What's Going On With Givens?

[section18]

Givens. blew the game against NY last night. 1/3 of an inning and 3 runs, 3 hits with a walk,  HR. and 30 + ERA so far in ST.

[sportsfan8703]

He has been lit up a couple of times so far. I hope whatever he’s working on isn’t some massive change. 

[Luke-OH]

3 hours ago, section18 said:

Givens. blew the game against NY last night. 1/3 of an inning and 3 runs, 3 hits with a walk,  HR. and 30 + ERA so far in ST.

His stuff was down early, Hyde said it was better tonight, but command was still poor. As long as the stuff is back to normal by the start of the season he has more than enough track record for me to not worry about the spring numbers at all. 

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, Luke-OH said:

His stuff was down early, Hyde said it was better tonight, but command was still poor. As long as the stuff is back to normal by the start of the season he has more than enough track record for me to not worry about the spring numbers at all. 

I don't know, I never feel confident when he comes in the game. Based on his track record, I would be more comfortable with him being a matchup guy in the 7th-8th rather than closer.

[interloper]

I still think he's down a couple mph, as he was 93-95 last night. Fastball wasn't missing any bats. Didn't seem to have any kind of command. Slider was flat a lot, unless he was throwing some change-ups. Seemed frustrated on the mound, poor composure. 

Did get squeezed a couple times, as did Wright earlier in the game. 

[Going Underground]

Still, manager Brandon Hyde did his best to put the best possible spin on Tuesday night’s performance.

 

“His stuff looked really good,’’ Hyde said. “His [velocity] was up. I just thought he just missed in the middle of the plate a couple of times and they were really aggressive with him. It just didn’t seem like he was commanding. But I was happy with the fastball velo and it was coming out well. It just wasn’t his night.”

Hyde said it’s still too early to be concerned about Givens, who has been one of the Orioles steadiest relievers since coming up to the big leagues in 2015.

“I think we’re seeing his stuff tick up in every outing, so that’s a positive,” Hyde said. “I’m sure he’s disappointed in his command right now, but stuff-wise looked good.”

 

https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-givens-struggles-again-in-loss-to-yankees-20190312-story.html

[weams]

He doesn't pitch in the sixth and seventh innings any longer? Seriously, I heard his mechanics were all destroyed and that his lead shoulder was flying open..

[weams]

3 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

His stuff was down early, Hyde said it was better tonight, but command was still poor. As long as the stuff is back to normal by the start of the season he has more than enough track record for me to not worry about the spring numbers at all. 

I watched it. He did not look good at all. 

[interloper]

The O's should be ready to go to Kline pretty quick if Givens doesn't  get it together early in the season. Sure, the wins don't really matter but there stands to be a few games like last night where the young hitters do cool stuff and deserve the win. Complete meltdowns are no good for any team I don't care how bad. 

[Luke-OH]

7 minutes ago, weams said:

I watched it. He did not look good at all. 

I believe you, wasn’t trying to say he looked decent, just that he has enough track record that if he’s throwing 95-96 with normal slider life when the season starts, I’m not worried one bit even if he looks like trash in every spring training outing.

[weams]

1 hour ago, Luke-OH said:

I believe you, wasn’t trying to say he looked decent, just that he has enough track record that if he’s throwing 95-96 with normal slider life when the season starts, I’m not worried one bit even if he looks like trash in every spring training outing.

Sure. I get it. 

[weams]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

The O's should be ready to go to Kline pretty quick if Givens doesn't  get it together early in the season. Sure, the wins don't really matter but there stands to be a few games like last night where the young hitters do cool stuff and deserve the win. Complete meltdowns are no good for any team I don't care how bad. 

Kline gave up a shot recently as well. It might be Wotherspoon or Carroll for all we know. 

[interloper]

1 minute ago, weams said:

Kline gave up a shot recently as well. It might be Wotherspoon or Carroll for all we know. 

Not worried about a shot here or there from a young pitcher. I'm more worried about complete lack of command/giving up a million runs.

[wildbillhiccup]

I never put much stock in spring training performance, especially for pitchers. More often than not they're more concerned with working on / honing certain pitches each outing than actually getting people out. Now if it carries over into the first few weeks of the season then it might be time to sound the alarm.

[Moose Milligan]

I don't put too much stock into ST numbers and performance, either.

That said, I am fearful that we should have traded Givens last year and his value will take a hit this year with substandard performance.  My gut tells me that Givens is a great reliever when he's surrounded by other great relievers and doesn't have to be the man.  Maybe I'm wrong about that, I'd like to be.