This, that and the other

Reactions to early-season results need to be corralled in order to prevent a stampede to judgment. Which is why tracking the production of important prospects in the Orioles organization who are debuting at a higher level should be done with caution.

OK, now that's out of the way and we can safely check on Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Yusniel Diaz.

Diaz, the No. 9 prospect in the system per MLBPipeline.com, was 2-for-15 with three RBIs and four strikeouts before last night. Pretty rough. But he singled and hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the ninth inning. Pretty good.

Initial signs that Diaz might be getting comfortable arrived Friday night when he delivered an RBI single and walked.

His hit with the bases loaded and no outs scored Ryan McKenna and apparently came with a dash of luck, judging by the Gameday description:

"Yusniel Diaz singles on a fly ball to right fielder Jesús Sánchez, deflected by second baseman Bryson Brigman."

A line drive in the box score. Just skip the play-by-play.

I didn't see the home run, but assume it wasn't quirky.

Diaz's skills are being refined. He's still a bit raw at the plate - he struck out three more times last night - and in the field, and now he's making the jump to Triple-A after the cancellation last summer of the minor league season.

The Tides have played five games and he's started at all three outfield positions. Pretty good.

The centerpiece of the Manny Machado deal with the Dodgers, recipient of a $15.5 million bonus coming out of Cuba, producer of two home runs in the 2018 Futures Game shortly before the trade, owner of a plus arm and advanced eye at the plate, victim of hamstring and quadriceps injuries that stalled his development, has a blend of tools that are worth the organization's patience.

He's 24 and getting acclimated to Triple-A pitching and real competition that was lost in 2020. The Orioles aren't hurting for corner outfielders, even with Anthony Santander on the injured list. They can wait for him.

* Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn't try to fake it yesterday and invent a scouting report or opinion on new left-hander Brandon Waddell, who was claimed off waivers from the Twins and assigned to Norfolk.

Hyde said he knew "zero" about Waddell.

"That's a Mike (Elias) thing, pro scouting department," Hyde said

Hyde will check the reports and track Waddell's progress with the Tides in case the Orioles need a fresh arm. Manager Gary Kendall will keep him appraised.

Waddell is primarily a fastball/slider pitcher and also throws a changeup on occasion. BrooksBaseball.net has his four-seamer averaging 93.5 mph in 2020 and 93 mph earlier this season.

Here's the site's capsule report on him:

"His slider is thrown extremely hard and has short glove-side cut. His four-seam fastball has much less arm-side movement than typical, generates more whiffs/swing compared to other pitchers' four-seamers, results in more fly balls compared to other pitchers' four-seamers and has slightly above average velo. His change (take this with a grain of salt because he's only thrown 8 of them in 2021) generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers' changeups, is an extreme fly ball pitch compared to other pitchers' changeups, is much firmer than usual and has some natural sink to it."

Waddell made nine appearances with the Twins in spring training and allowed five runs and six hits with four walks in 9 1/3 innings. But he also struck out 15 batters and held opponents to a .188 average.

* The John Means no-hitter that came within a dropped third strike of a perfect game has sparked debates among fans and the media over the legitimacy of the rule.

Why penalize the pitcher after a strikeout?

There's also been heightened interest in baseball using electronic umpires because Tim Timmons' strike zone was the same size as his insole.

Orioles pitching coach/director of pitching Chris Holt fielded a question about the dropped third strike - Orioles catcher Pedro Severino accepted full blame for letting a curveball bounce between his legs - and preferred to keep the focus on Means' gem.

"You have to accept things the way they are at the time," Holt said. "I think you have to really not look at that as much as look at the amazing performance that Johnny and Sevie put together, despite anybody's talk about a dropped third strike. To appreciate this outing and to not let that be a piece of the narrative is really the most important thing. Phenomenal performance from start to finish. That no-hitter and near perfect game had all the elements and all the excitements and ups and downs.

"You never saw him let off his attack. There was never any notion that he was protecting a no-hitter or anything like that, so to bring in the dropped third strike and make that a real big piece I think is really not doing justice to the bigger piece of the narrative there, which was just how phenomenal a performance that really was on both his and Severino's part.

"As the game continues to evolve and rule changes do come and go, that's certainly one that's on the table, it seems like."

Hyde was assigned the robot umpire question.

"You know what? I do like the human aspect of our game," he said. "I haven't come to the point where I'm ready for that yet."