3 Up, 3 Down – August 23, 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 Rays and Braves.

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

3 Up

Ramon Urias – .269/.296/.615 (.912), 3 R, 3 doubles, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 26 AB

Urias had been cold in August after a hot July that saw him take over the starting shortstop job when Freddy Galvis got injured and was subsequently traded. It was nice to see him bounce back to hitting the ball with authority. He was a little banged up with an upper leg injury so maybe it is just a matter of recovering from that but either way he is trying to prove that he can be relied on for the 2022 team whether it is as a starter somewhere or on the bench. He is a better fielder at second base than shortstop but as a guy who can play all of the infield positions competently maybe he could be a poor man’s Eduardo Escobar. With Maikel Franco being designated for assignment and Jahmai Jones finally get called up the Orioles infield suddenly has some youth and excitement to it. Ryan Mountcastle at first base, Jones at second, Urias at shortstop, and Jorge Mateo at third (more on him soon) is an infinitely more watchable and potentially exciting group than the Franco’s, Rio Ruiz’, and Pat Valaika’s of the world. The next step once September rolls around should be to replace DJ Stewart on the roster with Ryan McKenna and the recently recalled Kelvin Gutierrez with Rylan Bannon and the speed and athleticism alone will provide a more palatable experience.

Jorge Mateo – .409/.435/.500 (.935), 2 R, 2 doubles, 22 AB

Mateo has lived up to the hope of what he could be so far since being claimed off of waivers from the San Diego Padres. We knew he had no plate discipline, which he doesn’t – one walk and one hit by pitch over 57 at bats, and the defense is a little raw but that tends to happen when you’re playing all over the field on any given night. But he has been given regular at bats and has made the most of them. He is batting .333 with a .830 OPS and six doubles, a triple, and three stolen bases. His speed has been a weapon as it should be since he is the fastest player in baseball. I don’t think he has the bat to ball ability of a Hanser Alberto so I am fully expecting him to have some rough stretches at the plate but there are enough tools to run him out there for most of the remaining games of the season. Have the Orioles coaches work with him over the offseason and give him a chance to earn a role on the 2022 team. I have compared him to Felix Pie from the beginning and I stand by it. Even if he doesn’t fulfill his potential there should be some exciting and memorable moments sprinkled in there, both good and bad.

Konner Wade – 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.2 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0.27 WHIP

It looked like Wade was going to be a “one hit wonder”, called up to make his major league debut and give the team some innings only to be immediately DFA’d in June after giving up six runs over 1.2 innings. Fortunately he made it through waivers and remained with the organization where he continued his successful campaign for AAA Norfolk. Between six starts and nine relief appearances he had a 3.03 ERA over 62.1 innings allowing 51 hits and 15 walks with 40 strikeouts. A couple weeks ago he was given another chance to pitch in the majors and he has made the most of it. Despite pitching mostly in mop up duty amidst an infinite losing streak he hasn’t given up a run in 5.2 innings since being recalled only giving up one hit and one walk with five strikeouts. With Jorge Lopez being moved to the bullpen and Keegan Akin being a dumpster fire I wouldn’t be surprised if Wade followed in Spenser Watkins’ footsteps and got some starts to close out the season. Hes a groundball pitcher who doesn’t strike many batters out but he should be able to at least give you five innings most times out.

3 Down

Austin Hays – .125/.160/.125 (.285), 1 R, 1 SB, 24 AB

What is worse – dreaming on Austin Hays’ potential to be an everyday outfielder on the next contending Orioles team but he can’t stay healthy or he finally has a good stretch of health and he is proving to be more limited a player than initially thought? We’ve seen a bit of both this season. After another rough week at the plate Hays is now batting .234 with a .688 OPS on the season. You thought Anthony Santander was having a disappointing year? He is batting .241 with a .712 OPS. That isn’t to say that I’m writing off Hays as a future contributor, he is still a guy who can play the outfield well (as long as hes healthy) and has a well rounded skill set with the potential to bat around .275 with 20 some homeruns over a full season. But he also might be more of a part time player than originally envisioned. The Orioles are deep in outfield prospects and Hays might only have one more season to try to cement his place on the next contending team. He has had good Septembers each of the last couple of years so hopefully he can continue that trend and head into the offseason on a high note.

Jorge Lopez – 0-1, 12.00 ERA, 3 IP, 5 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 4 K, 2.33 WHIP

Its hard for me to put Lopez on this list considering everything he is going through. I can’t imagine having to focus on work when my son is incredibly sick, let alone in a high intensity sporting contest. In his last start on Thursday he couldn’t make it past two innings and he just didn’t look comfortable out there. His velocity was down significantly but it apparently wasn’t anything injury related. After the game manager Brandon Hyde discussed the possibility of giving him some sort of break and if there was any kind of FMLA for major league players that seemed like the best answer given the situation but they ultimately decided on moving him into the bullpen. I’m sure Lopez feels like he is fighting for a job to help provide for his family and wanted to continue to prove himself. I’m rooting for him. He did look much better in his one inning of relief on Sunday than he had in his last few outings. He has the velocity and the stuff to be a quality reliever it is just a matter of being consistent and staying out of the middle of the plate. Lopez is a non-tender candidate over the offseason and this final six weeks of the season could be the deciding factor on if he is tendered a contract or not.

Fernando Abad – 0-0, 10.80 ERA, 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 HR, 2 BB, 1 K, 2.10 WHIP

Insert Abad pun here. The veteran left handed reliever was signed to a minor league contract prior to the season and it seemed inevitable that he would pitch for the Orioles at some point this year if he didn’t make the team out of spring training. Well here we are. A stampede of relievers got their shot first including the previously mentioned Konner Wade as well as Marcos Diplan, Mickey Jannis, Spenser Watkins, Dusten Knight, Connor Greene, Shaun Anderson, Jay Flaa, and Brandon Waddell. The 35 year old had a 4.26 ERA over 25.1 innings with 27 strikeouts and a 1.42 WHIP with AAA Norfolk before getting his contract purchased. He has appeared in three games so far and it hasn’t been pretty to say the least. He has a 17.18 ERA over 3.2 innings and has to be the next guy to be designated for assignment when they feel like they need a fresh arm – and that is pretty frequently. I’m surprised they DFA’d Cesar Valdez over him when they claimed Chris Ellis off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays but its only a matter of time until Abad’s time comes.