Orioles Look to New Talent to Improve 2010 Season--Pitcher Edition

Orioles' pitching prospects (from left to right): Troy Patton, Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen, David Hernandez and Jake Arrieta. Taken at spring training in 2009.

There is one quality I've noticed in Baltimore sports fans and that's stubbornness. Even I'm willing to swallow my pride enough to admit that we often live up to our reputation of being the biggest whiners about refereeing in NFL games (That said, on more than one occasion, our complaints have been justified. But I digress). Baltimore fans' stubbornness in the world of Major League Baseball relates to our incessant belief that our "young talent" and extraordinary farm system is finally going to get us to a winning record each and every season. Now, I've been an Orioles fan since birth--it was pretty much ingrained, considering my great uncle was a center fielder for Orioles back when the team was still part of the International League (Joe Mellendick, look him up)--and in my 20 years, we have had a handful of good seasons. Shoot, I grew up in the Cal Ripken Jr. Era. However, in the years that I've been old enough to actually understand the dynamic of baseball, I've only seriously followed the Orioles for the past couple of years. And I clearly remember for the past couple of years the belief and the hope that we would be better, that we would break our streak of losing baseball games. But that hasn't happened. In fact, we've only gotten worse. Since winning 78 games in the 2004 season, we have gone down, down, down (74, 70, 69, 68 and last season, 64).

But these stubborn Baltimore fans still have hope. In fact, even some baseball analysts are saying the O's have a chance to be better this year. Not great, but better. Tim Kurkjian of ESPN's Baseball Tonight (a Maryland alumnus--holla!--who covered the O's for the Baltimore Sun in the late '80s) talked about his good expectations for the Orioles on Sportscenter yesterday. So let's talk about who some of this young talent is. Today, we'll start with the pitchers.

Note: Don't judge me for repeatedly quoting backup catcher Chad Moeller. Moeller is well-liked by the young pitchers because, although he may not be the best player, he knows the game of baseball inside and out, particularly from the perspective of someone who has been behind the plate for many years and has therefore caught countless different pitchers. Several members of the media, including MASN's Roch Kubatko, value Moeller's opinion on pitchers because he has tons of experience and wisdom under his belt and is also a quote machine once you get him talking.

LHP Brian Matusz-- Matusz was one of the young pitchers that O's fans have been raving about having in their farm league. He went 11-2 in the minors with an ERA of 1.91 and was brought up in August last year. Matusz finished the season 5-2 with a 4.63 ERA, but went 4-0 with a 3.73 ERA over his last five starts. And from what I heard, this kid (he's only 23) is only going to get better.

MASN's Roch Kubatko on Matusz: "Brian Matusz has nasty stuff. Four pitches he can throw for strikes or use to make hitters look foolish. And he has a keen understanding of how to work them for someone so young. Are 15 wins too much to expect in his first full season in the majors? Am I coming in too low?"

Catcher Chad Moeller on Matusz and other young talent (notice how Moeller echoes the Orioles' everlasting theme of hope): "...He’s so fun-loving, like: 'Yeah, this is just great, I’m just happy to be here.' I’m thinking, Dude, you’re better than all of them out there. But he knows what he’s doing, he really does. Whatever he portrays, the guy understands how to pitch, he has a ton of stuff, wants to learn more. We’ve got a really good group of guys that want to learn here, and that’s what gives you hope."

Though the Orioles suffered a tough 5-6 loss in his first 2010 exhibition game, Matusz put up a strong outing, striking out four of the six batters he faced and throwing 28 of 36 pitches for strikes, according to the Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck.

RHP Chris Tillman: Tillman made his MLB debut a month earlier than Matusz, but fared a lot worse. The 21-year-old finished 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA. Ouch. Nonetheless, he is still projected to be part of the Orioles' starting lineup (along with soon-to-be-three-time Opening Day starter Jeremy Guthrie, new pickup Kevin Millwood, fellow youngin' Brad Bergesen and Matusz).

Moeller on Tillman (in September): "Tillman's ceiling is extremely high. The frame, the fact he hasn't really grown into his body, the potential. He has a huge upside. For the most part, they haven't seen his capabilities here yet...He needs to continue to work on the command on his fastball, and the other pitches will develop along with it. But he has a monumental upside."

Tillman pitched two perfect innings in his first exhibition outing Friday. Needless to say, all the Orioles bloggers were impressed by his growth.

RHP Brad Bergesen: Bergesen made his MLB debut in April. The team has already had a Brad Bergesen T-shirt night. They obviously like this guy. Bergesen, 24, went 7-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 19 starts.

Bergesen, who has been struggling with an injured shoulder, has been using live batting practice sessions to get ready to make his first exhibition start, most likely Wednesday, according to Kubatko.

Pitching coach Rick Kranitz on Bergesen at the end of February: "It was like he didn't miss a beat. If you would have told me he hadn't thrown in five months or whatever, I would have said you're a liar. It was very good. The movement was excellent. His mechanics were very good."

Catcher Matt Wieters on Bergesen: "He had his sink back already, and he was able to locate the fastball. He was able to stay down. Bergy's got that fastball to where he doesn't have to try and do too much. He can just throw it over the middle and let it work. I definitely don't think he was trying to do too much just getting back on the mound."

RHP Jake Arrieta: Arrieta, who turned 24 today, is one of the non-roster invitees at spring training. He is 11-11 in the minors with a 3.4 ERA. Arrieta never made it to the big show last season, but is still considered a promising young prospect coming into 2010.

Moeller on Arrieta: ""I love Jake's stuff. Jake has a ton of ability. I think he'll end up being a really good pitcher. There are things he needs to continue to improve on, but stuff-wise and ability-wise, he's right there at the top of the list. He just needs to continue to mature as a pitcher."

Arrieta didn't fare well in his outing Friday, "load[ing] the bases with one out in the fifth inning and g[iving] up the tying run," reported Kubatko. "Only fifteen of Arrieta's 26 pitches were strikes."

RHP David Hernandez: Hernandez, 24, made his MLB debut in May. He finished the 2009 season 4-10 with a 5.42 ERA.

Hernandez finished two exhibition innings with three strikeouts and gave up one solo home run. He is slotted to pitch again tomorrow.

RHP Brandon Erbe: OK, so here is who I really, really wanted to blog about. Erbe is a hometown boy. He went to McDonogh in Owings Mills, Md. and happens to be the brother of my former classmate and softball teammate, Sam. Erbe, 22, was drafted to the Orioles straight out of high school--he was only 17 at the time--and has been rising in the ranks ever since. To be quite honest, I've been following his every move ever since, so I was super excited when the Baltimore Sun wrote a feature on him. Erbe "went5-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 14 starts for Double-A Bowie in 2009," reported The Baltimore Sun. Apparently a change in delivery is why he is becoming even more successful.

Orioles' minor league pitching instructor Dave Schmidt on Erbe: "He basically was a guy with a good arm who threw hard, but he wasn't really able to make pitches because the things in his delivery were holding him back from doing that. [Now] he's not just a guy with a good fastball. His velocity might have dropped a little bit, but he has better command of his pitches, and adding two other pitches gives him more weapons to get hitters out."

According to Kubatko's blog, Erbe retired his first two batters in game action he saw today, but gave up a triple, then a single to bat in the runner on third. He then gave up a two-run homerun. Nonetheless, not a terrible outing for someone who hasn't even seen AAA action.

Stay tuned for more on the Orioles' up-and-coming young team...and tomorrow, a spring training update (hint: so far, we're 1-3. Yikes).