I had an epiphany while recording Birds On The Wire on Wednesday afternoon. Mike Miller of Orioles Hangout uttered six words that have stuck out in my mind for the past 48 hours, “Brian Matusz: Rookie of the Year.”
I’ve been on the Matusz bandwagon since I followed his success at Bowie and feel that I’ve been right about him ever since. This guy is the Orioles ace of the future, he’s got talent and brains and the sky is the limit for this 23 year old.
While recording our podcast Mike told fans that he didn’t think they knew how truly lucky they were to watch Matusz play. I couldn’t agree more. He’s got a great delivery, solid pitches, goes deep into games and most importantly, he made the necessary adjustments to stay a step ahead of Major League hitters.
I’m writing this post a day after Matusz had his worst outing of the Spring. Six innings, three runs, and nine hits. He admitted that he didn’t have his stuff,”Today was one of those days where I never really got in a good groove, and you’re going to have those days,” he told Roch Kubatko.
But he kept the O’s in the game and recorded a quality start. How much more can you ask for?
Matusz has pitched 20.1 innings this spring and recorded a solid 3.10 ERA with 19 strikeouts and just three walks. Matusz finished his 2009 season strongly when he pitched three straight seven inning outings and recorded a 2.57 ERA, striking out 15 and allowing opponents to hit just .189.
I’m excited to see what Matusz brings to the table in 2010 and hope that he continues to grow in the big leagues. If he stays on this path, then I think Mike Miller is right. Matusz for ROY, what do you think?
That would truly be a blessing, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
It's way too early to guess. This post was merely just a "heads up" to O's fans that think these young crop of guys are Daniel Cabreras or Adam Loewens.
They could be alot better than Cabrera and Loewen and still be bad.
What do you think of them Mark?
Zach
I think Matusz is going to very good.
I like Bergy as well.
Tillman to me seems to have a bit more hype than what he really is.
Don't get me wrong, I think the young pitchers do have promise. I guess I just lose my mind a bit when I think about Cabrera and Loewen.
I just don't understand the aversion to going out and getting some legit guys to supplement the young guys.
I have almost zero faith in Guthrie at this point.
And Millwood gets the dreaded "innings eater" label which is code for not that good stays healthy.
The Orioles can accept the fact that they are in a division with NY/BOS or they can play the poor card. I do not subscribe to spending like Daniel Snyder does. But again, this team has money despite what some believe. Yet they are gonna be in the bottom 1/4 of payroll this year.
Are you telling me that plugging Matt Holliday in left wouldn't make this team and lineup significantly better?
It's like some fans are programmed to believe that signing big time free agents is some recipe for disaster because Syd Thrift and FlanBeattie sucked at it.
Hell, I still hear people bring up the Glen Davis deal 20 years later.
It's funny because I agree with a lot of points, just not your end result. I think Matusz is the real deal and Bergy has the potential to be. Tillman has the ability to be good, but he's young and definitely hasn't developed in the way Matusz and Bergesen have.
I'm worried about Guthrie and I'm hoping Millwood will be an inning eater with around a 4 ERA. I know you hate to hear that, but to me that's progress. It saves the bullpen and allows Matusz, Bergesen, Tillman, Hernandez, or whoever to get more experience to be truly competitive in 2011.
I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW…you hate that answer and you don't believe it.
But I'd rather go with this idea, than dumping a guy like Matusz for Matt Holliday who would be much better in left field, but that move wouldn't truly put this team over the edge.
In the end though, I know that nothing I say will change your mind. And that's fair, just know that you can't change mine either.
I brought up the Davis deal because some fans shudder at the idea of dealing any prospect we have.
You've gotta give to get.
Where did I say dump Matusz?
Holliday was a FA.
Matusz is untouchable and I get that. But what all this depth you talk about?
This season will prove that this team MUST address their holes from outside the organization.
I hope that in time guys like Holliday will want to come to Baltimore when they're free agents.
Trading for Gonzalez though would have required losing a guy like Matusz.
This is where we fundamentally disagree.
We can't live on "hoping they will come". The Orioles have to be aggressive and probably offer the best deal.
I'm confident of one thing. The end result of 2010 will not result in Baltimore becoming more desirable to free agents.
"I'm confident of one thing. The end result of 2010 will not result in Baltimore becoming more desirable to free agents."
It's that point right there where we'll never agree.
Well I hope you win this one.
Just curious.
What result do you think they will achieve that will entice a free agent to come here?
I posted this in the other thread before I realized the conversation moved over here:
I kinda agree with both Mark and Zach. The Orioles certainly have money to spend and there were targets out there for them to pursue, but I still believe that it is not as simple as being willing to pay the most for player A, B or C. Take John Lackey. I believe the Orioles made overtures to him and some national media specualted he would end up in Baltimore, but do you think Lackey would not take less money to sign with Boston?
And people have talked about trading for Peavy or Halladay, well both those guys had trade veto power and guess which team was not on either of their approved lists. Plus Halladay was not likely to be dealt to a team in the AL East.
I honestly believe it will take the Orioles finishing at or above .500 to make signing big name FA's more feasible. And I think there needs to be some sustained success by a few of the young arms before McPhail is willing to start trading other pitchers away. If the trade 3 young arms for A. Gonzalez and then 2 at the big league level fail, you have improved your offense but you are worse off than you were pitching wise.
I also think Matusz will be the favorite to win AL ROY and that the Orioles will have caught a major break if Bergy develops into a reliable middle of the rotation starter. He was never a guy scouts expected to be a success in the league. Him being one takes so much pressure off the Orioles needing all three of Matusz, Tillman and Arrietta.
Sorry I'm late to this conversation…Just saw Bergeson's name come up more than once…I still think his ceiling is about as high as that of Dave Johnson and Rodrigo Lopez…No more than 11 wins in any year, loses his role as a starter in the Bigs after notching fewer than 40 career wins. As for Matusz, cbs.sportsline is projecting 11 wins and a 4.40 era…Ron Shandler has him at 12 wins with a 4.32…Could be enuff for Rookie of the Year, but not enough from your #3 Starter to get that close to 80 wins…
I agree with Bruz, Bergy is a annual 10 game winner and no more. Brian, if they handle his innings could be a great pitcher some day, but remember Ben McDonald…O's are great with prospects, not so good with results. As far as ROY, IF he stays injury free and catches a few breaks early I think he will be a strong contender.