Could Drew Rom reach the majors this year?

[CharmCityHokie]

6 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Its pretty easy to said Rom could make the majors this season but its much harder to say he will.   As a finesse pitcher he will have to earn everything he gets.   The O's have a bunch of pitchers that were starters at AA and did well including Lowther, Kremer, Akin, Zimmermann, Baumann, Bradish, and Smith.   So its too early to say Rom will do well at AAA just yet.   He is behind Grayson and DL Hall.   He will have to elbow his way passed the other guys to get to the majors.

Don't mention elbows and Grayson within 10 words of each other, it gives me nightmares. 

[Pickles]

16 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Its pretty easy to said Rom could make the majors this season but its much harder to say he will.   As a finesse pitcher he will have to earn everything he gets.   The O's have a bunch of pitchers that were starters at AA and did well including Lowther, Kremer, Akin, Zimmermann, Baumann, Bradish, and Smith.   So its too early to say Rom will do well at AAA just yet.   He is behind Grayson and DL Hall.   He will have to elbow his way passed the other guys to get to the majors.

Rom is something several of those other guys aren't:

Healthy.

And in regards to him being a "finesse" pitcher, he's racked up large K numbers his entire career, and did not fall off in that regard as he climbed the ladder.

I realize he doesn't have top-notch velocity, but until he stops striking out 10 per 9, I'm not inclined to call him a finesse pitcher.

[Tony-OH]

I think a lot of it has to do with the collective bargaining agreement and how it all shakes out with arbitration and free agency. 

If there is nothing holding them back, I could see Rom getting some starts in September since he'll need to be added to the 40-man next year anyways (assuming everything stays the same).

I've been higher on Rom than most because I see a guy who really can pitch. He drops arm angles, can add and subtract velocity, and can really bury that breaking ball to the back foot of righties. 

I'd really like to see his statcast info before getting too high on him, but I do think he's going to outperform his mediocre velocity readings.

[Pickles]

51 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’m pretty high on him.   I wouldn’t have started the thread if I wasn’t.  I assume he will start in AA but could move to AAA pretty quickly if he has a good start, as Bradish and Smith did last year.   Then we’ll see how he does there.   Bradish was in AAA from May 25 on but was a bit erratic there until September when he did very well.   He finished with a 4.26 ERA in AAA but was over 5.00 before September.   I think Rom would have to do better than that in AAA to get called up.   I don’t think they’ll want to burn an option on him, so they’ll only call him up if they plan to keep him up the remainder of the season no matter what.  

Yes, I think you and I have been his biggest boosters- not counting Tony.

And of course, this all depends on his performance.

But if he picks up where he left off in AA next year, he'll be in AAA by June, and from there anything can happen.

[Pickles]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

I think a lot of it has to do with the collective bargaining agreement and how it all shakes out with arbitration and free agency. 

If there is nothing holding them back, I could see Rom getting some starts in September since he'll need to be added to the 40-man next year anyways (assuming everything stays the same).

I've been higher on Rom than most because I see a guy who really can pitch. He drops arm angles, can add and subtract velocity, and can really bury that breaking ball to the back foot of righties. 

I'd really like to see his statcast info before getting too high on him, but I do think he's going to outperform his mediocre velocity readings.

I've asked before and I ask again because I've never seen him:

How much physical projection does he have left?

He's listed at 6'2" 170.  That's quite thin.  Does he have the frame to add good weight, and perhaps velocity?

[wildcard]

4 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Rom is something several of those other guys aren't:

Healthy.

And in regards to him being a "finesse" pitcher, he's racked up large K numbers his entire career, and did not fall off in that regard as he climbed the ladder.

I realize he doesn't have top-notch velocity, but until he stops striking out 10 per 9, I'm not inclined to call him a finesse pitcher.

In baseball, a control pitcher, also known as a finesse pitcher, is a pitcher who succeeds mostly by using accurate pitches, as opposed to a power pitcher ...  From Wikipedia.

I think Rom qualifies as a finesse pitcher.

[Pickles]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

In baseball, a control pitcher, also known as a finesse pitcher, is a pitcher who succeeds mostly by using accurate pitches, as opposed to a power pitcher ...  From Wikipedia.

I think Rom qualifies as a finesse pitcher.

So you think he's striking out 10 per 9 mostly on control?

[wildcard]

5 minutes ago, Pickles said:

So you think he's striking out 10 per 9 mostly on control?

Yep

[Pickles]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

Yep

Is it sustainable?

[wildcard]

34 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Is it sustainable?

I don't know.  I guess we will see.

[Sports Guy]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

I really wanted this thread to be about Rom.   Maybe Westburg and Henderson to some degree.   

CoC has to have his narrative in every thread.

[HowAboutThat]

One never knows where the riffraf will go.

i don’t know enough about Rom to say one way or the other, but “finesse” as a descriptor worries me. Aren’t Lowther and Wells finesse pitchers?

Meanwhile, in the hope that Mike has flipped the switch but hasn’t said so, I’m hoping everyone who can contribute to wins will get a shot.

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

One never knows where the riffraf will go.

i don’t know enough about Rom to say one way or the other, but “finesse” as a descriptor worries me. Aren’t Lowther and Wells finesse pitchers?

Meanwhile, in the hope that Mike has flipped the switch but hasn’t said so, I’m hoping everyone who can contribute to wins will get a shot.

Greg Maddux was a control pitcher and won 355 games and 4 Cy Young awards.   It can be done.  Its just how good at it the pitcher is.

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

One never knows where the riffraf will go.

i don’t know enough about Rom to say one way or the other, but “finesse” as a descriptor worries me. Aren’t Lowther and Wells finesse pitchers?

Meanwhile, in the hope that Mike has flipped the switch but hasn’t said so, I’m hoping everyone who can contribute to wins will get a shot.

Do you think Glavine was a power pitcher?

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

Greg Maddux was a control pitcher and won 355 games and 4 Cy Young awards.   It can be done.  Its just how good at it the pitcher is.

Greg Maddux was a pitcher who had a fastball in the 90's for much of his career that also had great control.

The idea that Maddux was some junk baller just isn't accurate.