Matusz needs to go down and reinvent himself

[Hank Scorpio]

Reminds me of Brian Burres.

[jonesing4pie]

It's definitely a big issue but he looked like he was progressing before last night and it's not like we have a ton of better options to replace him. If he doesn't get it together consistently he won't be here by the end of the month. I didn't see the game last night but from the sounds of it, he took two steps back last night.

Agreed. I'm not saying anything brilliant here but people talk about our pitching depth and how they are glad DD brought in extra arms but in reality we have Arrieta, Hammel and a bunch of #5s until Britton gets back. Hunter, Matusz (as of now), Chen (who I think teams will start figuring out more), Tillman, Eveland, Bergerson. All of these guys are back-end of the rotation guys at best. We really need a healthy, effective Britton and perhaps a wildcard like Pineiro (or one of the group mentioned above) to step up consistently.

[TiredofLosing20]

He has exhibited it, but not consistently anytime lately.

I'm not sure if it's fixable or not. I know he's still a far cry from someone like Steve Blass or Mark Wohlers who just lost any semblance of control, but what good is a pitcher who throws 91 mph who can't hit spots when it counts on a consistent basis?

That's the Brian Matusz we're watching right now. And as I've pointed out, it's incredibly frustrating because he was a #1 pick and the Orioles just can't seem to develop pitching prospects at all (Hopefully Bundy can hold off on the Oriole Kryptonite long enough). And as you've pointed out, he has shown FB command, he was great a couple years ago. So what good is regression?

I guess the point I was making is that I would rather have some one who has exhibited the ability (and recently like his prior 2 starts) than someone who hasn't ever been able to.

The frustrating thing to me is that he was much better (consistent) two years ago.

[TiredofLosing20]

Reminds me of Brian Burres.

I want to disagree with this.

[grimed1]

Matusz needs Wieters behind the plate every start.

I am not sure I go along with this. I remember last year,when Jake Fox was catching Arrieta,he gave up alot of runs against Texas. Alot of people said Fox should not catch Arrieta. I don't think you can blame the catcher for the pitching woes. Wieters over the last two years has caught about 90% of the O's games. The O's had the worst ERA in the league last year. The fourth worst ERA the year before. Should we make Wieters the DH based on this? I think bad pitchers are just bad pitchers no matter who is catching.

[DrungoHazewood]

I am not sure I go along with this. I remember last year,when Jake Fox was catching Arrieta,he gave up alot of runs against Texas. Alot of people said Fox should not catch Arrieta. I don't think you can blame the catcher for the pitching woes. Wieters over the last two years has caught about 90% of the O's games. The O's had the worst ERA in the league last year. The fourth worst ERA the year before. Should we make Wieters the DH based on this? I think bad pitchers are just bad pitchers no matter who is catching.

If the O's had Ryan Doumit instead of Wieters last year the team ERA would have been 86,000,000.

[grimed1]

If the O's had Ryan Doumit instead of Wieters last year the team ERA would have been 86,000,000.

Did you come to this based on some sabermetrics?

[turtlebowl]

Reminds me of Brian Burres.

This may be close but I have a better comparable, Troy Patton. This is what is amazing to me, Patton has similar stuff yet much better control and nobody looks at him as a competent starter. I honestly believe Patton at least right now is the better pitcher and could hold his own as a 3 or 4 in our rotation.

Matusz is living off his draft status and a 2 month run he had a year and a half ago. I would imagine their are a long line of pitchers that have had similar successful runs and had very short careers.

I can't see how anyone can watch him pitch and think this guy is is going to have a very successful major league career. Average stuff and below average command does not give me a lot of confidence.

My hope for him would be to go to the minors and figure out what it takes to command a fastball. Until he learns that he may have the occasional good start but in my opinion it will be the exception.

[Lucky Jim]

Reminds me of Brian Burres.

Indeed.

[bd]

Indeed.

Hah! Not to be a d***, but the post above is about as bad. Troy Patton has similar stuff but much better control? Yeah....right, cause Troy Patton sits at 90-93 MPH as a starter with a cutter, changeup, nasty slider, and curve.

Troy Patton has similar stuff to Brian Matusz in the same way that Brian Burres has/had similar stuff to Johan Santana.

[Lucky Jim]

Hah! Not to be a d***, but the post above is about as bad. Troy Patton has similar stuff but much better control? Yeah....right, cause Troy Patton sits at 90-93 MPH as a starter with a cutter, changeup, nasty slider, and curve.

Troy Patton has similar stuff to Brian Matusz in the same way that Brian Burres has/had similar stuff to Johan Santana.

They were both pretty bad. It's true.

[weams]

I am very happy that my worst fears have been dismissed. Nice comeback Brian and Brady.

[Lucky Jim]

I am very happy that my worst fears have been dismissed. Nice comeback Brian and Brady.

Now let's see a couple more good ones out of Tillman (at Norfolk).

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

Reminds me of Brian Burres.

The Brian Burres comment made me curious about the 2008 Orioles.

We are 61-63 on August 17th and then had the traditional collapse.

We threw out some serious scrubs (Waters, Liz, Trachsel, Olson to name a few) that year as starters. I know the offense held us together as well as D Cab and Burres pitching over their heads (to support Guthrie) until mid july, but looking at that team I get encouraged about where we are at now.

I really think we have at least 3 legitimate starters this year (Chen, Hammel, Matusz) and we have way more talent to throw out there than we had in 08 pitching wise.

Let's enjoy the ride boys. We can't get any more injured than we are and if Arrieta gets his junk together, we could stay afloat for quite a while.

[Frobby]

The Brian Burres comment made me curious about the 2008 Orioles.

We are 61-63 on August 17th and then had the traditional collapse.

We threw out some serious scrubs (Waters, Liz, Trachsel, Olson to name a few) that year as starters. I know the offense held us together as well as D Cab and Burres pitching over their heads (to support Guthrie) until mid july, but looking at that team I get encouraged about where we are at now.

I really think we have at least 3 legitimate starters this year (Chen, Hammel, Matusz) and we have way more talent to throw out there than we had in 08 pitching wise.

Let's enjoy the ride boys. We can't get any more injured than we are and if Arrieta gets his junk together, we could stay afloat for quite a while.

You can always get more injured than you are, unfortunately.