As Spring Training is in full force, questions begin to arise about who will win the 5th spot in the Orioles rotation. As Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez, and Chris Tillman are seemingly penciled in (barring any catastrophic injuries or mechanical downfalls), the competition for the final rotation spot has begun.
Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta are two intriguing pitchers, both on completely opposite sides in my mind. Matusz showed serious promise down the stretch last season as he took on the “lefty specialist” role out of the bullpen, as Arrieta, who was also moved to the ‘pen, continued to struggle. Brian Matusz would serve as the second southpaw in the rotation, should he earn a spot, behind Chen, giving the Orioles more leverage versus teams with powerful left handed hitters. Arrieta, once highly regarded, has outgrown his “prospect” days and is a serious contender to make the 2013 Opening Day rotation.
Three others to keep an eye on are Zach Britton, who is in a similar boat to Matusz and Arrieta as former prospects still trying to prove themselves, Steve Johnson, the right-hander who showed dominance during the O’s playoff run, and Tommy Hunter, the bulky pitcher who, when moved to the bullpen, showed that he could top off his fastball at 98 mph.
At this point, I would be amazed to hear Tsuyoshi Wada, one of Dan Duquette’s offseason international signings before the 2012 season, in the mix for a spot due to his slow, yet steady, recovery from Tommy John surgery. Wada, who put up unbelievable numbers during his 8 years in Japanese baseball (107-61, 3.13 ERA, 1,329 Ks), was inactive during his first season with the Birds, yet he hopes to arrive in the bigs by May at the latest. This spring training, he began throwing bullpen sessions from a full size mound for the first time since his surgery in May, 2012.
If I were to make an educated guess on what pitcher skipper Buck Showalter would etch in as his 5th starter, it would be Brian Matusz. Due to the fact that left handed hitters have an all time .219/.276/.376 stat line against him, I do believe that Showalter and pitching coach Rick Adair will chose Matusz and shape him into a more complete starting pitcher.
