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Impressions of Brian Matusz

Hank Scorpio

By Hank Scorpio
in Orioles Talk

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ccbird Hangout Grand Counsel

ccbird

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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.

He is certainly going to struggle at times but I don't think there will come a time where he will look nothing like a big league pitcher. Still, I understand where you are coming from. I'm rarely a hype buyer and usually cautious with my expectations and take the prove yourself approach with most young players. I was like that with Markakis and Jones in recent years and with more highly regarded prospects in Wieters and Tillman this year. For me, Matusz is a unique player in that I was already in the tank for the guy before he threw his first professional pitch. Of course, it was nothing more than a gut feeling at the time and he still has much to prove but he has done nothing to this point to make me think twice about lowering my lofty expectations for his career.

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Jules Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Jules

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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.

-

This really surprised me as well. I thought his fastball was a secondary pitch. Maybe that was a plan for him and MW? Either way it was a very good start.

The post game comments were interesting (2 pies in the face) he was talking about the different size strike zone and adjustments to make the next time.

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QSII Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

QSII

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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.

According to our esteemed announcers, they brought up a kid from the minors for one game. That was just so they didn't waste a lineup spot with a lefty hitter last night. They didn't have quite enough lineup, and apparently had some serious pre-game paranoia.

I'm guessing most teams won't go to that much trouble. Then we'll see Johnson/Kruk II. That's not much exaggeration.

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scOtt Hangout Grand Counsel

scOtt

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According to our esteemed announcers, they brought up a kid from the minors for one game. That was just so they didn't waste a lineup spot with a lefty hitter last night. They didn't have quite enough lineup, and apparently had some serious pre-game paranoia.

I'm guessing most teams won't go to that much trouble. Then we'll see Johnson/Kruk II. That's not much exaggeration.

I did read that Detroit made a couple more moves after the game, sent two callups down and brought two more up. Maybe it was scouting. :) Speaks well for Matusz!

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QSII Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

QSII

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I did read that Detroit made a couple more moves after the game, sent two callups down and brought two more up. Maybe it was scouting. :) Speaks well for Matusz!

Maybe they really fear Guthrie, and their Matusz moves were a smokescreen.

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wildbill1978 AA

wildbill1978

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"Pitching 18 years to the day after former Orioles pitching sensation Mike Mussina made his big league debut, a 1-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox, Matusz threw strikes (65 of his 99 pitches), worked fast and got out of jams."

I love seeing our young guys up in the majors, but I have not been truly wowed until I watched Matusz pitch last night. For the most part he was making people look silly. Ever since Moose left I've been hoping we would find his replacement. Bedard looked like it for about 2/3rds a season, but other than that I really don't think we've seen anyone that compares. With Bergy, and Matusz we might have a real 1-2 punch in our rotation. And that isn't even taking into consideration all the others we have coming, or are already here.

I really hope we can get the right hitters to even out our streaky hitting and to go along with the pitching that is here or coming. We might actually look respectable for once.

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Hank Scorpio Hangout Grand Counsel

Hank Scorpio

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You're really funny. The vast majority of us aren't talking about his results at all. We're talking about his pitches and approach. I would have felt the same way if he gave up 5 runs in 4 innings last night. I felt similarly about Tillman the night before (though he clearly isn't as polished) and he gave 5 runs.

It appears to me that you're having trouble distinguishing between conversations that based opinions on results and conversations that deal with the stuff that led to results.

Talent does not always translate to immediate success, much to the chagrin of many people who are sick of losing. I get that...

But, watching Tillman & Matusz pitch, I think that it's relatively easy to see that these two definitely have what it takes not only to be successful now in the big leagues, but to escalate as two dominant pitchers at a very fresh age.

There are always going to be people who look at Tillman's 2 starts and say, "Well, the kid gave up 7 ER in 10 innings, how can you say he's going to be good?"

The talent is obviously there with these two guys. They have both showed flashes of brilliance and given their lack of experience at the ML level, they're going to get better. Considering their respective makeups and cerebral approach to pitching, I think it's safe to assume that at this point next year, those desired results will have already started to manifest themselves.

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scOtt Hangout Grand Counsel

scOtt

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Wow! Just saw the Izturis to Roberts play to end the 2nd! THAT's some slick D!

Matusz was lucky/blessed? To get that behind him. That "popup" to Inge was a mistake, big time. Brandon missed it a bit, and Comerica helped... but that was a bad pitch! Two walks on the inning too.

Even still... Matusz looks unfazed. In control. Somehow...

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scOtt Hangout Grand Counsel

scOtt

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Nope, I read the same story. There was an anecdote about a couple veterans "clucking" because he threw a curve that was so nasty.

How happy does that make you since that looked like his "worst" offering last night? Yay us... :mwahaha:

Friendly or foe veterans?

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