- 23 minutes ago
Down a couple of great gloves to open the season, the Orioles defense is a serious concern. Will a bad defense sink the 2026 Orioles or can their bats overcome their defensive deficiencies?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Talking about Sammy Basaya.
00:02Injury yesterday against the Tigers, which happened as we were on the air.
00:07Play at the plate.
00:09Tags Veerling.
00:10Great tag.
00:12He kind of, if you missed it, like belly flopped onto the ground.
00:19He made the tag.
00:20Right.
00:20But after the tag, he went belly first into the plate area.
00:26At first, he grabs the, like he knocked the,
00:29the wind out of him.
00:31Then he's reaching for the right side.
00:35The dreaded oblique.
00:36Which immediately goes in.
00:37Ah, crap.
00:38He just hurt his oblique.
00:40Because then I'm looking at the replay.
00:42Like, did he get spiked?
00:43And we didn't see it.
00:44You know what I mean?
00:45But no.
00:46Clean tag.
00:47Great relay from Muscles to Jackson to Basaya, who made a great tag.
00:52So he goes down.
00:54Then he kind of labors around in the dirt for a minute.
01:00Walks off the field under his own power with assistance from the trainer.
01:07And he get wheel-teared or carted off the field.
01:09He walked.
01:10Sat in a dugout for a minute.
01:12Then walked into the tunnel after that.
01:15And that was Craig Albernaz saying,
01:18it's February 26th.
01:21I think he elaborated more on the quote that if it was a regular season game,
01:25he probably could have stayed in.
01:28No further testing at this time.
01:32But it looked real scary in real time.
01:35Because the last thing the Orioles need.
01:38Now, Basaya's not going to be the everyday catcher.
01:41That's going to be Adley.
01:44Coming off a season in which he hit the shelf twice with obliques.
01:48Each side, as a matter of fact.
01:53But Basaya's going to be a very prominent part of this lineup.
01:56Now, you've already lost Westbrook for an elbow.
01:59Basaya, Jackson with the hammock bone,
02:01which looks like he's fast-tracking to get back.
02:05But losing Basaya is yet...
02:07I mean, there's three guys anticipated to be in your opening day lineup.
02:10Or at the very least on your opening day roster.
02:13Who aren't going to be around.
02:15So, we'll get more intel.
02:17Albernaz meets with the media this morning.
02:19Orioles are playing today.
02:20Shane Baez against the Pirates.
02:22Not on television.
02:23By the way, we'll keep you up to date on that.
02:26Shane Baez bringing out that high 90s fast.
02:28But the good news is...
02:30What looked immediately scary.
02:33Concerning, at the very least.
02:34Don't want to get in here as well.
02:37Turns out to be kind of a nothing burger.
02:39And I know Dean Kramer said after the game...
02:42He seemed fine afterwards.
02:44Kramer did qualify.
02:45I'm not a doctor.
02:47But it looked like...
02:49And I guess Basaya assured him...
02:51Everything was good.
02:53But, you know, watching that roll down around what?
02:56Like almost 2 o'clock.
02:58It was the last segment of the show.
03:00It's like, what the hell just happened?
03:03Concerning then...
03:05Maybe not so much today.
03:07But you never know until someone comes out and says...
03:10He's good.
03:11It's like traffic in Baltimore.
03:13It'll be done in two weeks.
03:16Six months.
03:17Yeah.
03:18A year.
03:19Two years!
03:19A lot of times with injuries, Bob, you don't really know until the next day.
03:23You know?
03:24And if Albernez comes out this morning and says he's fine...
03:29Yep.
03:30But we'll see.
03:31I mean, because Albernez did say...
03:33Does he need more testing?
03:35Not that I...
03:36I don't know.
03:37You know?
03:37Danny said, I don't think so.
03:38Yeah.
03:39So, we'll know today.
03:40And hopefully that he is feeling great today.
03:44Then it was...
03:45But, Bob, I mean...
03:46Yeah.
03:47Like you said, we were watching...
03:48I don't know, Bob, that he could have stayed in that game.
03:52He looked in pretty much a lot of pain.
03:54I'm with you on that one.
03:55Let's put a cork in it right now.
03:57Rich Dubroff tweeting out.
03:59Samuel Messiah feeling fine.
04:01Ready to play.
04:01Nice.
04:02He's catching today.
04:04Not in the lineup, but he's behind the plate.
04:07That's good.
04:07That's fine.
04:08So, there we go.
04:09Nothing to see here.
04:10Please, the Spurs.
04:12Lucky, lucky, lucky.
04:13We'll take it.
04:14We'll take it for sure.
04:15I mean, I had my breath held all night, even after hearing that news.
04:19I mean, it was like, okay, this is good.
04:21But I don't know.
04:22I just...
04:22How do you double over and grimace in that much pain for it to be nothing?
04:26I don't know.
04:27But I'm thankful for sure.
04:29Because without him, you know, you mentioned it.
04:31Sure, you've got Adley as your catcher, but, you know, that's supposed to be a pretty big
04:35bat for you, whether he's getting play time at DH, maybe occasionally first base.
04:39Obviously, he's going to catch a few games.
04:41So, he should play every day.
04:43It's just a matter of where he's going to play.
04:46And if you don't have him in there, it's a huge loss.
04:49And with Adley, too, who I think, if he's healthy, he's going to have a bounce-back season.
04:54And 24, got the foul ball, which kind of led to his offensive slide.
04:58Then he had the back, which caused him to miss a start or two.
05:01And then last year, two stints on the I.L.
05:03So, it's not like he's rolling out there 150 games either.
05:07Like, last year was kind of the first real injury-plagued season.
05:12Because 24, he didn't blame his slump in the second half on injuries, even though, you know,
05:18watching him play, you could have made the connection.
05:20So, that's good news coming out of Sarasota.
05:24Also heard from Craig Albernez talking about the bats in this lineup.
05:29And Muscles O'Neal, 3-for-3.
05:31Homer, while we were on the air.
05:33A lot of plus-hundred.
05:35Exit below is a big thing now.
05:37You know, bloopers and dribblers.
05:38You're Luis Arise.
05:40You know what I mean?
05:40Even though you might be at 350.
05:42You know, you're still not moving the needle and run production and all that good stuff.
05:46But he was roping the ball.
05:49And he's, what, 7-for-9 in spring training?
05:53It's all a question of health with Tyler O'Neal.
05:57And he set up the play, by the way, because he made the sliding stop on the ball in the
06:01gap
06:02with a relay to second base to Basayo at the plate, which led to the opening of the show conversation.
06:10But his track record, he's not healthy.
06:14He's played 140 games twice in his career.
06:20So the M.O. is he tends to get hurt more than he's healthy.
06:26But if he's healthy, Nolan, if he gets 450 at-bats, 25 homers?
06:34Would hope, yeah.
06:35I mean, you look at the career track record, that's the case.
06:38I mean, it's really just the two years where he surpassed 30,
06:41but everything else has been, you know, 15 or less.
06:44So that's why I can't even say that it's all injury-related or health-related
06:48because he's had years in the past where he's missed significant time,
06:52but the stats didn't really follow either, you know?
06:56So I think, you know, if you just say, well, if he's healthy for a full season,
07:01the results will follow.
07:01I don't know.
07:02I mean, he's got to prove that he's fully back.
07:04Now, how much stock do you put into these spring at-bats?
07:08Not a ton.
07:09You prefer this over the alternative.
07:11O's averaging five runs per game so far this spring is great.
07:14You know, it hasn't just been O'Neal.
07:15Everyone's been really contributing so far.
07:18So, like I said, you know, your two options right now
07:22are they're not hitting at all or they're raking, you know,
07:24so we'll take the good.
07:26Let me clarify.
07:27Over 400 at-bats two seasons.
07:31He's had over 30 home runs two years.
07:34And one year he had 330, 40, hit 14.
07:36So he probably would have been over 20 home runs then.
07:40But if he's one for nine with seven Ks, like you said,
07:45don't take too much stock in the spring training at-bats.
07:48Coming off a year and we're here is very disappointing.
07:50He's one for nine with seven Ks.
07:52Like, this guy sucks.
07:54Yeah.
07:55Yeah.
07:55I mean, you pump the brakes on the enthusiasm for sure,
07:58but he's a proven commodity if he can stay on the field
08:03and he's playing and he's playing well right now.
08:06Yeah.
08:07Bob, it's like, you know, in the NFL, I mean, you know,
08:11at training camp, you would much rather have your guys looking good
08:15than, Jesus, you know, did we make a mistake there, you know?
08:20And O'Neal was hitting the crap out of the ball.
08:23Yeah.
08:24Make it a tough decision.
08:25You know, Craig Albernaz has said a few times this spring,
08:28really harping on how playtime is going to be dictated purely by who's swinging the hottest
08:33bat at any given moment.
08:35It's the fairest way to do it.
08:36I'm all on board with that.
08:37And I'm glad that O'Neal is actually making this a conversation because I didn't think
08:41that was going to happen.
08:42I thought it would just be, that's Beaver's spot.
08:45Give it to him.
08:45No questions asked.
08:46But now we've got, okay, O'Neal could be in right.
08:50Beaver's could get some playtime in center because he's been playing there this spring.
08:54And Beaver's is a guy that Albernaz was talking about in the opening of the show as well.
08:57The versatility plays.
09:00Him getting on base is a big thing because he does that well for an Oriole team that struggled
09:04in an area in 2025.
09:06We'll see.
09:07But you still have concerns about the arm.
09:09Unless I was just hallucinating when Carlos Correa tagged from first to second on a routine
09:16fly ball to left field.
09:18Right.
09:18And then eventually scored on a sack fly when he was at third.
09:22Carlos Correa is not exactly Enrique Bradfield running the bases.
09:26And he threw a two hopper to the cutoff man and there were some other games late in the
09:30season.
09:31I mean, right field and center field are your big arms.
09:34There are where the cannons are, even though Cedric Mullins didn't have the greatest of
09:39arm.
09:39But you hit the cutoff man and then, you know, usually an infielder can make some things happen.
09:43I thought Beaver's arm strength was, and me and Bordy and Ryan Ripken talked about it
09:48at Jim Honor at the end of the season on BBT.
09:52Like, yeah, kind of surprised at the lack of oomph on that fast bump.
09:58So who knows?
09:58We'll see.
09:59Because I was looking at his scouting grades and, you know, average to above average arm.
10:04What I saw was not center field, right field worthy.
10:08Yeah.
10:08I mean, hopefully it's just a case of small sample size.
10:11You know, obviously we didn't watch every game of him in the minors.
10:13So you try to lean on what people have seen there.
10:16But yeah, you hear it from guys like Keith Law who said defense is good.
10:21You know, at worst, it's average.
10:23So you track the ball.
10:25But, I mean, can you take an extra base on him?
10:29Oh, yeah.
10:30Like runners tended to do with center.
10:32You know, it's not something you can just brush to the side because, you know, sure,
10:35this team's defense is going to be shaky overall.
10:37But those are things that opposing teams are going to identify pretty quickly.
10:41You know, and they're, I mean, we've got, it's not even analytics.
10:45I mean, this is just basic level stats.
10:47How's this guy's arm strength?
10:48I'm running on him.
10:49You know, that's something that after first couple weeks of the season, tape is out on
10:54you and the strategy's there until you prove you can do something different.
10:57And look, I haven't played baseball in 36 years.
11:00I haven't even swung a softball bat in probably 15, 16 at least.
11:07But if you're playing left field and a guy's tagging from first to second on a route, it
11:12wasn't on the warning track.
11:13It was fly ball to left.
11:15And Correa tagged and made it easily.
11:18I was like, eh, there's a scouting report on this dude.
11:22Unless they thought Beavers was just a lazy guy, you know?
11:26Anyway, not to make too much out of nothing, but something to keep an eye on, I would assume.
11:31Yeah, I mean, they probably, go back to that game, you watch it, I don't know, if there
11:35was something earlier in the game they saw that said, well, we could take a base on this
11:38guy.
11:40I don't know.
11:40But a lot of it's going to be wait and see.
11:43And even him getting time in center field, to me, that's less about arm strength.
11:47I know he played some there in the minors, but it hasn't been since double A, if I'm
11:50not mistaken.
11:52And it's not a ton of games, probably somewhere in the 25, 30 range.
11:56So really not a lot of runway, but versatility would suit this outfield really well, because
12:01that's the one thing.
12:02They've got a lot of names, but there isn't a lot of versatility.
12:05Like, you're locked in.
12:06The Couser has to be the starting center fielder.
12:08Laoti Tavares, the only other one you would trust.
12:11You know, guys in the corner, a little interchangeable.
12:14But still, if you're going to have that many names, I'd prefer to have a little more movement.
12:17But speaking of defense, real quick before we hit the break, Kobe Mayo, two for two, two
12:21ribbies.
12:21But he did boot a ground ball.
12:23Second error of the spring.
12:26The other was on, you know, kind of a tough play.
12:29But yesterday was just kind of a deal.
12:31Well, he made a nice play behind third base.
12:34Yeah, but, you know, routine plays.
12:36Tough plays are great.
12:38Can you make the routine plays?
12:40And that's the most important thing.
12:42Hey, you make a spectacular play.
12:44Hey, that's a bonus.
12:45Ground ball to third, five to three.
12:48That should be happening.
12:49If you can make one behind the bag and throw a laser because he does have a big arm, that's
12:53awesome.
12:53But the next ground ball to you, routine, and you kick it into the left field.
12:57No, not good.
12:58But he did.
12:59There was a lot of exit below for his bat yesterday, too.
13:02And he's having a big spring offensively so far.
13:05Which is the bigger part, right?
13:06We were talking about it yesterday.
13:07You can live with a little bit of defensive shortcomings if he's going to be as advertised
13:12at the plate.
13:13If he's going to live up to the prospect hype offensively, you can put up a little bit of
13:17defensive, you know, shortcoming.
13:20I got to give him credit, though, because the play he did make yesterday as someone who's
13:24beat him up for his defensive ability, I was stunned that he made that play to go into
13:29foul territory.
13:30And we know he's got the strong arm, but still, you know, on the move.
13:33That was almost Machado territory.
13:36Effortless throw, too.
13:37And, you know, it's not just a dribbler.
13:41I mean, that was a chopper that bounced up high, and it's hard to judge where it's going.
13:45So credit where credit is due.
Comments