Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports wrote an article last month about the Orioles’ history of poor coaching when it came to the development of young pitchers. It was an interesting read, not because of the focus on former O’s prospect Jake Arrieta‘s current dominance with the Chicago Cubs, but because it relates to three current O’s hurlers.
Arrieta, Zach Britton, Brian Matusz, and Chris Tillman were all expected to be the future of the starting rotation in Baltimore. Tillman has been the O’s biggest success of the four, and, while some (including myself) would argue that Britton is the best closer in baseball, I think we can agree that we would be better served had he become the starting pitcher he was supposed to be.
It’s truly a shame that the O’s have such a poor reputation of developing starting pitchers. Much of that can be attributed to former pitching coach Rick Adair and his baffling philosophy in terms of how he tried to mold his pupils.
Britton was quoted in Passan’s article as saying, “They took away the individual approach to everything. “Things we did extremely well in the minor leagues to get to the big leagues – we were told that just doesn’t work here. And you’re like, ‘That’s kind of weird, right?’ You don’t just reinvent yourself in the big leagues. That was the struggle. And the struggle, as we got older, was trying to get back to what made us what we were before.”
The coaching staff seemed to make more of an effort to improve upon the pitchers’ weaknesses rather than focusing on building up their strengths. In Arrieta’s case, Adair and his staff took away Jake’s cutter, which is now his most dominant pitch.
Adair began what ended up being a permanent leave of absence in the middle of August 2013. In September of that season, under the coaching of Billy Castro and Scott McGregor, the Orioles pitching staff posted a 3.62 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, their lowest totals for a month all season. They also struck out 248 batters in September, 42 more than the next closest month.
The following year, in 2014, the Orioles’ team ERA was 3.43, good for third in the American League. Good pitching was a big part of the reason the Orioles were able to bring home their first division title in 17 years and was something O’s fans were unaccustomed to seeing. That 3.43 ERA was also the organization’s lowest since 1979.
Now, the Orioles staff is handled by pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti, who are two of the best in the business, and they want to give Baltimore the much-anticipated next Mike Mussina.
GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld
Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy are two members of the Orioles pitching staff who, when drafted, were expected to be future aces. Just like Matusz, they were each drafted fourth overall in the first round (Bundy in 2011 and Gausman in 2012), but we all know how Matusz turned out.
Fun fact: Brian Matusz’s 10.69 ERA in 2011 is the highest single-season ERA in MLB history for a pitcher who threw 40 or more innings.
Some degree of both injuries and an over-abundance of bus rides between Baltimore and Norfolk have stunted the development of Bundy and Gausman. Bundy, after making his major league debut in September 2012, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2013 and was shut down again in 2015 with a shoulder issue. After a solid Spring Training, Bundy made the O’s roster this season, earning a spot in the bullpen. Gausman, who has been flip-flopped between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk for much of the last three seasons, has finally solidified his spot in the rotation and is making the most of the opportunity.
While it seems Gausman will certainly be at least a solid starting pitcher in the future, many have attached the “bust” label to Dylan Bundy thanks to his injury history. I, as I take a sip from my glass of orange Kool-Aid, still believe that both Gausman and Bundy will be dominant starting pitchers down the road.
GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld
One thing that is important to remember is that Bundy is still just 23 years old. Before this season, he hadn’t appeared in a major league game in 1,290 days. He still has a lot of work to do in order to reach his maximum potential. He has a solid change-up and a very effective sweeping curveball in addition to his mid-90s fastball. He’ll get some work out of the bullpen this year and will hopefully continue to improve as he works toward earning a job in next year’s rotation.
Gausman, on the other hand, has already earned his role in the starting rotation and has shown flashes of dominance this season. One criticism of Gausman is that he lacks a good breaking ball. His fastball tails inside on right-handed batters and his split-change drops low and inside as well. Gausman is working on developing a curveball or slider but still has some work to do in that regard. If he is successful in getting a feel for a breaking ball, he will surely be even more dominant on the mound.
Hindsight is 20/20 and, while we certainly would have loved to see a few guys from “The Cavalry” pan out, it looks to me like we have a bright future with Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy. It may be a couple years before we see them, especially Bundy, at the top of the rotation, but I think they both have what it takes despite the uncharacteristic paths each of them have taken to get here.
In the meantime, let’s enjoy what Chris Tillman is doing. He is pitching at arguably his highest level ever. Tyler Wilson has been very good and Mike Wright is holding his own. If our pitching staff keeps doing what they’re doing, combined with the nine guys the O’s have stepping up to the plate every game, there is no limit to what this team can accomplish.
