Break Up the Baysox: Week 8
The Fremulon Insurance Player of the Week
Shorebirds pitcher Rick Zagone
In addition to “The Cavalry” and the “Tier Two” pitching depth in the Orioles’ system, there are a quartet of pitchers in A-ball making names for themselves. Leading the charge for Delmarva is Rick Zagone, who has absolutely dominated (except for last night) the Sally League. Last week he threw seven innings with six strikeouts and just two walks, numbers very indicative of his overall performance: 53.2 IP, 20 BB, 54 K, 3 HR, 2.43 GO/AO, .206 BAA. This comes on the heels of an equally dominating performance last year in the New York-Penn League (79 K, 14 BB in 65.1 IP). We could be looking at a situation where we look back at the 2008 draft as a huge success for Joe Jordan and the Orioles, who picked up these prospects: Zagone, Matusz, Avery, Drake, Hoes, Joseph, and Miclat.
Norfolk Tides : 34-16 (1st IL South)
With their roster gutted by injuries and promotions, the Tides press on into the night. Few players of interest remain, but Justin Turner has turned it on lately, going 11 for 28 this week with just 2 strikeouts. He doesn’t have much power (he is slugging just .375), but will probably have a Thunderdome-esque fight with Robert Andino for the backup infielder spot next year (if he ever comes back from his broken foot, Blake Davis could make it a Battle Royale of scrappy utility infielders – how exciting!).
Bowie Baysox : 25-23 (4th EL South)
Demotion to AA-ball did not help Mike Costanzo reassert himself as a quality prospect ( .563 OPS), and Brandon Snyder took a break from making all of us dream of our future first baseman with a down week (7 K and 6 BB). Dave Stockstill mentioned a few weeks ago that the Orioles would be looking into promotions around June 25th, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to think Jake Arrieta (56 K in 45.1 innings) and Troy Patton (1.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) might not even last in Bowie that long, given the dearth of pitching left in Norfolk (though either Hernandez or Berken is coming back when Koji’s ready). Stay tuned…
Frederick Keys : 25-26 (4th CL North)
Brian Matusz was named the Carolina League’s Player of the Week with the excellent line of 14 IP, 3 BB, 9 K, 0 HR. I won’t harp on the hollowness of that victory – it’s a tired refrain for me – and instead just bask in the greatness that is the (perhaps) best pitcher in The Cavalry. Another pitcher to start to get excited about is Nate Nery, who has made 5 starts since his promotion from Delmarva, striking out 24 and walking just 8 in 29 innings. Not overpowering numbers like Matusz’s, but Nery definitely falls into that “Third Wave” of pitchers you may not have heard of that are pitching very well in the lower levels.
Delmarva Shorebirds : 26-21 (2nd SAL North)
In addition to Zagone’s efforts, the Shorebirds are finally starting to get some offensive production from guys like Xavier Avery and Greg Miclat. Avery we’ve discussed here, as he has seemingly figured out how not to constantly strikeout (just 3 this week!), but Miclat hasn’t garnered much attention. The slap-type hitter has struggled mightily (.587 OPS), but this week put up encouraging numbers: .521 OBP, 3 doubles, no strikeouts.
(photo via)
The draft is in one week, so I’ll be putting up my thoughts on the Orioles potential moves by the weekend. I’m not going to even try to mock the whole thing, so instead we’ll just look at the Orioles options and where we think Joe Jordan will go and where he should go.
We say it all the time, but it’s ridiculous that Matusz is still in A ball. They could probably just run him right up to AAA. I think they’re being a little too cautious with this one.
We’re going to be in a position very soon to trade young pitching for a very good SS or 3B prospect, especially if we draft another pitcher this year at #5. This excites me. Sign a bullpen guy or two this offseason. Sign or trade for a third baseman. Maybe resign Huff for one year (especially cool if we trade him mid-season for more prospects). Try to sign one front-line pitcher (but don’t overpay). Then this team is suddenly quite decent — one of the best young teams in the league. Exciting times!
You ask me, I say don’t sign any bullpen guys and just move whoever can’t crack the rotation into the pen ala Jim Johnson. Cheap and effective is the strategy I want, not the one where we sign Scott Williamson, Chadford, Baez, and Walker for 50+ million dollars.
Yeah, you’re right. Use some of these guys in the pen. No need for stupid Walker-like contracts.
There’s no point to run Matusz right up into AAA. The Orioles have their plate so frickin full right now with pitchers who deserve promotions, theres no reason why Matusz can’t do a little marinating while the First Wave sorts itself out. If we promote Patton and Arrieta into AAA, bounce Hernandez back… then we have four dominating pitchers in AAA again. Someone has to be traded. You’d have to assume that someone like Guthrie isn’t going to last very long on the Orioles.
@Greg – Let’s not jump to anything too quickly. We have NO idea whatsoever what Berken and Hernandez (or Patton, Tillman, Matusz, or Arrieta, for that matter) are going to do in the majors. We have a surplus of arms, but the quality of those arms is basically unknown, except that Tillman, Arrieta, and Matusz are very highly regarded as prospects.
That said, Matusz is just too damn good for the Carolina League. He was never going to struggle even a little bit there. I’m not expecting him in Baltimore until probably this time next year, but the kid has clearly dictated by performance that he ought to be promoted already.