Connolly article on pitching

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

They may…but I will keep the asking the same question…why aren’t they doing it now?

In fact, they are going the opposite way.  He was pitching multiple innings and now they try him more in late innings, high leverage situations.  That’s seems to me to be an indication that they think he’s a back end of the pen guy.  
 

I think it's obvious that they're just protecting him for this year. Keeping him comfortable in a role, letting him have success, keep his innings down, he's a recent TJS guy, etc. 

[Sports Guy]

Just now, interloper said:

I think it's obvious that they're just protecting him for this year. Keeping him comfortable in a role, letting him have success, keep his innings down, he's a recent TJS guy, etc. 

So, they are keeping him comfortable in a role he has never had before and they are keeping hiM comfortable by going from multi inning low leverage situations to single inning high leverage situations?  
 

I don’t see how that’s comfortable.

Also, in terms of keeping the innings down, I get that.  That would and should have even the plan early on but once he started to show more and once we saw that none of our young starters were doing good and the vets sucked, it became time to start to stretch him out.

Instead, since 4th of July, he has only pitched more than 1 inning 1 time.  The other 6 outings were an inning or less. They are going the complete opposite way.  If they are keeping his innings down this much, it doesn’t bode well for him to start next year.

Again, im Not saying he shouldn’t get the chance.  He should be getting it right now.  But they don’t see it that way and I don’t see why we would think they will see it that way other than just hope or some kind of WAG because there is certainly no factual evidence saying they are going to do it.

[LTO's]

Do most people realize that most scouts would probably label most non-top 100 SP prospects as probable BOR/BP pieces?  The odds of having 4-5 guys in your system that the scouting world would consider future above average/average regular starters is very low. 

[Philip]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

Wells looks to have good stuff.  Akin doesn't.  Mike Wright had a live arm and flashed every once in awhile, that's why he got to hang around and that's why you're okay with seeing more of Wells and ready to close the book on Akin.  

I knew there was a logic to my approach, thank you for explaining it to me. We should hang out more often, so you can keep reminding me how logical I am

Edited August 20, 2021 by Philip

[wildcard]

5 hours ago, LookinUp said:

But beyond the bad state of pitching right now, the biggest question is why? People in this thread have pointed to Lowther, A. Wells, Akin, Zimmermann, Kremer, Baumann, Smith and others as part of the solution, but most of them are the reason it's been such a terrible year. 

Elias needs to figure this out. He needs those guys who are dominating in AA to be good major leaguers. They don't need to be elite, but we should be able to fill out a solid rotation from, say, #'s 4-7, and have a very competitive bullpen.

It's not like Elias didn't have a plan to accomplish that, it's that his plan went up in flames. An unmitigated disaster. That's the real story and we kind of just have to hope that he can figure out how to make it work.

 Grayson, DL Hall, Baumann, Bradish, Tyler Wells, Brnovich, Zimmermann all took steps forward this year.   That not every pitcher in the O's system did is normal.

[27outs]

58 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I think there are other guys…I just think we will be lucky to get one more good starter out of any of them. 
 

I like the talent but not sure I buy into as a Ml starter and buy that the team can develop it properly.

If you can get Grayson and Baumann or Hall and the rest are part of your next dominant pen, that’s a big win imo. 

Let me get this straight.. guys who are currently starters in the minors, who haven’t proven a thing in the majors are DEFINITELY starters in the majors, but a guy who was a starter in the minors before, who is performing at a top level IN the majors  is a huge question mark for you to be a starter in the majors? Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds?

[ChuckS]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

 Grayson, DL Hall, Baumann, Bradish, Tyler Wells, Brnovich, Zimmermann all took steps forward this year.   That not every pitcher in the O's system didn't is normal.

Spending most of the season on the IL is a step back in my book. Baumann has been battling injuries and his performance while healthy has been erratic. 

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, wildcard said:

 Grayson, DL Hall, Baumann, Bradish, Tyler Wells, Brnovich, Zimmermann all took steps forward this year.   That not every pitcher in the O's system didn't is normal.

Double negative in that last sentence.  

I’m disappointed that so few names are on this list.   Overall it has been a discouraging year on the pitching front, though Grayson has been brilliant and deserves all the accolades he’s received.  
 

[Philip]

3 minutes ago, 27outs said:

Let me get this straight.. guys who are currently starters in the minors, who haven’t proven a thing in the majors are DEFINITELY starters in the majors, but a guy who was a starter in the minors before, who is performing at a top level IN the majors  is a huge question mark for you to be a starter in the majors? Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds?

I doubt SG needs my defense, but there is a big difference between the minors in the majors, there is a big difference between pre-and post- TJ surgery, and Wells, despite his virtues, has not been transitioned into a starters routine. I do not know why, but there’s a big difference between throwing one inning or four outs or 17 pitches and being a starter.

I think many of the Pitching decisions this year have been loopy. Why is Lowther bouncing up/down? Why is A Wells bouncing up/down? Why did we claim Anderson and immediately put him on the 26-man? Why did Plutko last so long?

All that is just to show that there’s not necessarily a particular plan with Wells. Or with anybody. We have to judge based solely on the information we have, and that is contradictory, it seems.

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Spending most of the season on the IL is a step back in my book. Baumann has been battling injuries and his performance while healthy has been erratic. 

Overall Baumann started off erratic but his last 8 starts (4 at Bowie, 4 at Norfolk) have been strong.   If he finishes strong I’ll count him in the “step forward” category.

Unfortunately I share your concerns about Hall.   He looked really good in the early going but I can’t consider making 7 starts and then being shut down for the rest of the year to be a step forward.   

[LTO's]

25 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Do most people realize that most scouts would probably label most non-top 100 SP prospects as probable BOR/BP pieces?  The odds of having 4-5 guys in your system that the scouting world would consider future above average/average regular starters is very low. 

Just to follow up on this. The Orioles are one of 9 teams have that 2 or more top 100 SP prospects. Only the Royals (3) and Marlins  (4) have more than 2 and all of the Royals have been sliding down the rankings due to inconsistent performance. When you consider this and the FV grades that are being put on Grayrod, I'm not sure why I am supposed to believe they are at all behind most teams in the league in terms of SP talent. 

[Aristotelian]

If the organization wants to keep Wells in a role that he is having success in, I am more than fine with that. It's not like we don't have holes in the bullpen. 

[Sports Guy]

40 minutes ago, 27outs said:

Let me get this straight.. guys who are currently starters in the minors, who haven’t proven a thing in the majors are DEFINITELY starters in the majors, but a guy who was a starter in the minors before, who is performing at a top level IN the majors  is a huge question mark for you to be a starter in the majors? Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds?

Are you even reading or can you just not comprehend things?

The only guy I feel is a DEFINITE starter is GRod.  Do you disagree with that?  Do you feel the 45 innings of relief that Wells has pitched this year is more telling of him being starter than what Rodriguez has done?

Do you think every talent evaluator is wrong about Grayson?  
 

And the idea that Wells was last a full time starter 4 years ago doesn’t prove anything.  I get that you are in love with the guy or whatever but you are going completely overboard.

As I said, he should be given a chance.  But the Orioles are showing zero indication that they will.  Prove me wrong with that statement.

[Philip]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

They may…but I will keep the asking the same question…why aren’t they doing it now?
 

That is a very important question, and it is unlikely it will be asked, and even less likely that it will be meaningfully answered.

but you’re not the only person who wonders.

[Sports Guy]

Sounds like Zimmerman is done for the year.  That sucks.  We enter the offseason without really knowing what we have in him.