Matusz updates

[Stotle]

Yeah, I was alittle disappointed that the O's didn't select Crawford in the fourth. I doubt Hudson lasts very long. That selection seemed very redundant to what the O's already have in the system, but whatever.

Crawford now at .524/.615/.905 -- 1.520 OPS

[tywright]

Per Roch

http://masnsports.com/2009/04/difficult-first-inning-for-mat.html

Matusz gave up three runs in the top of the first inning, though only one was earned.

Salem leadoff hitter Che-Hsuan Lin reached on an error by first baseman Chris Vinyard. Aaron Reza grounded a single into left field, and Lin scored when Ryan Kalish doubled to left-center field.

A ground ball and fly ball brought in two more runs.

Matusz threw 25 pitches, 15 for strikes. His last eight pitches were strikes, and Zak Farkes went down swinging on a nice off-speed pitch to end the inning.

[Hank Scorpio]

I can't tell if Matusz is done or not, but his 6 inning line looks pretty good :

IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA

Matusz 6.0 7 4 1 2 8 0 3.45

7 GB outs, 3 FO.

[Lucky Jim]

Not bad. Though I continue to think the O's made the right call starting him in A ball.

[AVencill]

He's done, Cliff Flagello is in the game now. Poor defense puts him in line for the loss. Looks good otherwise. Matusz tossed 96 pitches on the afternoon, and his six innings and eight K's are season-highs for Keys starting pitchers.

[AVencill]

Not bad. Though I continue to think the O's made the right call starting him in A ball.

I absolutely agree 100%. I still believe too if he does get called up to Bowie, it'll be sometime after the all-star break in mid-June.

[BillySmith]

Does the 96 pitches suggest anything? There obviously is not a pitch count for all of our pitchers - not that anyone ever suggested there was. Just wondering outloud if the O's have Matusz moving up a little faster than we think.

[Lucky Jim]

I was one who thought he should start at Bowie but if he's using all of his pitches, then it certainly looks as if he's not dominating like I thought he would. If he is on restriction (having to ditch the curve to some extent) then I guess it also makes sense to start at Frederick and work on that.

By all accounts, he's throwing fewer curveballs - so I'm guessing some kind of "soft" restriction. If that's the case, then his "good but not great" outings are actually kind-of impressive. Or at least reason to be confident that he's going to be legit mid-rotation starter for us.

Either way, I think he moves fast. Just - sadly - not as fast as we all would like. Which would mean taking over for Eaton next week.

[BillySmith]

By all accounts, he's throwing fewer curveballs - so I'm guessing some kind of "soft" restriction. If that's the case, then his "good but not great" outings are actually kind-of impressive. Or at least reason to be confident that he's going to be legit mid-rotation starter for us.

Either way, I think he moves fast. Just - sadly - not as fast as we all would like. Which would mean taking over for Eaton next week.

I wonder if that helps keep his arm healthy too. I would think it would. A "soft" restriction of fewer breaking pitches and just going mainly fastball, change.

[AVencill]

Does the 96 pitches suggest anything? There obviously is not a pitch count for all of our pitchers - not that anyone ever suggested there was. Just wondering outloud if the O's have Matusz moving up a little faster than we think.

I don't think it suggests anything. Tim Bascom threw 95 pitches on Friday night, so I think right now the pitch count is around that number. Matusz was at 84 pitches after 5 innings, so they decided to leave him in since the bullpen has been less than stellar to begin the year.

[BillySmith]

I don't think it suggests anything. Tim Bascom threw 95 pitches on Friday night, so I think right now the pitch count is around that number. Matusz was at 84 pitches after 5 innings, so they decided to leave him in since the bullpen has been less than stellar to begin the year.

Thanks, Adam. Love your input around here.

[Lucky Jim]

I wonder if that helps keep his arm healthy too. I would think it would. A "soft" restriction of fewer breaking pitches and just going mainly fastball, change.

There's something to be said for that. If his best comp is Hamels, then noting Hamels' inability to bounce back from his innings last year is disconcerting. We should note, too, that Bedard's problems crept up when he went from throwing roughly 20% curves to over 30%.

[BillySmith]

There's something to be said for that. If his best comp is Hamels, then noting Hamels' inability to bounce back from his innings last year is disconcerting. We should note, too, that Bedard's problems crept up when he went from throwing roughly 20% curves to over 30%.

http://www.masnsports.com/index_blog_roch.html

I was surprised to read that there are no restrictions on what he wants to throw. It does look, however, that they are stressing the fastball and getting ahead.

[backwardsk]

I made it to my first Frederick Keys game with the sole purpose of watching Matusz pitch. I wasn't disappointed!

The first three batters he faced all scored. However only one of them was earned, I think. The Salem lineup only had one lefty in its lineup. The leadoff batter had a lengthy at-bat when he hit a squibbler to first base on the seventh pitch. The ball had a really funny spin to it and Vinyard didn't handle it and was charged an error. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Matusz broke his bat on a foul ball that had some wicked late breaking action. The next batter got a single in the 5.5 hole. One thing to note on this hit is that I believe the shortstop would have made the play if he wasn't cheating to second for a potential double play. Now, if not for the error, that would be two up two down.

The third hitter hit a rope into left center off the wall for a double to knock in the only run. Matusz fell behind 3-1 to this lefty DH. It was a really good at bat for him and he drove the ball to the opposite field. That was one of only 4 hard hit balls off of Brian.

After that double, Matusz started to cruise. The next batter grounded out to short with an RBI and the next batter flew out to left field. Three runs have scored.

Matusz then made the 6-7-8 hitters look silly with three consecutive strikeouts for the 3rd out in the first inning and the first two outs in the second. The ninth place hitter hit a solid single up the middle. One day he'll tell his grandchildren that he got two hits off of the great Brian Matusz. He later had a bunt single down the first base line that he couldn't have rolled it out there any better.

After the first two innings, I had him charted with 39 pitches (I had him at 95 pitches while the other reports had him at 96 so I must have missed one). I was afraid he wouldn't get out of the fifth.

In the third inning he gave up a single and a walk with two outs. He got the seventh place hitter to ground out to Vinyard to end the threat. In each of the first three innings he had at least two base runners get on. At this point, I had him at 61 pitches and was hoping he'd get through 5 innings.

In the fourth, he was very economical. After three pitches he had one out and a runner on first on the bunt single that I mentioned above. Then he threw a tailor-made DP ball to the short stop to get out of the inning on 6 pitches.

He struck out all three outs in the fifth with a two out single to right mixed in. This was the third time through the line up with the 2nd-5th hitters up. This was the strongest he looked. He got ahead 0-2 or 1-2 in each strike out. What a great sign to see him get stronger as the game progressed.

To my delight, they brought him out in the 6th. He had two outs on two pitches and I thought he may be able to come out for a seventh. However the second out was tagged to CF that Angle made a good play on going back. It wasn't a running catch or anything like that, but it was hit sharply over his head and he got back there and under it. It was the hardest hit ball off of Matusz. Then he gave up a triple. But, I'm sorry, Rowell made a terrible play on the ball. I understand he's making a transition to the outfield, but he literally did not make a move on the ball until it was over his head. It should have been caught. That would have got him out of the inning on 88 pitches. Then the next batter hit a ground ball to 2B, and he threw it into the dugout allowing the 4th run (3rd unearned) to score. Calmly, Matusz struck out the next batter to end the day with 8Ks.

Other observations: Angle makes Brian Roberts look like an NBA player. He's short, but he does have some pop in his bat. Waring is not so bad. He hit the ball hard all day, I think only one got through for a hit. Rowell isn't the fastest guy, but he looks like he has a very athletic glide in his step. He'll need more reps to get accustomed to the outfield, but with his height, he may be better off at 1st base.

[BillySmith]

I made it to my first Frederick Keys game with the sole purpose of watching Matusz pitch. I wasn't disappointed!

The first three batters he faced all scored. However only one of them was I earned, I think. The Salem lineup only had one lefty in its lineup. The leadoff batter had a lengthy at-bat when he hit a squibbler to first base on the seventh pitch. The ball had a really funny spin to it and Vinyard didn't handle it and was charged and error. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Matusz broke his bat on a foul ball that had some wicked late breaking action. The next batter got a single in the 5.5 hole. One thing to note on this hit is that I believe the shortstop would have made the play if he wasn't cheating to second for a potential double play. Now, if not for the error, that would be two up two down.

The third hitter hit a rope into left center off the wall for a double to knock in the only run. Matusz fell behind 3-1 to this lefty DH. It was a really good at bat for him and he drove the ball to the opposite field. That was one of only 4 hard hit balls off of Brian.

After that double, Matusz started to cruise. The next batter grounded out to short with an RBI and the next batter flew out to left field. Three runs have scored.

Matusz then made the 6-7-8 hitters look silly with three consecutive strikeouts for the 3rd out in the first inning and the first two outs in the second. The ninth place hitter hit a solid single up the middle. One day he'll tell his grandchildren that he got two hits off of the great Brian Matusz. He later had a bunt single down the first base line that he couldn't have rolled it out there any better.

After the first two innings, I had him charted with 39 pitches (I had him at 95 pitches while the other reports had him at 96 so I must have missed one). I was afraid he wouldn't get out of the fifth.

In the third inning he gave up a single and a walk with two outs. He got the seventh place hitter to ground out to Vinyard to end the threat. In each of the first three innings he had at least two base runners get on. At this point, I had him at 61 pitches and was hoping he'd get through 5 innings.

In the fourth, he was very economical. After three pitches he had one out and a runner on first on the bunt single that I mentioned above. Then he threw a tailor-made DP ball to the short stop to get out of the inning on 6 pitches.

He struck out all three outs in the fifth with a two out single to right mixed in. This was the third time through the line up with the 2nd-5th hitters up. This was the strongest he looked. He got ahead 0-2 or 1-2 in each strike out. What a great sign to see him get stronger as the game progressed.

To my delight, they brought him out in the 6th. He had two outs on two pitches and I thought he may be able to come out for a seventh. However the second out was tagged to CF that Angle made a good play on going back. It wasn't a running catch or anything like that, but it was hit sharply over his head and he got back there and under it. It was the hardest hit ball off of Matusz. Then he gave up a triple. But, I'm sorry, Rowell made a terrible play on the ball. I understand he's making a transition to the outfield, but he literally did not make a move on the ball until it was over his head. It should have been caught. That would have gottem him out of the inning on 88 pitches. Then the next batter hit a ground ball to 2B, and he threw it into the dugout allowing the 4th run (3rd unearned) to score. Calmly, Matusz struck out the next batter to end the day with 8Ks.

Other observations: Angle makes Brian Roberts look like an NBA player. He's short, but he does have some pop in his bat. Waring is not so bad. He hit the ball hard all day, I think only one got through for a hit. Rowell isn't the fastest guy, but he looks like he has a very athletic glide in his step. He'll need more reps to get accustomed to the outfield, but with his height, he may be better off at 1st base.

I love this stuff from the HO. Helps make this place so great. Any feeling about whether Matusz was favoring the fastball and change over breaking pitches? I think he has admitted that much of his college success was based on his plus curveball. And when he left Sarasota, the word from the FO was that he needed to work on his other pitches to help get guys out.