Stretching Out Ryan Meisinger?

[OFFNY]

o

6 up, 6 down.

3 strikeouts.

6 OUTS: 3 Strikeouts, 2 Flyouts, 1 Popout

RYAN THOMAS MEISINGER O (vs. Advanced-A Wilmington, 7/31)

IP:l 2

H:;; 0 ll

R:l) 0

BB:)0

SO:)3

Pitches: 20 (14 Strikes, 6 Balls)

2016 ERA: 2.45 (Advanced-A Frederick)

PITCHES BY INNING

****************

11 (7 Strikes, 4 Balls)

91 (7 Strikes, 2 Balls)

[bobmc]

So much for stretching him out.

Showcasing him for the trade deadline!

[Tony-OH]

Quite a performance - and perhaps notable that he went 3 and a third. Maybe they should try and stretch him to see if he can get up to 5 innings this year. His career stats include 110 SO's vs 23 W's in 110 innings. I think the O's could have pushed him along quicker, but 22 isn't too old. He's a fascinating prospect, imo, with some real value.

He is a reliever and the Orioles plan to keep him there. As I stated earlier in the thread, the Orioles are developing their key relief prospects by having them stretch out to three innings in order to develop their pitches.

[Ruzious]

He is a reliever and the Orioles plan to keep him there. As I stated earlier in the thread, the Orioles are developing their key relief prospects by having them stretch out to three innings in order to develop their pitches.

Understood. I commented because he went past 3 innings in that one game.

[Tony-OH]

Understood. I commented because he went past 3 innings in that one game.

The extra 1/3 of an inning was probably to a gamed situation thing more than anything else.

[glenn__davis]

Who's the last Orioles prospect that came through the system as a reliever and actually had success in that role in the majors?

I guess Givens kind of counts, but it just doesn't seem that worthwhile to follow relievers from the minors.

[bobmc]

Who's the last Orioles prospect that came through the system as a reliever and actually had success in that role in the majors?

I guess Givens kind of counts, but it just doesn't seem that worthwhile to follow relievers from the minors.

Triggs?

[Tony-OH]

Who's the last Orioles prospect that came through the system as a reliever and actually had success in that role in the majors?

I guess Givens kind of counts, but it just doesn't seem that worthwhile to follow relievers from the minors.

Normally I would agree with you, but the Orioles and even some other teams are drafting and are developing relievers differently. I understand your reluctance until you see some proof at the major league level, but I like the idea of identifying and then developing relievers as well as starters.

It's not just as simple as saying the guy failed as a starter so just turn him into a reliever. That works for some guys, but for others, they can't work on short rest, back to back days or warm up quickly. With starter's going less and less innings nowadays, the multi-inning reliever is a key part of a major league roster nowadays.

[LookinUp]

It'll be interesting to see how you rank these guys at the end of the season.

The best example of a team doing this that I can think of is Drew Storen. He was drafted as a reliever and went to the majors that way.

[Tony-OH]

It'll be interesting to see how you rank these guys at the end of the season.

The best example of a team doing this that I can think of is Drew Storen. He was drafted as a reliever and went to the majors that way.

This year's list will be real interesting honestly.

[Crazysilver03]

Triggs?

Triggs didn't come through the system. He was acquired mid season 2015 and was only in the organization for about 9 months.

[Ruzious]

Who's the last Orioles prospect that came through the system as a reliever and actually had success in that role in the majors?

I guess Givens kind of counts, but it just doesn't seem that worthwhile to follow relievers from the minors.

The times they are a changing. At least since Huston Street was developed as a closer long before he became a first round pick - as a reliever - by Oakland in 2004. I believe you see more and quality college pitchers choosing to be relievers. And the O's are smart to be in fairly early on that trend.

[eb45]

Who's the last Orioles prospect that came through the system as a reliever and actually had success in that role in the majors?

I guess Givens kind of counts, but it just doesn't seem that worthwhile to follow relievers from the minors.

Apart from guys like Brad Brach and BJ Ryan, who were never starters but were already major leaguers when the O's acquired them, I believe the answer you're looking for is Chris Ray.

As others have said, though, it's a new strategy, so judging it on the past when they weren't actually employing this strategy is probably not a great idea. We've already seen Donnie Hart and Ashur Tolliver make the big leagues as relievers, and Hart in particular didn't look wildly out of place. It's not an overwhelming stack of evidence, to be sure, but again, this is a pretty new thing they're doing. Seems like it started with the 2013 draft (when Hart was taken).

[McLovin]

I believe you see more and quality college pitchers choosing to be relievers. And the O's are smart to be in fairly early on that trend.

I'm not sure times are only just now changing. If a player looks like a closer, they will be picked early. The Orioles picked Gregg Olson #4 overall in 1988...

[eb45]

I'm not sure times are only just now changing. If a player looks like a closer, they will be picked early. The Orioles picked Gregg Olson #4 overall in 1988...

Yeah, that was the trend for a while. Matt Anderson went #1 at one point also. Then there was the trend of nobody taking relievers in high rounds, ever, and it seems like that's just now starting to thaw as the sabermetric consensus starts to correct itself on the value of leverage.

One trend that just popped up last year was teams taking college relievers with very high picks with the intention of using them as starters (Tyler Jay, Dillon Tate, etc.) I guess the thinking there is that if the guy can't put it together as a starter, you know what he can do in short stints. This was something the Orioles tried as well, but never with super-high picks and never really with much success (hello, Dan Klein!).