Schmuck gives Matusz a B+ for the year

[Going Underground]

Peter Schmuck grades the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun. You can see his other grads on the papers website. I thought people might not agree with this one.

Brian Matusz, Relief Pitcher, Grade: B+

Lost a chunk of June after being caught with a foreign substance on his arm, but has not given up an earned run in 10 appearances since. Can't argue with a 2.28 ERA in 27 appearances.

[TINSTAAPP]

Peter Schmuck grades the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun. You can see his other grads on the papers website. I thought people might not agree with this one.

Brian Matusz, Relief Pitcher, Grade: B+

Lost a chunk of June after being caught with a foreign substance on his arm, but has not given up an earned run in 10 appearances since. Can't argue with a 2.28 ERA in 27 appearances.

This is why I hate our media at times. They're very, very soft on the players and coaches. A player like Matusz would have been run out of town in Boston or New York years ago. Matusz's numbers look good from the outside but all of us who follow the team closely know better. You can't trust him at all in any kind of high leverage situation. He can't even be trusted against lefties in high leverage situations because he gives up so many walks and puts them on-base way more often than he should. It'll be a great day when Matusz finally leaves the team for good.

[33rdst]

Yeah, I don't pay much attention to Schmuck's opinions.

[weams]

This is why I hate our media at times. They're very, very soft on the players and coaches. A player like Matusz would have been run out of town in Boston or New York years ago. Matusz's numbers look good from the outside but all of us who follow the team closely know better. You can't trust him at all in any kind of high leverage situation. He can't even be trusted against lefties in high leverage situations because he gives up so many walks and puts them on-base way more often than he should. It'll be a great day when Matusz finally leaves the team for good.

Not defending Matusz or Schmuck. But you can't seriously be advocating for NY or Boston style muck racking without being a fan of their franchises.

[ReclaimTheCrown]

Peter Schmuck grades the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun. You can see his other grads on the papers website. I thought people might not agree with this one.

Brian Matusz, Relief Pitcher, Grade: B+

Lost a chunk of June after being caught with a foreign substance on his arm, but has not given up an earned run in 10 appearances since. Can't argue with a 2.28 ERA in 27 appearances.

This is silly. Matusz has allowed more than half of inherited runners to score (7 of 13 have scored.) That's how you "argue with a 2.28 ERA."

[Orioles Jim]

Wish I had him as a grader in college.

I probably could've partied every night.

[TouchemAll]

This is silly. Matusz has allowed more than half of inherited runners to score (7 of 13 have scored.) That's how you "argue with a 2.28 ERA."

Bingo we have a WINNER! There is no better gas can out of the pen then Matusz.

NOBODY throws gas better when he enters the fire with men on. :slytf:

[Redskins Rick]

Bingo we have a WINNER! There is no better gas can out of the pen then Matusz.

NOBODY throws gas better when he enters the fire with men on. :slytf:

Actually, there are two Oriole pitchers higher on the list than Brian.

http://www.sportingcharts.com/mlb/stats/pitching-inherited-runners-scored-leaders/2015/

[Number5]

This is silly. Matusz has allowed more than half of inherited runners to score (7 of 13 have scored.) That's how you "argue with a 2.28 ERA."

In fairness, especially with the small sample sizes involved, this is an inconclusive stat. How many outs were there at the time? Were the runners on first, second, or third base. Without this complete information, a blanket stat of "inherited runners scored" doesn't tell us a whole lot. For example, a pitcher who comes in with runners at second and third and no outs and allows 50% of those inherited runners to score -- that would actually be a good result, would it not? On the other hand, if he comes into two games with two outs and a runner on first base in each, allowing 50% of those inherited runners to score would not be so great. Telling us that Matusz has allowed 7 of 13 inherited runners to score doesn't really tell us much without the details involved with those game situations. It is actually a weak argument against a 2.28 ERA in 27 appearances without that additional information.

[Frobby]

This is silly. Matusz has allowed more than half of inherited runners to score (7 of 13 have scored.) That's how you "argue with a 2.28 ERA."

I wouldn't argue a B+ for Matusz. But I would argue that his detractors seize on any negative things he does, and he is not nearly as bad as those detractors suggest. Even if he has a good second half and ends up with a sub-2.00 ERA there will be people saying he's the worst reliever ever. The same people (not necessarily you) who are criticizing him for allowing 7 of 13 inherited runners to score game him no credit last year for allowing only 20% of inherited runners to score, even though that's a very good ratio.

My biggest problem with Matusz this year has been the walks. If he can sharpen that up in the second half, we could look back at the end of the season and say he had a pretty decent year.

[Can_of_corn]

This is why I hate our media at times. They're very, very soft on the players and coaches. A player like Matusz would have been run out of town in Boston or New York years ago. Matusz's numbers look good from the outside but all of us who follow the team closely know better. You can't trust him at all in any kind of high leverage situation. He can't even be trusted against lefties in high leverage situations because he gives up so many walks and puts them on-base way more often than he should. It'll be a great day when Matusz finally leaves the team for good.

In Schmuck's defense I think it is more a matter of incompetence then leniency.

[LookitsPuck]

Brian Matusz's 5.2 BB/9 is the worst of his career. To put it in perspective, it's a tick below Ubaldo Jimenez's 5.5 BB/9 from last year.

He's not doing his job. Usually others have to bail him out.

[LookitsPuck]

I wouldn't argue a B+ for Matusz. But I would argue that his detractors seize on any negative things he does, and he is not nearly as bad as those detractors suggest. Even if he has a good second half and ends up with a sub-2.00 ERA there will be people saying he's the worst reliever ever. The same people (not necessarily you) who are criticizing him for allowing 7 of 13 inherited runners to score game him no credit last year for allowing only 20% of inherited runners to score, even though that's a very good ratio.

My biggest problem with Matusz this year has been the walks. If he can sharpen that up in the second half, we could look back at the end of the season and say he had a pretty decent year.

Well, allowing more than 50% of inherited runners to score all the while walking guys left and right does not make for a reliable reliever. Also keep in mind he's supposed to be a LOOGY. That's what really makes him all the more frustrating.

[Can_of_corn]

Brian Matusz's 5.2 BB/9 is the worst of his career. To put it in perspective, it's a tick below Ubaldo Jimenez's 5.5 BB/9 from last year.

He's not doing his job. Usually others have to bail him out.

And this in a historically low era for walks.

[OFFNY]

This is silly. Matusz has allowed more than half of inherited runners to score (7 of 13 have scored.) That's how you "argue with a 2.28 ERA."

In fairness, especially with the small sample sizes involved, this is an inconclusive stat. How many outs were there at the time? Were the runners on first, second, or third base. Without this complete information, a blanket stat of "inherited runners scored" doesn't tell us a whole lot. For example, a pitcher who comes in with runners at second and third and no outs and allows 50% of those inherited runners to score -- that would actually be a good result, would it not? On the other hand, if he comes into two games with two outs and a runner on first base in each, allowing 50% of those inherited runners to score would not be so great. Telling us that Matusz has allowed 7 of 13 inherited runners to score doesn't really tell us much without the details involved with those game situations. It is actually a weak argument against a 2.28 ERA in 27 appearances without that additional information.

This is a very good point, as I have commented about it in another thread.

Just as ERA needs to be evaluated beyond face value, so do other statistics, such as men left on base, and inherited runners for a pitcher:

I don't think that the statistic should necessarily be completely ignored, but I agree with the points that you make, and that instead of simply looking at the overall statistic at face value, it needs to be scrutinized.

Similarly, the Men Left on Base (LOB) total can be a dubious statistic in itself at times, also. Unless you finish an inning with a home run before the opponent records the third out of the inning, you are always going to have men left on base in any kind of rally. You can score 6 runs in one inning and still leave 2 or 3 men base in said inning. You can score 14 runs in a game, and still leave 16 runners on base for said game.

Matusz did not do well in allowing all 3 base-runners to score against the Yankees, but he also entered the game in the worst possible situation that a relief pitcher can enter it in, with the bases loaded and nobody out. If he (for example) had entered the game with runners on 1st and 2nd base with 2 outs, and he let both of those runs score, I would be more critical of him doing that than I would for what actually happened against the Yankees.

Also, as others pointed out, some relief pitchers are generally better suited to deal with inherited base-runners than others. I remember in Game Three of the 1998 World Series when the Padres led the Yankees by one run heading into the 8th inning. Instead of bringing in a well-rested Trevor Hoffman (who had not pitched at all since the N.L.C.S.), manager Bruce Bochy put Randall Myers into the game, and he walked the only Yankee batter that he faced. THEN Hoffman was brought in, and Tim McCarver was very critical of Bochy for this, for now Hoffman had to pitch from the stretch, be concerned about a base-runner, etc. instead of coming into a clean inning, and having a chance to shut the Yankees down by himself. Hoffman gave up a single and a 3-run home run before getting 3 outs, and the Yankees wound up winning the game by a single run (5-4.)

Now perhaps Hoffman would have gotten tattooed by the Yankees anyway, even if he had come into the inning at the very start. But we will never know for sure, and I thought that it was an interesting point that McCarver had made at the time. And since we were on the subject of inherited base-runners, that was one of the first things that came to my mind.