MATUSZ at AAA-Norfolk

[DuffMan]

I would be lying if the drop in velocity was not concerning, but it's far too early to call him a bust. Something is clearly wrong though. No one loses that much velocity at his age unless there is something wrong. If I'm the Orioles, I'm shutting him down and running every test imaginable. From what I heard, his velocity was not very good this spring even before the injury.

Is this something that can be improved with more strength and conditioning, lifting weights and such? I know many always talk about Matusz looking "soft" I wonder if a little more time in the gym would do him some good.

[blueguy]

Thats odd. I thought he spent the last couple summers working hard in Arizona for Performance training (along with several orioles)? Has this been an issue, is the off season training hurting him?

[LookitsPuck]

Is this something that can be improved with more strength and conditioning, lifting weights and such? I know many always talk about Matusz looking "soft" I wonder if a little more time in the gym would do him some good.

Yes.

And his velocity wasn't great last year.

I think it's a matter of conditioning. Said it early, still mean it.

[ChuckS]

Way too late to write off Matusz. He:

1. Missed 2 months of the season

2. Had a blister

3. Hurt his leg

Basically I don't think it's fair to bust the guy because he hasn't had a chance to consistently progress this year.

He'll go down to AAA, talk to Mike Griffin, and get some strength/kinks worked out.

I'm not entirely worried about his velocity, yet. He was incredibly successful last year.

I'm not writing him off at all. Just pointing out the trend. I hope he bounces back, but it's hard to be optimistic given the team's history.

[OFFNY]

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An improvement. He left the game with one out in the 6th inning with a 1-0 lead, but Nick Bierbrodt promptly gave up a double to the first batter he faced, allowing both of Matusz' base-runners to score. Overall, I believe that it was an improvement for Matusz, even though he threw a lot of pitches. His velocity was up a bit.

MATUSZ AAA-NORFOLK

IP: 5.33

R: 2

H: 6

BB: 3

SO: 6

Pitches: 104 (60 Strikes, 44 Balls)

2011 AAA ERA: 3.94

[Can_of_corn]

.

An improvement. He left the game with one out in the 6th inning with a 1-0 lead, but Nick Bierbrodt promptly gave up a double to the first batter he faced, allowing both of Matusz' base-runners to score. Overall, I believe that it was an improvement for Matusz, even though he threw a lot of pitches. His velocity was up a bit.

MATUSZ AAA-NORFOLK

IP: 5.33

R: 2

H: 6

BB: 3

SO: 6

Pitches: 104 (60 Strikes, 44 Balls)

2011 AAA ERA: 3.94

Better but no where near adequate.

OFFNY you do know that the Tides' colors are not orange and black right?

[OFFNY]

Better but no where near adequate.

OFFNY, you do know that the Tides' colors are not orange and black right ?

The Tides have home colors and road colors. The home colors are blue, white, and red, and the road colors are orange and black. In fact, my Tides hat is orange and black (it's the road hat). Since my team is the Orioles, I go with the orange and black.

http://www.shoremen44.com/Matt%20Wieters%20Game%20Used%20Norfolk%20Tides%20Jersey.JPG

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=51950&stc=1&d=1308513986

Regarding Matusz, performance, I am expecting (and hoping) for a gradual progression, so I didn't expect to see the prime Matusz in his first start after the first (bad) one.

[Can_of_corn]

Oh I know they have alternate team colors but go to the team website and look around.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t568

Those are the same Tides colors from back when I used to go to games when they were a Mets affiliate.

[SilentJames]

Better so thats good. the bullpen let in those two runs on him.

Improvement, now get better next time out.

[OFFNY]

Better so thats good. the bullpen let in those two runs on him.

Improvement, now get better next time out.

That's what I thought. In his next start, I would like to see perhaps 6 full innings, and a few less pitches. If does better than that, that would be great, but if he gets a tad better each time out, that is what is important in the long run.

[El Gordo]

I would be lying if the drop in velocity was not concerning, but it's far too early to call him a bust. Something is clearly wrong though. No one loses that much velocity at his age unless there is something wrong. If I'm the Orioles, I'm shutting him down and running every test imaginable. From what I heard, his velocity was not very good this spring even before the injury.

If they've been tweaking him to shorten his stride, in order to decrease his time to the plate and help hold runners, it could result in decreased velocity and stress on the upper body as he compensates to keep his velocity up.

[Stotle]

If they've been tweaking him to shorten his stride, in order to decrease his time to the plate and help hold runners, it could result in decreased velocity and stress on the upper body as he compensates to keep his velocity up.

If they are trying to shorten the stride of a notorious short-strider, they are nuts....

[VeveJones007]

If they are trying to shorten the stride of a notorious short-strider, they are nuts....

Stotle, to my untrained eye, it seems like Matusz hasn't been following through as much in his delivery. Have you noticed that as well? Perhaps that's an effect of recovery from his injury.

Short-arming could take off some zip and hurt with location, I suppose.

[Meh_Orioles]

104 pitches in 5.1.....ouch. We desperately need him to come around. Get him a personal pitching coach if need be. Matusz is vital to the future of this organization.

[Stotle]

Stotle, to my untrained eye, it seems like Matusz hasn't been following through as much in his delivery. Have you noticed that as well? Perhaps that's an effect of recovery from his injury.

Short-arming could take off some zip and hurt with location, I suppose.

Honestly, I couldn't say without really looking at tape from late-2010 vs. this year. He has always had a small arm circle and short stride, so if the staff re-tooled things to shorten any more (I can't fathom that to be the case) it could have undesired consequences. I could see if he's not fully healthy that he might be a little tentative with his fastball, but diagnosing that would be tough from video.

It would explain some why only his FB has really suffered from a velo standpoint -- which was the issue I kept raising leading up to his demotion. That strikes me as odd, and I'd be curious to hear knowledgeable opinions on the subject. Why would the FB be the only pitch with a serious drop in velocity?