Gausman is beginning to remind me of Guthrie

[Frobby]

I am frustrated by Gausman, but I'm not giving up on him. I think his lack of a good breaking pitch really hurts him, because hitters don't take his breaking stuff seriously and can just look fastball-change-up with 2 strikes. I also think his fastball command is spotty and his fastball seems awfully straight. This leads to a lot of foul balls and high pitch counts. And, I do worry that he seems unable to take things to a slightly higher gear when he has the lead.

That said, there are incremental signs of progress. His K rate is up to 8.5 per 9 IP, his BB rate is down to 2.0. His BABIP and HR/FB ratios are high compared to league average, so there's some hope his ERA could come down as those normalize. I don't see any way that he can become a TOR starter unless he finally masters a breaking pitch and works on some of the other command issues, but there's really no reason he shouldn't be able to be a MOR starter who wins >50% of his starts, as opposed to a guy who seems to find ways not to win. That's what I'll be looking for in the second half of the season.

Just a note on yesterday's outing -- having seen the play where the Dodgers' final two runs scored, I don't think it was as glaringly bad a play as some have portrayed it, but it's also true that Jones didn't get a good jump and probably catches that ball more often than not. So, it was a bit of bad luck for Gausman, but at the same time, he put himself in that position by allowing the double to Utley and walking Seager, and he was the one who couldn't put Gonzalez away after getting ahead in the count 1-2. So, there's plenty of blame to go around for Gausman allowing the Dodger to take the lead back from the Orioles in the 5th.

As I said, I still look for improvement from Gausman in the second half of the season.

[Phantom]

Isn't it though? Geez you'd think the O's lost last night.

The O's won. Basic logic is the real loser in this thread.

[esmd]

Lordy, people are always complaining about how we don't develop young pitchers, and when we have a good one who is still developing, they want to dump him after a half season of inconsistent performances. The guy has still not had a full season in the rotation. He's still figuring out how to pitch, and he still hasn't (IMO) hit his ceiling. Slow your collective rolls and just let the kid keep pitching and keep developing. As has been said, he needs to continue to improve his fastball and breaking ball command, but between those and his changeup, he does have the stuff to be a very good starter.

[weams]

Nathan ever go 21 consecutive road starts without a win? That is almost unbelievable!! Nobody is just that unlucky! Only a Pollyanna type would fail to see a pattern here with Gausman and it isn't positive.

Don't call me a Pollyanna. Or anyone actually. Nathan was a closer.

[weams]

It's a damn shame his emotional makeup didn't catch that ball last night.

Drop step. Like Travis Snider. I just can't believe Gausman was criticized for inducing a pop up.

[weams]

Arrietta and Gausman both lack the will to win. They both fail to inspire their teammates to catch popups or score more runs at the plate. Ship the bums out I say.

Jake more than Kevin. But I agree.

[Frobby]

Lordy, people are always complaining about how we don't develop young pitchers, and when we have a good one who is still developing, they want to dump him after a half season of inconsistent performances. The guy has still not had a full season in the rotation. He's still figuring out how to pitch, and he still hasn't (IMO) hit his ceiling. Slow your collective rolls and just let the kid keep pitching and keep developing. As has been said, he needs to continue to improve his fastball and breaking ball command, but between those and his changeup, he does have the stuff to be a very good starter.

One issue is that we didn't do a good job of developing him in his first couple of years, choosing to yo-yo him around between the minors and the majors and using him in the bullpen for long stretches. I think he's be further along now if we'd been more deliberate with his development and given him more time starting games in the minors where he could work on his breaking stuff without being overly worried about results. Now he has no choice but to be worried about results, which makes it hard for him to develop the breaking stuff he can't trust. We have little choice but to be patient and hope he can progress in that way.

For example, Gausman threw about 175 innings in the minors, compared to about 440 for Arrieta. You'd expect a no. 4 overall pick to move faster, but that's basically two full seasons of seasoning Gausman didn't get.

[esmd]

One issue is that we didn't do a good job of developing him in his first couple of years, choosing to yo-yo him around between the minors and the majors and using him in the bullpen for long stretches. I think he's be further along now if we'd been more deliberate with his development and given him more time starting games in the minors where he could work on his breaking stuff without being overly worried about results. Now he has no choice but to be worried about results, which makes it hard for him to develop the breaking stuff he can't trust. We have little choice but to be patient and hope he can progress in that way.

For example, Gausman threw about 175 innings in the minors, compared to about 440 for Arrieta. You'd expect a no. 4 overall pick to move faster, but that's basically two full seasons of seasoning Gausman didn't get.

Good post, everything you wrote makes sense. At this point, they just need to let him keep pitching and working on getting better.

[ExileAngelos]

If he doesn't develop a good third pitch he is going to end up in the bullpen. And probably be really good. Yet another former top prospect that ends up in the pen. It's what we do.

[Spy Fox]

If he doesn't develop a good third pitch he is going to end up in the bullpen. And probably be really good. Yet another former top prospect that ends up in the pen. It's what we do.

Are you expecting him to get worse? Kevin Gausman, right now, is about a league average starting pitcher.

League average SPs don't become relievers, they usually become $10-$15M a year FAs.

[OFFNY]

We already have:

Gausman is Beginning to Remind Me of Guthrie

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/153417-Gausman-is-beginning-to-remind-me-of-Guthrie

Your habit of searching out old, 50 page threads from two years ago is very annoying. Why do I want to read what someone said about a player from two years ago? Let the current threads stand. I'm sure you are disappointed that this forum didn't start 42 years ago because if it did, you could combine a thread about Jim Palmer's announcing with a thread about how he pitched in 74. Enuf already!

Your complaining about the bumping of threads is very annoying.

This thread was started 4 weeks ago (not 2 years ago.)

If it bothers you, too bad.

Enough already.

[OFFNY]

That thread was started a month ago, and they are basically saying the same thing.

Thanks.

[FanSince88]

The hand-wringing about Gausman should stop, unless he totally stinks for the rest of 2016. Let him finish a full season in the MLB as a starter which he still has yet to do.

It may be that his ceiling is a solid #3 starter, and nothing more. And you know what, that's ok. It really is.

[El Gordo]

I'm happy with his QS%.

[Old#5fan]

Don't call me a Pollyanna. Or anyone actually. Nathan was a closer.

I wasn't calling you in particular anything - despite what some here may think I'm not that stupid!! But it gets old when certain people here don't respect me or others who don't think much of Gausman. I call it the way I see it and he isn't panning out so far and is very unimpressive to say the least. Also not sure why you are comparing him to a closer unless you think that is a more suitable fit for his skill set, and that may be so as he is a two pitch pitcher. Problem with that is we need starters not a closer. Also his makeup doesn't seem all that desirable for a high pressure situation that closers often face.