Arrieta's postgame comment

[sfosfan]

He sounds a bit arrogant or conceded, not sure of the right word. He's talented and he knows it and he has to add that everyone else knows it. I think I would have preferred a little more humility than what he said. His other comments were pretty solid. I liked them a lot better. I also didn't like his answer "Yep" to whether he thought he had pitched well enough to stay in the rotation. I think a no comment or that's the manager's call would have been better. For a guy who comes across so confident he sure doesn't look that way on the mound. As VaTech posted, the constant fidgeting, especially when men get on base, makes him look nervous on the mound.

Sounds like Nuke LaLoosh. Million dollar arm, five cent head.

[The Wedge]

Not at all. You know how guys talk sometimes. AJ or Chris should just get in his face and say man it's time to get your act together and stop making these games so long. Throw the dam ball and do your job. He's so laid back and carefree I think he needs a wakeup call from a couple of stars on the team.

I see what you're saying, but what exactly is their leverage over Arrieta? What you say has a VERY implicit "...or else." Beyond roughing him up, what can they possibly hold over their heads? No, it's the manager and the FO that hold the "or else" ball, with the else being demotion, or worse. So yeah, you kinda are suggesting they try to fix his control problems (and very probable mental focus problems) with threats.

[blid]

Looks like our old friend Nick Johnson even finds Arrieta's comment funny... It is disconcerting when one of his own (former) teammates is laughing at him... or maybe i am just reading too much into a dumb twitter conversation, nevertheless, i still find it interesting.

Roch Kubatko ‏@masnRoch 3h

Arrieta: "I'm so close to being so good and everybody knows it. And that's what's frustrating." #orioles

Nick Johnson ‏@sexyfeet24 41m

@masnRoch u make me laugh.

Roch Kubatko ‏@masnRoch 36m

@sexyfeet24 what did I do? What did I do?

Nick Johnson ‏@sexyfeet24 19m

@masnRoch there's no way he said that quote u put out. I hope you miss quoted that. Holy smokes

Roch Kubatko ‏@masnRoch 17m

@sexyfeet24 Nope. Was one of the best postgame interviews ever. Give him credit for not sugar coating.

Nick Johnson ‏@sexyfeet24 11m

@masnRoch lol

https://twitter.com/masnRoch

https://twitter.com/sexyfeet24

I agree with jake. He's so close to being good. And yet he sucks.

[section18]

Being an everyday player is harder than having to go out there every five days. Sorry ex-pitchers but playing every day is harder to do in my opinion. Would you rather throw a baseball from a mound or stand at the plate and try to hit a 95 mph fastball? Chris Davis was successful in Boston last year and he's not a pitcher. I don' think Jake would question hitters in a slump. I wonder what the other starters think of Jakes comments? Someone said tonight that Jake has 5 pitches and tries to use all five every game. They also said Palmer has said in the past he should use the two pitches that are working the best for him during the game and stay with them. I didn 't see the early innings today. Was he using mostly two pitches when he was doing well in the first two innings and decided to use his other pitches unsuccessfully the innings he failed?

[Bradysburns]

This really didn't bother me at all, and I'm not one to be an apologist. He is close to being good. That's what's so damn frustrating.

I tend to agree - give him a break. He's restating what he's probably hearing all the time from other sources. And if he doesn't believe he's extremely talented, then we REALLY don't want him pitching here. I would say that it's getting close to see what Jair or Freddy can do with another crack at an MLB starting spot, however. Perhaps Jake can work it out some more at Norfolk. I still think he can and probably will become an effective MLB starter, but the Orioles are good enough to not be an audition platform anymore.

[The Wedge]

Being an everyday player is harder than having to go out there every five days. Sorry ex-pitchers but playing every day is harder to do in my opinion. Would you rather throw a baseball from a mound or stand at the plate and try to hit a 95 mph fastball? Chris Davis was successful in Boston last year and he's not a pitcher. I don' think Jake would question hitters in a slump. I wonder what the other starters think of Jakes comments? Someone said tonight that Jake has 5 pitches and tries to use all five every game. They also said Palmer has said in the past he should use the two pitches that are working the best for him during the game and stay with them. I didn 't see the early innings today. Was he using mostly two pitches when he was doing well in the first two innings and decided to use his other pitches unsuccessfully the innings he failed?

If pitching were easier, they wouldn't need the rotation. They'd just have one starting pitcher, and backup or two. There's a reason why pitchers need the rest, but position players can go much longer without one (and in some very famous local players cases, astoundingly longer).

[MachadOboutManny]

If pitching were easier, they wouldn't need the rotation. They'd just have one starting pitcher, and backup or two. There's a reason why pitchers need the rest, but position players can go much longer without one (and in some very famous local players cases, astoundingly longer).

Something being more taxing doesn't make it more difficult.

[The Wedge]

Something being more taxing doesn't make it more difficult.

I guess it depends on how you define difficult. That's just semantics, though. There's also the the matter that the mound might as well be an island.

[OFFNY]

If pitching were easier, they wouldn't need the rotation. They'd just have one starting pitcher, and backup or two. There's a reason why pitchers need the rest, but position players can go much longer without one (and in some very famous local players cases, astoundingly longer).

Did you miss his other point ???

Chris Davis successfully pitched 2 entire innings in Boston last year, and he's not even a pitcher.

Section 18 is correct. Game, set, match.

And don't feed me any of that nonsense about Dave McNally successfully hitting a grand slam in the World Series, and he wasn't even even a position player.

[Go_Os]

He's a pitcher who cant throw strikes. Not being able to consistently throw the ball within 2 feet of the catchers mitt, for 6 years, is not a minor detail. He is not close to being anything. He is who he is. Nothing has changed. No progress is being made. He is a terrible pitcher who has neat stuff.

He's best suited as a reliever, just like Tommy Hunter.

[MachadOboutManny]

He's best suited as a reliever, just like Tommy Hunter.

He's a pitcher thats best suited to pump gas.

[atomic]

He's best suited as a reliever, just like Tommy Hunter.

He can't get guys out when pitching from the stretch. How can he be a reliever?

[MachadOboutManny]

I guess it depends on how you define difficult. That's just semantics, though. There's also the the matter that the mound might as well be an island.

Throwing a ball a bunch of times and being sore the next day is not difficult. Pitching at the major league level is difficult. Im not arguing whether or not pitching is more difficult than being an every day player, but your logic wasn't supporting your point. As I said, something simply being taxing, does not make it difficult. Any of us could go drink beers, throw the wiffle ball 150 times, and feel like our arms are going to fall off the next day. The reason they dont have one pitcher is because the human body can't withstand the strain on the arm every day. That doesn't support an argument for pitching being more difficult than being an every day player. Anyone in the world can throw the ball enough to be sore the next day. The parts of pitching that would support your argument have nothing to do with requiring days off. The fact that they only play in about 32 of the 162 games doesn't support the task being more difficult. Pitchers are babied these days.

Its not the side of the argument, its the support for the argument.

There are far fewer great pitchers than there are great batters. There's a start. Needing 4 days off after you play is not a start.

[333WCamden]

I agree with sexyfeet. Roch had to have heard him wrong.

[Dr. FLK]

This really didn't bother me at all, and I'm not one to be an apologist. He is close to being good. That's what's so damn frustrating.

I could see how you could say this a few years ago. But, after doing the same thing over and over again, he's not close to being good. He's close to being irrelevant. And to be honest, being irrelevant would be an improvement over his current contributions to the team.