Spenser Watkins 2021

[Philip]

Last night it was mentioned when he was about 4 innings in that he had a 36% Rate of called or swinging strikes, and the league average was 28%.
the umpire was generous on 3-4 calls, and called 2-3 erroneous strikes, but the calls basically averaged out. One pitch seems to have been framed by Severino into a strike call, so good for Sevi.

If Watkins gets an umpire with a tight zone he may suffer.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Philip

[emmett16]

He had all pitches working last night and was locating.  The stuff doesn't impress.  His control (last two starts) has been very impressive.  It will be interesting to see what happens when he doesn't have all his pitches working, and if his control is even just a little off.  Good story, but not a lot of room for error.  

[maybenxtyr]

He's been a small blessing this season though. Who knows how long it will last. 

[Philip]

45 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

He had all pitches working last night and was locating.  The stuff doesn't impress.  His control (last two starts) has been very impressive.  It will be interesting to see what happens when he doesn't have all his pitches working, and if his control is even just a little off.  Good story, but not a lot of room for error.  

That can be pretty easily dealt with by just preparing for that every single game. If a guy doesn’t have it, it should be obvious, and given his profile it should be clear that it’s always something to prepare for.

Like they say, “ride the train while there’s coal in the tender.”

[oriole]

It’s always the guys you least expect that come up and do well...Means, Watkins, Valdez...meanwhile guys we had high hopes for like Kremer, Akins, Lowther have all been awful. Then of course there’s Zimmermann who looked like John Means 2.0 in ST and got me dreaming of a local lefty in the rotation and then as soon as the big lights came on he crapped the bed. 

 

I don’t expect the Watkins success story to last but I’m appreciating it while it’s here. 

[Philip]

31 minutes ago, oriole said:

It’s always the guys you least expect that come up and do well...Means, Watkins, Valdez...meanwhile guys we had high hopes for like Kremer, Akins, Lowther have all been awful. Then of course there’s Zimmermann who looked like John Means 2.0 in ST and got me dreaming of a local lefty in the rotation and then as soon as the big lights came on he crapped the bed. 

 

I don’t expect the Watkins success story to last but I’m appreciating it while it’s here. 

Zimmermann is going to be ok. A solid -3-4 I think is the projection? 

[TommyPickles]

34 minutes ago, oriole said:

Then of course there’s Zimmermann who looked like John Means 2.0 in ST and got me dreaming of a local lefty in the rotation and then as soon as the big lights came on he crapped the bed. 

I mean, Zimmerman has easily been our second best starter (with at least 5 starts) this season.

4.83 ERA, 8 SO9

[oriole]

21 minutes ago, TommyPickles said:

I mean, Zimmerman has easily been our second best starter (with at least 5 starts) this season.

4.83 ERA, 8 SO9

I’m putting too much weight on his April/May stats it looks like. He has gotten better as the season progressed. 

[oriole]

22 minutes ago, Philip said:

Zimmermann is going to be ok. A solid -3-4 I think is the projection? 

I agree. I’m really hoping he’s successful.

[interloper]

He obviously has great command, but he also looks like he pitches with a lot of confidence, something that Wells and Zimmermann also do, and something that Akin and Kremer do not do, IMO. Sometimes that can be a difference maker.

[joelala]

15 minutes ago, interloper said:

He obviously has great command, but he also looks like he pitches with a lot of confidence, something that Wells and Zimmermann also do, and something that Akin and Kremer do not do, IMO. Sometimes that can be a difference maker.

He’s got nothing to lose. 

[Roll Tide]

8 hours ago, TommyPickles said:

I mean, Zimmerman has easily been our second best starter (with at least 5 starts) this season.

4.83 ERA, 8 SO9

If he could be a 6th inning guy with an era of 3.85-4.25 Id think the Orioles will be pretty happy with him. 

[Frobby]

I thought Watkins’ line tonight was a little misleading.   He allowed a lot of seeing-eye singles, including a few that I thought a more nimble fielder would have turned into an out.    The three run homer was crushed but many of the subsequent ones were not.  

[eddie83]

11 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I thought Watkins’ line tonight was a little misleading.   He allowed a lot of seeing-eye singles, including a few that I thought a more nimble fielder would have turned into an out.    The three run homer was crushed but many of the subsequent ones were not.  

Urias could not get to a couple of seeing eye hits. 

[ChosenOne21]

Yeah, Watkins didn't seem especially off or anything. He was bound to have a start like this eventually. Nobody here thought he was going to have an ERA in the mid-1's forever.