Roch: Ubaldo Did Not Throw While A Free Agent

[MarylandAaron]

I really didn't like the signing (mostly because of surrendering the pick), and then Ubaldo went and had a really rough year.

However, I gotta admit, I have really come to admire the guy. Everything he says and does screams professional, team player. He's a class act. He handled last season like a pro.

I'm glad he is on the team and I believe he will come through and be a quality nugget for the next three years. I'm wondering if he can be that electric Andrew Miller-type bullpen guy who can come in when the game is in danger of blowing open and we need a couple big outs. I know that's not what we paid him for, but that would be a huge help. We'll need him as a starter next year when we lose Chen and Norris.

I've been hoping the O's would be open to trying something like this if all our other starters are healthy. His stuff can be pretty overwhelming when he only has to face a few batters.

[BohKnowsBmore]

I agree totally. He strikes me as a bit of a head case. Hopefully we can get him off the books soon or move him for someone like Ethier by dealing one bad contract for another to fill a glaring need.:thumbsup1:

What makes you say this?

[weams]

What makes you say this?

He is not a native American, when he speaks some of his words may get misinterpreted, and he left after being dropped off the playoff roster. For whatever reason. There was also an article which detailed some stress that he went through when he was awful before in his life. I like the man personally. I think he is jovial and good natured. And his pitches wave nasty movement when they are working.

[Can_of_corn]

He is not a native American, and he left after being dropped off the playoff roster. For whatever reason. There was also an article which detailed some stress that he went through when he was awfuk before in his life. I like the man personally. I think he is jovial and good natured. And his pitches wave nasty movement when they are working.

They even move when they aren't working!

[weams]

I've been hoping the O's would be open to trying something like this if all our other starters are healthy. His stuff can be pretty overwhelming when he only has to face a few batters.

I'd be all for that. Miller was an exception when it comes to relievers with poor walk rates. It blows up pretty often.

[weams]

They even move when they aren't working!

With an extra 3 mph back on his fastball later in the season, they sizzled like I remember when he was unhittable.

[byrdz]

I think we're going to see some real gems from Ubaldo this season. Just hopefully they aren't followed by duds.

He's always had a nice strike out rate, a steady 8.5 rate, even last season.

[Norfolk orioles]

If we can get an improved Ubaldo to captain our ship, or even just a few quality starts to give guys some rest, we could have another great year.

If he can approach anything near his second half with Cleveland two years ago, who knows where this team can go.

Right now id just take some consistency from him early on so we can secure our staff and not constantly be bickering about who should be the fifth starter and whether we need a sixth guy. Having that hanging around the team all year could be a real distraction and I'd prefer if ubaldo locked that spot down for us.

He's a vet with a huge salary. If he can step up his game, he won't be going anywhere.

[byrdz]

I'd also be OK with the free walks as long as he gets no hitters.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/y2010/index.jsp?gid=2010_04_17_colmlb_atlmlb_1&mode=video

[atomic]

And what is his excuse for being bad in 2011 and 2012?

[Nevermore]

I like Ubaldo. I really do. But just to be accurate, didn't he OPT to NOT want to be with his teammates in the playoffs because he wasn't on the roster?

What??!! Is this issue coming up again, like a bad Geico commercial? I believe that it was Roch Kubatko who started this rumor and it has kept going from here. I noticed that Buck never said anything about this.

Who knows why Ubaldo went to Florida (or to the Dominican Republic or wherever) during the ACLS? For all Roch (or anyone else) knows, he went to Florida to join with Chris Davis in working out his mechanical problems; maybe Buck wanted him to work on his mechanics for this coming year. Or maybe there was a crisis with his family -- yes, even ball players have families.

What most of us do know is that Ubaldo has shown in spring training that he has been working hard during the off season on his mechanics. He showed that he has kept the simpplified delivery that Wallace and Chiti taught him. Okay, he took a bit of time off to attend Fanfest and interact with the fans who attended. And on his Facebook page, you can see that he and his fellow Dominicans gave a baseball clinic for youngsters in the Dominican Republic.

https://www.facebook.com/UbaldoJimenez22

[Nevermore]

Per Britt:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jimenez on ALCS leaving: "I had some business I had to take care of personally back in my country. Everything is OK. It wasnt at that time"</p>? Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) <a href="

">February 21, 2015</a></blockquote>

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Okay, now we know. Can Roch (and the others) let this go, at least for now?

[Nevermore]

He is not a native American, when he speaks some of his words may get misinterpreted, and he left after being dropped off the playoff roster. For whatever reason. There was also an article which detailed some stress that he went through when he was awful before in his life. I like the man personally. I think he is jovial and good natured. And his pitches wave nasty movement when they are working.

From Fanfest:

“It was pretty hard, coming in with a new team and signing a contract like that and not to do what everyone is expecting you to do, it’s hard,” Jimenez said. “It’s hard not to be there for the team, but regardless what happened, I fought a lot. I think I was trying to find a way to survive to be there for the team and do whatever I can do the best. We got really far. I didn’t help a lot, but I tried to do whatever I could with whatever I had.”

[birdcrazy]

He has a reputation for being a little bit of a head case...

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2012/04/troy-tulowitzki-ubaldo-jimenez-rockies-indians-benches-clear/1#.VOmSYt8o4uU

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jimenez on if the Orioles and their fans have seen what he can do: "Not even a little bit. They haven't. I can't wait [to show them]."</p>— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) <a href="

">February 21, 2015</a></blockquote>

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