outs above average and the bottom 14% in outfielder jump. It would be nice to see him finish the season on a strong note to not only get his trade value back to where it was before the season but to have some confidence that his 2020 was not a fluke and he can be a big part of the offense in 2022.

DJ Stewart – .308/.357/1.077 (1.434), 3 R, 1 double, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 13 AB

Never change DJ Stewart, never change. Last week I talked about how he is showing no life at the plate and it is inevitable that he will be the next position player to be designated for assignment. So of course he comes out this past week and has his patented red hot stretch in August to keep himself alive. He’s like the physical embodiment of the show ‘I Survived’ at this point. He only had four hits during the week but they were all for extra bases, one double and three solo homeruns. Of course he also had a walk because that is the one notable skill he has that never goes away for long stretches of time. It appears that Brandon Hyde has settled into a platoon of sorts between Stewart and Ryan McKenna with DJ starting against right handed pitchers and McKenna starting against lefties. Since there really isn’t anyone banging down the door at AAA Norfolk to take his spot I guess at this point Stewart will get a chance to play the entire season at the major league level before being removed from the roster in the offseason.

Marcos Diplan – 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.2 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 0.21 WHIP

I suppose there was a reason that Diplan was chosen to be the other futures game selection for the Orioles to go along with Adley Rutschman. He has been stellar since being called up a little over a week ago. He has yet to give up a hit over 6.1 innings and the only baserunner he has allowed came on a walk on Thursday against the Detroit Tigers. He has six strikeouts in that time and is just pitching with confidence and attacking hitters. He was once a highly regarded prospect after being signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2013 by the Texas Rangers and then traded to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of a deal for former Oriole Yovani Gallardo in 2015. He hung around the Brewers system before being traded to the Minnesota Twins for cash in 2019. They DFA’d him six weeks later, the Detroit Tigers claimed him and then DFA’d him themselves before the Orioles did the same. The difference was that he cleared waivers for the Orioles and was able to be outrighted to AAA Norfolk before the 2020 season. Despite such a long journey he is still just 24 years old and the Orioles pitching development team has done good work with him, lowering his walks and raising his strikeouts. He has good stuff and its nice to see someone make the most of an opportunity in this long, dreadful season at the major league level.

3 Down

Maikel Franco – .150/.190/.150 (.340), 1 BB, 20 AB

I’m not sure how much longer the Orioles can keep running Franco out there at third base every day. He isn’t signed beyond this year, didn’t cost much in the first place, and is isn’t providing any value offensively or defensively. Especially now with Ramon Urias, Richie Martin, and Jorge Mateo available in the infield and eventually the likes of Jahmai Jones and/or Rylan Bannon getting a shot before the season is over he is just a lame duck. He has the lowest walk rate on the team (5.2%) other than Austin Wynns who only has 80 at bats. He isn’t hitting for average (.213 batting average for the season) or much power either (21 doubles, 11 homeruns). His OPS has been in the low .600’s for most of the season and it seems like he hits into a double play almost every other night. Even before any players get called up I would prefer to see those other three infielders start most days and leave Franco on the bench. He wasn’t tradeable before the deadline. Maybe he is a good clubhouse presence and you want him to keep morale relatively high through the dog days of the season when the team is heading for their third 100 loss season in four years.

Keegan Akin – 0-2, 11.57 ERA, 7 IP, 13 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 7 K, 2.43 WHIP

It looked like we were about to see the last of Akin with the Orioles or at the very least the last of him in the starting rotation this season. But then Bruce Zimmermann had to go and do the most Orioles thing someone could do to encapsulate the 2021 season. After working his way back from an arm injury with three rehab appearances he was poised to rejoin the rotation and take Akin’s spot on Sunday against the Red Sox in Boston but instead he sprained his ankle while working out bad enough that it sounds like his season may be in jeopardy (how about that decision on a new host by the way…) with the way manager Brandon Hyde was talking to reporters about it. So instead Akin takes the turn and lowered his ERA somehow despite giving up three runs over four innings. For the season he has a 8.13 ERA over 58.2 innings with a 1.82 WHIP and 53 strikeouts. At this point I think he is going to have to fight for a spot on the major league roster at all in 2022. I still think he could be a solid left handed reliever but it would be nice to see him have success in that role in AAA first before handing him a role in a season that should be a little more competitive.

Adam Plutko – 0-0, 30.38 ERA, 2.2 IP, 6 H, 3 HR, 4 BB, 3 K, 3.75 WHIP

Plutko finally wore out his welcome in Baltimore, being designated for assignment in favor of a major league veteran who had been pitching decently out of AAA Norfolk’s bullpen Fernando Abad and Konner Wade who had been previously DFA’s by the Orioles after making his major league debut previously during the season. At least he ate some innings? He had a great April but has basically been a human white flag over the past couple of months. If you see Plutko warming up you know the Orioles are punting this one. He may clear waivers but I’m not sure if the Orioles will find room for him even in AAA with a bunch of pitching prospects being promoted from AA Bowie over the past few weeks. I’ll always remember Plutko as the surprise last minute waiver claim before the season that sent the previously mentioned Keegan Akin to the alternate site to begin the 2021 season.