Why is our number 1 prospect being used for 1 inning out of the pen?

[anrynike]

Whatever we did with Britton, Arrieta, Matusz, etc., etc., we should do the EXACT opposite.

[Tx Oriole]

As long as its temporary I'm fine with it.....but my point was still valid, we need him to be a very good starter next year more than we need him out of the bullpen this year to win games.

I'd rather him be in Norfolk working on that curveball every fifth day than pitching an inning out of the pen in early July.

Like I said if its just temporary then that's ok but long term, keep him in Norfolk and keep him as a starter. Trying to make him a David price like player is a bit much, he's got great stuff but he doesn't have anywhere near the control price had when he was doing what he did.

Gausman still needs work.....price didnt need much at all.

Well maybe I can agree he needs to be starting some in AAA but coming out of

the BP can be very useful for him. IMO

[weams]

Whatever we did with Britton, Arrieta, Matusz, etc., etc., we should do the EXACT opposite.

Now that is a novel idea

[DrungoHazewood]

Whatever we did with Britton, Arrieta, Matusz, etc., etc., we should do the EXACT opposite.

So we should convert Gausman into an Aboriginal Australian cryptozoologist-accountant?

[anrynike]

convert Gausman into an Aboriginal Australian cryptozoologist-accountant?

Great idea.

[murph]

Confused you say you disagree then agree with me, which is it?

I should really stop posting as I am falling asleep. I just meant that I thought its stuff was better than anyone on our staff, but re-reading my post, I really did not make any point.

Regardless, I am just glad we will get to see him pitch more in the big leagues. I am sure if he is not used enough he will be sent back down.

[Tony-OH]

Oh, THAT #1 prospect- I thought you were talking about former prospect Brian Matusz.

What's not to like about Kevin pitching mop up duty? Someone needed to come in, why not Kevin? Kevin isn't going to do this much so Buck is saving the other arms. It's also a good sign that Chen is real close to coming back. I really liked the move. Let Kevin come in to pitch with absolutely no pressure. Every little bit of experience Kevin can get is only going to help right now, especially if Kevin progresses to become a valuable arm for the playoff stretch. No harm, no foul.

But I guess you could prepare Kevin for the playoffs by pitching against AAA hitters every fifth day. That must be what's going on with Jake Arrieta.

Why yes, you could. By pitching in a starter's role in AAA, Gausman will have more opportunities to develop his slider and learn about adjustments the second and third time through a lineup. I don't necessarily think he can't develop in a relief role, but in my mind, it's more optimal for him to work as a starter since that should be his eventual role with the Orioles.

As for the people that say the Cardinals do this all the time, I think they need to look at the situations a little bit closer. Wainwright had nearly 780 minor league inning, including around 250 innings in AAA (4.76 ERA) when he was put into the bullpen at 24-years old. Shelby Miller pitched five games in relief in a September call up after starting all year in the minors and now is in the rotation. Garcia pitched nine games in relief after pitching nearly 380 innings in the minors, almost exclusively as a starter. Rosenthal is probably the closest to being a guy like Gausman except for two things, Rosenthal has 285.1 minor league innings of experience and the only reason he's not starting is the fact the Cardinals rotation is pretty stacked right now.

Gausman is only 22-years old and has a 3.88 ERA in just 67.1 professional innings as a starter in the minors.

At the end of the day, Gausman was rushed much faster through the minor leagues than any of the Cardinals pitchers. I whole heartily disagree with anyone who says he can not learn from starting in AAA. As a starter he needs to learn how to use all of his pitches, make adjustments the second and third time through an order, read professional bats, and understand how to use his stuff effectively in and out of the strike zone.

Now, saying all that, Gausman may be able to help this team in a bullpen role. He's been fairly effective the first time through an order and his fastball-changeup combo could be effective one time through the order. The question for me is are the Orioles slowing down his development as a starter by pitching him in relief when he did not already have that experience as a professional starter?

To me the Orioles are taking a calculated risk in pitching Gausman out of the pen instead of developing as a starter in AAA. The acquisition of Feldman, the eventual return of Chen and eventually Wada, and of course Britton means he's probably 7th or 8th on the starter's depth chart anyways. It appears that Duquette and Buck are comfortable with him developing while pitching in a relief role in the big leagues. I find that a bit fascinating really because it truly does go against conventional thinking in MLB.

[Norfolk orioles]

Just a random thought that popped into my head, maybe they think that since calling up manny early worked so well, the same thing is possible with gausman. Learning at the major league level I mean.

I just don't know if I'm 100% convinced that just because one worked, the other will. Pitching consistently every fifth day and playing and hitting every day are completely different animals.

Who knows, maybe buck and Dan have the secret formula, they were certainly right about manny when they called him up and quite a few people questioned if that was the right decision at the time.

Hopefully this will yield similar results!

[Gurgi]

I think this is just a sign the Orioles are not going to do things the same old way we have gotten to know in the last two decades. As Dan Duquette said last year. There is NO five year plan(a term first coined by failed marxist tyrants) we want to win now. Not next year or the year after that.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Well, Buck just addressed this fairly clearly. He thinks Gausman benefits either way as far as development goes, relieving for the team or starting in AAA. Most of it will be based on the teams short term needs this year (i.e if they need Gausman to be ready as a starter down the line or not). Sounds like they are very flexible.