Michael Baumann and Erik Bedard

[Just Regular]

This is a juice to squeeze before its too late.   Both Northern-born dominators of AA a half year at 23 with excellent hit suppression, and were 300-some innings deep into their pro careers when it happened.   I know that is about as anti-FIP as it gets but I do still somewhat like H/9 as a dominance marker for minor league pitchers.

In Bedard's case he did it before his arm blew up in the summer (though that story still turned out okay); Baumann finished strong after a mid-2019 promotion.   It had been nagging me how good their H/9 numbers were, so I broke down and grabbed 2010-2019 Eastern League qualifying seasons off MiLB.  This is cheating as I'm cherry picking half years, and there's probably some hotshots who didn't have to qualify for the Eastern League ERA title ever.   But there were some good pitchers who did.

Truly a man ahead of his time, Bedard's 5.6 bested anyone from the 2010's.   Baumann's 5.8 was 3rd, trailing the Red Sox Daniel McGrath (also 2019, an old Aussie).   2019 Zac Lowther at 6.2 got 5th place out of 287 full-seasons - I hadn't really appreciated him as a wild hit suppressor just like DL Hall, but there you go.   You kind of figure Hall himself might make a run at these marks in 2021.

Various other H/9 results from the Eastern League 2010s:

Matt Manning 6.3, Zack Wheeler 7.1, Mike Clevinger 7.2, Keegan Akin 7.5, Michael Fulmer 7.6, Chad Kuhl 7.8, Jordan Romano 8.0, Alex Wells 8.1, Caleb Smith 8.1, German Marquez 8.2, Eduardo Rodriguez 9.0, John Means 10.0

BUST category: Henry Owens 6.6, Kyle Drabek 7.0

Bowie decadal worst - David Hess 11.5

Just so it isn't completely FIP spurious, Bedard's K/9 was 32nd and Baumann's 45th of the 300-odd seasons, though compared with a lot of fodder there.   Only Lowther and Akin have managed to beat a strikeout an inning at Bowie.

With the good reports from Bowie summer camp, I feel like Baumann may have been about AAA Pitcher of the Year in a different universe, just so long as his arm didn't blow up.   Whether or not his arm actually blows up in the first month or so of for real pitching in 2021 is perhaps the one piece of information I most anxiously await hoping to be decent sooner rather than later.   With my orangest glasses I can squint for Bedard with all his talent intact.

[rudyrooster]

And your point is?

[Frobby]

First of all, I think I speak for a lot of posters when I say that I love your writing voice.    A lot of times I read posts without really looking first at who wrote them.   I’ll be reading one of yours and think to myself, “only OrioleDog would put it that way.”    And then I’ll look and confirm it.   And I’m invariably correct.

Second, that’s an interesting comparison.   I’ll only add that I’d bet if you looked at his own decade, Bedard’s K/9 would rank much better than 32nd, as K/9 is an ever-growing phenomenon. 

I fully agree that the health of Baumann’s elbow will be a huge factor in 2021.   
 

[hoosiers]

Bedard was absolutely dominating AA when he got hurt.  He was about to vault into BA Top 25 or so status at mid-season. 

MB has put up strong numbers, but has not received near the prospect recognition Bedard was approaching.

Eager for MB to get his chance and hope he can become a solid SP3.

[Ruzious]

Regardless of the Bedard comp and freshly squeezed orange juice, I really want to see Bauman and Lowther get every opportunity to play in Baltimore in 2021.  I echo Frobby's first paragraph - well said.  

[wildcard]

59 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

Regardless of the Bedard comp and freshly squeezed orange juice, I really want to see Bauman and Lowther get every opportunity to play in Baltimore in 2021.  I echo Frobby's first paragraph - well said.  

I agree with Frobby's last sentence.

[Frobby]

I just got to reminiscing on Bedard’s place in my Orioles fandom and my connection with OH.

2001 was a dark time to be an Orioles fan.   The O’s had let Mike Mussina get away that winter, and most of the team’s veterans had been traded away for second or third rate prospects the previous August.   The team was in the throes of its fourth straight losing season, and really the first one where they weren’t even flirting with .500.

To that point, I had never paid all that much attention to the minor leagues.   But I began mining the internet to see what help might be on the horizon.    Somewhere, I found some stats for the different farm teams, and though it was clear that the O’s didn’t have much talent in the minors, there was Bedard, who was having a successful campaign at Frederick after a strong year at Delmarva the prior season.    From that point forward I checked in on him periodically, but he was still just a name on the page.   I couldn’t have told you what he threw, or what he looked like.   

I began looking around for scouting reports on Bedard and the few other decent Orioles prospects.    Somewhere along the way, I stumbled on Orioles Hangout and its top prospects list, that gave thumbnail reports on Bedard and all the other prospects, as well as some accounts of various things going on in the minors.   That was my first exposure to OH, and very much connected to Bedard.    

From then on, I would check OH periodically for minor league news.   That’s probably where I learned in mid-2002 that Bedard had torn his UCL and needed TJ surgery, just a huge disappointment after the way he was dominating at Bowie.  Somehow, I was completely unaware that OH had a discussion board.    It took me two years to realize that, and my first posts were around season end of 2003.    At that point, Bedard was throwing a few rehab innings in the minors after missing a year from his TJ surgery.   

Well, the rest is history.   Bedard unexpectedly made the opening day rotation in 2004 and I followed him intently.   My trickle of postings on OH quickly grew into a flood, not just about Bedard but any Orioles-related subject.   And here we are.   

So to me, Bedard is one of the reasons I found OH, and one of the very first minor leaguers who I ever tracked carefully.    He’ll always have an outsized place in O’s history for me, for that reason.  And I’m so glad that my hunt for more information led me to OH.

Happy New Year everyone, and let’s hope we have a few Bedard-level pitchers floating around our system.  




 

[Sports Guy]

Does this mean Baumann is going to nibble and not trust his stuff for several years?

[LookinUp]

I love the OP.

The one nitpick I have, which I expected Frobby to make, was that the Eastern League was a hitter's league for a long time until 2019. In 2019, it became a pitcher's league, so you would expect H/9 to go down. So Bedard out performed everyone even when it was a hitter's league. 

I think Bedard was ahead of Baumann, but Baumann is still improving. I love that he's in our system. I just fear the health factor. Time will tell.

[Just Regular]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Does this mean Baumann is going to nibble and not trust his stuff for several years?

Blake Snell seems to be doing okay with that thing.

I very much guess Baumann won't come from that shelf - he seems more of the Mack Truck type.

[Sanfran327]

On 12/31/2020 at 9:21 AM, Frobby said:

I just got to reminiscing on Bedard’s place in my Orioles fandom and my connection with OH.

2001 was a dark time to be an Orioles fan.   The O’s had let Mike Mussina get away that winter, and most of the team’s veterans had been traded away for second or third rate prospects the previous August.   The team was in the throes of its fourth straight losing season, and really the first one where they weren’t even flirting with .500.

To that point, I had never paid all that much attention to the minor leagues.   But I began mining the internet to see what help might be on the horizon.    Somewhere, I found some stats for the different farm teams, and though it was clear that the O’s didn’t have much talent in the minors, there was Bedard, who was having a successful campaign at Frederick after a strong year at Delmarva the prior season.    From that point forward I checked in on him periodically, but he was still just a name on the page.   I couldn’t have told you what he threw, or what he looked like.   

I began looking around for scouting reports on Bedard and the few other decent Orioles prospects.    Somewhere along the way, I stumbled on Orioles Hangout and its top prospects list, that gave thumbnail reports on Bedard and all the other prospects, as well as some accounts of various things going on in the minors.   That was my first exposure to OH, and very much connected to Bedard.    

From then on, I would check OH periodically for minor league news.   That’s probably where I learned in mid-2002 that Bedard had torn his UCL and needed TJ surgery, just a huge disappointment after the way he was dominating at Bowie.  Somehow, I was completely unaware that OH had a discussion board.    It took me two years to realize that, and my first posts were around season end of 2003.    At that point, Bedard was throwing a few rehab innings in the minors after missing a year from his TJ surgery.   

Well, the rest is history.   Bedard unexpectedly made the opening day rotation in 2004 and I followed him intently.   My trickle of postings on OH quickly grew into a flood, not just about Bedard but any Orioles-related subject.   And here we are.   

So to me, Bedard is one of the reasons I found OH, and one of the very first minor leaguers who I ever tracked carefully.    He’ll always have an outsized place in O’s history for me, for that reason.  And I’m so glad that my hunt for more information led me to OH.

Happy New Year everyone, and let’s hope we have a few Bedard-level pitchers floating around our system.  




 

Funny you say this, because I'd say the exact same thing, just a few years later. We were shopping Bedard around the time my oldest brother passed away very unexpectedly, and he was the only other big Orioles fan in my life. I found this board to get better Orioles news and started to join the message board conversations shortly after. Erik Bedard news absolutely drew me into this site, and I'll always remember it that way.

I'm not sure what was the craziest time on the OH: the Bedard Trade or Courting Mark Teixeira. Both were riddled with "insider info" on a daily basis, but Teixeira was probably crazier. 

[Just Regular]

1 hour ago, Sanfran327 said:

Funny you say this, because I'd say the exact same thing, just a few years later. We were shopping Bedard around the time my oldest brother passed away very unexpectedly, and he was the only other big Orioles fan in my life. I found this board to get better Orioles news and started to join the message board conversations shortly after. Erik Bedard news absolutely drew me into this site, and I'll always remember it that way.

I'm not sure what was the craziest time on the OH: the Bedard Trade or Courting Mark Teixeira. Both were riddled with "insider info" on a daily basis, but Teixeira was probably crazier. 

You shoulda been here for the Tejada/Javy not Pudge/Vlad breaking our heart/Palmeiro 2/Ponson 2 sequence 17 years ago.   Those were more lurker days for me, but the four weeks we hoped Tejada's coattails could catch Vlad were spirited.   

[BohKnowsBmore]

9 hours ago, OrioleDog said:

You shoulda been here for the Tejada/Javy not Pudge/Vlad breaking our heart/Palmeiro 2/Ponson 2 sequence 17 years ago.   Those were more lurker days for me, but the four weeks we hoped Tejada's coattails could catch Vlad were spirited.   

Did anyone ever discuss Mark Teixeira’s free agency around these parts?

[O's84]

40 minutes ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

Did anyone ever discuss Mark Teixeira’s free agency around these parts?

 

 

[Just Regular]

2 hours ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

Did anyone ever discuss Mark Teixeira’s free agency around these parts?

The Wow Offer based parody using the iconic Downfall clip remains on a very short list of the hardest laughs of my entire life.