Brandon Erbe game discussion

[allstar1579]

Come on allstar! I wasn't at the game but the boxscore tells you which pitcher Bell hit the homerun off of. It was a RHP in both games. I think it's safe to deduce that he was batting LH.

Haven't checked the boxscores, if I'm not AT the game, it stands to reason I'm busy

[Arthur_Bryant]

Yeah, from that side of the plate he's got power to all fields, no question, the ball just jumps off his bat.

I have to wonder what Bell could do as a LHer against LHP. How bad could it be?

The funny thing is that RH is his "natural" side. Apparently he has been switch-hitting since HS, but I don't know which side he started from.

[theonestevewh]

Erbe gave up 44 H in 73 IP at Bowie, with a BAA of .170! Are you kidding me?

[Malike]

If he can remain healthy, he's got amazing upside. When he's on, he's nearly unhittable. Unfortunately, he seems to be injury prone, so perhaps his future lies in the Pen.

Hopefully, he will remain a starter and be productive.

[SurhoffRules]

If he can remain healthy, he's got amazing upside. When he's on, he's nearly unhittable. Unfortunately, he seems to be injury prone, so perhaps his future lies in the Pen.

Hopefully, he will remain a starter and be productive.

He's still young so I'm not going to label him injury prone just yet. Plenty of pitchers go through growing pains. When he was all fastball with a slider afterthought, then yes, I think moving him to the pen made some sense...but I think with his change in approach and the results he's had you keep him as a starter until it becomes obvious that he can't hack the inning load.

[Frobby]

Injury prone suggests that he's missed a lot of time each year or had numerous injuries. This is just not true. From 2006-2008, Erbe statred 27,25. & 28 games.

Agree he doesn't deserve the injury prone tag. However, it's a little hard to judge his season this year because he missed half the season. Most of his ratios look good, but would they have stood up over 140-150 IP? Also, he had a fair number of very short outings. He went 6+ innings only 7 times.

On balance, you have to be very pleased. Among other things, he reduced his HR rate significantly.

[allstar1579]

Agree he doesn't deserve the injury prone tag. However, it's a little hard to judge his season this year because he missed half the season. Most of his ratios look good, but would they have stood up over 140-150 IP? Also, he had a fair number of very short outings. He went 6+ innings only 7 times.

On balance, you have to be very pleased. Among other things, he reduced his HR rate significantly.

Going 6+ innings 7 times in the limited number of starts he had coming off a tired shoulder is actually really reassuring.

[QBsILLEST1]

Just got back from the game and this was one of the best outings I've seen from Ebre and a great way for him to end the wrap up the regular season. His velocity started off 92-93 touching 94 (Bowie gun, we all know what that means) and seemed to dip a few mph as the game went on. His secondary pitches were absolutely superb tonight. He got the change over and the slider had very nice dip and lateral bite. I've seen him a number of times this season and I'm pretty sure he's been working on a slower curve with big drop in the upper 70s. He seemed to be throwing it even more the last two starts of his I've seen. He mixed in several times in this outing and really seemed comfortable with all his off speed pitches, throwing them in the zone and as chase pitches. I should mention that while I'm raving about his secondaries he definitely still pitches off the fastball. He established it early and I feel like he's getting it down more consistently.

His ONLY mistake was the homerun in the first. It was off a fastball thigh high and middle in (worst pitch of the night). I should also mention that two of his strikeouts were on 3-2 pitches out of the zone that the batter chased. One was a letters high fastball and one was a slow curve that fell out of the zone. Erbe's mound presence is great, he didn't even blink after the home run, he just shook it off and made the adjustment and threw better pitches afterward. He goes right after hitters and mixes it up. He just looks like a pitcher. A couple of his outs in the seventh were hit fairly well but he was never in danger. A very, very strong outing.

I really do want Brandon to succeed so I'm not going to claim to be unbiased but I do think he has a bright future ahead of him. He was basically the first minor league player I started to follow consistently and was pretty much my gateway drug to the Orioles farm system. I overheard some people talking while watching him warm up and rehashing a conversation one of them had with him where he talked about not wanting to throw as hard on each fastball so he could get deeper into the games. I know he's also not throwing as hard after the shoulder fatigue (he's still got a good fastball, it's just not quite as electric as it was earlier in the season) but it seems like his approach has changed regardless of the injury/setback and he's getting some good results. I said it earlier but I'll say it again, each time I've seen him he looks more and more like a pitcher. It's unfortunate he missed some time this season but I'm very happy with the overall results. I really hope he starts in AAA next year. I'll miss being able to see him regularly but I think he's definitely ready for it.

Oh, and I guess I was more impressed with Bells shot than BowieMike. It was a low liner that got out in HURRY. It wasn't a moonshot but it went screaming off his bat. It's also nice to see a few Key's players helping out.

Thank you for that quick write up. It does sound like he is turning major corners this year and hopefully it continues into next year. IMO hes on his way to turning another big corner before he comes up to Baltimore, but IMO hes on the fast track developmentally like Tillman. Even though hew as injured this year, its like night and day to me(between this year and last year) and it should keep getting better. I think hes well on his way to being a quality ML SP....

Injury prone suggests that he's missed a lot of time each year or had numerous injuries. This is just not true. From 2006-2008, Erbe statred 27,25. & 28 games.

I agree, you proved me wrong on this one before. I dunno what it is, but I too felt he was injury prone, but it was a misconception. Rather than labeling him injury prone, I think fragile is a better term. Regardless, he had an amazing year, and IMO rather than the other thread comparing Arrieta and Britton, I think Erbe should be thrown into that convo as well. He has atleast as high of a ceiling and he seems to finally be carving into that ceiling....great to see.

Going 6+ innings 7 times in the limited number of starts he had coming off a tired shoulder is actually really reassuring.

Thats very true. I never for some reason considered that aspect as to why he had a few shorter outings especially after that 8 inning no hitter. If the national ranking organizations consider that then I think he is close to a shoe in for top 100. I really dont see why he wouldnt be a top 100 guy....

High ceiling: check

good stuff: check

pitchability: check

development: check

Youth: check

If you look back at Erbe in 07 and 08, he was in Fredrick both years and neither year he specifically dazzled people as a whole. But this year he finally showed the ability to develop. He showed major improvement, I was at a point last year conscerned he may have been stagnating.....