09-05-2019, 08:19 AM
With spring training only weeks away http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , major publications are coming out with their 2019 projections and the overall outlook is not so rosy for the Orioles."Earlier this week FanGraphs released its 2019 Orioles ZiPS projections, courtesy of Dan Szymborski. And unfortunately the outlook is modest, to say the least. No one on the team is predicted to have a WAR above 1.9.For comparison, the defending AL East champion Red Sox, who won 108 games last season, boast a starting lineup projected to have five players with a WAR of 3 or better. Their two best hitters — Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez — are forecast to put up 4.4 and 6.8 WAR, respectively. Their ace, Chris Sale, is expected to be around 6.6.But still, one of the most interesting parts of the article regarding the Orioles’ 2019 projections is the player comparisons. Right now, minor league outfielder Yusniel Diaz is not expected to make the O’s 25-man opening day roster, with players like Joey Rickard and D.J. Stewart ahead of him on the depth chart currently. But stranger things have happened.Diaz’s comp for this upcoming year is Milton Bradley, who enjoyed a 12-year playing career with eight different teams. Bradley had a career .271/.364/.440 batting line, usually hovering around the teens in the home run department with a maximum output of 22 round-trippers in 2008 with the Texas Rangers.Bradley took a couple years to establish himself in the majors, putting up batting averages of .221 and .223 in his first two years (392 AB combined). He was never a big stolen base threat, but Bradley swiped 17 bags in 2003 and 15 in 2004. Arguably his best year came in 2008 when he hit .321/.436/.563 with 22 home runs and 77 RBI.But it’s important to note that Szymborski offers the following disclaimer in his article:In his three-year minor league career, Diaz has a .282/.359/.433 batting line Jason Kipnis Jersey , compared to .239/.329/.403 in 38 games with Double-A Bowie last year. In 2019, ZiPS projects Diaz to put up a batting line of .255/.331/.381 with 10 home runs, 40 RBI and 10 steals, along with a 94 OPS+.Another young outfielder on the Orioles roster, Cedric Mullins, got a cup of coffee at the tail end of last season. In 45 games after being promoted from Triple-A, Mullins hit .235/.312/.359 with four home runs, 11 RBI and two steals for the O’s. In his minor league career, Mullins is a .274/.330/.450 hitter.Mullins is compared to Vernon Wells in the 2019 projections article. Wells enjoyed a career batting line of .270/.319/.459 over his 15 years in the majors, the vast majority of which was spent with the Toronto Blue Jays. Wells had one of his finest seasons at the young age of 24, when he hit .317/.359/.550 with 33 home runs and 117 RBI. Based off everything we’ve seen and heard about Mullins, I’m not sure that Wells’ run-producer profile fits well here. Mullins is expected to be more of a top of the order guy with a bit less pop and a bit more speed. Wells topped out at 17 steals in 2006 and 2009, but besides those two years he was mostly in the single digits in that category. In 2019, Mullins is projected for a .247/.300/.400 batting line with 16 home runs, 62 RBI and 18 steals with an 89 OPS+. Last season, Mychal Givens had an up and down year in the Orioles bullpen. He finished 2018 with a 3.99 ERA, 9 saves and a 1.18 WHIP. He was basically the last man standing after the O’s traded Zach Britton http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , Brad Brach and Darren O’Day. For his career, Givens has a 3.12 ERA over 260 innings pitched, along with a 1.13 WHIP.In 2019, Givens is expected to put up a 1.6 WAR, with his closest player comparable being Billy Koch. In his six year career, Koch racked up 163 saves (about 27 per year) with a 3.89 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. Koch’s lowest ERA (2.63) came at age 25 while pitching for the Blue Jays, and his highest save total (44) came at age 27 with Oakland.Koch was a skilled strikeout artist, averaging 7.9 SO/9 over the course of his career. But he also struggled with walks, allowing 4.2 BB/9 over six seasons. Givens has been superior in those categories over his first four years, averaging 3.4 BB/9 and 10.4 SO/9. ZiPS has Givens projected at 5-3 with a 3.19 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 73.3 innings in 2019.If the Orioles hope to crawl out of the cellar in the AL East this year, a lot of players will have to outperform their projections. MIAMI — Right-hander Anibal Sanchez broke into the majors with the Miami Marlins in 2006, winning at Yankee Stadium in his first appearance.Later that year, he beat Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros and then no-hit the Arizona Diamondbacks.However, after that promising start, Sanchez finished his Marlins career just 39-38 and was traded to the Detroit Tigers on July 23, 2012.Article continues below ...On Saturday, Sanchez will pitch at Marlins Park for the first time since April 6 Larry Doby Jersey , 2016. In that game, he outdueled the late Jose Fernandez in a 7-3 Tigers win.This time, Sanchez (6-4, 3.13 ERA) will pitch for the Atlanta Braves against Marlins left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (4-9, 5.20 ERA).Things have changed since that game in 2016. Most of Miami’s starters have been traded, including Giancarlo Stanton, Marcel Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon and Adeiny Hechavarria.Sanchez is 34 now, and he is enjoying a resurgent season after posting successively worse ERAs in each of his past three seasons: 4.99, 5.87 and 6.41.This year, Sanchez has allowed three earned runs or less in 13 of his 17 starts. And his homer rate is down from 2.2 per nine innings last year to 1.2 this season.The Venezuela native’s average fastball is 90.4 mph at this point in his long career. The league average is 93.1.One caution about Sanchez is that he was 4-2 with a 2.60 ERA in 12 first-half games but has struggled a bit since. He is 2-2 with a 4.22 ERA in six second-half starts.Sanchez has faced the Marlins once this year, and the Braves won that game 10-6 at home. Sanchez allowed five runs (four earned) in five innings.Braves rookie left fielder Ronald Acuna homered twice in that game. On that night, at age 20, he became the youngest major leaguer to hit a home run in five straight games.“It’s contagious what he’s doing,” Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte said about Acuna.On Saturday, Sanchez will face Chen Bob Feller Jersey , who has had one of the most unusual seasons in the majors. Chen is 1-6 with a 9.35 ERA on the road but 3-3 with a 2.05 ERA at home.Chen, whose average fastball is just 91.1 mph, is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in three starts this month. But he had a 7.01 ERA in May, a 6.20 ERA in June and a 5.27 ERA in July.He beat the Braves on July 24 at Marlins Park, allowing three runs in six innings.The Marlins also beat the Braves 1-0 on Friday night, tying the four-game series at one apiece.If the Marlins have to go to the bullpen on Saturday, they won’t have Jarlin Garcia, who was placed on the disabled list Friday because of a contusion on his right leg.Taking his roster spot is former closer Kyle Barraclough, who had been on the DL because of back stiffness.“We want (Barraclough) to work his way back up,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.Barraclough received National League Reliever of the Month honors in June after allowing just one hit and no runs in 12 innings, converting all seven of his save chances.But Barraclough blew a save chance on July 2, and that started his downfall. In July, he posted a bloated 8.38 ERA in 9 2/3 innings, blowing three of five save chances.