Matusz ROY Finish

[OFFNY]

At one point during the season I did the math on what Matusz's ERA would have been without all the runs charged to him thanks to the bullpen's failure to keep inherited runners from scoring, and the difference was striking.

Another interesting comparison: even if someone wants to characterize Matusz's season as a roller coaster,

ups and downs are intrinsically tied to baseball.

Austin Jackson, for example, recorded monthly batting averages of .364, .297, .253, .314, .277, and .254...of course, no one's calling his season a roller coaster, or arguing that his inconsistency undercuts the sum value of his rookie season.

Yeah. I suspect that many Oriole fans are more sensitive than fans of most other teams because of our 13 consecutive losing seasons ......... hence, at the slightest sign of a blow up for a player, they start to think, "Oh no. Here we go again. The latest Oriole prospect is another bust."

I can understand that oversensitivity to an extent ........ but man, eventually you need to get a grip and stop jumping the disaster gun.

.

[ShaneDawg85]

At one point during the season I did the math on what Matusz's ERA would have been without all the runs charged to him thanks to the bullpen's failure to keep inherited runners from scoring, and the difference was striking.

Another interesting comparison: even if someone wants to characterize Matusz's season as a roller coaster, ups and downs are intrinsically tied to baseball. Austin Jackson, for example, recorded monthly batting averages of .364, .297, .253, .314, .277, and .254...of course, no one's calling his season a roller coaster, or arguing that his inconsistency undercuts the sum value of his rookie season.

Good stuff right here. They call them rookies for a reason. I almost expect to get some roller coaster effect during the course of the season with just about any rookie, regardless of how highly touted they are. Very few rookies are Albert Pujols in 2001, or even Buster Posey in 2010. There is going to be peaks and valleys during the course of the season, and they're goings to be months that are better and worse than others. Matusz, Jackson, and Boesch, just to name a few, all had them.

[bawlmorchop]

Congrats to Brian on a good rookie season. I figured he'd get a few votes for third, but didn't think he would finish third. Wish he had one more so he wouldn't have been tied. Also Buster Posey was deservedly Rookie of the Year, and I think he would best Neftali Feliz for all of MLB, especially if you consider postseason performance. Wieters will hopefully get inspired to step it up a notch (or two) next season.

[Frobby]

At one point during the season I did the math on what Matusz's ERA would have been without all the runs charged to him thanks to the bullpen's failure to keep inherited runners from scoring, and the difference was striking.

Another interesting comparison: even if someone wants to characterize Matusz's season as a roller coaster, ups and downs are intrinsically tied to baseball. Austin Jackson, for example, recorded monthly batting averages of .364, .297, .253, .314, .277, and .254...of course, no one's calling his season a roller coaster, or arguing that his inconsistency undercuts the sum value of his rookie season.

I am a big Brian Matusz fan, I think he will be at the top of our rotation for years to come. But let's not make excuses for his uneven performance in 2010. According to Baseball Prospectus, the bullpen allowed about 3 more runs than it should have (compared to a league average bullpen) when Matusz was on the mound. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=154256 So maybe his ERA should have been 4.15 instead of 4.30, not a big deal. As to Austin Jackson's ups and downs, yes he had them, but Matusz's were more extreme and his final numbers suffered for it. Matusz most definitely had a roller coaster season. Fortunately for us, he closed the season on the climb, and he looks like he may stay climbing for quite some time.