Let’s all take a collective deep breath. Game 1 did not go the Orioles’ way. There were plenty of missed opportunities. There was plenty of second-guessing. But it’s not the end of the world. This was simply game one. And there are…that’s right, you guessed it…plenty more opportunities.
The fact is this: the Orioles lost a game. That’s the obvious. But if you’re anything like me (and I’m assuming most of you die-hard fans are), you know that the Orioles loss isn’t the only fact. So let’s use our 20/20 hindsight vision and pick this game apart, shall we?
Tim Timmons
That was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the worst playoff performances by an umpire I have ever seen. What was a strike one inning was a ball the next. Tim Timmons, at no point in this game, had any idea of what his actual strike zone was. It seemed to me that his strike zone was solely based on the intensity and the pressure of a given situation.
J.J. Hardy took a pitch three inches inside that was called a strike in a pivotal fifth inning at-bat in which he would strike out with a full count. Eric Hosmer, batting with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th after Zach Britton had walked the first three hitters, took the same pitch and it was called a ball. Granted, Britton hadn’t earned the call, but Timmons lacked any kind of consistency throughout the game. The only consistency he portrayed was his continued ignorance to any sort of a tangible strike zone.
Brian Matusz
The Orioles have missed on a ton of first round picks since 1980 (by my count, 36 of 43). I’d be willing to bet that they are one of the worst drafting teams of the last three decades. But for me, none stick out more than Brian Matusz.
Drafted fourth overall in 2008, Matusz was widely considered to be the most polished pitcher in the draft. In 2010, he was picked my many within the industry to win the Rookie of the Year award. And though he finished the 2010 in the top five for ROY voting after recording 10 wins and a 4.30 ERA, Matusz has yet to even sniff any semblance of what was once considered a promising career.
Here’s the deal with Matusz. He can’t get righties out. For his career, righties hit .303 with 51 HR against Matusz, while lefties hit .211 with 17 HR. Recently, however, it seems that unless he is facing David Ortiz or Josh Hamilton, Matusz can’t get anybody out until after he has already surrendered at least one run.
This was proven, again, on Friday night when Matusz surrendered a two-run homer to left handed swinging Mike Moustakas, who hit .212 during the regular during the regular season. It was one of three homers hit by the Royals in the game after hitting just 95 during the regular season.
At the end of the day, folks, Brian Matusz is the epitome of a first round bust. A once polished pitcher coming out of San Diego has a career ERA of 4.95, a WHIP of 1.46, and has gone from potential ace to lefty specialist who you can’t even trust in that role.
Adam Jones
@SimplyAJ10 simply needs to chill out. You get the impression that he is trying to carry this team on his back and do too much, just like 2012. For his career, including Friday night’s game, Jones is 5-for-41 in the postseason. Twice on Friday night, Jones came to the plate with runners on first and third and nobody out. Both times, he did nothing to advance the runners, grounding into two fielders choices at third base.
It’s gotten to a point where, just like back in April, pitchers don’t need to throw Jones strikes to get him out. With two strikes, that low-and-away breaking ball is going to rear it’s ugly head every time, and in the playoffs, Jones is back to swinging at it again. The Orioles simply cannot afford to have their best player and 3-hole hitter become an automatic out in the postseason. Jones needs to get it together, and fast.
Ace in the Hole
For Baltimore, this does not exist. Chris Tillman is not an ace. Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, and Miguel Gonzalez are not aces. Maybe one day Kevin Gausman will be. But for now, while solid, this staff doesn’t feature that guy who can toe the rubber in an elimination game and shut the opposition down. The Giants have Madison Bumgarner. The Cardinals have Adam Wainwright. The Royals have James Shields.
Look, the Orioles pitching staff is collectively solid. They pitched to the third best ERA in the AL (3.43). But at a closer look we find that their starters pitched the second-fewest innings of any AL playoff team in the regular season. Kansas City’s starters? All they did was pitch the third most innings in the AL in 2014. These starters need to have their best stuff going in the playoffs to compete, and Tillman seems to be, at best, a crapshoot in his first two starts this postseason. Which brings me to Buck.
Buck’s Bullpen Blues
There is no better manager in the game today at knowing when and how to utilize his bullpen than Buck Showalter. The fact that the Orioles ‘pen pitched to a 3.10 ERA while logging the fifth-most innings in the AL is a true testament to his ability. But on Friday night, Buck out-smarted himself.
Tommy Hunter, usually a late-inning reliever, came on to pitch with one out in the 5th, needing only 8 pitches to dispose of the Royals. His night was done.
Now, I am certainly not a MLB manager. I sit on the couch and watch most games. But Kevin Gausman, who hadn’t pitched since his dominating relief appearance last Friday against Detroit, came on to pitch 1.2 scoreless innings after Hunter. Why couldn’t he have come in to relieve Tillman? That way, you still have Hunter in the event that Zach Britton throws 20 of 25 pitches for balls and walks three straight batters. You still bring in O’Day to finish the 9th, but then you don’t need him to start the 10th. Hunter can come in, throw gas by the bottom-half of the Royals lineup, and leave the Orioles with a chance to win in the bottom half.
Instead, Hunter did relieve Tillman and was done after eight pitches. This caused O’Day to have to get up to pitch in an inning not once, but twice, which ultimately forced Matusz, who hadn’t pitched since September 25th, into the game to give up the two-run shot to Moustakas, which ended up being the difference in the game.
Buck will certainly win the American League Manager of the Year award, but his handling of his bullpen in game 1 of the ALCS will be questioned and second guessed, and rightfully so. It certainly was not the best of showings from an otherwise outstanding game manager.
Unfortunately for the Orioles and their fans, the ALCS got off to a somber start. But that’s why they play seven games. Kansas City can only find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow so many times, and Saturday’s game forecast looks pretty clear.
