Was last night Britton's turning point?

[Greg Pappas]

Last night felt like it was the first Britton-like performance this season.  Three ground-outs are a good sign, and just as important his pitches seemed to have good sink.  Like Cobb, Britton's earlier showings may have just been shaking off the cobwebs to begin his campaign.  I hope with the trade deadline looming in the next few weeks, this is a sign of improving trade value.  A healthy and highly effective Britton has good value.  How much value is a matter of debate, naturally.

Did anyone else come away from watching him last night, feeling similar?
 

[amdcpus]

Nope. Control was terrible.

[Greg Pappas]

31 minutes ago, amdcpus said:

Nope. Control was terrible.

It wasn't great, I grant you, but he looked notably improved, especially keeping it down.  Time will tell whether he turns it around and makes the league take notice, but to me last night could be the start.

[Il BuonO]

I thought he looked ok, but he was behind all three he faced. He touched 95 a few times (Bordick said 96, but I didn’t see it) and he was noticeably better with sink down in the zone.

Command is still an issue, but it’s gradually getting better.

[Greg Pappas]

40 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

I thought he looked ok, but he was behind all three he faced. He touched 95 a few times (Bordick said 96, but I didn’t see it) and he was noticeably better with sink down in the zone.

Command is still an issue, but it’s gradually getting better.

I agree.  He looked better than his prior efforts, and with the improved sink, this could be the start of his trade value elevating.  Too soon to say, naturally, but promising.

[TommyPickles]

I don't know...  I went to both games in Philly.  I was happy to see Britton get a clean inning, but he was throwing a ton of balls in the dirt infront of home plate.  

Side note: there were a ton of O's fans there both days.  Its amazing to me that we play in Philly so rarely considering its only an hour and forty-five minutes away and large swaths of southern PA are Orioles' country.  Maybe when they add two expansion teams they should reformat the divisions to be more geographically sensible.  Have us in a division with Philly, Washington and Atlanta or something...

[LocoChris]

2 hours ago, amdcpus said:

Nope. Control was terrible.

He's never seemed like a guy with great control. But he's always been able to get away with it. 

[Fuzzball22]

This post should be deleted. It is almost positive

[SurhoffRules]

13 minutes ago, LocoChris said:

He's never seemed like a guy with great control. But he's always been able to get away with it. 

I think his stuff seems to be good enough that as long its down he can get away without pinpoint control.  That said, since moving to relief he's put up a 2.8 BB/9 rate and 3.14 SO/BB rate, so it's not like he can't throw strikes.  He's walked 7 in 9 innings since returning but hopefully he'll continue to find the zone more often.

[LookitsPuck]

His velocity is still down.