Matusz to work out with Brady

[Stotle]

Well chime in. I just was thinking about you.

I don't think this is a convo I'd enjoy being a part of. Peanut gallery suits me just fine.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I don't think this is a convo I'd enjoy being a part of. Peanut gallery suits me just fine.

That's too bad.

[Stotle]

That's too bad.

I think where you and frobby came out is probably the best spot to be -- wait and see. My affection for Matusz and belief in his prospects as a pitcher is well documented. I'm personally not too concerned, and chalked up 2011 to a lost year several months ago.

[Mr Snuffleupagus]

Struggling left-hander Brian Matusz acknowledged Wednesday that he wasn't "mentally prepared" for the start of the season and that he lost confidence in himself after being asked to make mechanical changes that he wasn't comfortable making.

"Obviously, coming in not prepared is pretty clear to everyone," Matusz said in a phone interview a day after he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks in Triple-A Norfolk's loss to Toledo. "It wasn't necessarily that I wasn't physically prepared, but I wasn't mentally prepared. I was working with two pitching coaches that I didn't know, and they wanted to change things I've done for my whole life.

"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. Right now, I'm trying to find myself, getting back to what has made me successful through my entire life."

It's the part in bold that makes this come off the wrong way. He could have left it at "they wanted to change things"...."to better my time to the plate", or "get better movement on my pitches", but what he decided to say was "... things I've done my whole life". Intended or not, it comes off as blame. It says "I've never failed before. It's their fault."

Then he wraps it up with a similar quote. "Right now, I'm trying to find myself, getting back to what has made me successful through my entire life." Curious to know what that means exactly... and I hope he's not counting 2011 as his "entire life". Has Adair decided to abandon the plan he and Conner had last year? Is Matusz doing this on his own?

I have hope that he can return to 2010 form. I do think he has a good head on his shoulders and has learned a lot from this past season. I heard Palmer talk about it numerous times last year and I think it's a very valid point. Many of these guys never experience failure when they're young. They breeze through high school, college, and some even through the minors, never failing at any stop. They don't put a lot of work in the offseason because they believe they're God's gift to baseball.

In the end, it seemed like the perfect storm of being ill-prepared on his part, a bad game plan from Conner/ Adair, and an injury he never got to fully recover from. Hopefully, come ST, we can put this behind us and count on Matusz as part of the long term plan.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I think where you and frobby came out is probably the best spot to be -- wait and see. My affection for Matusz and belief in his prospects as a pitcher is well documented. I'm personally not too concerned, and chalked up 2011 to a lost year several months ago.

Thanks Stotle. Do you have any knowledge about what changes were implemented in ST with Matusz? What's your opinion of Adair? I think I recall Tony not liking him very much.

[El Gordo]

It's the part in bold that makes this come off the wrong way. He could have left it at "they wanted to change things"...."to better my time to the plate", or "get better movement on my pitches", but what he decided to say was "... things I've done my whole life". Intended or not, it comes off as blame. It says "I've never failed before. It's their fault."

Then he wraps it up with a similar quote. "Right now, I'm trying to find myself, getting back to what has made me successful through my entire life." Curious to know what that means exactly... and I hope he's not counting 2011 as his "entire life". Has Adair decided to abandon the plan he and Conner had last year? Is Matusz doing this on his own?

I have hope that he can return to 2010 form. I do think he has a good head on his shoulders and has learned a lot from this past season. I heard Palmer talk about it numerous times last year and I think it's a very valid point. Many of these guys never experience failure when they're young. They breeze through high school, college, and some even through the minors, never failing at any stop. They don't put a lot of work in the offseason because they believe they're God's gift to baseball.

In the end, it seemed like the perfect storm of being ill-prepared on his part, a bad game plan from Conner/ Adair, and an injury he never got to fully recover from. Hopefully, come ST, we can put this behind us and count on Matusz as part of the long term plan.

If this is your hope then you must hope that he gets back to the things he has been doing his entire life. I don't see why a bright talented guy like Matusz would stop working hard just because he achieved two months of success the season past. I doubt he changed his off season regimen, or was unprepared for the kind of ST he was used to. He just ddin't get that one, he got a different one that demanded changes that he had difficulty understanding or making. He lost confidence as he struggled with his mechanics, and then got injured. He was rushed back and continued to struggle. I don't think any of this involves him having a big head, or slacking of with his conditioning. I hope they leave him alone to indeed get back to what has worked for him his whole life.

[Stotle]

Thanks Stotle. Do you have any knowledge about what changes were implemented in ST with Matusz? What's your opinion of Adair? I think I recall Tony not liking him very much.

I don't have any opinions on Mr. Adair or the changes asked of Matusz.

As a general matter, I think either (1) the media is oversimplifying/misconstruing Mr. Showalter's/Baltimore org's thoughts on times to home, or (2) not enough weight is being given to the fact that the Orioles boast a 1.75-1.80 arm behind the plate.

[Frobby]

It's the part in bold that makes this come off the wrong way. He could have left it at "they wanted to change things"...."to better my time to the plate", or "get better movement on my pitches", but what he decided to say was "... things I've done my whole life". Intended or not, it comes off as blame. It says "I've never failed before. It's their fault."

Then he wraps it up with a similar quote. "Right now, I'm trying to find myself, getting back to what has made me successful through my entire life." Curious to know what that means exactly... and I hope he's not counting 2011 as his "entire life". Has Adair decided to abandon the plan he and Conner had last year? Is Matusz doing this on his own?

I can see how one could interpret it that way, but it's not the only interpretation, and like I said, I don't like to judge people off a few snippets in the media. Without knowing what question is asked, and without hearing the tone of what is said, quotes can be quite misleading. So, I choose to give Matusz the benefit of the doubt. Anyone else can interpret the remarks as they see fit.

Remember, this quote is from July, while Matusz was in Norfolk. I don't know how much he had worked with Adair at that point. Remember, Matusz rejoined the Orioles on June 1, Connor resigned on June 14, Matusz pitched 3 times after that and got sent down to Norfolk. So, I don't think these comments from July reflect on what Adair's plan for Matusz may be.

[Tony-OH]

Thanks Stotle. Do you have any knowledge about what changes were implemented in ST with Matusz? What's your opinion of Adair? I think I recall Tony not liking him very much.

I don't recall saying anything bad about Adair so I think you are mistaken.

As for Matusz, I've heard numerous stories that contributed to his all-time horrid season last year, but the best thing I'm taking out of it is that he appears to be taking responsibility for his season and even better, taking the steps to rectify them for next year. I don't think anyone who has met or dealt with Matusz believes him to be anything but a smart young man, and without getting into specifics, I think he realized he needed to change some things after what happened to him last year.

The key will be how he shows up next spring. If he shows up looking like a cross country running Shaggy from Scooby Doo, then we'll know nothing has changed. If he shows up determined, in great shape, and ready to take instruction, he'll be back on track to regain his once immense potential. Everyone has crossroads in their lives. Matusz is currently at one and the early indications are he's ready to get back on track.

I'm sure we are all hope he's ready to go next spring and for all that is holy, let's hope he doesn't come back with that neck beard thing.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I don't recall saying anything bad about Adair so I think you are mistaken.

As for Matusz, I've heard numerous stories that contributed to his all-time horrid season last year, but the best thing I'm taking out of it is that he appears to be taking responsibility for his season and even better, taking the steps to rectify them for next year. I don't think anyone who has met or dealt with Matusz believes him to be anything but a smart young man, and without getting into specifics, I think he realized he needed to change some things after what happened to him last year.

The key will be how he shows up next spring. If he shows up looking like a cross country running Shaggy from Scooby Doo, then we'll know nothing has changed. If he shows up determined, in great shape, and ready to take instruction, he'll be back on track to regain his once immense potential. Everyone has crossroads in their lives. Matusz is currently at one and the early indications are he's ready to get back on track.

I'm sure we are all hope he's ready to go next spring and for all that is holy, let's hope he doesn't come back with that neck beard thing.

Thanks Tony. Always appreciated. Sorry for misquoting/misrepresenting you with respect to Adair.

[LookinUp]

No offense, Tony, but it's much more fun when we're speculating about other scapegoats. Isn't it more likely that Connor told Matusz to brush his teeth differently in spring training, and that made Matusz not throw the ball well all the way through the season?

What I will speculate this means is something I've been saying for a long time, and that is the Orioles have as bad of a strength and conditioning program, both in-season and in the off season, as any team in the majors. The days of Brady Anderson and BJ Surhoff working out all the time seem to be long gone up and down this organization. All speculation, of course.

[csgordos]

No offense, Tony, but it's much more fun when we're speculating about other scapegoats. Isn't it more likely that Connor told Matusz to brush his teeth differently in spring training, and that made Matusz not throw the ball well all the way through the season?

What I will speculate this means is something I've been saying for a long time, and that is the Orioles have as bad of a strength and conditioning program, both in-season and in the off season, as any team in the majors. The days of Brady Anderson and BJ Surhoff working out all the time seem to be long gone up and down this organization. All speculation, of course.

I remember the one year an inordinate amount of oblique injuries. Then another year an inordinate amount of shoulder (labrum) vs. elbow injuries in the minors and majors with pitchers. Could be a pure coincidence thing or a sign of systemic failure. I will let you make your own opinions. I have mine, but no proof, so I don't want to disparage anybody in the field I work in without first hand knowledge or proof. I would be willing to bet we are not in the top 50% of baseball with our strength and conditioning program system wide. I am hopeful that DD is going to change this and we will notice less % of injuries and better physically prepared players. Being that baseball is such a long season and the throwing motion is so difficult on numerous aspects of the body, injuries are a given. Maybe because I follow the Orioles so closely it seems so much worse with their minors. I do not have any stats to back up the small sample of following just our minors and majors players.

[taylor21]

reynolds said he working out with Brady too on mlb.xm

[section18]

Reynolds should be able to go over 50 HR'S this year with Brady helping him. Imagine if he made contact on 1/3 of his strikeouts what his numbers might look like. He did cut down on his strikeouts the last two years going from 223 to 211 and down to 196 this year. Leave him at 1B and DH.

[Frobby]

Reynolds should be able to go over 50 HR'S this year with Brady helping him. Imagine if he made contact on 1/3 of his strikeouts what his numbers might look like. He did cut down on his strikeouts the last two years going from 223 to 211 and down to 196 this year. Leave him at 1B and DH.

Reynolds worked with Brady last winter. I see no reason to expect dramatic changes in Reynolds' performance next year, though I'm glad he's continuing to work with Brady.