I have to admit I did not see the Orioles score their 11th and winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning last night. I had fallen asleep sometime during the 12th inning, so it is nice to wake up to news of the victory. Give some credit to Hernandez, Simon, and Uehara for their combined 6 innings of work.
It is good to see something positive after four consecutive losses to start the 2nd-half, including poor starts from Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta.
Tillman being sent back to the Minors to make room for Millwood is not a shock. If Millwood can look like the April/May version of himself in his forthcoming start, the O’s may be able to move him off to a contender looking for a starter that can provide innings down the stretch. If Millwood can not be moved, than perhaps Guthrie will be. Either way, Tillman’s stay in the minors figures to be somewhat limited. When he returns, the goal the remainder of the season will be finding a level of consistency that keeps the O’s in games.
Why is there any discussion at-all from anyone about sending Matusz back to the Minors? He has been horrible these last two starts, so what? You think a guy that throws 4 pitches for strikes is going to go back to the Minors, and learn something? Him facing adversity in the Majors during his first full-season at this level, is a lesson he has to go through. While the results have not been quite as good as hoped, a little perspective appears needed from some. Matusz has now made 19 starts this season. While he has only pitched at-least 7 innings four times, he has 12 starts where he has allowed 3 er or less. His Groundball to Flyball ratio is improved over ’09, as is OPS against. I’m not saying there are not some problems here. Clearly for a guy with his ability to throw multiple pitches for strikes, he should have better ‘control.’ Still his 40 walks in 105.1 innings is livable, and his 7 k’s per 9 innings of work is solid enough. The O’s have plenty of problems, Matusz is not one of them.
Arrieta had a tough game last night, and now has more walks than k’s so far in the bigs. That said, he is looking every bit the part of a Major League starter. During his three previous starts in July, Arrieta went at-least 6 innings each time and had a 2.41 era.
We are looking for consistency out of these young starters, and I think that is a fair expectation. They don’t have to currently be all that they can become at the Major League level. Meaning Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta might each project to be front-end starters, but they do not have to currently be those guys. They do have to be guys that regularly give the team a chance to win. That is what is needed out of them during the remainder of 2010. Just like I would like to see consistency out of them, I would like to see consistency from O’s fans in their opinions of these starters.
People are living and dying with each start, and using 1 game results (or even a hand-full of starts during the pitchers first extended time in the bigs) to formulate long-term opinions of these starters. That is just a poor way to analyze what you have. You have to evaluate everything in-conjunction. This includes their ages (Tillman is 22, Matusz is 23, Arrieta is 24), what they have accomplished at the Minor League level, what you are seeing at the Major League level, and other third-party evaluations of the pitchers. If you evaluate each of those things, you have to come-back with the conclusion that each of these starters have legitimate potential to help the O’s rotation for years to come.
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.