Roch: Rick Adair Talks About Jake

[weams]

Adair, reached by phone today, said he's thrilled by Arrieta's emergence in Chicago. He also noted how Arrieta underwent surgery late in the 2011 season to remove a fibrous mass in his right elbow - similar to a bone spur, but softer - which led to the decision to scrap the cutter.

"When you take something out that big, and there was a lot of discussion whether to do it or not because the integrity of the elbow was in question taking out a mass that big," Adair said. "It was somewhere between like a golf ball and a walnut or whatever. When you do that kind of surgery on an elbow, the last thing that comes is a guy's feel. Jake had always worked around the ball. He didn't have flexibility in that elbow, he had pain, and he did things in his delivery to compensate so that elbow wouldn't swell up. He would be great on the side, but you'd get in game situations and it just didn't work with all the adrenaline and the emotional spikes and all that kind of stuff.

"I think the biggest thing is his delivery is better than it was. You had him getting to the point where his elbow was real good and it allowed him to improve his delivery without compensating for pain or tightness or whatever. And he's actually getting the ball to go in on right-handers and away from left-handers better now, and he didn't do that before. He'd pull/jerk a lot of balls, and again, I think a lot of it had to do with the mass that was in there and then taking it out.

"He just didn't have a feel. When the adrenaline gets going, there are things that change and he just didn't have the same feel that he should have. That's the biggest thing. Plus, you've got the different environment. There's a lot of things you could point at, but I think the biggest thing is the elbow situation."

Adair, who remains out of baseball since taking a leave of absence in August 2013 but has talked to a few teams about getting back into the game, said he doesn't know whether Arrieta would have reached his potential with the Orioles.

"Sometimes, a different voice helps," he said. "Jake had been in the organization for seven or eight years. He's one of those guys who I think everything fell into place for him in Chicago, bottom line. I told him one time, 'You've got better stuff than Felix (Hernandez).' He had as good of stuff as I've ever seen, but it just didn't translate into the games at times."

Using the cutter again certainly has benefitted Arrieta, who can dominate hitters with an assortment of pitches.

"That had to do with the elbow," Adair said. "When you're taking that kind of mass out of your elbow and you're a guy who's always worked around the ball, you're trying to get to where you can get the ball to go the other way, and the cutter wasn't ideal for that.

"I wasn't as opposed to it as some other people were. We tried to get him to use his curveball, tried to get him to use his changeup more, because he definitely needed something to go away from left-handers. Everything always seemed to work into left-handers and away from right-handers. I think the elbow was a big issue."

Asked to describe his relationship with Arrieta, Adair replied, "We kind of butted heads a little bit."

"I love him," Adair continued. "He's a little bit stubborn, which I love stubborn players, but there were times when he wouldn't show up on time and you'd have to kind of get on his (butt) a little bit, but I think the world of Jake. I'm so happy for him."

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/10/former-orioles-pitching-coach-rick-adair-talks-about-jake-arrieta.html

[weams]

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/2011/08/arrieta_talks_about_injury_exp.html

“I kind of knew at some point this might come up. I’ve been really battling this for most of the year,” Arrieta said after Tuesday night’s 8-2 Orioles win against the Kansas City Royals. “[i've] done as best job as I can to manage it with treatment, taken some anti-inflammatories, but it’s come to a point where it’s really affecting the way I pitch. And I feel like I’m potentially putting myself at risk for a more serious injury if I don’t have it looked at a little bit more seriously.”

He will visit renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Los Angeles Angels’ team physician, on Aug. 10. If Yocum suggests surgery, it will probably happen within a couple days after the initial exam.

“Where it’s at now, it’s a pretty minor issue. So, if Yocum says that we need to get it out so you can go ahead and be 100 percent from the first inning to however many innings you are out there, the first to eighth inning, then that’s what we want to do.”

[MagicBird]

Adair can be thrilled and happy but Im not. I dont wish success for Jake. He's no longer an Oriole so why would I wish him success when he didnt do it for us and now somebody else is benefitting?

[CallMeBrooksie]

Adair can be thrilled and happy but Im not. I dont wish success for Jake. He's no longer an Oriole so why would I wish him success when he didnt do it for us and now somebody else is benefitting?

That ship has sailed.

He's good.. really good and likely will remain so for at least a couple seasons, maybe more (barring injury).

As frustrating as he was as a ballplayer, I rooted for him hard because I can tell he gave it his all. As frustrated as all of us were that he couldn't put it together, I think Jake was ten times as frustrated with his performance as the fans were.

He was also kinder than he needed to be when I had the opportunity to meet him several years ago.

I would rather have not been fleeced in the deal for Feldman, but ultimately you can't hold that against Jake. I hope he rocks it tonight.

[mdbdotcom]

Adair can be thrilled and happy but Im not. I dont wish success for Jake. He's no longer an Oriole so why would I wish him success when he didnt do it for us and now somebody else is benefitting?

Adair isn't an Oriole, either, so what difference does it make to him? Jake was just another young Orioles pitcher he confused.

[MagicBird]

That ship has sailed.

He's good.. really good and likely will remain so for at least a couple seasons, maybe more (barring injury).

As frustrating as he was as a ballplayer, I rooted for him hard because I can tell he gave it his all. As frustrated as all of us were that he couldn't put it together, I think Jake was ten times as frustrated with his performance as the fans were.

He was also kinder than he needed to be when I had the opportunity to meet him several years ago.

I would rather have not been fleeced in the deal for Feldman, but ultimately you can't hold that against Jake. I hope he rocks it tonight.

I wish EVERYONE success because thats the way I look at life.Its the person I want to be. Of course, if they're playing against us directly, I wish US the success.

Go Jake! Rock their world.You deserve the best because you give your best and always have.

I dont wish him any ill will. I root for the Orioles and he's not an Oriole thats all. And I wish he would have done something with the Orioles.

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jake Arrieta is ready <a href="http://t.co/7SPFHHRQBY">pic.twitter.com/7SPFHHRQBY</a></p>— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) <a href="

">October 7, 2015</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Moose Milligan]

Rooting for Jake tonight. And rooting for the Orioles to draft, develop and trade better. This stings so bad.

He's a good dude who tried hard here. Never questioned his effort or his desire. Happy for him that he got out of here and to a place where he could be himself.

[OsEatAlEast]

That ship has sailed.

He's good.. really good and likely will remain so for at least a couple seasons, maybe more (barring injury).

As frustrating as he was as a ballplayer, I rooted for him hard because I can tell he gave it his all. As frustrated as all of us were that he couldn't put it together, I think Jake was ten times as frustrated with his performance as the fans were.

He was also kinder than he needed to be when I had the opportunity to meet him several years ago.

I would rather have not been fleeced in the deal for Feldman, but ultimately you can't hold that against Jake. I hope he rocks it tonight.

Good post! This is how I'm starting to think of it. I like Duquette but the man just is not good at trades. Which pretty much puts him on par with 90% of all the other GM's in O's history. This organization has not been good at trading even when we were winning World Series titles.

[weams]

Good post! This is how I'm starting to think of it. I like Duquette but the man just is not good at trades. Which pretty much puts him on par with 90% of all the other GM's in O's history. This organization has not been good at trading even when we were winning World Series titles.

Most good teams don't trade that well. Bad teams win trades.

[Il BuonO]

Rooting for Jake tonight. And rooting for the Orioles to draft, develop and trade better. This stings so bad.

He's a good dude who tried hard here. Never questioned his effort or his desire. Happy for him that he got out of here and to a place where he could be himself.

Pretty close to how I feel. Jake always gave his best effort. A lot of this stuff by Adair is hindsight, but I thought it notable he admitted butting heads with Jake. A lot of that had to with not only the use of the cutter but his crossfire delivery.

Also, I feel bad for Cubs fans. I'd like those poor people to finally have a winning team.

[OsEatAlEast]

Most good teams don't trade that well. Bad teams win trades.

I know what you're saying. I just want Duquette to stop trading away talent for guys who just have us treading water. You know the non difference makers like Parra, Feldman, and KRod.

[weams]

I wish EVERYONE success because thats the way I look at life.Its the person I want to be. Of course, if they're playing against us directly, I wish US the success.

That is a nice life formula.

[weams]

I know what you're saying. I just want Duquette to stop trading away talent for guys who just have us treading water. You know the non difference makers like Parra, Feldman, and KRod.

I do not disagree. We did not have the ability to trade Bundy and Gausman and Schoop at the right times.

[JayThomas]

I don't remember the key point of that whole article. I don't remember Arrieta having elbow surgery in the fall of 2011.

So let me get this straight, he has elbow surgery in fall 2011 and we trade him 3 months into the 2012 season because his control isn't good enough?????

Do I have that right? That's insane of us.