Is Baker Legit?

[GO_Orioles!]

Proud papa here!

He may have put it together.

Too many FO's for my comfort level but hey! an out is an out! I remember when he faced hobgood when Norco played Hemet, he rose to the occasion.

Thanks for allowing me my 15 minutes of fame. And thanks to all the orioleshangout contributors.

[mcpd]

Congrats and hope he keeps it up. Looking good so far

[psk3170]

You should be proud. His whip looks amazing and other than last year when I think he got hurt he has gotten better and better since we drafted him. He has outpitched many of our more hyped prospects since we drafted him. I also like that he is pitching deeper in games so far this year. Only issue is the one you stated the fly ball outs which is never good when Camden is your final destination. So far his path throught the minors reminds me of JJ and Britton both guys that moved slowly and got better as they moved up the ladder. I do not know much about his repertoire but I always track WHIP with our pitching prospects and he has always stood out in that regard. Here's hoping for good health and continued prosperity as he moves up the ladder. Thanks for posting. I like keep my own list of prospects and I have him #11 and moving into my top 10 shortly if he keeps it up.

[Tony-OH]

Proud papa here!

He may have put it together.

Too many FO's for my comfort level but hey! an out is an out! I remember when he faced hobgood when Norco played Hemet, he rose to the occasion.

Thanks for allowing me my 15 minutes of fame. And thanks to all the orioleshangout contributors.

We made a tracker for him a few days ago so that makes him legit!

Seriously though, at 20-years old he's made some real strides this season and you certainly have reason to be excited. I've heard some good things about him and look forward to seeing him pitch, hopefully soon.

[TakebackOPACY]

I didn't look too hard, but I didn't see this posted. From MiLB.com :

Baker Brilliant in Shorebirds Debut

[AVencill]

Obligatory "Hangout Player of the Night" Award.

Seriously though, Baker's put up some numbers and he's been a guy I've followed a bit since the draft. It's nice to see some of these 2009 draft picks finally turn the corner a bit with their development and help right some of the negativity on the black eye that has been cast on this class of players.

[DrShorebird]

He's fun to watch

[sbsd123]

Settle down. It's only two starts. It takes a little luck to get that many fly balls hit right at outfielders. He has had incredible results the first two outings, though. Hopefully it lasts!

[AgentOrange]

Proud papa here!

He may have put it together.

Too many FO's for my comfort level but hey! an out is an out! I remember when he faced hobgood when Norco played Hemet, he rose to the occasion.

Thanks for allowing me my 15 minutes of fame. And thanks to all the orioleshangout contributors.

Welcome! Thanks for reaching out to us fans.

I hope you have some thick skin.

I am sure like every prospect we have, we are pulling for him hard to succeed! Lord knows we need it.

[weams]

Congratulations

Proud papa here!

He may have put it together.

Too many FO's for my comfort level but hey! an out is an out! I remember when he faced hobgood when Norco played Hemet, he rose to the occasion.

Thanks for allowing me my 15 minutes of fame. And thanks to all the orioleshangout contributors.

[UMDTerrapins]

Congrats! Gotta love his results so far.

[Tony-OH]

Settle down. It's only two starts. It takes a little luck to get that many fly balls hit right at outfielders. He has had incredible results the first two outings, though. Hopefully it lasts!

Did you really just tell the kid's Dad to settle down? Get a grip...

[sbsd123]

Oh, boy. That did sound bad. Didn't mean it like that. Meant it more towards the posters. Papa, you have every right to be proud! He's done a great job. Personally, that much contact makes me nervous. I just like to see a way bigger sample before I get too up or down on players. People tend to jump off bandwagons as fast as they jump on. Like one poster said, you will need thick skin. And I'm speaking from experience.

[TakebackOPACY]

Did you really just tell the kid's Dad to settle down? Get a grip...

I had that same reaction for a moment. I think the "Hopefully it lasts!" was added so it wouldn't come across that way; even though it kind of did. Glancing at a couple other posts, I think sbsd is likely an O's Minor League Papa himself (Vader? Who's off to a good start in a small sample size himself.), so a re-read of this post could just convey a need to be even keeled. And it just came off wrong.

That aside, the observation that there were a lot of fly balls in Baker's last two starts was one worth sharing. Maybe Doc can chime in here; or even better, maybe Mr. Baker can. All I could find on Baker was a year-plus-old quick blurb that he has a good fastball in the low 90's and a slow curve that might not play at higher levels... and the O's were supposedly working with him on a slider.

Oh, boy. That did sound bad. Didn't mean it like that. Meant it more towards the posters. Papa, you have every right to be proud! He's done a great job. Personally, that much contact makes me nervous. I just like to see a way bigger sample before I get too up or down on players. People tend to jump off bandwagons as fast as they jump on. Like one poster said, you will need thick skin. And I'm speaking from experience.

[DrShorebird]

"Maybe Doc can chime in here; or even better, maybe Mr. Baker can."

I haven't had a chance to chat with Troy Mattes about him yet, but I felt he was mixing up three pitches very well in the one game he has pitched at Salisbury so far. He kept the batters off guard, but then again, he had just made the trip from Aberdeen and no one had a scouting report then. Plus, his adrenalin must have been flowing pretty good. When I went behind the plate (in the stands), his pitches had life and were not flat. He didn't seem to have too much sink that night, but they moved. The next night he manned the pitchers camera and I was going to chat with him, but visitors came over and I didn't follow up.

What I did like was his mannerisms. He has a presence that suggests he wants to get out there and take on the batters. He looks eager to pitch. He ahs a distsinctive gait and motion in his walk that tells me he is going to take it right to the batters. Also, his motion is a tad quirky that results in his shirt tail struggling to escape. All in all, he just looks as if he wants to challenge the batters. He looked as if he was happy to be pitching and was fun to watch.

I'll see if I can learn more from Troy when the team gets back.