Matusz speaks

[mcneck]

Can I say something?....Brian needs to shut up! Every other day, we're hearing stuff about what is wrong with him. This guy is a big baby. I know that Buck is getting tired of his act too. Shut up!

Um It's called an interview. Someone asks him a question and he answers it. He took part of the blame and the things he put on Conner/Adair he did professionally and it is obvious their tinkering is what screwed him up in the first place. Not sure what you are so upset about...

[Sports Guy]

But how much can we really blame Connor/Buck/Adair?

Do we know that his ineffectiveness is because of them wanting him to be faster to the plate to hold runners better? Or is it because of an intercostal strain that he missed 2 months of the season [and this is after being hit with a line drive on his bicep], only to rush himself back by saying things like [not completely accurate in quoting, btw] "I know the numbers don't prove it, but I felt great out there" while rehabbing. And then we he comes back he's faced with a wort. Think about that for a second. Basically 2 and a half months of just crap. He hasn't been injured like this in the past. He's never faced failure.

Is it due to injury or is it due to them completely changing his mechanics? I can''t say definitively. I can say the mechanic changing probably didn't help Matusz, but are you convinced that he would have still been effective?

If he had the same mechanics and was doing everything he had always done well(and thus, I assume his velocity would be up), then I think he would have pitched ok in the beginning, as he got his legs back and by now, would be pitching like we think he should.

So, I agree with you that his conditioning coming back from his injury would have held him back somewhat and that he wouldn't have been what we are used to with him but I think that would have been corrected after 5-10 starts and then he would be ok.

[Flacco Machado]

He was being interviewed...Want him to lie? Plead the 5th?

The guy is a pu***.

"I wasn't "mentally" prepared."

"They changed my mechanics."

"I was out of shape."

WTF! Be a man. All he does is complain. He just gets bombed by the Toledo "freakin" Mud Hens and he's crying in his cheerios about how it's everbody elses fault. But, "I'll just throw them half-way under the bus so I don't look like a total *****." Please! Brian would rather hang out with Chris Tillman in the minors then be a great pitcher in the big leagues. Period.

[LookitsPuck]

If he had the same mechanics and was doing everything he had always done well(and thus, I assume his velocity would be up), then I think he would have pitched ok in the beginning, as he got his legs back and by now, would be pitching like we think he should.

So, I agree with you that his conditioning coming back from his injury would have held him back somewhat and that he wouldn't have been what we are used to with him but I think that would have been corrected after 5-10 starts and then he would be ok.

And unfortunately we can't go much off of Spring Training, but he had something close to a 6.00 ERA in ST with a WHIP around 1.75. Not good. Now, is this just because it was spring training? Most likely. It was only 13 innings or so. It's really the only sample size we can go off of this year, since he started the regular season on the DL.

I think his lost velocity is a direct result of his injuries and lack of playing time. His effectiveness I'm not sure about. I wish I knew more information about the Connor situation. Buck has a way about handling certain problems: sending Russell to be his bench coach [and using knee problems as an excuse that he's not at 3B anymore]. Is it possible Connor left because he was facing pressure from Buck and gang about the effectiveness of the pitching staff? Uses "personal reasons" as the excuse, but it could quite possibly mean that he wasn't getting the results he wanted, Buck wasn't happy, and was pushing him out? Perhaps the players weren't responding (see: Matusz, for example).

[Spy Fox]

The guy is a pu***.

"I wasn't "mentally" prepared."

"They changed my mechanics."

"I was out of shape."

WTF! Be a man. All he does is complain. He just gets bombed by the Toledo "freakin" Mud Hens and he's crying in his cheerios about how it's everbody elses fault. But, "I'll just throw them half-way under the bus so I don't look like a total *****." Please! Brian would rather hang out with Chris Tillman in the minors then be a great pitcher in the big leagues. Period.

Matusz:Rick Adair and Mark Connor had great intentions of helping us young guys get better. That was the goal, that was the plan. Mentally, I wasn’t prepared to make that happen.

That does not sound to me like someone who's whining about how it's everybody else's fault.

If you want to argue that he was being passive aggressive or that he was trying to subtly pass blame go ahead, but there's no way to say that for sure just based on these quotes.

[Scrat1]

Really wish we'd never moved on from Kranny.

[Pedro Cerrano]

I mean something like this was bound to come out. He's either hurt or they're messing with him, or both.

Sorry, but you don't have the kind of second half he had last year versus what he's done so far this year and just chalk it up to bad luck.

If the Orioles really are ruining their arms by changing everyone's mechanics than whoever is sanctioning that decision needs to be fired yesterday.

[mrbraswel3]

Can I say something?....Brian needs to shut up! Every other day, we're hearing stuff about what is wrong with him. This guy is a big baby. I know that Buck is getting tired of his act too. Shut up!

I am afraid I have started to think this too. As far back as spring training, Roch mentioned he had heard whispers of an attitude issue, but nothing publicly had pointed in that direction. At this point, Brian needs to find some more humility.

[LookitsPuck]

I'm not going to make the bold jump and say that Matusz definitely has an attitude issue, but the signs point to it:

1. #1 draft pick

2. Has never faced failure

3. Raced through the system

4. Rumblings from some regarding attitude issues

5. He is now facing failure and isn't responding to it in the best of manners [not saying it's atrocious, just throwing a label on it]

That said, it's not definitive. I wish I knew more information. It's very interesting to me. I really, really hope it's not a matter of Connor looking at guys like Gregg, Gonzalez, Britton, Matusz, etc. and wanting to change them for the sake of changing them. Now, my gut reaction is that Connor left due to ineffectiveness and by Buck's hand.

[mrbraswel3]

That does not sound to me like someone who's whining about how it's everybody else's fault.

If you want to argue that he was being passive aggressive or that he was trying to subtly pass blame go ahead, but there's no way to say that for sure just based on these quotes.

I do think he has been passing on blame passive aggressively in multiple interviews recently. Not the worst crime in the world, but it does seem to be a potential character flaw that could be adventageous to becoming a polished professional. It was also mentioned in the article, that Brian admittedly wasn't exactly working hard developing his body, which has been an organization focus with him since he was drafted.

He's young and hasn't had to face much adversity until now, so I certainly don't doubt he can turn it around. But for now, unless he has some key criticism that has to be revealed, he's better off taking the high road and working back to form.

[gamer]

Thank you Flacco Machado, it's nice to see someone understands

MINOR adjustments ,which would include being quicker to the plate, shouldn't eff over a MAJOR league players career.

FYI tons and tons of players when interviewed don't speek truthfully or say exactly whats on their mind.

"Hey John Doe, how do you think the game went?"

"To be honest, I hate Baltimore"

"..........."

[BaltimoreTerp]

Can I say something?

Retroactive no. Go screw up someone else's pitchers, Paul Richards.

[Malike]

So, they asked him to tweak his mechanics out of the stretch, and that ruined his entire repertoire of pitches? He was equally as horrible pitching from the stretch as he was with no runners on base. And he's had six 6 starts with Griffin coaching him in AAA, and the results are still piss poor. I'm thinking its more than Connor trying to get him to throw across his body more with runners on base. But, if I were a 24 year old millionaire who had never had to face any adversity, I'd probably be a d-bag too if I was stinking up the joint.

[El Gordo]

It's different for every pitcher. Matusz may not have been ready to incorporate the changes they wanted, where someone like Jake was. Matusz was the better pticher to begin with, so how much do you gain by risking what has actually happend with him? And shouldn't they have had some idea about how easily it would have been for him to adapt. I think this is an example of Buck micro managing to a a fault. He couldn't implement this change to the degree he wanted with Kranitz, so he brought in Connor. Big mistake IMO. I don't know how much you can lay at AM's feet. He had to let Buck choose his coaches, and he really couldn't interfere in th process.

[wildcard]

Sounds to me like Connor and Buck were not able to get Matusz to buy in that he needed to make the changes in his delivery. Yes, Matusz did what he was told to do but mentally he never thought it was the right thing to do.

Strange thing about that is Kranny has said that Matusz was one of the best he had ever worked with in visalizing and then physically implementing changes.

I can see Connor and Buck wanting to change Matusz delivery if they thought that throwing across his body would cause an arm injury at some point. I have read were that is a concern with some pitchers. And I am sure holding runners is a concern of both Buck and Connor, so I can see them trying to address that. The disconnect appears to be that Matusz never bought into the changes.

The changes combined the wart and getting hit in his throwing arm probably caused the intercostal injury. The layoff from the injury may have hurt Matusz conditioning and he also lost weight which can affect his stamina. All these things combined appears to have Matusz not at his best right now. Brady helping him with his conditioning will be a great help this off season.

I believe that Connor had to be talked into coming back. I don't think Buck pushed Connor out. Buck is loyal to a fault. He was fired by the Yankees for being loyal to his coaches. Connor knew he was not getting the results he wants and needed from several young pitchers and since he had second thoughts anyway, I think Connor decided it was time for him to retire.

Should Connor and Buck ever have tried to change Matusz delivery after he was so successful with it in late 2010? Well, if they honestly felt that throwing across his body would cause an arm injury they probably had to try.

I would like to hear VaTech's opinion on that.

I think the most damaging thing here is the Connor and Buck were never able to get Matusz to buy into the changes. That is what started the chain of events IMO. There is plenty of blame for all three guys on the problem.