Loewen's First Inning

[amateurfan]

You do realize that he missed a ST turn because of shoulder soreness.....the same shoulder which has a torn labrum? Not to mention missing almost a year because he broke his elbow pitching, an elbow which is now held together by screws.

I'd say the chance that Loewen starts the season on the DL is pretty good.....and his chance of ever being a solid ML pitcher are pretty slim.

Loewen has a torn Labrum? I thought that was Patton?

[Lucky Jim]

Said Loewen: "I felt fine. I didn't feel any pain, soreness, stiffness. I loosened up quickly. I felt like I hadn't pitched in forever."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-osgame0319,0,1029043.story

Of course, we're well-trained to expect the worst.

[amateurfan]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-osgame0319,0,1029043.story

Of course, we're well-trained to expect the worst.

Looks like the only issue is his inability to throw strikes then? Loewen's line looks straight out of Major League or Bull Durham.

[byrdz]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-osgame0319,0,1029043.story

Of course, we're well-trained to expect the worst.

From the same article, the Orioles have been listening to Old#5fan and his productive outs theory:

The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth, but they settled for one run on Tike Redman's sacrifice fly.

[cindyluvsbrady]

My heart broke for Adam today:( I love Adam.I have faith he will be ok.

I feel VERY guillty because I was taking Albert Ps picture when he hit the home run

I hope I was not a jinx:o !!!

[Frobby]

Everyone's flipping out about a bad spring training game. Cool your boots people!

Loewen 2/28: 1.0 IP, 4 BB

Loewen 3/4: 2.0 IP, 1 BB (but 4 hits)

Loewen 3/9: 2.2 IP, 3 BB

Loewen 3/19: 1.2 IP, 4 BB

This is not one bad outing. He's been wild as a hare all spring. Let's not pretend this number of walks is something minor - it is a very serious issue. If you are walking 5-6 batters per nine IP, that is difficult to get away with. 14-15 walks per nine IP (which is where Loewen is now) is not "difficult," it's absolutely fatal. The fact that this is still an issue less than 2 weeks before the season starts, and that Loewen has yet to make it through 3 innings in a game, is a big problem. Can he turn things around in his remaining 2 starts? I hope so, because right now he can't possibly succeed in a game the way he has been throwing.

[dan the man]

It's called RUST, people.

Rust.

The guy hasn't pitched consistently in OVER A YEAR. He's 24. He won't be great this year, but he'll be fine. Seriously, all this DL talk is freaking nonsensical. He isn't injured. At all. It's amazing that even Tony is buying into this DL talk. Ugh..

[square634]

It's called RUST, people.

Rust.

The guy hasn't pitched consistently in OVER A YEAR. He's 24. He won't be great this year, but he'll be fine. Seriously, all this DL talk is freaking nonsensical. He isn't injured. At all. It's amazing that even Tony is buying into this DL talk. Ugh..

Then why did he say he had shoulder pain between starts and then miss a start to undergo "more aggressive" treatment? He may not think it's injured, and it may not be officially diagnosed, but that doesn't mean there isn't some underlying issue. Didn't the same thing happen last year with him?

[Frobby]

It's called RUST, people.

Rust.

The guy hasn't pitched consistently in OVER A YEAR. He's 24. He won't be great this year, but he'll be fine. Seriously, all this DL talk is freaking nonsensical. He isn't injured. At all. It's amazing that even Tony is buying into this DL talk. Ugh..

Whether or not he has any serious injury, teams frequently put pitchers on the DL for marginal or even imagined injuries to give them time to work on things.

The only other option with Loewen is to park him in the bullpen until he finds the strike zone. You cannot have him starting major league games and lasting 2-3 innings and putting the team in a hole.

Now, with that said, if he goes out his next two outings and shows today was just a fluke, then fine. But I'm very worried because he's not just walking a lot of guys, he's walking a ridiculous number of guys, and he doesn't seem to be locating well within the strike zone when he does manage to throw strikes. Sure it could just be rust, but 2 more starts may not be enough time for himto shake off a sufficient amount of that rust to start the year in the rotation.

[RShack]

So, let me see if I understand... we have a guy who's control was never exactly his strong suit... and he takes almost a year off from pitching... and people were expecting him to have decent control after just a couple stints... is that right?

If so, why would you expect that?

[Frobby]

So, let me see if I understand... we have a guy who's control was never exactly his strong suit... and he takes almost a year off from pitching... and people were expecting him to have decent control after just a couple stints... is that right?

If so, why would you expect that?

C'mon RShack.

Loewen (minor leagues): 5.22 BB/9

Loewen (major leagues): 5.55 BB/9

Loewen (this spring): 14.71 BB/9

Is this really that hard to understand? Loewen's walk rate at present is more than double the worst walk rate that Daniel Cabrera has ever had in a season.

[RShack]

C'mon RShack.

Loewen (minor leagues): 5.22 BB/9

Loewen (major leagues): 5.55 BB/9

Loewen (this spring): 14.71 BB/9

Is this really that hard to understand? Loewen's walk rate at present is more than double the worst walk rate that Daniel Cabrera has ever had in a season.

I understand it sucks. That was not my point. My point was, why would you expect it to *not* suck if the guy hasn't touched a baseball in almost a year? He's prolly never gone this long without throwing since he was about 7.

[RShack]

So as far as your concerned there is no level of futility that would surprise you? Personally, I'm surprised he's this bad right now. He's been in camp for a month or so and was probably throwing even before then. It might not be exactly like riding a bike but I would expect the basics to come back pretty fast, and by basics, I'm talking control and mechanics.

Oh, prolly... if he was missing by 2 feet all the time. Part of it is that I just see BB numbers, I never got to actually see him pitch. No way for me to know if he was missing by 4" or 24"...

[byrdz]

What's his velocity like anyway, I really don't know? I wouldn't expect a guy to come back after a year off and start throwing in the mid-90's. Not that this is the reason for his walks.

[Frobby]

So as far as your concerned there is no level of futility that would surprise you? Personally, I'm surprised he's this bad right now. He's been in camp for a month or so and was probably throwing even before then. It might not be exactly like riding a bike but I would expect the basics to come back pretty fast, and by basics, I'm talking control and mechanics.

Loewen was cleared to start throwing in November. If he was averaging, say, a walk an inning right now, and if he was managing to get through 4 innings of work in spite of it, I would not be so concerned. But his numbers right now are plain awful.