Question: Have the Orioles forgotten about Ramón Urías? He is a better third baseman and hitter than Jordan Westburg is right now. Why not put him back on 3rd, put Westburg in left field, and platoon Colton Cowser and Ramón Laureano in right field, depending on the opposition’s pitcher (right or left-handed). May add a little pop to the offense. From: Brad Baker Easton, Md.
Answer: Brad, Tony Mansolino mentioned just before the break that he’d like to find more playing time for Urías, but with Westburg and Jackson Holliday playing regularly, as they should, it’s hard.
Urías is a very valuable player, as you’ve seen when Westburg’s been hurt, but he’s slumping badly. He comes out of the All-Star break hitless in his last 21 at-bats.
It’s dangerous to put a player in a new position they haven’t played before during a season. The time for that type of experimentation is during spring training, and I don’t see Westburg playing left field any time soon.
Question: Good pitching is really expensive to obtain via trade and free agency. As they say, “you can never have enough pitching.” Considering the recent pitching woes, can you help me understand why Mike Elias stays away from pitchers early in the draft? From: Scott German
Answer: Scott, you’re not the only reader curious about the Orioles avoiding pitching in the first round. John Hall and Gary Shedd are also disappointed.
I was confident that they would take a pitcher with one of those four picks among the first 37, but they didn’t.
However, they did take 13 pitchers among their final 21 picks.
Even though Elias has never confirmed this, I think he had such a bad experience taking pitchers with the overall No. 1 pick in Houston in 2013 and 2014 that he’s shied away from that.
In 2013, the Astros selected Mark Appel with the top pick. He didn’t perform well in the minors and ended up throwing just six major league games with the Phillies in 2022 after Houston traded him.
In 2014, the Astros drafted Brady Aiken first, and ended up not signing him because an inflamed right elbow was discovered in a post-draft physical. Houston reduced its offer to him, and he refused to sign with them. As compensation, the Astros did get the No. 2 pick the next year and signed Alex Bregman.
Sadly, these missteps are probably the reason why Elias doesn’t draft pitchers with the top pick.
Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: [email protected]. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.
