The Most Hyped Orioles Prospect...

[Moose Milligan]

Man, I don't envy sportswriters at all during this pandemic.  Trying to come up with new content has to be getting old.  I'd imagine they're going to run out of things to come up with at some point.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29003518/the-most-hyped-prospect-ever-all-30-mlb-teams#BAL

 

Quote

 

Baltimore Orioles: Ben McDonald

Also considered: Jeffrey Hammonds, Matt Wieters, Manny Machado

Quote: "This is my 28th year around this game, and at this juncture, he's better than [Roger] Clemens, [Frank] Viola, Greg Swindell, any of those guys. None of those guys had the control this guy has. He has also handled adversity. If he gets lit up and 11 minicams come around, he can handle that. He knows the ways of the world." -- LSU coach Skip Bertman

 

Focus on Sport/Getty Images

A big old country boy from Louisiana, McDonald began his athletic career at LSU as a two-sport player but gave up basketball after his freshman year when he developed into one of the best pitching prospects in the country. After starring on the Olympic team in 1988, McDonald became the clear No. 1 pick for the 1989 draft, tossing 45 consecutive scoreless innings at one point. Other teams eventually quit scouting him, knowing the Orioles were going to take him.

The two sides entered into protracted contract negotiations, with Scott Boras threatening to take McDonald to a rumored new baseball league that was going to start up in 1990, backed by New York businessman Donald Trump. They eventually agreed on an unprecedented three-year, $800,000 major league contract, and McDonald made six relief appearances for the Orioles in September.

One controversy, even at the time, was Bertman's usage of McDonald at LSU. Five times McDonald had pitched a complete game and then closed out a game the next day. Over an 18-month period between his sophomore and junior seasons, including his time with Team USA, McDonald threw 352 innings.

"I've been asked this a million times," McDonald told The Athletic last year. "'Did you throw too many pitches at LSU? Did you throw too many pitches in high school?' The answer is probably yeah; we didn't know then what we know now and how to take care of an arm. And so I was a product of my time. I was a competitor. I was just one of those kids that if the coach says, 'Can ya?' I'd say, 'Yessir. You give me a chance and I will.'"

McDonald tossed a four-hit shutout in his first major league start and finished his rookie season in 1990 with a 2.43 ERA, but he finished with a 78-70 career record, 3.91 ERA and 20.8 WAR. He retired at 29 after tearing his rotator cuff.

 

For some reason, Jeffrey Hammonds was the first one that came to mind.  I was 8 when they drafted McDonald, certainly remember how good he was supposed to be but I have more vivid memories of people saying Jeffrey Hammonds was going to be, like, Rickey Henderson.

[Tony-OH]

McDonald was certainly a product of college coaching not caring about arms. His usage was ridiculous, even for those days. Although not as hyped, Beau Hale was another Orioles 1st rounder than was basically bled dry in college. 

It's nice to know most college coaching has caught up to pro organizations in how they handle their pitchers.

[DrungoHazewood]

That Bertman quote is like vintage Sparky Anderson, who once said Tory Lovullo was as good as Mickey Mantle.  Calling a college kid better than peak Roger Clemens is ballsy.  And completely wrong.

Matt Riley was pretty hyped, too.  Called up as a teenager, spoke of himself in the third person, drove that monster truck with the 24 Karat license plate.

[DrungoHazewood]

2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

McDonald was certainly a product of college coaching not caring about arms. His usage was ridiculous, even for those days. Although not as hyped, Beau Hale was another Orioles 1st rounder than was basically bled dry in college. 

It's nice to know most college coaching has caught up to pro organizations in how they handle their pitchers.

I once saw Beau Hale win some kind of pig wrestling or hog calling... or something... contest before a BaySox game.

[Moose Milligan]

16 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

That Bertman quote is like vintage Sparky Anderson, who once said Tory Lovullo was as good as Mickey Mantle.  Calling a college kid better than peak Roger Clemens is ballsy.  And completely wrong.

Matt Riley was pretty hyped, too.  Called up as a teenager, spoke of himself in the third person, drove that monster truck with the 24 Karat license plate.

What, you didn't disagree with the "he knows the ways of the world" part of the quote?

 

[Moose Milligan]

Yikes, the 1989 Draft wasn't that good.  I've never looked at who the Orioles COULD have drafted if they didn't take McDonald #1.  

Tyler Houston, Roger Salkeld, Jeff Jackson, Donald Haris, Paul Coleman, FRANK THOMAS, Kyle Abbott, Charles Johnson round out the top 10.  Mo Vaughn and Chuck Knoblauch went later in the first round.

I'm assuming had the Orioles been scared off by McDonald's usage and gone in a different direction, they wouldn't have had the foresight to draft Frank Thomas.  

[backwardsk]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

That Bertman quote is like vintage Sparky Anderson, who once said Tory Lovullo was as good as Mickey Mantle.  Calling a college kid better than peak Roger Clemens is ballsy.  And completely wrong.

Matt Riley was pretty hyped, too.  Called up as a teenager, spoke of himself in the third person, drove that monster truck with the 24 Karat license plate.

Riley was one of the first ones that jumped out to me.

The ones mentioned before make a lot sense nationally.

Locally, to the OH, I remember a ton of buzz with Val Majewski.  As in on the same plane as Markakis.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

McDonald was certainly a product of college coaching not caring about arms. His usage was ridiculous, even for those days. Although not as hyped, Beau Hale was another Orioles 1st rounder than was basically bled dry in college. 

It's nice to know most college coaching has caught up to pro organizations in how they handle their pitchers.

I knew it was bad, but 352 innings over 18 month stretch is criminal. 

I would rate Jeffery Hammond as the second most hyped prospect. I remember the Orioles were able to draft him because his price tag was too high and he slipped to the Orioles picking fourth. I was at OPACY the night Hammond signed and he made an appearance at the game.  

[DrungoHazewood]

56 minutes ago, backwardsk said:

Riley was one of the first ones that jumped out to me.

The ones mentioned before make a lot sense nationally.

Locally, to the OH, I remember a ton of buzz with Val Majewski.  As in on the same plane as Markakis.

I rooted hard for Majewski because he was exactly 10 years younger than me.  Got hurt in 2005 and was never the same.

[DrungoHazewood]

31 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I knew it was bad, but 352 innings over 18 month stretch is criminal.

Whatevers.  Al Spalding once threw 617 innings in a 71-game schedule.  Kids these days...

Yes, I realize that Spalding was throwing underhanded at about 60 mph, and had 19 walks and 31 strikeouts.  It was a completely different world.

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

7 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Whatevers.  Al Spalding once threw 617 innings in a 71-game schedule.  Kids these days...

Yes, I realize that Spalding was throwing underhanded at about 60 mph, and had 19 walks and 31 strikeouts.  It was a completely different world.

 

That's an impressive old school pull even for you. Spalding might have the most interesting stat line I've ever seen from baseball-reference.com. I might have had a chance at a baseball career if I was born a 120 years earlier. 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/spaldal01.shtml

[DrungoHazewood]

21 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

That's an impressive old school pull even for you. Spalding might have the most interesting stat line I've ever seen from baseball-reference.com. I might have had a chance at a baseball career if I was born a 120 years earlier. 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/spaldal01.shtml

I'm sure you've heard of Al Spalding, or at least his company.  He quit playing at 26 to start selling stuff to play base ball, and I'm sure he made waaaaay more money going that route.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm sure you've heard of Al Spalding, or at least his company.  He quit playing at 26 to start selling stuff to play base ball, and I'm sure he made waaaaay more money going that route.

I didn't realize it was the same guy. I was wondering why he baseball career ended so early. 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, backwardsk said:

Riley was one of the first ones that jumped out to me.

The ones mentioned before make a lot sense nationally.

Locally, to the OH, I remember a ton of buzz with Val Majewski.  As in on the same plane as Markakis.

Riley was one of the most mismanaged prospects ever. He had the unfortunate timing of coming up in an organization that was in disarray from the top on down. When you add in his lack of maturity at the time, it was a bomb just waiting to happen.

From my article back in 2002

One of the worst cases has to be the mishandling of Matt Riley. Riley was a 19-year old left-hander who had made his way to Double-A thanks to a mid-90s fastball and a knee-buckling breaking ball. However, Riley was also a kid who had some very real maturity issues that required special handling. During one start in late June, Riley threw a pitch and then fell off the mound holding his elbow. The Orioles called it a strained elbow and put him on the seven-day disabled list. Riley missed two starts and was activated, but he was never the same pitcher again. After being activated, Riley posted a 5.20 ERA (26ER/45IP) in his last eight starts, including an 0-3 record with a 5.96 ERA (15ER/22.2IP) in his last four starts. His velocity had dropped off noticeably and by mid-August, he was topping out at only 89MPH. Despite the obvious signs of something wrong, it didn't stop the Orioles from rushing the first true left-handed pitching prospect that organization had seen since Arthur Rhodes to the major leagues. After meeting with Riley and his agent, Frank Wren decided to promote Riley to the major league for a September look. The results were predictable: Riley made three starts, posting a 7.36 ERA with 13 walks and just six strikeouts in 11 innings, before the Orioles mercifully shut him down.

The Orioles didn't really monitor Riley that offseason, and he showed up in the major league camp out of shape, but with an attitude that could be summed up by his vanity license plate, "24kt arm." His frequent lateness and attitude rubbed the Orioles' established players the wrong way, and Riley was soon ostracized from the rest of the team. That didn't stop the Orioles from keeping him in the major league camp, where he saw one inning's work over three weeks of the exhibition season. Riley was eventually sent to the minor league camp across the state in Sarasota, from where he was later assigned to Rochester despite still being out of shape. With no legs under him, Riley was rocked at Rochester and eventually put on the DL with arm soreness. When he returned from the DL he was sent to Bowie where he was put into the bullpen until he regained his strength. He pitched poorly for most of the 2000 season before feeling a sharp pain in his elbow after throwing a pitch in a game at the end of August. Riley had torn a tendon in his left elbow and underwent Tommy John Surgery. He would miss the entire 2001 season.

Despite missing that entire season, Riley wasn't brought back slowly the way the Cardinals handled Matt Morris, another young pitcher who missed a year with Tommy John surgery. No, Riley was placed into the Baysox rotation where he compiled 109 innings in 22 starts, posting a 4-10 record and a 6.34 ERA.

[scOtt]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I knew it was bad, but 352 innings over 18 month stretch is criminal. 

I would rate Jeffery Hammond as the second most hyped prospect. I remember the Orioles were able to draft him because his price tag was too high and he slipped to the Orioles picking fourth. I was at OPACY the night Hammond signed and he made an appearance at the game.  

I was going to mention Hammond too. I mean, he had a fine ML career, for us and others too. But never reached the hype he was supposed to be.