Jake Arrieta - so frustrating to watch this guy pitch. Talented, but erratic. Will he ever put it to

[Frobby]

If Nick had made the play on the triple, that eventually led to a total of three runs, would this discussion still be happening? That did not appear to be a Gold Glove move out there. It seemed (to me) that he got a late start and took a very unNick route to the ball.

This is a key point. If Nick catches the triple the inning is over. Arrieta goes 5 innings and gives up 2 runs. If Nick catches the triple Arrieta gets out of the 4th throwing less pitches and may go deeper in the game.

I think Nick and the coaching staff that positioned Nick caused a lot of Arrieta's problems.

I understand Nick's problem. He is playing hurt. He not at his best. But let's not blame Jake for 5 runs. It was not all his fault despite what the box score says.

Jake can be frustrating but a pitcher should be measured on results that he causes. I am not ready to jump on Arrieta for problems that others caused.

I just watched a replay of the inning. The first run scored on a shattered bat, loopy ball hit where the 2b couldn't get to it, not hit well at all. The next two runs score on a fly to RF that Nick misjudged due to the sun being in his eyes, that's normally a pretty routine catch. The fourth run scored on a seeing eye grounder that Flaherty couldn't reach, not really hit very hard. Pretty tough luck for Jake in that inning IMO. That said, his command wasn't very good and it really irked me when the O's battled back to 4-4 in the bottom of the 5th, and he responded by walking the first batter he saw in the 6th on five pitches. When your teammates pick you up, you have to respond better than that.

[HokieOs]

An overlooked competitor for the the 5th starter spot.... Chris Davis. I mean, we all see how awesome he is with a bat. And he IS the guy on the team with the lowest career ERA of guys who have been on a MLB mound.

[ExileAngelos]

Daniel Cabrera Jr.

[crissfan172]

Daniel Cabrera Jr.

Nope. Not on any level.

Cabrera's BB/9 was 5.2, Jake's 3.8.

Cabrera only had two pitches, one of which he had zero command of.

Jake was throwing four pitches yesterday, and that's without distinguishing his different fastballs.

Nobody should ever be compared to Daniel Cabrera unless they are truly awful. Jake is not.

[MachadOboutManny]

Jake was a fluke smashed bat single away from giving up 0 runs, and a pop up that Nick Markakis should have caught away from allowing just one run. He had some bad luck and made some bad pitches, but Im not as down on the performance as most. I'd like to see him dial it back some in the first, when his stuff is typically overpowering, and save a bit. His pitches flatten out and seem to lose some bite too quickly. His stuff is great, but his pitching still needs to develop. He has stuff that moves all over the place, but he isn't learning how to use it any better. I dont know why that is, but its obviously frustrating. I think he was fine for a 4th/5th starter in an opener. He needs to learn how to stop wasting pitches. He has too many breaking balls that he loses completely, he just loses his concentration, and they become absolutely wasted pitches. He needs to have a purpose with every pitch and stay focused on that purpose.

[atomic]

Nope. Not on any level.

Cabrera's BB/9 was 5.2, Jake's 3.8.

Cabrera only had two pitches, one of which he had zero command of.

Jake was throwing four pitches yesterday, and that's without distinguishing his different fastballs.

Nobody should ever be compared to Daniel Cabrera unless they are truly awful. Jake is not.

Cabrera's had better stats during his first three seasons than Arrieta.

[Pickles]

Cabrera's had better stats during his first three seasons than Arrieta.

Arrieta has not right to be compared to Cabrera until he accomplishes half of what Cabrera did.

[weams]

I was at the game and the stadium gun had an awful lot of 89 MPH "fastballs" from Jake. What's that about?

His cutter.

[Three Run Homer]

Yesterday was the quintessential Jake Arietta start. Dazzling stuff. Highh pitch counts even when he's getting hitters out due to lack of command. Too many baserunners and too many big innings, whether due to problems pitching from the stretch or inability to maintain focus after misfortune.

He's got talent, and with Johnson and Wada on the shelf I'm ok with giving him a few more starts, but it's good to know that we will have other options for his rotation spot as the season progresses. He's got the stuff to be a lights-out late-inning reliever, and I think that's ultimately what he will be for the O's.

[Can_of_corn]

His cutter.

Or as I like to call it, Jake's third superfluous pitch.

[mark_beckens]

With all due respect, why do you and others act like people are reacting just to one start? Personally, I did not like Jake being given this spot in the first place. I'd like to see him go down and show some consistent success in the minors, a la Tillman last year. No one is basing anything off of one start, it's just that that one start showed the same issues he's had throughout his young career.

And I don't think anyone is saying he'll never succeed, just that many of us have serious doubts. I certainly hope I'm wrong. He seems like a great guy, and the potential is obviously there. Hopefully his next start is better.

Maybe, because he's only had one start this year?

[Can_of_corn]

Maybe, because he's only had one start this year?

And nothing he has done in prior seasons should have any bearing on the conversation?

[mark_beckens]

And nothing he has done in prior seasons should have any bearing on the conversation?

Not based on what I said earlier! dohhhhhh

[Il BuonO]

His cutter.

Or as I like to call it, Jake's third superfluous pitch.

I think the problem is it's the same pitch that he broke a bat with in his bad luck inning. So, he has success with a pitch many of us don't think he should be throwing and continues to use more pitches in his arsenal than necessary.

And nothing he has done in prior seasons should have any bearing on the conversation?

I think it does but as Frobby pointed out earlier, all the starters who were competing for the 5th spot had the same opportunity in ST and Jake won out. If we were going on past performance it would probably disqualify Matusz and Britton too.

[atomic]

His cutter.

I thought the Orioles said the cutter is an awful pitch. So why would Arrieta add one to his tool bag?