Impressions of Brian Matusz

[J.D.]

Am I too bold in comparing him to Tom Glavine or even a left-handed Greg Maddux?? I read in another thread where a scout compared him to Charlie Liebrandt.

Tonight is an exciting night for O's fans!

I actually (not to brag) compared his stuff to Glavine when he was drafted, and I think that, as VaTech said, he may actually have better STUFF than Glavine does. If he can refine that control, he's going to be absolutely disgusting for us down the line.

I was really, really blown away by what Matusz did today. And it wasn't just seeing the quality of his offerings. It was the way he carried himself on the mound. He believes he belongs, and the stage didn't seem to faze him one bit. He worked his way out of jams with poise and confidence. The last two outs of the fifth inning were probably the two most impressive outs I've seen out of any Orioles pitcher this year.

Obviously it's too early to make a sweeping judgment, but the early impression here is that we have a really, really good pitcher on our hands.

[JJLinn29]

Tonight, at least, Brian Matusz taught me that it isn't how fast you throw -- it's the setup and change in speeds that matter. As Buck Martinez said, if he throws the change followed by a fastball... that fastball looks like 97 mph instead of the actual 91.

What I saw tonight was a pitcher wise beyond his years. He knew what he had to do, he attacked, and he used the gifts that got him to Baltimore tonight. This kid is a mainstay in the rotation, and you bet your sweet behind that the Yankees, Sox and Rays all made note of the performance tonight. That's three pitchers with considerable upside, at least.

So true. Johan only throws 92-93 tops, but does exactly what you said. Hopefully Matusz can become half as good as him.

[allstar1579]

IIRC, in ST everybody was making a big fuss about how good his curve was. When he got a start, DT watched for a while, said he was gonna fall in love with using the curve too much, so after an inning or two he told him he couldn't use it anymore. I thought part of the agenda they set for him in the MiL's was to not rely on his curveball. Am I misremembering this?

I'm pretty sure it was his change-up that they were trying to get him away from depending on, he got into FB-CH zones where that is all he would throw sometimes. He's been trying to use the curve more so that it makes the change more effective when he throws it. (after a while, they will expect the change and sit on it)

On an aside, Matusz' change up is as good as Tillman's curve. It is devastating, and the way he uses it is masterful. Since Santana's change is falling off a bit, I'd say the top 2 in the entire league are Hamels and Matusz. I watched him go 3 innings without throwing it once, but then when he does, watch out. I watched a guy swing and miss so hard he went down to one knee.

[Jagwar]

I loved how when lightning struck the plane, blowing up the engine, Matusz calmly flew under the wing, actually becoming the missing engine. Then he guided the plane safely to the runway.

[Pruke]

While I was all for keeping these kids in the minors this year, one thing is for sure - they've got nothing to lose. They can come up here, experiment and learn on the company's dime so to speak.

Glad to see Brian debut well. I hope he and Tillman get enough time this year to learn the ML way, preparation for ML hitters and get the mental part down while they let their physical skills out of the cage.

Go O's.

[snatch311]

One other thing quickly. He did this all against a full lineup of righties. Who knows if other teams will show him that much respect.

[MuhladaOs]

While I was all for keeping these kids in the minors this year, one thing is for sure - they've got nothing to lose. They can come up here, experiment and learn on the company's dime so to speak.

Glad to see Brian debut well. I hope he and Tillman get enough time this year to learn the ML way, preparation for ML hitters and get the mental part down while they let their physical skills out of the cage.

Go O's.

Well said; I love Brian's changeup, that made the Tigers look foolish. What a great first start to a long professional career in the big's!

[mark_beckens]

Hmmm...I haven't notice anyone say that he was rushed and wasn't ready to pitch in the bigs...

Those people will be back tomorrow, they are staying away from the OH tonight.

[mark_beckens]

Of all the posters on here(with due respect to many), Va Tech's technical analysis is the result of a guy who knows pitching.Your words are very exciting and inspiring. Ive seen too many Daniel Cabrera's and Adam Eatons in recent years, and even our cant misses were very very dissapointing.

I have felt all along that we had the pitching talent just waiting. Im glad as hell we brought up Matusz and Tillman when we did. I still believe we need a veteran to help school these kids on the field. I also firmly believe we need a major power hitter to balance out this lineup. Maybe two. I dont think Snyder is the answer at 1b..but I like what he is doing at AAA.

Matusz, Bergesen, Tillman, Hernandez and Arietta...with a choice of Guthrie or Koji..looks pretty good to me...add a veteran arm and the O's are stacked.

Now if we could only hit consistently.

I think that if we bring in a mentor it shouldn't be a #1, stud pitcher. It should be someone who knows how to pitch, who knows the little things about pitching. Setting hitters up, moving the ball in and out, up and down. Changing speeds, keeping hitters off balance.

[MisterCrash]

Impressions:

-He worked off his fastball a lot, which I wasn't quite expecting. I'd been under the impression that he attacked hitters with all of his pitches, but for most of the game he threw a lot of fastballs, tried to get ahead in the count, and went to the breaking stuff only after he was two or three pitches into an AB.

-His slider was easily his best pitch tonight. He made it his out pitch and threw some sick middle-in sliders to RHHs. However, he was clearly trying to go low-in, and he missed up a few times, which is dangerous. If he can regularly throw a low-in slider with two strikes to RHHs, he'll be our #1 starter by the All-Star Break next year.

-I was surprised how little he went to his curve. He thew it, and threw it for strikes, but I was under the impression that the yakker was his go-to out pitch, which clearly it wasn't this game.

-He didn't seem to have much confidence in his change. He struck out Cabrera on a change, but it was his least-thrown pitch. He really reminded me of Cole Hamels, and if he develops his change that comparison will be definitely warranted...

-He easily met my (very lofty) expectations. He had great command (he had three walks, but they were all long at-bats where he battled and battled; I might be mis-remembering but I don't think he ever went 3-0 on a hitter), threw all four of his pitches for strikes, and kept hitters off balance because they knew he was willing to throw all four for strikes. He never threw a curve that didn't break or put a ball in the dirt five feet in front of home plate. When he got into jams, he didn't start pressing and overthrowing (a la Clayton Kershaw, another young phenom). Pretty soon, I think we'll be in a position to beat any team in baseball with him on the mound.

[ccbird]

He lived up to my very high expectations last night. I mentioned this in another thread but the kid has the "it" factor. To go along with the immense talent he has the poise, confidence and intelligence that makes the good ones great. Last night confirmed my belief that this guy will be a top of the rotation starter.

[Malike]

Cant wait to see all the reactions if he gets bombed in his next start. Everyone here acting like he's the second coming of Christ, better temper their expectations. Clay Bucholz tossed a No-no in his second start, after beating the Angels in his first, look at him now.

I think Brian will be fine, but seriously, he's going to have struggles and look nothing like a ML pitcher at times. It amazes me how people here preach sample sizes when it enforces their argument on a certain issue yet completely act as if it doesn't apply in other times.

He made some good pitches, he had some outstanding D behind him, but lets not pretend he was Glavine or Maddux, or even Cole Hamels. His command was spotty at best, it took him 99 pitches to get through 5 innings, and walked 3. It was a very nice start for a rookie, in his first big league game, but lets not pretend he's Glavine, or Hamels, or has a better change up than Santana already.

[scOtt]

I love reading all the impressions here tonight. I work nights and missed it. I tried to read as much as I could on my phone at lunch (9:30) and break, then everything since I've been home. I was especially impressed at how impressed Leyland was.

My question is this, certainly if he stays up (seems like a good probability ) he has roughly all of August til he's shut down, right? Also, 4 days rest is Sunday. Do I get to see him on Sunday? How does everyone see the rotation sorting out in the near near future?

[QSII]

One other thing quickly. He did this all against a full lineup of righties. Who knows if other teams will show him that much respect.

Indicating that Detroit had in fact scouted him. Or at least read the internet notes. When people see him pitch to lefties for the first time, it'll fill another 7 pages.

[scOtt]

Indicating that Detroit had in fact scouted him. Or at least read the internet notes. When people see him pitch to lefties for the first time, it'll fill another 7 pages.

I was pretty impressed when I read he faced all righties too, tip o' the cap to the rook...

Altho Jim Leyland has the experience (and the lineup) to do such a thing. I don't know if it was scouting or just good baseball.