Wada's Return May Be Sooner than Expected: Showalter

[Nicks124]

I almost forgot about this guy and I heard he has better stuff than Chen.

[RVAbird]

I almost forgot about this guy and I heard he has better stuff than Chen.

Again, this is demonstrably false.

[Can_of_corn]

This is how excited I am about Wada.

With a healthy Wada last season I don't think the O's make the playoffs.

Hope he proves me wrong.

[kyleott]

This is how excited I am about Wada.

With a healthy Wada last season I don't think the O's make the playoffs.

Hope he proves me wrong.

In that he would have been given an opportunity before Tillman, Gonzalez, Johnson, or Saunders?

I can't see how he would have affected the team that drastically, the starts were available one way or another, it was just a matter of who took advantage of them. If Wada hadn't, he would have been relegated to the bullpen, where you can never have enough 4-pitch strike throwers.

Maybe Wada would have stopped us from trading for Saunders, but despite Saunders exemplary playoff performance, he probably wasn't the difference between the Orioles making the playoffs or not.

[Can_of_corn]

In that he would have been given an opportunity before Tillman, Gonzalez, Johnson, or Saunders?

I can't see how he would have affected the team that drastically, the starts were available one way or another, it was just a matter of who took advantage of them. If Wada hadn't, he would have been relegated to the bullpen, where you can never have enough 4-pitch strike throwers.

Maybe Wada would have stopped us from trading for Saunders, but despite Saunders exemplary playoff performance, he probably wasn't the difference between the Orioles making the playoffs or not.

Wouldn't have to be drastic, the O's were the low seed in the AL. I think he would have failed as a starter and I think he would have been immovable in the bullpen.

[REDMAN]

Do you have a source for this? Every scout I talked to last year had Chen in his own tier above Wada.

Got to see him pitch in spring training before injury,actually pitched in 89 to 91 range, with great curve,has a great feel for pitching,reads bats well.Looking forward to seeing him this spring and during the season,could be better than Chen,look at his record in Japan,very impessive!Compares to Sander with better fastball!

[Going Underground]

From April 18th:

Tsuyoshi Wada (elbow) threw three innings and 45 pitches in the same extended spring game. Wada, who is on the club’s 60-day disabled list while recovering from Tommy John surgery last May, is ticketed for four innings and likely 60 pitches in his next outing.

I think the earliest he could return is in June.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-04-18/sports/bal-johnson-likely-heading-to-triplea-and-other-pregame-notes-lineups-20130418_1_right-hander-steve-johnson-tsuyoshi-wada-henry-urrutia

[waroriole]

Roch Kubatko ‏@masnRoch 10m

Wada threw 4 innings today at extended. Struck out 6. Will go 5 innings next

[Can_of_corn]

I think once you go on rehab, the longest you can do it is 30 days. He isn't eligible to come off the DL until June something. They probably have to keep him in extended to coincide with the 30 day rehab and the DL time. Sounds like he's progressing well. I hope he can be a factor. I hope CanofCorn is wrong but he's usually not. Hopefully, he's not as right about Japanese pitchers.

Thanks for the kind words.

My best case scenario for Wada is that he can fill a role like Koji did once they moved him to the bullpen. (Albeit without the freakish walk rate) The question then becomes, who do you bump for him? Unless you move Matusz into the rotation I don't see how Wada fits into the pen.

[Say O!]

Do the O's have the ability to option Wada without DFA?

Injuries always happen, but it's getting a bit crowded with major league guys who are out of options.

[Can_of_corn]

Do the O's have the ability to option Wada without DFA?

Injuries always happen, but it's getting a bit crowded with major league guys who are out of options.

No idea what the specifics of Wada's contract are.

[luismatos4prez]

Again, this is demonstrably false.

Meaning you can conclusively demonstrate that Wada doesn't have better stuff than Chen?

Or meaning you can conclusively demonstrate that Nicks124 has not heard that Wada has better stuff than Chen?

Both are very difficult to believe.

[Can_of_corn]

A writeup in Baseball America's prospect Handbook for last year, when Wada was signed, had his fastball at 84-87 and said his other stuff was fringy. Now, I do remember some 88-90 readings last year in ST and Buck referred to him as a #2 starter. His numbers in Japan, overall, were better than Chen's as well. So, I would say the scouting reports on Chen are better, but we can hope that Wada is even better in real games where it counts.

Man I got into a huge fight with a bunch of folks over those radar readings. I was jumping up and down that it had to have been a hot gun and had NPB velocity charts to back me up. Of course his All Star game appearance put a huge crimp in my argument.

[Valhalla]

Don't the imports usually do great in the MLB? Wada can be huge, Buck said he has #2 potential.

[Mayor McCheese]

It would be nice to see him up here....but it would also be amusing if he made all this $ and never recorded 1 MLB inning.