Notes
Little concern with Sisco’s slow hitting start at Triple-A
Catcher’s average is down, strikeouts up
From afar, it seems Orioles top prospect
“He likes the way he’s receiving and catching the ball, and Donnie said the hitting part of it, regardless of what he’s hitting now, that’s not going to be an issue,” Showalter said. “They said his footwork has gotten a little off throwing, and they think they’ve made some adjustments in that.”
While Sisco’s defense has been constantly evolving since the team selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft, his bat hasn’t wavered much. Before this year, he’d never ended a season batting lower than .297, and his all-fields approach and feel for hitting made him an intriguing prospect, provided his defense allowed him to stay at catcher.
But this year, he entered Saturday batting .245 with over a strikeout per game (44 in 41 games) and a .680 OPS. He was the Orioles’ representative in last year’s All-Star Futures Game and was No. 1 on several publications’ organizational top prospect lists this offseason.
“He’s a guy who — keep in mind, this guy hadn’t caught that much until he got to pro ball,” Showalter said. “He’s 22 in Triple-A, and I challenge you to find a 22-year-old catcher in Triple-A for somebody. It’s a big jump for him, but I think when the body of work is done, I think you’re going to like it.”
Executive vice president
“I’m not going to address it every day because it’s really not considerate to the rest of the players and the clubs, Norfolk and here,” Duquette said. “But they did give us a couple more days to see if we could create a spot.”
For Jackson, who has come along well as a reliever for Triple-A Norfolk, that opt-out has been pushed to Monday, according to an industry source.
From 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Jackson will have 24 hours to exercise his opt-out, and if he does, the Orioles will have 48 hours from then to add him to the 25-man major league roster before having to release him from his contract, making him a free agent able to sign with any other club.
He entered Saturday with a 3.26 ERA over 19
As for Álvarez, who hit 22 home runs for the Orioles last year and went into Saturday with 12 at Norfolk this year, Duquette said “we had an agreement where he gave us a few more days to see if we could create a spot for him on the big league roster.”
“In return for a couple more days, we gave him the option to stay with us or if he found a job, to take a job with another major league club,” Duquette said.
“I was talking to him yesterday in the dugout,” Showalter said. “He was still sore. [Head athletic trainer
Castillo is eligible to return June 10 in New York.