Who's our 5th starter if we don't add anyone else

[weams]

I like this but the problem is that this strategy leaves absolutely no room for injury. Even including Wilson and Worley, Bundy and Harvey, we have 8 "viable" candidates. The last 2 years we have used 7 and 8 starters - before that we used at least 12 for 3 straight years, including 14 in 2013. We need more depth.

1 SP Chris Tillman 26 13 6 .684 3.34 34 34 0 1 1 0 207.1 189 83 77 21 66 1 150 4 0 8 871 118 4.01 1.230 8.2 0.9 2.9 6.5 2.27

2 SP Wei-Yin Chen* 28 16 6 .727 3.54 31 31 0 0 0 0 185.2 193 77 73 23 35 2 136 3 0 2 772 111 3.89 1.228 9.4 1.1 1.7 6.6 3.89

3 SP Bud Norris 29 15 8 .652 3.65 28 28 0 0 0 0 165.1 149 68 67 20 52 2 139 14 0 3 687 108 4.22 1.216 8.1 1.1 2.8 7.6 2.67

4 SP Miguel Gonzalez 30 10 9 .526 3.23 27 26 0 1 1 0 159.0 155 61 57 25 51 1 111 8 1 4 671 122 4.89 1.296 8.8 1.4 2.9 6.3 2.18

5 SP Ubaldo Jimenez 30 6 9 .400 4.81 25 22 0 0 0 0 125.1 113 68 67 14 77 0 116 4 0 4 553 82 4.67 1.516 8.1 1.0 5.5 8.3 1.51

6 SP Kevin Gausman 23 7 7 .500 3.57 20 20 0 1 0 0 113.1 111 48 45 7 38 0 88 1 0 9 476 110 3.41 1.315 8.8 0.6 3.0 7.0 2.32

Rk Pos Name Age W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W

7 CL Zach Britton* 26 3 2 .600 1.65 71 0 49 0 0 37 76.1 46 17 14 4 23 0 62 1 0 0 285 240 3.13 0.904 5.4 0.5 2.7 7.3 2.70

8 RP Darren O'Day 31 5 2 .714 1.70 68 0 18 0 0 4 68.2 42 14 13 6 19 4 73 8 0 0 271 232 3.32 0.888 5.5 0.8 2.5 9.6 3.84

9 RP Tommy Hunter 27 3 2 .600 2.97 60 0 24 0 0 11 60.2 55 22 20 4 12 3 45 1 0 2 241 133 3.15 1.104 8.2 0.6 1.8 6.7 3.75

10 RP Brian Matusz* 27 2 3 .400 3.48 63 0 11 0 0 0 51.2 51 23 20 7 17 4 53 3 0 3 226 114 4.00 1.316 8.9 1.2 3.0 9.2 3.12

11 RP Ryan Webb 28 3 3 .500 3.83 51 0 13 0 0 0 49.1 50 21 21 2 12 2 37 1 1 1 207 103 2.95 1.257 9.1 0.4 2.2 6.8 3.08

Rk Pos Name Age W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W

12 Brad Brach 28 7 1 .875 3.18 46 0 8 0 0 0 62.1 48 24 22 6 25 1 54 1 0 2 254 125 3.90 1.171 6.9 0.9 3.6 7.8 2.16

13 T.J. McFarland* 25 4 2 .667 2.76 37 1 14 0 0 0 58.2 70 22 18 2 13 2 34 4 0 0 255 143 3.29 1.415 10.7 0.3 2.0 5.2 2.62

14 Evan Meek 31 0 4 .000 5.79 23 0 4 0 0 0 23.1 26 16 15 3 11 1 16 2 0 1 107 69 5.10 1.586 10.0 1.2 4.2 6.2 1.45

15 Andrew Miller* 29 2 0 1.000 1.35 23 0 3 0 0 1 20.0 8 3 3 1 4 0 34 1 0 1 72 297 1.13 0.600 3.6 0.5 1.8 15.3 8.50

16 Josh Stinson 26 0 0 6.23 8 0 4 0 0 0 13.0 16 9 9 2 6 0 6 2 0 1 61 65 6.06 1.692 11.1 1.4 4.2 4.2 1.00

17 Preston Guilmet 26 0 1 .000 5.23 10 0 4 0 0 0 10.1 8 6 6 2 2 0 12 0 0 1 43 78 3.91 0.968 7.0 1.7 1.7 10.5 6.00

18 Troy Patton* 28 0 1 .000 8.10 9 0 3 0 0 0 6.2 9 6 6 1 4 1 5 0 0 0 31 51 5.38 1.950 12.2 1.4 5.4 6.8 1.25

19 Joe Saunders* 33 0 0 13.50 6 0 3 0 0 0 3.1 3 5 5 1 4 1 1 1 0 0 17 33 10.93 2.100 8.1 2.7 10.8 2.7 0.25

20 Ramon Ramirez 32 0 0 0.00 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 4 2.13 1.000 0.0 0.0 9.0 18.0 2.00

Team Totals 27.7 96 66 .593 3.43 162 162 159 3 2 53 1461.1 1342 593 557 151 472 25 1174 59 2 42 6104 115 3.96 1.241 8.3 0.9 2.9 7.2 2.49

Rank in 15 AL teams 2 14 3 7 6 1 6 5 3 3 11 8 10

96 Wins.

2014

[Can_of_corn]

Worley's stuff is way worse than 2012 Hammel.

2011 Hammel's stuff was way worse then 2012 Hammel.

Not that I have much in the way of expectations for Worley.

[Il BuonO]

I think so but don't want to hurt someone's feelings if I have

come on too strong.

You aren't hurting my feelings with your opinions. None of these guys are my family members, but feel free to come on strong with some facts as to why neither should be on the team to support your position anytime.

[Il BuonO]

2011 Hammel's stuff was way worse then 2012 Hammel.

Not that I have much in the way of expectations for Worley.

You know he has the nickname of "Vanimal"? Just saying.

[Can_of_corn]

You know he has the nickname of "Vanimal"? Just saying.

Looks like a hipster.

I have no confidence in hipsters.

[LA2]

Worley is the only candidate who actually has a major league track record as a starter. Wilson is first alternative, but only for maybe 20-23 starts at most; I'm afraid of him getting too exposed at this point.

Heading into the season with Worley/Wilson seems a lot less promising than last season's Gausman/Norris, especially since the top man (Chen) is gone. But, as it turned out, Norris didn't deliver and so Wilson shouldn't have a hard time doing better than him.

Injuries are bound to happen. If Wright is the first choice as a spot-starter, I hope he can do better than he did last year (after the first two strong starts). As Weams and others have implied, Buck's pretty good at spot-starting pitchers near the end of their careers; interesting to wonder who this season's Saunders, Wolf, or Freddy Garcia will be.

[Il BuonO]

Looks like a hipster.

I have no confidence in hipsters.

Is Dan a hipster, or hipster doofus?

[PaulFolk]

1 SP Chris Tillman 26 13 6 .684 3.34 34 34 0 1 1 0 207.1 189 83 77 21 66 1 150 4 0 8 871 118 4.01 1.230 8.2 0.9 2.9 6.5 2.27

2 SP Wei-Yin Chen* 28 16 6 .727 3.54 31 31 0 0 0 0 185.2 193 77 73 23 35 2 136 3 0 2 772 111 3.89 1.228 9.4 1.1 1.7 6.6 3.89

3 SP Bud Norris 29 15 8 .652 3.65 28 28 0 0 0 0 165.1 149 68 67 20 52 2 139 14 0 3 687 108 4.22 1.216 8.1 1.1 2.8 7.6 2.67

4 SP Miguel Gonzalez 30 10 9 .526 3.23 27 26 0 1 1 0 159.0 155 61 57 25 51 1 111 8 1 4 671 122 4.89 1.296 8.8 1.4 2.9 6.3 2.18

5 SP Ubaldo Jimenez 30 6 9 .400 4.81 25 22 0 0 0 0 125.1 113 68 67 14 77 0 116 4 0 4 553 82 4.67 1.516 8.1 1.0 5.5 8.3 1.51

6 SP Kevin Gausman 23 7 7 .500 3.57 20 20 0 1 0 0 113.1 111 48 45 7 38 0 88 1 0 9 476 110 3.41 1.315 8.8 0.6 3.0 7.0 2.32

This seems like the exception that proves the rule. The O's had nearly unprecedented (for them, at least) starting pitching stability in 2014, with only six pitchers getting more than one start. But as connja said, that very rarely happens. The O's normally need around 9-10 different starters during the course of the season, and they're lacking that depth right now.

We saw that lack of depth in the second half of 2015, when the O's had to keep sending an injured Miguel Gonzalez and an ineffective Mike Wright to make starts because they had literally no other options.

[El Gordo]

Is Dan a hipster, or hipster doofus?

Dan doesn't look like any of these :

or this

I think he's a baseball nerd

[sportsfan8703]

A- Draft pick compensation needed

B- Cost

C- Declining K rate

D- All of the above

A- is just relative. We still will have a 1st rd pick and three 2nd's in the draft.

B- Every FA cost something. People have criticized Wieters, Davis, Trumbo and O'day's deals as being overpays. Only Kim is seen as a bargain. In three months we're all going to forget about the difference between a guy making 8 million a year compared to a guy making 10 million a year.

C- Coincides with a declining ERA. His K rate is falling but is GB rate is rising. Which the stats show that he's throwing more two seamers and less four seamers. (Sinkerballers are good)

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=8173&position=P

I'm not an out queen. I'll take them in any type. You don't always need the big punchout. Sometimes the little dribbler to second base does the job. Groundball's are preferable with our defense. Gallardo went from the NL central to pitching in Texas and his ERA went down. That's how we should judge him. He's the best option left. Give him 4/44 or so and lets go win 90 games.

[JayThomas]

I think Chris Lee or Ariel Miranda could contribute significantly before the season ends.

I fully expect to see them both either this year or next in Oriole uniforms.

[weams]

Roch speaks with Dan Duquette

"There's some people that you could go sign or trade for that you're not 100 percent sure if they can do it in the American League East. It's a little different cat. Different ballparks. It's the only place in the big leagues that has two AstroTurf parks in it."

"I understand all the different things that go into pitching here. We've got two or three guys who have been successful in this division before, so that's up to us to get them back on that task. Sure, we're looking at other people's players in case something comes along, but at what price?"

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2016/01/still-searching-for-a-starter.html

[Scotto]

Is Billingy worth a flyer as a depth signing, or is the sense he'll get a ml deal somewhere?

[Ripken]

Why does Dan bother telling us he will add a good starter just to feign surprise at their cost?

[tntoriole]

Roch speaks with Dan Duquette

"There's some people that you could go sign or trade for that you're not 100 percent sure if they can do it in the American League East. It's a little different cat. Different ballparks. It's the only place in the big leagues that has two AstroTurf parks in it."

"I understand all the different things that go into pitching here. We've got two or three guys who have been successful in this division before, so that's up to us to get them back on that task. Sure, we're looking at other people's players in case something comes along, but at what price?"

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2016/01/still-searching-for-a-starter.html

Actually I think these particular quotes are from Buck.