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OK, so lets talk about the left field tryout for a moment. So far, not so good.
I've heard the hype for Felix Pie for a while now. Not from the Orioles. But, from most of the people who follow the minor leagues.
He is supposed to be a five tool player. I see two tools, and they are not good enough to make up for the others that I don't see.
I am not a scout. But I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Just kidding! It is nice to have plus tools as a player. But, I think instincts are much more important than one or two plus tools.
The two tools I see are speed and a throwing arm. Speed won't do you much good if you can't get on base. To my knowledge, you still can't steal first. And since he hasn't been to first very often, I'm not sure he can steal second.
If you can run fast, you should be proficient at bunting. If you're not practicing bunting every day for 10-15 minutes, then you don't care enough. If you show that you don't care enough and are hitting below the Mendoza line, you will lose your job.
He looks to have a good arm but doesn't seem to be very accurate with it. I don't see a player that looks like he is comfortable catching routine fly balls. As far as the balls on the ground, it's worse. I was an outfielder four out of five days for 162 games a year during batting practice. I caught many fly balls during that time. I didn't notice a huge difference between left, center and right. A difference, but not huge. He just seems very tentative out there. For whatever reason, he has not been able to do the things at the major league level that he did at the minor league level. Pie wouldn't be the first player to be hyped as a great prospect who then has a disappointing career at best.
Coming into the season, I thought he was a great pickup. I also thought the leash should be quite long for him. I am a big proponent of a long look for players. Right now though, I think the leash is and should be much shorter.
Nolan Reimold isn't helping Pie very much. It looks like Nolan has grabbed the leash and is pulling very hard--so hard that it looks like Pie might be choking.
