Cole Irvin: “I’m not saying I’m in the best shape of my life”

[Frobby]

10 hours ago, justD said:

Not sure when this interview was conducted, but was posted today shortly after the game ended. 

 

That’s a great interview.  Interesting to hear all that from Irvin and great job by the interviewer to really drill down on the details.  

[dystopia]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

One thing we know is that he’s capable of throwing 180 innings.  And, it’s objectively true that he’s picked up a couple of mph.  So, I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions, but there are reasons to hope he could fill a rotation spot capably if needed.  

I never suggested otherwise. But I'm not ready to say he'll be more valuable than Means based on two innings. He may very well end up being that, but I need to see more than two innings. 

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, dystopia said:

I never suggested otherwise. But I'm not ready to say he'll be more valuable than Means based on two innings. He may very well end up being that, but I need to see more than two innings. 

Yeah, and I’m not disputing that.   I would say, though, that he’s capable of throwing more innings than Means ever has.   I’d be thrilled if we got 145 innings from Means, even if he pitches well.  

[dystopia]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Yeah, and I’m not disputing that.   I would say, though, that he’s capable of throwing more innings than Means ever has.   I’d be thrilled if we got 145 innings from Means, even if he pitches well.  

I would too. I doubt he throws more than 120 personally. I just find it funny that Irvin was an afterthought on this board prior to yesterday. 

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, dystopia said:

I would too. I doubt he throws more than 120 personally. I just find it funny that Irvin was an afterthought on this board prior to yesterday. 

He stopped being an afterthought for me he minute Mike Elias finished his Feb. 14 presser.   But I’ve always thought of him as a competent option if somebody got hurt.   

[sportsfan8703]

9 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

 

Irvin started showing 95ish out of the pen last September when he was used more as a typical 1 IP reliever. If he can hold his velo through 5-6 IP, he could be effective especially with the wall in LF. Kudos to him for adjusting and working hard this winter. 

[RZNJ]

The nice thing about the extra velocity is that he didn’t sacrifice command to get to it.  On the contrary, he was painting the outside corner to lefties (inside corner to RH) with it.  His command of his curve and change were ok but it seemed really good on the fastball.   The delivery looked fluid and the velocity looked natural.  Looking forward to see the results and velo from his next appearance.

[IPlayGM]

7 minutes ago, dystopia said:

I would too. I doubt he throws more than 120 personally. I just find it funny that Irvin was an afterthought on this board prior to yesterday. 

My comment was more of a carryover from how 2023 ended…He was completely written off after his start last year, but came back to pitch pretty well. Now he is in camp throwing harder, I don’t think it’s a stretch to think he might even have a little more in the tank velocity wise. If he locates like he has historically, he could be good.

[wildcard]

If Means pitches like Means, Irvin has almost no chance of beating him out of a rotation spot.   If Means pitches like he did last September there is no chance Irvin will replace him in the rotation.

John may go through a fatigued  period sometime during the season.   That is why he has never started 32 games in a season.   But he has bounced back in the past.   He is a bulldog on the mound.

I like that Irvin looks fitter this spring.   I hope that translates to a good season.    O's went to a 6 man rotation in the 2nd half of 2023 to save the starters arms.   We could see that again this season.

[sportsfan8703]

29 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

The nice thing about the extra velocity is that he didn’t sacrifice command to get to it.  On the contrary, he was painting the outside corner to lefties (inside corner to RH) with it.  His command of his curve and change were ok but it seemed really good on the fastball.   The delivery looked fluid and the velocity looked natural.  Looking forward to see the results and velo from his next appearance.

Yup, good point. He didn’t look like he was overthrowing. He’s 6’4” 225. So he’s got the natural frame. 

[Tony-OH]

On 2/22/2024 at 12:21 PM, Sports Guy said:

 

He averaged 17 inches of horizontal break in his six sinkers in yesterday's outing so he's off to a good start. He got three swings and two WHIFFs off the pitch. he averaged 94 MPH on his fastball which with 1.8 MPH higher than last year's average and touched 95.9 MPH.

Maybe he was hyped up or maybe he was able to do that because he knew he had only two innings, but the stuff all ticked up from last year.

[Ripken]

1 hour ago, dystopia said:

I would too. I doubt he throws more than 120 personally. I just find it funny that Irvin was an afterthought on this board prior to yesterday. 

Many of us have been saying he could be good this year and have an important role.

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, dystopia said:

Irvin looked really good yesterday, but man people will really jump to wild conclusions based on two innings.

Wait, first there's hate for Irvin and now people are too excited over him? Dude, pick one and stick with it! lol

At the end of the day, all of Irvin's stuff has ticked up from last year and that's a good sign. I just wished the Orioles would install statcast in Sarasota. It's annoying that we only get this data when they play away and does a disservice to the fans.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, dystopia said:

I would too. I doubt he throws more than 120 personally. I just find it funny that Irvin was an afterthought on this board prior to yesterday. 

What board are you reading? Seriously. The second the injuries were announced almost every single person went ahead and scratched Irvin's name in the rotation. I had him making the team in the bullpen prior to the injuries, so most of us felt he had a role on this team. 

 

[Sports Guy]

8 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

He averaged 17 inches of horizontal break in his six sinkers in yesterday's outing so he's off to a good start. He got three swings and two WHIFFs off the pitch. he averaged 94 MPH on his fastball which with 1.8 MPH higher than last year's average and touched 95.9 MPH.

Maybe he was hyped up or maybe he was able to do that because he knew he had only two innings, but the stuff all ticked up from last year.

Yep. The key is can he sustain that stuff for 4-6 innings?  

When he had his 2 good years in Oakland, his K rate was in the low to mid 6s and he didn’t miss bats at a high rate, so it’s not like he couldn’t succeed with below average numbers in those areas. 
 

OToH, it makes it harder to succeed and his margin for error is razor thin. If he can have an uptick in stuff and get more Ks and miss more bats, he really becomes a guy that could be very big for us this year.