How long before we give Matusz another shot?

[wildcard]

Gonzalez is back in a week. You have 4 starters plus Garcia and Jurrjens. Why would you stretch out Matusz? Not only that, but Matusz was stretched out to 4-5 innings about 2 months ago. How long would it take to stretch him out to 6 innings again. Add in the fact that Matusz hasn't shown he can be a good starter going on 2 years now and got knocked around in his last ST start. It all adds up to making no sense at all. Garcia, Jurrjens, Steve Johnson are all options now and Matusz has not proven that he's a better option than any of them.

Three starters - Tillman, Hammel and Gonzalez. Chen is out for 4 to 6 week. Garcia is ready to be replaced in the rotation. Jurrjens, I have hope, but we will see. Steve Johnson has not looked ready for a starting spot in the majors yet. He needs to put up some good starts at AAA. The 4th and 5th starter role is in flux right now and probably could be that way for a while. Heaven help the O's if another starter goes down. See Roy's recent post.

[wildcard]

If DD or Buck thought Matusz has the potential to be a starter he would have been a starter out of Spring Training.

Considering that he is being paid 1.8 million to be a 1 batter, maybe 1 inning guy, I think his days with the O's are numbered.

Matusz current salary is 1.6M.

[El Gordo]

Don't do this to Brian.

mwahaha::smile11:

[LookitsPuck]

If he failed, whats to say he couldnt go back to the bullpen? Isnt a starter(or the hopes to get one) a more important need for this team right now

than a situational lefty who pitches to one batter?

He's pitched in 15 1/3 IP in 18 games. Definitely not just *1* batter. He's faced 27 right handers and 28 left handers.

[LookitsPuck]

Three starters - Tillman, Hammel and Gonzalez. Chen is out for 4 to 6 week. Garcia is ready to be replaced in the rotation. Jurrjens, I have hope, but we will see. Steve Johnson has not looked ready for a starting spot in the majors yet. He needs to put up some good starts at AAA. The 4th and 5th starter role is in flux right now and probably could be that way for a while. Heaven help the O's if another starter goes down. See Roy's recent post.

I think it's a bit rash to judge Johnson based on an outing when getting a proper grip on the ball certainly hindered his performance. He deserves a second chance (and a third and fourth) in place of Garcia, personally.

[wildcard]

He's shown for several years that he's not much of a starter. So now we're going to create a hole in the back end of our bullpen for the sake of an (at best risky) assumption that he can suddenly turn into a solid starter?

Strop has given up one run in his last 11 appearances. He is pretty much back to where he was for most of last year. J Johnson, O'Day and Strop are the late inning guys. Matusz is more a a lefthanded specialist. He also is great at stranding inherited runs. I am not trying to minimize Matusz contribution as a reliever. He has been great this year. However, Burnett had a 3.52 ERA last year for the Twins. He is not a lefty so not a direct replacement for Matusz but he could hold down a relief spot until Wada or Britton are ready. Its easier to find a reliever than a starter.

[oriole]

You must be kidding... are you forgetting that he has the record for worst starting pitcher in the history of baseball in 2011.

I think DD/Buck realize that Matusz isn't a starter.... would be nice if we could fool someone else into believing he is to increase his trade value.

I don't think he will be with the O's next year... maybe not after the trade deadline.

I'm not worried about what Matusz did in 2011, my focus is what I think he could do in 2013. I don't have nearly as high of hopes for him that I did when he first came up but I do think he could be an average pitcher. An average pitcher would be the Orioles 2nd best pitcher behind the terribly inconsitent "ace" that Tillman has become (until Chen comes back). We need a guy tha we can feel good about giving a QS every time out and so far there has been a lot of failure in that category this year. Matusz has more to offer than the role he is being used in this year.

[wildcard]

I think it's a bit rash to judge Johnson based on an outing when getting a proper grip on the ball certainly hindered his performance. He deserves a second chance (and a third and fourth) in place of Garcia, personally.

I like Steve. He started the year injured and didn't go really deep in his AAA starts. I'd like to see him get a few more starts at AAA before he get his next shot at the rotation. i think he has to be at his best to be effective is the majors. He doesn't have a lot of room for errors with his stuff.

[BobDylanBundy]

A few thoughts....

-I think they'd try McFarland in the rotation before Matusz. Get the feeling the days of trial and error with the cavalry are beyond us.

-Right-handed batters are hitting .167/.259/.292 against Matusz. He should start receiving bigger assignments soon, especially when the rest of the bullpen begins to tire.

-A couple million is hardly expensive for a quality RP. Not long ago, we were dropping $12 million on the Mike Gonzalezes of the world. I think for a team with a payroll ceiling like the Orioles, their long term approach will be to spread their bullpen expenses over multiple quality relievers instead of dedicating a huge amount to one elite closer.

[vab]

I thought he should be a starter from the beginning of the season and I'm looking forward to the day he is back in the rotation. He can't be worse than Garcia or Hammel....[/QUOTE]

He has been worse than Garcia or Hammel, by a ton. Leave Matusz right where he is. If anybody's a candidate to get stretched out it's McFarland.

[The B&G]

I think it's a bit rash to judge Johnson based on an outing when getting a proper grip on the ball certainly hindered his performance. He deserves a second chance (and a third and fourth) in place of Garcia, personally.

Completely agree, not only was it bad weather but he is still coming off an injury. I thought this last spot start Johnson had was a bit rushed, I was hoping he'd stay in AAA for at least one more rehab start. I will not be pleased if we see Garcia starting over Johnson any time soon. I am a bit biased though, 2 out of the 3 games I've been to this season have been Garcia's two losses at OPACY. Buck has to be leaning toward Johnson over Garcia after that last one right?

[Ruzious]

He's pitched in 15 1/3 IP in 18 games. Definitely not just *1* batter. He's faced 27 right handers and 28 left handers.

But when he's pitching in tight situations, he's usually facing just 1 or 2 batters. When he goes longer - and faces righties, it's usually in low presure situations. Having said that - he's done well the way he's been used - as a reliever. He failed many chances as a starter. Therefore, it's MUCH more likely that he'll do well in his current role than he would as a starter.

[El Gordo]

Gonzo will be back in the rotation next week leaving the #5 spot to Garcia and Jurrjens. By the time we have looked at both of those guys Johnson should be an option again. Then Wada. By then Chen will be back. Leave Matusz where he is.

[wildcard]

Gonzo will be back in the rotation next week leaving the #5 spot to Garcia and Jurrjens. By the time we have looked at both of those guys Johnson should be an option again. Then Wada. By then Chen will be back. Leave Matusz where he is.

Your counting is off. Gonzo, Tillman and Hammel. That is three. Garcia and Jurrjens are 4 and 5. Stevie has to show that he is effective and can go deep at AAA. That is something he has not done yet this year. There is a lot of uncertainty in the 4th and 5th spot. That is why Matusz could be useful as a starter. Then there is Roy's report the Hammel may still have knee problems. The more starter options the better is what it sounds like.

[murph]

I tend to agree with WC's thoughts, we do have a fantastic bullpen and a struggling rotation. What if Matsuz has "figured it out" and could be a solid 2/3 or even better. I don't want to weaken the bullpen either, but if we are looking at trades, wouldn't picking up a strong reliever be cheaper and more probably then finding the same level starter? I don't know what the right answer is, but I am very, very concerned about our rotation and not really worried about the bullpen (unless they get burned up by a rotation that falls (falling) apart).