Spencer Watkins 2022

[btdart20]

Another rabbit out of the hat!  This series against the Rangers was nothing short of miraculous!   

[Matt Bennett]

2 hours ago, Roll Tide said:

Me Too! Wondering if he’s for real. I assumed he was just a filler type guy.  I realize he beat the Rangers but he’s starting to string sone good outings.

I don't think he's for real but will gladly take his success for as long as it stays, especially with this patchwork rotation. 

[ChosenOne21]

AAAA stuff, but MLB results. I'll take it for now, but I too am skeptical he'll keep this up for very long

[Frobby]

13 minutes ago, Matt Bennett said:

I don't think he's for real but will gladly take his success for as long as it stays, especially with this patchwork rotation. 

That’s how I feel about it.   Reminds me of the joke about the guy whose wife thinks her cat is a chicken.  His friend asks, “why don’t you tell her it’s a cat?”   The man replies, “I would, but I need the eggs!”

I don’t think Spenser Watkins is a major league starting pitcher, but right now, we need the eggs.   

[tntoriole]

42 minutes ago, ChosenOne21 said:

AAAA stuff, but MLB results. I'll take it for now, but I too am skeptical he'll keep this up for very long

This is how guys like Lyles make lengthy careers 

[tntoriole]

41 minutes ago, Frobby said:

That’s how I feel about it.   Reminds me of the joke about the guy whose wife thinks her cat is a chicken.  His friend asks, “why don’t you tell her it’s a cat?”   The man replies, “I would, but I need the eggs!”

I don’t think Spenser Watkins is a major league starting pitcher, but right now, we need the eggs.   

It will be interesting to see but I would not be surprised to see him have a long and multi team 5th starter career 

[now]

On yesterday's broadcast they noted the O's starters top MLB in ERA (2.52) since June 19. That's three weeks of Wells, Lyles, Kremer, Watkins, and Voth. Talk about miracles! Apparently all that analytical juju is finally bearing fruit. (Not to mention the chorus line of waiver nuggets in the outstanding bullpen.)

[sportsfan8703]

Not only is he getting results but he’s going “deep” into games. He’s been unbelievable and last night he saved a recently shaky pen. 

[ChosenOne21]

1 hour ago, tntoriole said:

This is how guys like Lyles make lengthy careers 

Sure, some guys succeed like that. But the odds are heavily stacked against it. For every Jordan Lyles, there are dozens of guys with similar stuff who didn't make it

[SilverRocket]

I thought this was interesting, from April:

https://pressboxonline.com/2022/04/29/orioles-rhp-spenser-watkins-on-adding-slider-to-repertoire-in-2022

Quote

“The slider has been fairly new the last two weeks,” Watkins said on Glenn Clark Radio April 28. “[It’s] something our pitching coach Chris Holt had brought to me as an idea. We had messed around with some thoughts last year on it. We were working through adding the changeup and everything last year, so once we got to a point where we felt that was a good addition, we stretched out to see if we could make the ball move a little bit of a different direction … so we could go east to west.”

He went to Driveline in the offseason and added 1mph to his fastball. And this year, added the slider which he uses 18% of the time and has been his most effective pitch. And even last year, the changeup was a new pitch. It sounds like he's still a work in progress but the repertoire is finally coming together.

The statcast numbers are still worrying. Avg exit velocity and xwOBA are bottom 10%.

[OriolesMagic83]

3 hours ago, now said:

On yesterday's broadcast they noted the O's starters top MLB in ERA (2.52) since June 19. That's three weeks of Wells, Lyles, Kremer, Watkins, and Voth. Talk about miracles! Apparently all that analytical juju is finally bearing fruit. (Not to mention the chorus line of waiver nuggets in the outstanding bullpen.)

That and Adley's on field coaching.  I'm sure it all has had an effect.  Probably mostly luck. 

[interloper]

Rocking a cool 4.9 K/9! 

[CharmCityHokie]

4 minutes ago, interloper said:

Rocking a cool 4.9 K/9! 

Which pairs nicely with that 3.4 BB/9 rate.

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, CharmCityHokie said:

Which pairs nicely with that 3.4 BB/9 rate.

It's funny because Wells is our best pitcher and he's got a 5.9 K/9. Totally different approach from his 10.3 K/9 reliever mode, but obviously the eye test says he's much more likely to keep up the success than Watkins. 

[Roll Tide]

6 hours ago, ChosenOne21 said:

AAAA stuff, but MLB results. I'll take it for now, but I too am skeptical he'll keep this up for very long

People probably said as much about Jamie Moyer?..