Hammel/Chen/Hunter/Matusz/Arrieta -- a solid starting five?

[Mr Snuffleupagus]

Every year I get excited about the possibilities...

"This is the year DCab harnesses his control..."

" Adam Loewen is going to solidify himself this year...."

"We have found our diamond in the rough with Josh Towers..."

Then the reality sets in. Not all 5 of these guys are going to work out. It seems like the Orioles operate at more then an 80% fail rate when it comes to pitchers. I'm hopeful two of them, preferably Matusz and Britton or Arrietta shine this season. Okay, we have some depth, but why should I feel so certain they'll succeed? With the Orioles, I gave up on the law of averages years ago. I fully expect we'll have at least 3 holes in our OD rotation by 2013.

[msporter4]

Gregg for Ron Karkovice.

Gregg for Kim Seong-Min

[SammyBirdland]

When I look at Hammel/Chen/Hunter/Matusz/Arrieta, I see five question marks going into the season. If I'm being honest with myself, I'd lean more towards "bloodbath" than "league average".

[SoBo]

I'm excited to see how Matusz, Arrieta and Chen look this season. But the Orioles track record would be one in which what promise those three have shown in the spring won't be realized in the regular season. Crazier things have happened but I'm not getting my hopes like in years past.

[Bradysburns]

For right now, my starting five is Hammel, Chen, Hunter, Matusz, Arrieta -- put in that order because I think Buck will want to split up the two lefties. Assuming that's it, how decent of a starting five can that be?

Right now, my gut feeling is that it's no worse than average. Clearly missing an ace, but the back end seems very strong to me. And, there's good depth in case someone gets hurt or performs poorly.

Sign me up for the Orioles' starters making a very significant jump from last year. Of course, the whole season depends on it.

It does my heart good to hear Frobby this confident in our starters. Indeed, the Orioles can always be counted on to have a surplus of one commodity: "Potential."

In fact, it could be said that we have "endless potential." Because it never seems to transition into actual performance, and Ws.

Count me as skeptical, but open-minded regarding our starters.

It seems possible that NONE of our starters would make an elite rotation. On the other hand, they all have the potential to be at least #3 starters, IMO.

One thing's for sure, this could be a make-or-break season for all of these guys.

Is that non-committal enough for ya?

[CamdenTerp]

I would just be happy to see those 5 not have any injuries this year. The reality of the situation says that will not happen, but I would be pretty excited to see that.

[Mr Snuffleupagus]

I would just be happy to see those 5 not have any injuries this year. The reality of the situation says that will not happen, but I would be pretty excited to see that.

If they're pitching at 5.00 ERA they better have injuries. At least I'll have an excuse to fall back on...

[Il BuonO]

As goes the rotation so goes the team. I can see the team being average or a little above as well. That would be a nice improvement IMO.

For right now, my starting five is Hammel, Chen, Hunter, Matusz, Arrieta -- put in that order because I think Buck will want to split up the two lefties. Assuming that's it, how decent of a starting five can that be?

Right now, my gut feeling is that it's no worse than average. Clearly missing an ace, but the back end seems very strong to me. And, there's good depth in case someone gets hurt or performs poorly.

Sign me up for the Orioles' starters making a very significant jump from last year. Of course, the whole season depends on it.

I like it, except I still believe Jake can be the front of the rotation guy. His main issue last year was the command and he has that under control. I like his stuff better than Hammel's. I know the last outing was subpar but he was working on TTTP. In the minor league game yesterday he was fine. I think Hunter is the #5 and Hammel the#3. If Jake can't get it together by OD then the way you have it looks fine.

I would also say Tillman has a shot to push out whoever takes a step back after a few starts.

[Frobby]

I like it, except I still believe Jake can be the front of the rotation guy.

I don't much care about the order of the rotation, except that I think it is good not to pitch lefties back-to-back unless you have three of them in the rotation, in which case it's inevitable. Regardless of who starts opening day, it doesn't take very long into the season where the teams' schedules don't match and so you don't have a 1 facing a 1, etc.

[Frobby]

For right now, my starting five is Hammel, Chen, Hunter, Matusz, Arrieta -- put in that order because I think Buck will want to split up the two lefties. Assuming that's it, how decent of a starting five can that be?

Right now, my gut feeling is that it's no worse than average. Clearly missing an ace, but the back end seems very strong to me. And, there's good depth in case someone gets hurt or performs poorly.

Sign me up for the Orioles' starters making a very significant jump from last year. Of course, the whole season depends on it.

Well, I called the starting five correctly, though not in the right order. And I'm pretty happy with it. We'll see how happy I am with it on April 30. More importantly, how happy will Buck be? With Wada in the wings, everyone's going to have to pitch well.

[atomic]

When I look at Hammel/Chen/Hunter/Matusz/Arrieta, I see five question marks going into the season. If I'm being honest with myself, I'd lean more towards "bloodbath" than "league average".

Yeah what was the best ERA any of those guys put up in the bigs last year? 5? I think this could be historically bad if Chen does't pan out.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Yeah what was the best ERA any of those guys put up in the bigs last year? 5? I think this could be historically bad if Chen does't pan out.

Well, since we all know that pitchers, especially young ones, perform exactly the same from their first major-league pitch to their last, you're probably correct.

[VeveJones007]

Well, I called the starting five correctly, though not in the right order. And I'm pretty happy with it. We'll see how happy I am with it on April 30. More importantly, how happy will Buck be? With Wada in the wings, everyone's going to have to pitch well.

Have they mentioned the exact order yet? Is it Arrieta, Matusz, Hammel, Hunter, Chen?

[crissfan172]

Have they mentioned the exact order yet? Is it Arrieta, Matusz, Hammel, Hunter, Chen?

Well Matusz is pitching tomorrow, so it almost has to be:

Arriet, Hunter/Chen, Hammel, Hunter/Chen, Matusz

[VeveJones007]

Well Matusz is pitching tomorrow, so it almost has to be:

Arriet, Hunter/Chen, Hammel, Hunter/Chen, Matusz

That narrows it down. ESPN had some tidbit about Chen being named the 5th starter, but that doesn't work with Matusz pitching tomorrow. Looks like Arrieta, Chen, Hammel, Hunter, Matusz to split up the lefties.