The Rotation

[eddie83]

22 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The problem I have with that is that you aren’t replacing him with anyone good outside of maybe Wells but he may be more needed in the pen.

He is your 5th starter right now. Most 5th starters are giving you a 5+ ERA.

How he looks is what is important. He’s getting a lot of rave reviews from Adley and now McCann this camp. He is missing bats and getting Ks. The velo is great.

Im sure if the standard is that he is throwing all 4 pitches at a high level at one time, it’s unlikely he’s ever called up. 
 

At the end of the day, will it really matter if they send him down for 2-4 weeks? No, probably not. I just think he needs to further himself against the best in the world and not guys he can just overpower.

If he was already established we aren’t having this conversation. Perhaps is he simply having some mechanical issues that need tweaking.  
 

I think you answered it with what you said at the end. If they do send him out it’s not about who they are replacing him with. He would not be down for long. 

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

And that command can’t happen with better coaches and in the majors?

Has that been an issue all spring?  What about work on the side?  How has that looked?

Roch has reported all spring as if it’s a foregone conclusion he’s in the rotation. Elias has basically made it a foregone conclusion with his words. Word out of camp is that his stuff has been great and has elite upside.

We have heard he is working on things. Was he doing that yesterday? Is he playing around with things to get ready? 
 

 

Obviously I have no idea how Rodriguez has looked in his side sessions, or in his first two outings.   I saw him in person last week against what could be described as the Red Sox JV team, and he was sharp at first but got tired.   Nothing in that outing troubled me too much.  Yesterday was more troubling.  Again, I’m not saying to hit the panic button.  I think the odds are still in favor of him starting the season with the big club.  But I couldn’t care less about what Roch has reported, because he’s been wrong about spring training decisions countless times in the past.  When the O’s announce who is going north, that’s when there will be “foregone conclusions.”  Not until.   

There’s also another element here, which is how the other pitchers are doing.   Right now neither Wells nor Voth has really grabbed the brass ring, so we’ll see.   
 

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Obviously I have no idea how Rodriguez has looked in his side sessions, or in his first two outings.   I saw him in person last week against what could be described as the Red Sox JV team, and he was sharp at first but got tired.   Nothing in that outing troubled me too much.  Yesterday was more troubling.  Again, I’m not saying to hit the panic button.  I think the odds are still in favor of him starting the season with the big club.  But I couldn’t care less about what Roch has reported, because he’s been wrong about spring training decisions countless times in the past.  When the O’s announce who is going north, that’s when there will be “foregone conclusions.”  Not until.   

There’s also another element here, which is how the other pitchers are doing.   Right now neither Wells nor Voth has really grabbed the brass ring, so we’ll see.   
 

Roch is reporting what he is being told, not his opinion.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

https://www.masnsports.com/orioles-rss/mccann-on-rodriguez
 

Sounds like he just needs to calm down a little.

I think this is a very interesting element of the pitch clock rules.   On a day when a pitcher is on a roll, there’s going to be little the batters can do to derail the pitcher’s momentum.   Conversely, when things start unraveling a bit for a pitcher, it’s going to be tough for them to regroup.  

Based on both the game I attended and the one yesterday, I do think GRod will need to learn how to minimize the damage when things are going south a bit.  
 

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think this is a very interesting element of the pitch clock rules.   On a day when a pitcher is on a roll, there’s going to be little the batters can do to derail the pitcher’s momentum.   Conversely, when things start unraveling a bit for a pitcher, it’s going to be tough for them to regroup.  

Based on both the game I attended and the one yesterday, I do think GRod will need to learn how to minimize the damage when things are going south a bit.  
 

Of course..all pitchers need to learn that. When you have elite stuff, it makes it easier to limit that damage.

[eddie83]

They could tweak things such as having Gibson come back on normal rest to face Texas and let Grod face Texas in Game 6. That would avoid him facing NYY the following weekend and face Oakland in start 2 instead. 
 

You can’t hide guys over a 162 game season but maybe a softer landing if he comes up isn’t a bad idea. 

[eddie83]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Of course..all pitchers need to learn that. When you have elite stuff, it makes it easier to limit that damage.

This will thankfully be the last time we ask these questions about Grod. He will be established on some level this time next year. 
 

If he throws well his next time out considering how much they have promoted him all spring odds are he comes north. 
 

They can get an extra year out of him and from a PR standpoint he justified if he throws bad. At the end of the day the worst case scenario is simply a delay of his arrival. 

[eddie83]

33 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Some pitchers take a little longer to find their stuff in the spring. Plus, Rodriguez had trouble finding his breaking stuff when he came back from the oblique last year so maybe he's just a guy that needs a little more time? If that time gains you service time long term plus you think Wells/Voth can be good or better than Rodriguez in the first few starts, makes sense to me.

Yeah. I mean at the end of the day it can serve to benefit the Orioles. 
 

They have had every opportunity during the winter and spring to downplay his odds and have done the opposite. 
 

Orioles play 28 games thru April. So 5 starts for 5th starter. Not saying they keep him down at all or that long but at end of day with off days and freshness of pen the pitching staff should be fine early on. Club needs him right over the long haul.  

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

This will thankfully be the last time we ask these questions about Grod. He will be established on some level this time next year. 
 

If he throws well his next time out considering how much they have promoted him all spring odds are he comes north. 
 

They can get an extra year out of him and from a PR standpoint he justified if he throws bad. At the end of the day the worst case scenario is simply a delay of his arrival. 

Of course that could easily blow up in their face, ala Adley next year. The extra year is not a foregone conclusion anymore.

[spleen1015]

Shouldn't he be used to the pitch clock? He pitched with it last year in the minors.

[waroriole]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

What happens when he struggles again? Does he lose confidence that quickly? Will he need to be “re-set” all the time? 
 

 

I don’t know why he would. When he first had struggles, he’d never had success in MLB. Now he has that success in August and September to fall back on. 

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, waroriole said:

I don’t know why he would. When he first had struggles, he’d never had success in MLB. Now he has that success in August and September to fall back on. 

Maybe. In a perfect world, this is what will be the case. In fact, I would agree it’s the most likely case.

But right now, all we know is that he felt he needed to reset after having some bad outings. That’s not something you normally hear. You don’t normally hear guys say they basically needed to face lesser competition.

Maybe it’s nothing but it’s also not something that gives me a ton of confidence that he is mentally prepared to overcome adversity at this level.

 

[Lurker]

3 hours ago, eddie83 said:

So maybe Bradish side day was a day earlier?  He goes tomorrow. 

Bradish pitched for Norfolk on Wednesday 3/15. 5 innings, no runs, 5 k’s and 49 pitches.

[Ohfan67]

A number of posters seem to be relying on spring training stats a ton in this rotation discussion. As of the start of today's game, Grayson has better spring training results than Voth or Wells (for most stats). Neither one of those guys are established ML pitchers, so if we are judging based on spring training stats, then they shouldn't get a pass. And of course we know Grayson has better stuff and projection. The O's would be super dumb to let a few spring training innings dictate what they are going to do with Grayson...and if you want to use spring training stats as your guide, then Voth and Wells have done no better than Grayson at this point (Wells is pitching now, so his stats after today's game may be a little better). 

[Lurker]

3 hours ago, RZNJ said:

I think you’re reading too much into it.  This kid had some rough times in AAA and came out strong last year.  He had some struggles in the majors and came back strong and who’s to say he didn’t actually have some shoulder inflammation.    I see nothing wrong with him saying it was good to have a mental and physical reset.    Makes sense to me.

He had shoulder inflammation.