Brian Matusz had his 11th start for the Frederick Keys last night.

For the year, Matusz is 4-2, with a 2.16 era. In 66.2 innings, he has allowed 56 hits, 21 walks, and has 75 k’s.

In his last 4 starts he has gone:

June 5th – 6 innings, 5 hits, 0 er, 1 bb, 6 k’s
May 31st – 7 innings, 5 hits, 0 er, 1 bb, 4 k’s
May 26th – 7 innings, 4 hits, 0 er, 2 bb’s, 5 k’s
May 20th – 7 innings, 4 hits, 3 er, 1 bb, 9 k’s

= 27 innings, 18 hits, 3 er, 5 bb’s, 19 k’s.

He is not being challenged at this point, so he should be moved-up to AA Bowie.

Keeping him in the Carolina League will pad his stats, but I do not see how it can further aid his development.

He was drafted last year because of his ability to throw multiple pitches for strikes, and with his college background – was described as the most advanced pitcher in the 2008 draft.

I get the feeling the O’s plan on handling his ascension similar to Wieters. Meaning he will be in Bowie sooner than later, and will start 2010 in AAA.

Whenever I think about Matusz, I have tended to also think about Gordon Beckham; as I advocated the O’s drafting Beckham last year over Matusz.

It was not that I had something against Matusz; it was more of philosophical argument.

I thought it was a better allocation of resources to take the bat vs the arm, based on some historical evidence that says 1st round college bats are more likely to succeed vs college arms.

The O’s obviously did not think they were equal or near equal talents… and had to have viewed Matusz as the one with higher-upside, and presumably a better-bet.

My thought then, and now is that I respect the fact that Orioles Scouting Director Joe Jordan made the decision for the player he thought was better… I respect him for stating, “We did not have a Matusz in the system.”

I look forward to watching their careers progress, and determine if Jordan made the right-call… If he did, I’ll give him all the credit for doing so… If he did not, I will still respect him for making what he thought was the right call… My own opinion has not changed; I think Beckham should have been the choice.

This past week, Beckham made his Major League debut with the Chicago White-Sox. If Beckham can have already made it to the show, than moving Matusz to AA should not be seen as rushing his development.

I think the lessons from last-year, frame an interesting discussion for the Orioles 2009 1st round selection.

If you took Brian Matusz, who was described as the most-advanced college pitcher in the draft, and you started him at Single A Frederick…. where would the Organization start a Matzek or a Wheeler if they selected either out of High-school this year?

Likely, if Matzek or Wheeler signed early enough they would get some time at Aberdeen to end 2009, and start 2010 in Delmarva.

If the organization has reservations about advancing a pitcher who dominated college, and is allowing less than a hit per IP, with more than a K per IP… they will not be in any hurry to advance Matzek or Wheeler through the organization.

For the record, I would agree with that. It will be a significant jump for either pitcher to the professional ranks, and waiting 2-3 years for them to at-least AA should be expected.

I think Brian Matusz is going to be a very solid Major League starter. I have looked at a fair-amount of video and scouting reports on Matzek, and Wheeler recently and like them both.

I do not see how an organization that lacks the overall resources of NY and Boston, gambles on those arms so far away.

I do not see how it is a better investment of resources for the organization to draft them, vs drafting Grant Green.

Green might not follow Beckham’s path and be in the Majors 1 year from now, but Green is a lot more project able, and more likely to help the organization vs the high-school arms that the O’s might consider taking.





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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