Zach Britton Today, 2013

[Pheasants]

Britton pitched a lot better than the walks look. Through four he had no walks and thanks to a couple of double plays he had faced one person over the minimum. Bulls were chasing the sinker including a very ordinary looking Will Myers. In the fifth his sinker began hitting the dirt so he walked one then and two in the sixth but the run only scored on an error. I wouldn't have brought him out for the seventh.

[jabba72]

90 pitches. 47 for strikes

Also 5 walks and 2 K's. Dont think he's ready yet.

[LookitsPuck]

Also 5 walks and 2 K's. Dont think he's ready yet.

He's same old, same old until he becomes more economical. Needs to throw more strikes and stop walking the park. Only redeeming quality in this outing is that he didn't get hit a lot. But walking 5 is inexcusable at the minor league level.

[NewMarketSean]

Broken clocks are right twice a day. So it goes for Britton.

[Baxter]

With guys like Britton and Arrieta you need to wait until they leave the game before proclaiming they look great. They both usually look good for an innings or two before they melt down. How manytime have we seen them strike out the side or have a 5 pitch innings and then next inning walk 3 straight guys.

[CaptainRedbeard]

You guys are being rough on RZNJ. I trust his eye. Also, I'm sure Britton is down there working on mechanical stuff with Peterson. That sounds entirely normal that when you're working on something, you get it right for a few innings and then revert back to your old muscle memory when you get tired.

It's going to be baby steps for Britton. I take this as a good sign.

I'm not ready to give up on Zach. I love the left-handed ground ball profile. He can be a successful back-end major league starter even if he's only barely cracking a 2/1 K/BB.

I'd like to see him rediscover that sinker and changeup, but I think he's actually been reasonably healthy for a while and it's only mechanical problems that are holding him back at this point.

[Baxter]

For the record, I am happy to hear that he looks to be improving. I just can't help but be skeptical since we have heard this about these guys before. I've always liked Britton the most of the cavalry guys.

[OFFNY]

.

1 earned run over 7 innings.

2 walks (plus 1 hit batsman), and 8 strikeouts.

ZACH BRITTON O (vs. AAA-Lehigh Valley, 5/25)

IP:. 7

H:o 7

R:O 2

ER:)1

BB: 2 *

SO: 8

Pitches: 91 (61 Strikes, 30 Balls)

2013 ERA: 3.61 (AAA-Norfolk)

* Britton also had 1 hit batsman.

[srock]

[CA-ORIOLE]

I only watched part of an inning today and I was disappointed. Although he pitched a good game and threw a lot of strikes, according to the stats, he did not look fluid like last time. He looked herky, jerky, again.

Definitely take your word for it. I don't know much at all about pitching mechanics and haven't really paid attention to Britton in awhile, but I always thought his main issue was his release point. Of course that's directly related to mechanics (mainly repeatability) and a lot more critical in Britton's case than most pitchers considering the smaller window for his sinker. Other than being somewhat rigid, I always thought his mechanics seemed fairly sound/simple. Decent strider generating pretty good torque. Not a lot going on there imo. Then again, what the hell do I know. Wonder what somebody like Stotle thinks? Maybe socalbirdfan?

[Fazo19]

I was at the game. He breezed through the first 3 innings but got into trouble in the 4th and 5th by loading the bases. He was lucky to get out of the no out bases loaded situation in the 4th with only giving up 1 run with a catcher to first double play. I missed exactly how the catcher got the ball, but it looked like a bunt or batted ball that just bounced up for him. After the 5th Britton seemed to settle down. Stadium radar showed him hitting 91 mph on a cold night. He also seemed to tweak something in the 7th on a throw to first. It looked like he grabbed is ankle or foot, but he took a couple practice throws and stayed in the game. He took the last two plays of the 7th at first base where he seemed somewhat bothered after running to cover.

[OFFNY]

.

In the first 2 innings, Zach was 6-up, 6-down on a total of 22 pitches ..... 17 of which were strikes.

So, in the 3rd, he immediately walked the first batter on 4 pitches. Then, after getting a double play, he walked the next batter on 4 pitches, also. And of course, the Tides made an error, allowing the next hitter to reach base safely, costing Zach another few pitches, but he did retire the next batter without allowing any runs to score.

In the 4th inning, he gave up a 2-out, solo home run (Scranton's 1st hit of the game.)

In the 5th inning Zach gave up another run, and the Tides defense made another error.

That was all she wrote for Zachary tonight.

ZACH BRITTON O (vs. AAA-Scranton, 5/30)

IP:. 5

H:o 3

R:O 2

BB: 2

SO: 5

Pitches: 86 (51 Strikes, 35 Balls)

2013 ERA: 3.61 (AAA-Norfolk)

*****************

PITCHES BY INNING

16 (12 Strikes)

61 (51 Strikes)

25 (10 Strikes)

16 (91 Strikes)

23 (15 Strikes)

[wildcard]

So why was Britton taking out after 5 innings? His pitch count was 86. Why was he not allowed to go to 100 pitches?

I understand why Arrieta was taking out after 80 pitches. He hadn't pitched in a while, so they were being careful. But why take Britton out?

Does anyone know? If he pitches a clean 6th he only gives up 2 runs. If he gives up a run he still has a quality start. There must be a reason.

Off this start I don't see why posters are talking about him being a reliever. He didn't get the chance to go deeper in the game. That is not his fault. He had a strike out an inning. He limited them to 3 hits over 5 inning. He did his job well for as far as they let him go.

[OFFNY]

So why was Britton taking out after 5 innings? His pitch count was 86. Why was he not allowed to go to 100 pitches?

I understand why Arrieta was taking out after 80 pitches. He hadn't pitched in a while, so they were being careful. But why take Britton out?

Does anyone know? If he pitches a clean 6th he only gives up 2 runs. If he gives up a run he still has a quality start. There must be a reason.

Off this start I don't see why posters are talking about him being a reliever. He didn't get the chance to go deeper in the game. That is not his fault. He had a strike out an inning. He limited them to 3 hits over 5 inning. He did his job well for as far as they let him go.

Arrieta was taken out after 5 innings because he was pitching on 3 days' rest.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/131487-Jake-Arrieta-Today-2013/page7?highlight=Jake+Arrieta+Today%2C+2013

[OFFNY]

.

ZACH BRITTON O (vs. AAA-Louisville, 6/05)

IP:. 7

H:o 7

R:O 2

BB: 0

SO: 6

Pitches: 95 (63 Strikes, 32 Balls)

2013 ERA: 3.48 (AAA-Norfolk)

*****************

PITCHES BY INNING

24 (16 Strikes)

10 (61 Strikes)

12 (81 Strikes)

61 (51 Strikes)

18 (11 Strikes)

12 (71 Strikes)

13 (10 Strikes)