No matter how nice the weather is April 6th for Opening Day, I’m expecting an overly chilly reception for Kevin Gregg when he is announced to the crowd and runs down the Orange Carpet.

There are few O’s players I can recall, that have been as loathed as Gregg. The results are of part of that distaste, but it was really Gregg’s style of pitching that drove Baltimore fans nuts last year. In a game built on failure, you can not expect perfection from anyone. What you can demand from professionals, is that they allow the opposition to beat them, instead of doing things to beat themselves.

It is not like Gregg lacks stuff (amazing to see him generate the velocity he does, with his mechanics), he just refuses to spend much time over the heart of the plate. This works well enough when hitters expand their zone, but when hitters are patient, he puts himself into trouble with walks.

2012 will be the second year of his 2 yr $10M deal. There is a $6M option for ’13. 2013 option guaranteed with 50 GF in 2012 or 100 GF in 2011-12.

Let us take a look at some of his stats for the four most recent seasons.

2008: 72 games, 68.2 ip, 51 hits, 3 hr’s, 37 bb’s, 58 k’s, .203 baa, .585 OPS, 0.88 G/F, 3.41 ERA, 4.54 xFIP
2009: 72 games, 68.2 ip, 60 hits, 13 hr’s, 30 bb’s, 70 k’s, .229 baa, .740 OPS, 0.64 G/F, 4.72 ERA, 4.10 xFIP
2010: 63 games, 59 ip, 52 hits, 4 hr’s, 30 bb’s, 58 k’s, .237 baa, .712 OPS, 0.76 G/F, 3.51 ERA, 4.05 xFIP
2011: 63 games, 59.2 ip, 58 hits, 7 hr’s, 40 bb’s, 53 k’s, .254 baa, .773 OPS, 0.78 G/F, 4.37 ERA, 4.86 xFIP

We know relievers can be volatile year-to-year, but there is a fair amount of consistency in these results. He is typically durable, allows a hit or less per IP, with too many walks, and a decent amount of k’s.

In ’11, his walk rate was considerably higher than the previous 3 seasons. (He was also easier to hit.) His general philosophy of pitching around hitters was brutal to watch. The few times he was willing to attack hitters over the plate with his 92.1 mph avg fastball, he had better results.

How do you expect Gregg to be used? How should Showalter use him? It seems clear that this year, Johnson will begin the year as the Closer. The newly acquired Lindstrom will likely be the 8th inning guy. Gregg is going to have to perform in the limited spots he gets, to be used in higher leverage opportunities.

Going off the field for a second, I appreciated that several of the O’s pitchers talked about Gregg providing some mentoring. I also appreciated that after each of his 7 blown saves, he was willing to answer all questions from the media professionally. One thing that really bothered me last year though, was Gregg saying that as a ‘Closer’ he could not effectively pitch in non-save situations because of a lack of adrenaline. That is just not acceptable.

What are your thoughts? Let us know at the BSL Message Board: https://baltimoresportsandlife.com/forum

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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