Tim Kurkjian: Arrieta and Matusz looking good

[Sports Guy]

If throws like he did tonight for the rest of the spring his career is done. He threw a few right down the middle that they didn't hit. A better team will destroy him. Where is his curve from 2010?

There is a word for this statement...the word is idiotic.

[EddieMurrayfan]

There is a word for this statement...the word is idiotic.

Not really. BMAt was awful last year - absolutely horrible. Just becasue he may not be as bad doesn't mean he is any good. He needs to improve drastically over last year just to even be a consideration as a ML pitcher.

[Sports Guy]

Not really. BMAt was awful last year - absolutely horrible. Just becasue he may not be as bad doesn't mean he is any good. He needs to improve drastically over last year just to even be a consideration as a ML pitcher.

Thank you Captain Obvious...None of what you said here has anything to do with what Atomic said.

[Sports Guy]

I couldn't watch but Matusz's curveball is a very important pitch, especially against LH batters. Last year, he had no feel at all for the curve and he didn't have the fastball command to set up his changeup.

He worked in the offspeed stuff in the second inning...he threw a few nice curveballs but didn't throw enough of them to really say if he had a good one or not tonight.

[EddieMurrayfan]

Thank you Captain Obvious...None of what you said here has anything to do with what Atomic said.

Oh no nothing at all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :mwahaha:

[ccbird]

It looked to me like there was an effort in the 1st inning to really throw the fastball and probably command it. Their leadoff hitter blooped one down the line and on an 0-2 pitch to the #2 hitter he threw a 3rd straight fastball that he didn't get in under the hands. I remember seing 2 offspeed pitches the whole 1st inning. I think the pitch selection prob would have been different in a real game. The second inning he definitely was mixing the pitches more. While there was nothing that was really stood out as encouraging there was also nothing to be discouraged about with this outing. Some people are definitely going overboard for the 1st start of ST.

[mikegallo]

I agree with SG dumb statement period....Matsuz looked much more like Matsuz 2010 then 2011.....Keep in mind guys this is the FIRST game of the spring....Nobody is gonna be in July game shape....Throughout the year I expect his arm to get stronger and for him to have more umphhh on the FB.

First inning he was in the 90=91 range with pretty good command for the first game he's played in 5 months....Second inning a little less velocity but he fooled guys with his chane up...Through his curveball for strikes in random counts....I didn't see his slider for a strike but the guy only pitched two innings in his FIRST game.

He could have easily allowed no runs but he had a few infield hits and bloop singles.....Overall I was very encouraged if he can sharpen up his command throughout the spring I would not mind seeing him slotted into the back of the rotation.

He looked like old Matsuz to me.....Not like mid season on fire Matsuz but like Matsuz pre 2011 ST Matsuz....He looked good....Very happy with what I saw tonight.

Mark Reynolds doesnt have range, I now he's not gonna get those balls in the hole and I am willing to see his D regress towards the mean this year but I would love to see an Andino or Antonelli at 3b (If Matt can field never seen him but moving down the D postioins should go well).

[atomic]

There is a word for this statement...the word is idiotic.

Is there a way to report people for personal attacks on here?

[UMDTerrapins]

Is there a way to report people for personal attacks on here?

Yes, but you are burdened to prove that his claim was not factually correct.

[hendu]

Is there a way to report people for personal attacks on here?

He said that your statement was idiotic. Just take your ball and go home if you're going to get upset from someone rebutting the dumbest thing that I've read in weeks. Your statement toward BMat could be taken as a personal attack, so maybe you should be banned.

[Sports Guy]

http://brittghiroli.mlblogs.com/2012/03/05/matuszs-night-w-gregg-update/

Here’s what Matusz had to say…

[on how he felt] “I felt really good. It felt nice to be back out there on the mound and let it fly a little bit. I felt strong. Threw a lot of strikes, attacked the zone. It felt really good to be back out there.”

“The Pirates executed really well and took advantage of the mistakes I made and put the ball in play. But overall I felt like I attacked the zone really well and stuck to my game plan.”

[on his command]

“I felt like my command was good, but I didn’t execute the two-strike pitches like I wanted to today. I didn’t throw the ball out of the zone like I wanted to to force them to chase. Things to work on for the next outing.”

[on his game plan]

“I threw a lot of fastballs tonight. Didn’t mix it up like I normally do in the past. But first time out there, I wanted to establish the fastball and get that going

[atomic]

He said that your statement was idiotic. Just take your ball and go home if you're going to get upset from someone rebutting the dumbest thing that I've read in weeks. Your statement toward BMat could be taken as a personal attack, so maybe you should be banned.

You must have trouble in life when someone states a valid opinion and you say it is the dumbest thing you have read in weeks. Saying Matusz is done if he keep pitching the way he did last year and the way he did tonight is obvious. He can't be a major league player with the way he has pitched. Common sense. He isn't a power pitcher. He needs to have good control and have many pitches to survive in the big league. Tonight he didn't have major league stuff.

I am sorry that somehow upsets you. Maybe you should realize that Matusz was the worst player in the history of the game last year. Perhaps he just isn't a major league player. That doesn't make him a bad guy.

[Sports Guy]

You must have trouble in life when someone states a valid opinion and you say it is the dumbest thing you have read in weeks. Saying Matusz is done if he keep pitching the way he did last year and the way he did tonight is obvious. He can't be a major league player with the way he has pitched. Common sense. He isn't a power pitcher. He needs to have good control and have many pitches to survive in the big league. Tonight he didn't have major league stuff.

I am sorry that somehow upsets you. Maybe you should realize that Matusz was the worst player in the history of the game last year. Perhaps he just isn't a major league player. That doesn't make him a bad guy.

You are just wrong, as usual.

What he did last year has nothing to do with tonight and if you want to compare it and say it is the same, it just shows how moronic that statement is because his stuff was CLEARLY better tonight...His velocity was 3-5 MPH better and his command/location was better.

He gave up 6 hits, 2 were IF hits, one was a bloop and 2 groundball singles.

He wasn't lit up...He wasn't getting hit hard. He didn't walk guys..didn't show poor command or poor control.

You really couldn't be more wrong.

Does he need to keep improving? Yes...Is he ahead of where he was at any point last year(post injury) than he is right now? Yes and that's obvious.

[TiredofLosing20]

You must have trouble in life when someone states a valid opinion and you say it is the dumbest thing you have read in weeks. Saying Matusz is done if he keep pitching the way he did last year and the way he did tonight is obvious. He can't be a major league player with the way he has pitched. Common sense. He isn't a power pitcher. He needs to have good control and have many pitches to survive in the big league. Tonight he didn't have major league stuff.

I am sorry that somehow upsets you. Maybe you should realize that Matusz was the worst player in the history of the game last year. Perhaps he just isn't a major league player. That doesn't make him a bad guy.

Stop being obtuse. The idiotic part of your statement was your arbitrary time frame of Spring Training.

[Sports Guy]

Stop being obtuse. The idiotic part of your statement was your arbitrary time frame of Spring Training.

Right...there are certain things you wanted to see tonight...BMat basically showed all of them. This is common sense stuff here.