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Arrieta, Matusz, Tillman ETA?

baltimorebirds

By baltimorebirds
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baltimorebirds AA

baltimorebirds

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I am guessing that Tillman begins the season in Norfolk, Arrietta in Bowie, and Matusz in Frederick. Tillman could be up by midsummer, maybe Arrietta as well. Even though Matusz will be in Class A and has never pitched in the minors, everyone is saying he will be up in September.

Regardless, I expect all three to be in our 2010 rotation. If we can have them, Guthrie and one of the Japanese pitchers were seem to be on the verge of signing then I think this is a playoff rotation for years to come.

The challenge is signing a big power bat to hit cleanup behind Nick and in fron to Weiters. We don't have that in the minors --- that is why Tex is a must

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rhall Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

rhall

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I am guessing that Tillman begins the season in Norfolk, Arrietta in Bowie, and Matusz in Frederick. Tillman could be up by midsummer, maybe Arrietta as well. Even though Matusz will be in Class A and has never pitched in the minors, everyone is saying he will be up in September.

Regardless, I expect all three to be in our 2010 rotation. If we can have them, Guthrie and one of the Japanese pitchers were seem to be on the verge of signing then I think this is a playoff rotation for years to come.

The challenge is signing a big power bat to hit cleanup behind Nick and in fron to Weiters. We don't have that in the minors --- that is why Tex is a must

I think there is a chance that Tillman starts the year in Bowie, but I don't necessarily disagree with your starting spots. BUT I do think you're being overzealous with your promotion rates. And who is this "everyone" that is saying Matusz will be up in September? I'm not familiar with him. :rolleyes:

All of those guys may have the ability to move quickly (especially Matusz), but what makes you think that will happen? The O's have been slow to promote people mid-season as of late, and they've expressed a serious interest in not promoting their pitching prospects to the majors before they're really ready. They don't want to see the next wave struggle like Penn, Olson and Liz have.

I share your interest in one of the Japanese pitchers, though. I would like to see one of them in Baltimore. At this point, I prefer Uehara.

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rhall Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

rhall

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Yes yes yes. I agree to everything except the Japanese aspect of it. I don't see these guys making the transition well. Everything I've read about Uehera (sp?) shows that he's been declining for the past few years.

Performance or stuff? IIRC his performance has been fine, albeit in the bullpen the last 2 years. The biggest reason for that shift was due to injury. He got hurt pre-season and when he was coming back during the season the club decided to bring him along in the bullpen. The club was doing well, and Uehara was playing well out of the pen so they decided to leave him there. There is speculation that they also left him there out of spite because they knew that he wanted to leave and go to the US when his contract was up. That may not have had anything to do with his 1st full season in the pen, but I can definitely see how that may have influenced his staying in the pen for the 2nd season.

Before moving to the pen, Uehara was one of the best pitchers in Japan for a long time.

Uehara has more questions than Kawakami does as far as his commitment to staying in top shape (supposedly due to motivation, which playing in US could possibly alleviate), but I believe Uehara could have an easier time transitioning to the majors as a starter than Kawakami. IIRC, Kawakami has the tendency to tire in the 5th inning or so, and really benefits from extra rest. If that's the case, how will he transition to being a starter in the US pitching on less rest between starts? I think Kawakami will need to be a reliever to be successful in the US. Uehara has a wider repetoire of pitches, too.

I think that either Kawakami or Uehara could be good bargains though. The Rangers are rumored to be preparing Uehara a 3 year deal worth more than $10 million. That deal could go up to $15 million and I would still like the risk/reward of that signing for the O's.

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bej6789 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

bej6789

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I am guessing that Tillman begins the season in Norfolk, Arrietta in Bowie, and Matusz in Frederick. Tillman could be up by midsummer, maybe Arrietta as well. Even though Matusz will be in Class A and has never pitched in the minors, everyone is saying he will be up in September.

Regardless, I expect all three to be in our 2010 rotation. If we can have them, Guthrie and one of the Japanese pitchers were seem to be on the verge of signing then I think this is a playoff rotation for years to come.

The challenge is signing a big power bat to hit cleanup behind Nick and in fron to Weiters. We don't have that in the minors --- that is why Tex is a must

I think Tillman starts again at AA. Last season I believe he was on a pretty light pitch count, so I think the Orioles would probably lift that at the AA level and see how he does before moving him up. The kid is still really young. I think for whatever reason, the Orioles want to push Arietta. I believe a few posters have mentioned that the idea of Arietta in Baltimore to start the season isn't as farfetched as you'd think, so him being in Norfolk might just happen. Add that in with the possibility of Wieters starting the year in Norfolk as well, and those two working together makes an awful lot of sense. As for Matusz, I'm tempted to say he'll start in Frederick... but his stay their will be brief. Being as he's incredibly polished, I think he just needs innings. His stuff has already matured to the point that working at the lower levels in the minors doesn't do him much good given his repetoire. I'd say he spends the bulk of his season at Bowie with a distinct possibility of a sept. callup given his major league contract.

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weams Hangout Grand Counsel

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I think there is a chance that Tillman starts the year in Bowie, but I don't necessarily disagree with your starting spots. BUT I do think you're being overzealous with your promotion rates. And who is this "everyone" that is saying Matusz will be up in September? I'm not familiar with him. :rolleyes:

All of those guys may have the ability to move quickly (especially Matusz), but what makes you think that will happen? The O's have been slow to promote people mid-season as of late, and they've expressed a serious interest in not promoting their pitching prospects to the majors before they're really ready. They don't want to see the next wave struggle like Penn, Olson and Liz have.

I share your interest in one of the Japanese pitchers, though. I would like to see one of them in Baltimore. At this point, I prefer Uehara.

Major league scouts who watched him in College and the AFL say that he has nothing to prove in the minors and is Major League ready. I have read this several places.

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adamwolff11 Major Leaguer Rising Star

adamwolff11

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I'm not really sure when exactly they'll come up, but they should all be in our starting rotation by 2010, assuming they have the success we're anticipating. Any of the 3 of them that is successful throughout the minor league season should be given the opportunity to progress throughout the minors and be worthy of at least a september call-up.

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rhall Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

rhall

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Major league scouts who watched him in College and the AFL say that he has nothing to prove in the minors and is Major League ready. I have read this several places.

I remember reading that Matusz had nothing to prove... but I thought I remembered it referring more to the lower levels. Now that you mention it, I think they were talking about the minors in general. I still believe that was a pretty aggressive report on him, though.

Going off of his AFL performance, I'd say he still has a few things to prove in the minors... that he can have consistent fastball command and avoid that one bad inning. That's actually not bad at all, and the AFL is a small sample size too.

I acknowledge that he does have a chance to move very quickly, but I see him following a route more similar to Wieters. He'll spend his first full season in the minors and contend for a spot in Baltimore in spring training 2010. He could possibly get a September callup, depending on how his season goes, and how the plethora of other pitchers ahead of him on the minor league ladder are doing.

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rhall Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

rhall

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I really doubt that Arrieta will be up here on Opening Day.

I agree. No way he jumps from Frederick to Baltimore.

Is anyone listening to MacPhail when he talks about not making the same mistake they made with Olson and Liz? They don't want to promote anyone until they prove that they're ready and they're going to need more than a hand full of starts at the higher levels to do that.

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