Britton sent down

[Sports Guy]

Hahahahahahahahahahah... I was waiting for you to pounce on Britton the second he didn't dominate. He'll be fine. Does he have room to improve, absolutely, but to claim he was overhyped is ridiculous. He was "hyped" by everyone across the board accept for you, so now you are trying to make it look like you were right, even though you've been saying for years his stuff wouldn't be that successful in the major leagues. As good as you are, and I do respect your opinion on all things prospects, you need to know when to accept that you were just wrong on a guy. Britton should settle in as a middle of the rotation guy with the chance to be a TOR if his command improves.The only reason he is in the minors is because of delaying his free agency for a year and limiting his innings. Look at the current rotation and tell me that you don't think he's better right now then anyone on the staff minus Guthrie. I'm not concerned at all with his numbers at Bowie because I'm sure it's pretty hard to get up for AA game while knowing you are only going three innings.

Zach Britton will be fine and although he does have room to improve when it comes to command, his stuff will allow him to be a staple of the Orioles rotation for years to come.

Umm, that is exactly what Stotle has always said Tony...It was you and many others that made it seem like he is and would definitely be better than that.

Both Stotle and myself talked about his command and you acted as if it wasn't that important because his stuff moves so well,...that his command wouldn't stop him from being a TOR starter.

It seems that you are now agreeing with that.

[Tony-OH]

Umm, that is exactly what Stotle has always said Tony...It was you and many others that made it seem like he is and would definitely be better than that.

Both Stotle and myself talked about his command and you acted as if it wasn't that important because his stuff moves so well,...that his command wouldn't stop him from being a TOR starter.

It seems that you are now agreeing with that.

I've been saying the same thing about Zach all along. His floor is a mid-rotation guy with TOR potential. I've never said command was not important, what I said to you and Stotle and anyone else is that his stuff is so good with so much movement on the sinker that he will have success even when it's not totally there, which is what we've seen this year. I'm not sure I'm seen Zach with everything going at once this year and I think the success he had speaks volumes about his stuff. Obviously his ability to command all three pitchers will determine how good he can be. If anyone is saying "I told you so" about Zach right now it ought to be the guys who said he was going to do just fine in the big leagues because that's EXACTLY what he's done. He hit a bit of a rough patch, but the last time I checked every pitcher in the game has gone through stretches where things don't go there way.

Zach will be fine. Calling him overhyped, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean is ridiculous. He's a rookie that has held his own in his first big league season despite not really having all his stuff that often. He needs to be more consistent with his slider and change, which seemed to disappear about the same time he started to get hit a bit not surprisingly.

Regardless, he'll be fine. I'm happy with the way he's pitched overall this year and I expect him to be better after some rest once he returns.

[Malike]

I find the lack of groundballs disheartening.

[Sports Guy]

I've been saying the same thing about Zach all along. His floor is a mid-rotation guy with TOR potential. I've never said command was not important, what I said to you and Stotle and anyone else is that his stuff is so good with so much movement on the sinker that he will have success even when it's not totally there, which is what we've seen this year. I'm not sure I'm seen Zach with everything going at once this year and I think the success he had speaks volumes about his stuff. Obviously his ability to command all three pitchers will determine how good he can be. If anyone is saying "I told you so" about Zach right now it ought to be the guys who said he was going to do just fine in the big leagues because that's EXACTLY what he's done. He hit a bit of a rough patch, but the last time I checked every pitcher in the game has gone through stretches where things don't go there way.

Zach will be fine. Calling him overhyped, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean is ridiculous. He's a rookie that has held his own in his first big league season despite not really having all his stuff that often. He needs to be more consistent with his slider and change, which seemed to disappear about the same time he started to get hit a bit not surprisingly.

Regardless, he'll be fine. I'm happy with the way he's pitched overall this year and I expect him to be better after some rest once he returns.

I think he was overhyped on here to an extent..People were handing him the ROY and calling him an ace already. That is overhyping him. I am not saying you were doing that but some on here were and I believe that is what Stotle was referring too.

[Stotle]

Hahahahahahahahahahah... I was waiting for you to pounce on Britton the second he didn't dominate. He'll be fine. Does he have room to improve, absolutely, but to claim he was overhyped is ridiculous. He was "hyped" by everyone across the board accept for you, so now you are trying to make it look like you were right, even though you've been saying for years his stuff wouldn't be that successful in the major leagues. As good as you are, and I do respect your opinion on all things prospects, you need to know when to accept that you were just wrong on a guy. Britton should settle in as a middle of the rotation guy with the chance to be a TOR if his command improves.

The only reason he is in the minors is because of delaying his free agency for a year and limiting his innings. Look at the current rotation and tell me that you don't think he's better right now then anyone on the staff minus Guthrie. I'm not concerned at all with his numbers at Bowie because I'm sure it's pretty hard to get up for AA game while knowing you are only going three innings.

Zach Britton will be fine and although he does have room to improve when it comes to command, his stuff will allow him to be a staple of the Orioles rotation for years to come.

Nothing you wrote here is any different than what I wrote, and have been saying since early in the season. Bottom line remains -- command your stuff better or miss more bats. Otherwise you're topping out as a three.

"Pouncing" on Britton? He's been "meh" since the end of May. I haven't said a word, and what I said here is hardly slamming the kid. Maybe you and I just view "not there yet" in a different light? I think he needs better command, more consistency (particularly in FB command, execution of his change-up and execution of his breakers) and to keep improving his approach again ML lineups. He's clearly ML ready. I said before and in the post you quoted that he doesn't need to go down to work on his weaknesses. He just isn't a front end starter right now, and unless he takes a big step forward he isn't going to be this year. Great first trip through the Bigs. Hopefully he adjusts, matures, fixes some things, and ends up the #2 I slapped on him in my April report for this site.

Command, command, command. It matters -- particularly when you are generating sub-6.0 SO/9.

[Stotle]

I think he was overhyped on here to an extent..People were handing him the ROY and calling him an ace already. That is overhyping him. I am not saying you were doing that but some on here were and I believe that is what Stotle was referring too.

Yes. Tony was not overhyping -- he was stating strong support for an arm he has always strongly supported. Many others were taking Tony's overall appraisal and applying it in a manner that indicated 1) Britton was ready to lead a staff right now, and 2) and concerning peripherals didn't matter for Britton -- he would dominate regardless. I think things have played out as most baseball folks would have expected, taking into account Brittons stuff, command and peripherals through his 1st half of an MLB season.