Last night Ryan Drese had an effective outing for the Orioles against Boston in Fort Myers.

This led to MASN’s Roch Kubatko, and the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec to both state that Drese was, “Forcing his way into the conversation for the O’s rotation.”

Kubatko:
http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2011/03/drese-goes-threeinnings-in-fort-myers.html

Zrebiec:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/201/03/drese_getting_some_loud_outs.html

Via Twitter I questioned this, and asked these writers to expand on their thoughts, which they both did.  Zrebiec stated, “That Drese has gotten at least one (start) says something. Not to mention Buck and Connor really like him from their days in Texas. Didn’t say he’ll get the job, but he is at least in the conversation. There are a lot of people Buck could be giving starts to.” Kubatko commented, “Buck likes him a lot and was impressed. Long-shot, but not eliminated yet. That’s the word here in Sarasota. Logical or not.”

Clearly neither writer is penciling Drese into the O’s rotation, and both recognize the odds to be long. My only point is that the odds are not ‘long’ they are effectively nil.

Even if Duchsherer is not physically ready, and the Orioles decide they do not want to start Britton’s Arbitration clock (meaning he goes back to Norfolk), how in the world is Drese going to beat out Chris Tillman? I’d also place VandenHurk above Drese.

Drese has been very good in his 7 innings of Spring Training work. That minimal sample-size simply can not mean more than the 335 AAA & MLB innings Tillman has pitched the previous two years.

Additionally, any good will Drese accrued from Showalter by winning 14 games and pitching 207 innings for Texas in 2004 can also only mean so much. After all, that is 7 years ago. Drese turns 35 the first-week of April. He last pitched in the Majors in 2006 (8 innings), and has spent the past 3 years in the independent leagues.

The player to watch with the O’s rotation the next few weeks remains Justin Duchscherer. If he is healthy, he is going to be in the rotation. After pitching just 28 Major League innings the past two years; that will remain a question. Duchscherer started Tuesday and was effective enough. While he did not top 84mph on the radar guns, his fastball has historically been around 86. Most importantly Duchscherer stated after his start he physically felt well. He remains on-pace to start this weekend, and we will see what happens.

If Duchscherer is not able to physically contribute, than Tillman or Britton will get the opportunity to join the rotation. We discuss this further here: https://baltimoresportsandlife.com/?p=2242

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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