It’s safe to say that Ubaldo Jimenez’s first season with the Baltimore Orioles was a huge bust.
After signing a four-year, $50 million deal with Baltimore last offseason, Jimenez turned in a 6-9 record and an ugly 4.81 ERA. He was placed on the 15-day DL in mid-July after many rough starts and only made a few spot appearances out of the bullpen after getting healthy.
Kevin Gausman, who was called up from Norfolk to replace Jimenez, pitched well and proved why he was worthy of the No. 4 pick in the 2012 draft. His performance showed that he doesn’t need any more conditioning in the minors and is clearly MLB-ready.
This means that the Orioles have starters in Jimenez and Gausman, as well as Chris Tillman, Bud Norris, Wei-Yen Chen and Miguel Gonzalez.
So which pitcher gets knocked out of the rotation? Or does Baltimore choose to start off with a six-man rotation?
The best case-scenario would the Orioles admit that they failed signing Jimenez and stick him in the bullpen. However, that’s not likely. It seems as though Gonzalez is going to be the odd man out because of money.
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According to spotrac.com, Jimenez is set to make $12.25 million this upcoming this season. It’s hard to stick a pitcher making that much money in the bullpens. The Orioles have to give Jimenez a chance in the rotation in hopes that they can get some type of production from the $50 million they spent.
While Jimenez struggled last season, he has also had some productive season in the past. In 2010, he finished 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA and 214 strikeouts, and ended up third in Cy Young voting.
Jimenez also pitched well in Cleveland in 2013, when he had a 13-9 record, 3.30 ERA and 194 strikeouts.
So what is causing Jimenez to not pitch that well in Baltimore?
The pitcher simply goes through bad stretches with high pitch counts and struggles to make it past five innings. He’ll then have a couple good starts in which you think he might turn it around, but then he goes into reverse.
Jimenez lets the pressure get to him when he gets into trouble and he loses all confidence. It’s the complete opposite with Gonzalez, who thrives during pressure situations.
So is it fair for Jimenez to get the spot over Gonzalez?
It’s far from fair, but baseball is a business and it would be a bad business move to waste all that money in the bullpen.
MLBTradeRumors is projecting Gonzalez to earn $3.7 million from arbitration this season, which is dwarfed by Jimenez’s salary. These numbers will likely make Gonzalez the odd man out and he will be a long reliever in the bullpen to start the season.
It seems to be a mindset issue with Jimenez, as he clearly has good stuff and can be a strikeout pitcher. Maybe he can put things together and turn in a decent season. However, he will have a very short leash, as Gonzalez will be knocking on the door for the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
