REALITY: Pitcher Hunter Harvey will have his innings monitored in the minor leagues this year.
PERCEPTION: Harvey is supposed to be the next young pitching stud. If the Orioles are monitoring his innings this year, that means they could be pulling him up when rosters expand in September. I doubt that he would make a significant enough contribution this season to where they pull him up in August and add him to the playoff roster, but they want him to get some major league experience. That means the Orioles could be looking at him possibly in the rotation for 2016. I just hope they make a decision quicker than they did with Kevin Gausman. The way that he was pulled up and down was not beneficial to him as a pitcher at all.
REALITY: Gausman is fighting for a starting rotation spot right now.
PERCEPTION: No Orioles fan wants to hear it, but it’s true. Gausman has a minor league option left. Don’t think for a second that the Orioles won’t take full advantage of that. It is very likely that at some point in the 2015 season Gausman is on the shuttle between Norfolk and Baltimore. So far this spring, Gausman is doing his job. In 3 innings of work, he has given up 3 hits, no runs, and 1 walk.
His real competition is Ubaldo Jimenez, who has pitched 7 innings, has given up 9 hits, as an ERA of over 11 and has walked 5. The problem is that Jimenez is making nearly $11 million this season, and has no options left. So he either is an extremely expensive bullpen arm, or he is in the starting rotation.
Buck Showalter knows that and will give him every opportunity to prove he has made the proper adjustments. However, Jimenez is not helping himself much this spring. Let’s see how he does over the next two weeks.
REALITY: It has been reported the New York Mets are scouting the Orioles LHP Brian Matusz.
PERCEPTION: It has been no secret that the Orioles have not gotten what they had hoped for out of Matusz. Last season, Matusz had a 3.48 ERA in just 51 innings out of the bullpen. His downfall was that he could only pitch against lefties. Against right-handed hitters, his ERA was over 5.
Matusz wants to be a starter, but he will not start for the Orioles. He would probably be happier trying to start for another team. The problem for the Orioles is that Matusz’s trade value has never been lower. At one point, he was the next big thing… but that never panned out. After having a tough year this past season, he has very little value.
REALITY: According to Jon Shepherd of Camden Depot, the Orioles have interest in 29-year-old Lucas Duda, a left-handed hitting first baseman or 29-year-old (will be 30 at the start of the season) Daniel Murphy, a left-handed hitting second baseman. Duda hit .253 last season. His upside? He hit 30 home runs. His down side? He struck out 135 times. Murphy hit .289 with 9 home runs and 13 stolen bases.
PERCEPTION: If the O’s could get either Duda or Murphy for Matusz, it’s a steal. Unfortunately, it’s going to take more than just Matusz.
So who is more valuable? Duda is a first baseman. We have Chris Davis, but this could be his last season in Baltimore. The Orioles could then turn to Christian Walker after this season, if Buck and Dan Duquette think he is ready.
Murphy is a second baseman, who has played a little left-field and first base. If they make the trade for Murphy, they are saying that Jonathan Schoop is not who they thought he was and that Ryan Flaherty will never be more than a utility player.
The Orioles seem to have an abundance of pitching, so Matusz is expendable. It would be interesting to see what they could get in return.
