Erbe is doing it again!

[Elon Os Fan]

I think Erbe is developing more upside than Tillman, even though Tillman will reach the majors first....

[BoysofArbutus]

I think Erbe is developing more upside than Tillman, even though Tillman will reach the majors first....

I wouldn't go that far. Tillman has had some dominating stuff and been more consistent at a higher level at the same age. This start does show what Erbe can do, though. When he was rolling through April, I posted saying that we all knew he had this potential, but he would hit a rough spot and we'll see the true Erbe in how he bounces back. If this is his bounce back and he remains consistently strong through the rest of the season, he has to be back on the short list of our top prospects.

At this point though I still go Tillman, Matusz, Arrieta. I'd love to see Erbe slide in right behind those guys, though.

[OriolesObsessed]

I was at the game too. He did hit one batter in addition to the single' date=' but those were the only baserunners, and I think only two other people hit the ball out of the infield with a couple flyouts.

I was disappointed I didn't get to see more from Wieters. They were definitely pitching around him. I think he had two four-pitch walks. When he flipped around to the right side against the lefty in his last at-bat, I was really hoping to see him crush one.

[b']The only real bad part of the night was seeing the opposing starter get hit by a line drive. It sure looked like it got him in the face, but when he came off the field, he didn't seem to be bleeding, so maybe it didn't get him as badly as I thought[/b].

Godin was hit in the jaw with the line drive and was taken to the hospital. I haven't heard anything else about his condition but I will update as soon as I do.

[Guest Sailor Jerry]

Wait, I thought Erbe was going to be a "neverwillbe" who was too young, stubborn, or untalented? You mean the kid has great potential and people just may need to be patient with him? Patience!??!?!?!!? Wow!

[ChrisP]

Wait, I thought Erbe was going to be a "neverwillbe" who was too young, stubborn, or untalented? You mean the kid has great potential and people just may need to be patient with him? Patience!??!?!?!!? Wow!

I've been here for years and have never seen anyone describe Erbe in a negative manner as you mention above. Not sure where you coming from...Folks here are extremely patient with Erbe and really seem to support the O's bringing along slowly.

[AVencill]

To all the naysayers of Erbe, these last two outings ought to make you eat pie. He's turned the corner the way Spoone did last season. That ERA's quickly coming back down (down from 4.65 to 4.23 as of last night), and as of right now, he leads the CL in K's with 80.

I expect to see more fantastic outings like these in the second half.

[bird watcher]

Could we have 4 pitchers in the top 50 prospect lists at the end of the season?

Erbe, Tillman, Arrieta, Matusz?:clap3:

[Guest Sailor Jerry]

I've been here for years and have never seen anyone describe Erbe in a negative manner as you mention above. Not sure where you coming from...Folks here are extremely patient with Erbe and really seem to support the O's bringing along slowly.

You clearly haven't been paying attention. Lots of people have preached patience, yes, but it was just a month ago that some people were already foolishly writing him off. And I'll take the opportunity to make fun of that every time.

[McLovin]

The only thing that brings me pause was that he did it to the same team. Do the 'Rocks just stink? On the other hand though, it might be even more impressive that he did it to the same team, in that they new how to prepare for him.

[Frobby]

To all the naysayers of Erbe, these last two outings ought to make you eat pie. He's turned the corner the way Spoone did last season. That ERA's quickly coming back down (down from 4.65 to 4.23 as of last night), and as of right now, he leads the CL in K's with 80.

I expect to see more fantastic outings like these in the second half.

Actually, Arrieta leads the league with 82 K's.

While Erbe surely has shown how dominant he can be when he's on his game, his challege is to avoid the games where he is way off. He had a very good beginning of the year, and there was a lot of talk about how he had smoohted out his delivery and gained better command and consistency. The he reeled off 4 terrible outings in 5 appearances. Now he has been dominant to pretty good over his last 7 starts, with 1 or 2 exceptions (2.73 ERA in those 7 starts). If he can just reduce the number of games where he goes walkabout, he can really be something special.

1st 5 starts: 29.2 IP, 20 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 6 BB, 27 K's, 2.73 ERA

2nd 5 starts: 23.0 IP, 33 H, 22 R, 20 ER, 5 BB, 22 K's, 7.83 ERA

3rd 5 starts: 26.0 IP, 16 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 8 BB, 31 K's, 2.77 ERA

By the way, what happened on June 3? He appears to have started that game, but only pitched one inning. Rain delay? That's the reason his IP over the last 5 starts appear a bit low.

[ChrisP]

You clearly haven't been paying attention. Lots of people have preached patience, yes, but it was just a month ago that some people were already foolishly writing him off. And I'll take the opportunity to make fun of that every time.

WTF? CLEARLY I was saying something nice and the years of positive things about Erbe outweigh the few "hecklers" who spout off sometimes. I clearly haven't been paying attention though....gimmie a break. Some posters here are really getting rude lately...

[Guest Sailor Jerry]

Chris, my tone may have been out of line. Sorry.

It's more the knee-jerkers around here that cause me to be ornery. I know you're not one of them. I just seem to recall the criticism getting louder and more frequent, even at times last year. Of course, now some people are heralding two starts as if he's back on the track to being the next Roy Halladay or something. I just wish some people would be more even-keeled and see how things go for a while before getting nutso.

[ChrisP]

Chris, my tone may have been out of line. Sorry.

Cool, thanks. Some people don't expect these kids to have bumps in the road during their development.

[juanbell]

The only thing that brings me pause was that he did it to the same team. Do the 'Rocks just stink? On the other hand though, it might be even more impressive that he did it to the same team, in that they new how to prepare for him.

This is a good point. Can he sustain sucess against other teams for a period of time. Not saying he has to be as dominant, but it would be nice to see a higher level of consistency. Often times that is all that separates guys in the minors from guys in the bigs...being able to perform at a high level on a regular basis.

[Frobby]

Here's a nice article from milb.com: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080617&content_id=418932&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Here's an excerpt:

"It was one of those nights where I felt like I had good command of all three pitches [fastball, slider, change]," Erbe said. "I had a mind-set of getting ahead early in the count and making them put the ball in play.

"Pitching is a real learning process," he added. "The biggest thing is learning how to read guys' swings."

This season, Erbe (6-5, 4.23 ERA) has picked up a few tips against Wilmington. He has given up just two runs in 21 innings over three starts against the Blue Rocks in 2008. The last time he faced them June 11, he fanned nine in seven frames.

"They have a lot of good contact hitters and they like to swing early," Erbe added. "They also have some good baserunners, so you make your job much easier if you can keep them off base."

On Tuesday, he surrendered a first-inning single to Chris McConnell, the second Blue Rocks batter of the game, and then retired everyone he faced until he hit Kurt Mertins with two down in the seventh.

"I've had my highs and lows this season, and the biggest thing I'll take away from a game like this is confidence," Erbe said. "When you have confidence, you have trust in yourself and your stuff."