Mike Wright Preparing In Case Orioles Need Another Starter

[weams]

MASNSports, Roch

Quote

Wright continues to bond with new pitching coach Roger McDowell, who also paid close attention on Friday before heading over to Bradenton for the Grapefruit League game. McDowell stood by the bench or moved behind the backstop next to Ramon Martinez, the Orioles’ special assignment pitching instructor.

“My natural arm slot is lower three-quarters and I’m trying not to go straight from that too much,” Wright said. “Just getting down the mound and getting toward the catcher and have my energy go all in one direction. It’s something I’ve been working on for years, not falling off before I’ve thrown the pitch. Sometimes, it just takes another opinion to see something else at a different point in your delivery that kind of cleans it up.

 

[ChuckS]

I'm not ready to close the door on Wright yet for this reason:

Bowie in 2012:  4.91, Bowie in 2013: 3.26

Norfolk in 2014: 4.61, Norfolk in 2015: 2.22

Baltimore in 2016: 5.79, Baltimore in 2017: ???

Seems like a guy who might need an extra year to figure out each level.  

[Rene88]

3 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

I'm not ready to close the door on Wright yet for this reason:

Bowie in 2012:  4.91, Bowie in 2013: 3.26

Norfolk in 2014: 4.61, Norfolk in 2015: 2.22

Baltimore in 2016: 5.79, Baltimore in 2017: ???

Seems like a guy who might need an extra year to figure out each level.  

We could use some optimism on the SP front, good post.

[terps19]

10 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

I'm not ready to close the door on Wright yet for this reason:

Bowie in 2012:  4.91, Bowie in 2013: 3.26

Norfolk in 2014: 4.61, Norfolk in 2015: 2.22

Baltimore in 2016: 5.79, Baltimore in 2017: ???

Seems like a guy who might need an extra year to figure out each level.  

I am pretty sure most people are hoping you are correct here.  In 2016 his AAA era did see an uptick to 3.07.  But again that is better than his 2014 numbers.  But between 2015 and 2016 his strike out numbers dropped, he walks dropped, and hits per 9 rose... WHIP from 1.037 in 2015 to 1.127 in 2016.  Hard to figure out what is going on; frustrating to guess.    

[weams]

On 3/17/2017 at 6:23 PM, RZNJ said:

Results matter.   Put up or shut up.    

That's what we all said about Jake. 

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, weams said:

That's what we all said about Jake. 

Also "He's a headcase that cracks under pressure."

[weams]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

Also "He's a headcase that cracks under pressure."

Well. He WAS! Now, Mike Wright has nowhere the upside that Jake always had. Jake showed none of it to any consistency when with the Orioles. 

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, dan-O said:

I mean, wasn't he though? Haven't really seen much difference this spring either. Nice 2-seamer and all but a couple bloop hits and he's giving up runs like they're going out of style. 

13 minutes ago, weams said:

Well. He WAS! Now, Mike Wright has nowhere the upside that Jake always had. Jake showed none of it to any consistency when with the Orioles. 

Sure he was.  So is Wright, or do you guys forget the fist pounding in the dugout?  I was drawing another parallel between the two.

[ChuckS]

One thing I will say about Wright is like Tillman his stuff can be real inconsistent from start to start. He's hitting 96-97 one game and the next he's out there topping out at 91-92. Tillman has found a way to finesse his way into adequacy when his stuff isn't there but we haven't seen that with Wright. 

I don't think anyone is thinking Wright could turn into Arrieta. But an adequate fourth or fifth starter with 4.5ish ERA? Maybe.

[Can_of_corn]

20 minutes ago, dan-O said:

Sure, I see a lot of parallels between Arrieta and Wright in the headcase department.

Unfortunately for Wright, that's where the parallels end because the quality of his pitches don't come close to Arrieta at his absolute worst with the Orioles. Has Wright ever snapped off a nasty breaking pitch or spotted a 97 mph moving 4-seamer on the corner that made you go "man if he can only get it together'? He hasn't for me. Where's the STUFF? I just don't really see it. 

I've seen brief flashes.

But I'd be happy if instead of a 1 Wright becomes a 3.

Beats being a failure.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, weams said:

That's what we all said about Jake. 

I don't think they're comparable.   Jake was a top 100 prospect and you could see he had dominating stuff when he was on.     Wright's never been at that level.   I'm not saying there's no scenario where he's an OK major league starter, but he'll never be as good as Arrieta or even Tillman.    

[weams]

Just now, Frobby said:

I don't think they're comparable.   Jake was a top 100 prospect and you could see he had dominating stuff when he was on.     Wright's never been at that level.   I'm not saying there's no scenario where he's an OK major league starter, but he'll never be as good as Arrieta or even Tillman.    

I've said all those things as well.

[sportsfan8703]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I've seen brief flashes.

But I'd be happy if instead of a 1 Wright becomes a 3.

Beats being a failure.

I'd be happy with him just being a solid #5 for a few years and putting up a 4.50 ERA.  We need guys doing that on the cheap instead of having to pay Miley/Gallardo types 8-10 million a year.  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Wright ultimately might end up being Britton's replacement at closer.  I like his arm, but I haven't seen anything yet to convince me he can be a competent MLB starter. 

[Frobby]

6 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Wright ultimately might end up being Britton's replacement at closer.  I like his arm, but I haven't seen anything yet to convince me he can be a competent MLB starter. 

I've seen nothing to convince me he can be a back end reliever.