Should Bergesen be in the Orioles rotation to start the season?

[Fan4Life]

I'd rather give him a shot at being Aaron Cook than give Adam Eaton a shot to put up 2005 #'s.

That's a different poll, I if Bergy walks 5 and gives up 5 runs in the first 2 innings against the Sox, will the 40%+ that voted yes, then not be sure? It's way to premature to give a spot to any minor league guys.

[wildcard]

I choose not to vote. But I was very definite about it.

[crawdad]

I'd rather give him a shot at being Aaron Cook than give Adam Eaton a shot to put up 2005 #'s.

It took Aaron Cook several years to be Aaron Cook. I just do not understand why you are so amazingly overestimating Bergesen's ability to hold down a rotation slot. Wanting him to be Aaron Cook means that he slates the year at Norfolk.

[ugen64]

I don't see it. Bergesen is a 23 year old pitcher who has never played above AA. His peripherals in AA: 4.38 K/9, 1.64 BB/9, 0.67 HR/9. As a comparison, Carlos Silva *last season* in the majors: 4.05 K/9, 1.88 BB/9, 1.17 HR/9. Now would you want Carlos Silva in the Orioles' rotation? I don't think so. So why would you want the AA version of Carlos Silva in our rotation?

He needs at least 1 year in AAA before I would promote him. Maybe he gets a September call-up if he pitches really well. If there is one pitcher in our minor league system that we stick in the rotation that hasn't played above AA-ball, it's Matusz.

[Moose Milligan]

Ahhh, The Trea makes a thread, everyone jumps all over him...c'mon, leave the guy alone. Plenty of more ridiculous hypotheticals have been posted on here before and no ones batted an eye.

[Cokeman]

Here's a poll I'd like to run -- of the 25 people who voted "yes" or "no" in this poll, how many of you have every seen him pitch, even once?

I saw him pitch once when he was 12 years old...and I was pretty sure he wasn't ready to be any MLB rotation.

[TakebackOPACY]

Here's a poll I'd like to run -- of the 25 people who voted "yes" or "no" in this poll, how many of you have every seen him pitch, even once?

I voted no, and I have never seen him pitch. I read the poll once and thought, "this is silly. I'm not voting." Then after reading a bit of the other Bergesen thread, I felt compelled to come back to this one and vote no.

If Bergesen makes the rotation out of spring training, I will be extremely disappointed that they had such little confidence in those other guys that they couldn't even stomach giving them a shot.

Someone brought up a Scott Erickson comparison, but Erickson struck out 6.1/9ip in AA. Even Aaron Cook struck out 5.5/9ip.

'AA' lefties batted over .300 against Bergesen last year. And the poll is whether he should start 2009 in the major league rotation?! I hope he continues to develop, but he is so obviously in the middle of his development that I'm stunned that he is being considered.

For those who play poker, think of it as moving up from low stakes to high stakes. Bergesen is having success at low stakes with a method that will need to evolve if he is to have success at high stakes. Let him take the next step at the stakes level in-between. Of course it's possible that he'll have success if he leaps a level, but why do it?

I don't know. I guess if he can't crack the Tides' rotation we can put him in the O's rotation until he's more prepared.

One other note: I don't feel compelled to see how the next three weeks or so pan out before considering Bergesen. I feel compelled to see how at least the next three months or so pan out.

[Boy Howdy]

So the K's don't really matter to Bergesen as he's a groundball pitcher in the mold of Scott Erickson. If you pitch to contact you aren't going to strike a ton of guys out. As long as he can induce GBs I don't see why people will think he'll fail because he doesn't strike out 5 batters every 9 innings.

I don't disagree with this, but the part of the Q&A I found most interesting was this (not that it's news):

Q: Can you tell the difference in the level of competition as you climb the organizational ladder?

A: Oh, absolutely. Every level I've gone up, I've noticed a difference. It's just like a pyramid - every best player you play against at one level, you're playing against the same guys at the higher levels also.

[ugen64]

Ahhh, The Trea makes a thread, everyone jumps all over him...c'mon, leave the guy alone. Plenty of more ridiculous hypotheticals have been posted on here before and no ones batted an eye.

Yeah. Personally I would love it if Scott Moore became an All-Star 3B, just to watch everyone on this forum go crazy.

[Mackus]

I'd give Bergesen a chance to make the rotation out of ST. If he's clearly one of the 5 best starters, I don't mind him making the team. But he's got to clearly earn it. If its a debatable decision, send him to Norfolk for some time there first.

[wickedwitch]

I don't see it. Bergesen is a 23 year old pitcher who has never played above AA. His peripherals in AA: 4.38 K/9, 1.64 BB/9, 0.67 HR/9. As a comparison, Carlos Silva *last season* in the majors: 4.05 K/9, 1.88 BB/9, 1.17 HR/9. Now would you want Carlos Silva in the Orioles' rotation? I don't think so. So why would you want the AA version of Carlos Silva in our rotation?

I'd take Carlos Silva in this rotation.

[crawdad]

Here's a poll I'd like to run -- of the 25 people who voted "yes" or "no" in this poll, how many of you have every seen him pitch, even once?

I've seen him pitch in person three times, all last year. We've written about him and placed him as the 19th best prospect in the system. I would not say I know his ability frontward and backward . . . nor do I know whether he had an epiphany during the offseason . . . but, I know his pitching somewhat well.

[ugen64]

I'd take Carlos Silva in this rotation.

Well I knew someone would take the bait. Here's a more relevant question: which of these pitchers would you rather have in our rotation? (2009 CHONE projections)

5-8, 5.33 ERA, 22 starts, 120 IP, 21 HR, 41 BB, 52 K

8-11, 5.23 ERA, 28 starts, 172 IP, 22 HR, 54 BB, 77 K

I'll give you a hint - one of these is Bergesen. The other one is Livan Hernandez.

[tvz1997]

FWIW. Here's the latest from Roch and Trembley:

The debate can continue over whether Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman or Jake Arrieta will be the staff ace in a few years, but there's no doubt that Brad Bergesen is the most advanced pitcher in camp among the young prospects.

Bergesen is the only one with an outside shot at making the 25-man roster when the Orioles head north.

"I'm not saying I'm looking at him for the rotation," Trembley said. "I'm saying he's probably the closest guy to consider for a guy that could stick with the team because of his experience and the way he pitches."

http://masnsports.com/2009/03/ranking-the-young-pitchers.html

Great quotes from DT at the end of the article as well.

Pretty sure they've both seen him pitch.

[BillySmith]

Two scoreless innings so far, at least 2 k's, and not alot of pitches. He's now coming out for the 3rd. :clap3: