HHP: Do you agree with DD not handing our young pitchers automatic spots in the rotation?

[Brendan25]

Pretty much..unless BMat is completely done.

That being said, Chen is in the rotation, so not sure why you brought him up.

BMat should be 4th or 5th on the depth chart right now.

Behind?

[Stotle]

They are either going to work hard or they aren't.

These guys have much more long term incentive than just making the Orioles OD rotation.

Do you want to get paid? Do you want to sign a monster contract? Well, if so, work hard and get back to where you were.

I have no problem with competition....but in no way should that competition be ahead of guys like Arrieta and Wieters on the depth chart.

Let the best five start the season. If the young guys aren't good enough to outshine the veterans who are candidates for the back of the rotation, well, shame on them. But I hope we don't send guys down to the minors just because they are younger and struggled last year, if they show this spring they are better than the veteran candidates. (And I am not just talking about ERA in ST games, I am talking about the entire evaluation that takes place in the spring.)

SG and Frobby have the right mindset.

[erb8472]

I'm not opposed to that...but it hasn't happened.

With our "fiscal constraints" I am fine with the moves we have made adding depth to our pitching staff. I much rather take a gamble on guys like Chen and Wada at the price we paid then commit a bunch of money to relief pitchers like Gonzalez, Gregg, etc. and bringing in guys like Millwood, etc.

[Sports Guy]

Behind?

Guthrie, Britton and Chen...Arrieta and BMat are fighting for the 4/5 spots on the depth chart. That is their "penalty" for being injured or pitching poorly. They are in the rotation but they are borderline. Guys like Hunter, Wada and Eveland have no business being "favorites" to be in the rotation over those guys.

[Frobby]

You know for a fact that Wada and/or Chen are not better then Matusz?

Pretty much..unless BMat is completely done.

That being said, Chen is in the rotation, so not sure why you brought him up.

BMat should be 4th or 5th on the depth chart right now.

With these guys from the Japanese League, they are complete wildcards IMO. The baseball is different here, the number of days between starts are different, the strike zone is different, etc. I make no presumptions about who belongs where in our rotation until they show what they can do. As to Matusz, there's plenty of room between "he's back to where he was at the end of 2010" and "he's made no progress since last September." He could be all the way back, or he could be only part of the way back. We will find out. "Better than a 10+ ERA pitcher" doesn't necessarily mean "better than Wada." If we really knew what Wada can do.

Spring training will be very interesting.

[weams]

Pretty much..unless BMat is completely done.

That being said, Chen is in the rotation, so not sure why you brought him up.

BMat should be 4th or 5th on the depth chart right now.

I disagree. I think any of the three could prove to be the best. We don't know. But I am glad we have three of them to chose from. For 9 .5 million a year.

[Frobby]

Guthrie, Britton and Chen...Arrieta and BMat are fighting for the 4/5 spots on the depth chart. That is their "penalty" for being injured or pitching poorly. They are in the rotation but they are borderline. Guys like Hunter, Wada and Eveland have no business being "favorites" to be in the rotation over those guys.

I don't believe in having real "favorites" at this point. But objectively speaking, why do you rank Arrieta ahead of Hunter? Arrieta will be 26 years old this season, has 219.2 IP under his belt, ERA of 4.88, WHIP 1.49, 5.9 K/9, 1.34 K/BB, 5.49 IP/start. Hunter is 25 years old (4 months younger than Arrieta), 335.2 IP under his belt, 4.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 5.0 K/9, 2.17 K/BB, 5.79 IP/start. And don't forget most of Hunter's numbers were put up playing in Texas. Other than his K rate, Hunter has been the superior pitcher. He had some injury issues last year, just like Arrieta did. To me there is no a priori reason to prefer Arrieta to Hunter. Let them compete.

[Brendan25]

Guthrie, Britton and Chen...Arrieta and BMat are fighting for the 4/5 spots on the depth chart. That is their "penalty" for being injured or pitching poorly. They are in the rotation but they are borderline. Guys like Hunter, Wada and Eveland have no business being "favorites" to be in the rotation over those guys.

I'm not as high on Hunter as others are either. You don't know how good or bad Wada is going to be. I think Arrieta, if healthy, is 100% ahead of Matusz.

[Sports Guy]

I don't believe in having real "favorites" at this point. But objectively speaking, why do you rank Arrieta ahead of Hunter? Arrieta will be 26 years old this season, has 219.2 IP under his belt, ERA of 4.88, WHIP 1.49, 5.9 K/9, 1.34 K/BB, 5.49 IP/start. Hunter is 25 years old (4 months younger than Arrieta), 335.2 IP under his belt, 4.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 5.0 K/9, 2.17 K/BB, 5.79 IP/start. And don't forget most of Hunter's numbers were put up playing in Texas. Other than his K rate, Hunter has been the superior pitcher. He had some injury issues last year, just like Arrieta did. To me there is no a priori reason to prefer Arrieta to Hunter. Let them compete.

Arrieta has a higher ceiling.

2012 is done already..in terms of a season where we can say we are going to contend. That dream is over with, no matter what happens the rest of this season.

This season needs to be about finding out, once and for all, if BMat, Arrieta, etc...can be part of the long term solution for this club.

A guy like Hunter is going to be there, whether its in the pen or the rotation. Arrieta is the same way but right now, we don't know if he can be part of the solution in the rotation. We have a pretty good idea that Hunter could be but at the back end. I don't need to see him start 30 games in 2012 to feel that way but I do need to see Arrieta start to feel that way.

He was building on something last year before the injury/surgery. So, can he continue that or is he going to plateau?

In other words, we know what Hunter is...we don't know what Jake is yet.

[Brendan25]

Arrieta has a higher ceiling.

2012 is done already..in terms of a season where we can say we are going to contend. That dream is over with, no matter what happens the rest of this season.

This season needs to be about finding out, once and for all, if BMat, Arrieta, etc...can be part of the long term solution for this club.

A guy like Hunter is going to be there, whether its in the pen or the rotation. Arrieta is the same way but right now, we don't know if he can be part of the solution in the rotation. We have a pretty good idea that Hunter could be but at the back end. I don't need to see him start 30 games in 2012 to feel that way but I do need to see Arrieta start to feel that way.

He was building on something last year before the injury/surgery. So, can he continue that or is he going to plateau?

In other words, we know what Hunter is...we don't know what Jake is yet.

I would be fine with Guthrie, Britton, Chen, Arrieta, and Matusz.

I think you are being a bit biased towards Matusz. Hunter is only 25. Eveland is 28. You're reasoning for starting Matusz is to finally see if he has what it takes to be an effective starter at the major league level. Well I don't think we signed Eveland or traded for Hunter for the hell of it. You could use the same reasoning you have for starting Matusz for starting Hunter and Eveland. To see what they have, and if they are good enough to start for the Orioles in 2013 and beyond. If Matusz is one of the top 5 pitchers going into the season, he will be in the rotation.

[Frobby]

Arrieta has a higher ceiling.

2012 is done already..in terms of a season where we can say we are going to contend. That dream is over with, no matter what happens the rest of this season.

This season needs to be about finding out, once and for all, if BMat, Arrieta, etc...can be part of the long term solution for this club.A guy like Hunter is going to be there, whether its in the pen or the rotation. Arrieta is the same way but right now, we don't know if he can be part of the solution in the rotation. We have a pretty good idea that Hunter could be but at the back end. I don't need to see him start 30 games in 2012 to feel that way but I do need to see Arrieta start to feel that way.

He was building on something last year before the injury/surgery. So, can he continue that or is he going to plateau?

In other words, we know what Hunter is...we don't know what Jake is yet.

Hint: if BMat, Arrieta etc. can't beat out their competitors in an open competition, then they probably aren't a long-term solution for this club.

However, as usual, I feel too much emphasis is placed on who is in the Opening Day rotation. Go with whoever seem to be the best 5 guys. If you are wrong, that will come out soon enough. Someone will get hurt, or struggle. Someone will be better than expected. Someone will be dominating at AAA. Over 162 games, any pitcher who is performing well is going to get plenty of opportunity.

[GoldGlove21]

Not sure how almost anyone returning from the 2010 and 2011 pitching staff should be assured a spot. Why are Britton and Arrieta a lock for the rotation? Why should Matusz have the lead for the 4th or 5th spot? You want a spot in the rotation than go out and earn it!

[Brendan25]

Hint: if BMat, Arrieta etc. can't beat out their competitors in an open competition, then they probably aren't a long-term solution for this club.

However, as usual, I feel too much emphasis is placed on who is in the Opening Day rotation. Go with whoever seem to be the best 5 guys. If you are wrong, that will come out soon enough. Someone will get hurt, or struggle. Someone will be better than expected. Someone will be dominating at AAA. Over 162 games, any pitcher who is performing well is going to get plenty of opportunity.

This to a T

[ChaosLex]

This to a T

Arrieta could be one hell of a closer, IMO.

[Singleton]

Hint: if BMat, Arrieta etc. can't beat out their competitors in an open competition, then they probably aren't a long-term solution for this club.

However, as usual, I feel too much emphasis is placed on who is in the Opening Day rotation. Go with whoever seem to be the best 5 guys. If you are wrong, that will come out soon enough. Someone will get hurt, or struggle. Someone will be better than expected. Someone will be dominating at AAA. Over 162 games, any pitcher who is performing well is going to get plenty of opportunity.

This. Spring training is short and pitchers don't get that many innings on which to evaluate. I don't care much who is in the rotation for game #1. If Bmat pitches the way he did in 2010, he will be in the rotation very soon. It's been almost 2 decades since this team has had a "full rotation" that can't find room for a guy who shows he is worthy. I'd be shocked if we had a problem in 2012 but if it happens, I'll be thrilled.