To Orioles Fans: Be Patient

It has been a while since we've posted here, but don't worry, we are back. We all are just busy, but hopefully once things get a little more steady we will be back in full force.

With this, it has been nice for the Orioles lately. They won two out of three in the Battle of the Beltway with the Nats and they won the Memorial Day matinee with Toronto. But, with people are getting hurt and with the release of Adam Eaton, more rosters moves are being made. Jason Berken has been called up and will start today for the Birds. For info on him, check out Windsor's Prospect Report on him. Berken has done very well in his five starts with Norfolk this season, going 2-0 with a 1.05 ERA and 16 strikeouts to six walks.

But one thing that has been occurring is the fans are getting more impatient. Attendance for the Orioles is down, and many people want to see Matt Wieters and the big three pitchers in the majors. 11 losing seasons about to be 12 is upsetting fans. Many were wondering and hoping if Chris Tillman was coming up in the roster, one of the big three pitchers. Especially with the initial successes of Brad Bergeson and Nolan Reimold, who were not the highly touted people, we should bring up the bigger names, right?

But to all Orioles fans, we need to be patient, and wait this out.

In this day and age, we have all come to a "football mentality" of we want things happening sooner rather than later. It is especially frustrating when the Orioles have had losing seasons numerous years and the AL East is routinely beating Baltimore. But Andy MacPhail is right not to rush anyone that is very important, mainly Matt Wieters, Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta. Bringing them up now will not make the Orioles a competitive team when they are not ready will only hurt their chances to reach their potential.

In the past, the Orioles have had issues bringing up farm system players too quickly. Daniel Cabrera and Jeff Fiorentino come to mind. Cabrera had all the potential in the world to be a dominating fastball-changeup pitcher, even many opposing general managers felt so, but was brought up from Bowie in 2004 after less than a full season there. He had some bright spots, but he never established control and is now off the roster. Jeff Fiorentino was another player with great potential as an outfielder. In 2005 when the team needed outfielders, he was brought up from single-A Frederick, and although he played all right, he never got to his potential. After bouncing to a couple teams in 2008 he landed back on the Orioles, but he is not expected to be a major part of the Orioles future. He is currently in Norfolk batting .254.

The Orioles will not be competitive if they bring up any of the four above players, and they can't waste their potential. Bring them up when they are ready. Likely Wieters will be up this year and at least Tillman will join be the start of next season. But MacPhail is doing the right thing and being patient with these players.

We need to be as well. It is hard, but being patient with the young Birds is the way to go. But for now, let's celebrate the successes of the ones that have come into the majors, and good luck to Berken today.

(Photo credit: Baltimore Sun)

Prospect Report: Jake Arrieta

Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of the Prospect Report, and today we’ll take a look at one of the finest young pitchers in the Orioles’ system. Jake Arrieta was much acclaimed out of college and has lived up to the hype in his first two professional seasons. This year he has certainly not disappointed, particularly in his most recent start for the Bowie Baysox on May 16th. In that start, Baysox fans were treated to an exceptional performance in which he pitched seven innings of one-hit ball in which he struck out ten batters while walking three. In this he tied a career high in strikeouts and went the deeper into a ballgame than in any other start this year.

So, who is Jake Arrieta? Jake Arrieta is entering his second professional season at the age of 23. The right-handed starter has a solid frame at 6’4” and 225 pounds. Jake was drafted in the 5th round of the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft out of Texas Christian University. At TCU he was the staff ace, going 9-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 17 starts and struck out 93 batters in 98.1 innings. After his junior year there were significant signability concerns which caused him to drop as far as he did in the draft, but Joe Jordan and the Orioles took the risk and were willing to pay him far out of slot to join the organization. Thus far this has paid off greatly, as he burst onto the scene last year as he went straight into Advanced-A ball where he was named the Carolina League pitcher of the year with his league leading 2.87 ERA and striking out batters at a rate of over 1 for each inning pitched. He also pitched six shutout innings for Team USA in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Arrieta had a brief stint with the major league club in spring training, and most likely is headed up to Triple-A Norfolk at some point this season.

Strengths: Without a doubt, Jake’s greatest strength is his dominating fastball. His fastball has been clocked as high as 97 mph, and uses it to set up his breaking pitches exceptionally well. At his most recent start (according to the Baysox stadium radar gun), Jake regularly hit between 89-94 mph, occasionally touching 95 mph. When Arrieta varies speeds and locates effectively, there are very few minor leaguers who can touch his stuff. His off-speed pitches are improving, particularly his hard slider which has an excellent late break. Jake Arrieta’s delivery is smooth, and he conceals the ball well as he doesn’t expose it to the hitter until the last moment. He has also fielded his consistently well, which will certainly serve him well in the majors.

Weaknesses: While his fastball can be dominant, Jake Arrieta has issues with consistency in his location. Even in his dominant Saturday start, Arrieta inexplicably lost his command during the second inning in which he threw around 30 pitches. This not only leads to high pitch counts, but it bodes poorly for the future in that upper-level hitters will not chase so many pitches out of the zone. While his slider is getting to be a plus pitch for him, his curveball and changeup need significant work. If Arrieta is to become an accomplished major league starter he will need to find a third pitch that can keep hitters honest.

Projection: There have been some rumblings amidst O’s fans that Arrieta might end up in the bullpen because of his fastball-slider combination (including myself to some extent late last season), but I see no reason that Arrieta should be pegged as a bullpen pitcher. First and foremost, Jake has shown the endurance required to make it as a starter despite his recent issues getting deep into games. For proof look no further than Saturday’s start in which he was still throwing 94 mph after he had cleared the 100 pitch mark. Jake Arrieta has a sound delivery and an ideal frame for a starting pitcher, and with some refinement in his control he should transition very well to the majors. The Orioles have long said that Arrieta’s on the fast track and his progression has given them no reason to alter that philosophy. Many scouts think Arrieta has the potential to be a staff ace, but I see his ceiling as more of a number two starter for this team. Jake will be in Norfolk later this season and should make the starting rotation by mid-season next year at the very latest.

(Photo Credit: Rob Tringali/Getty Images)

Jeremy Guthrie Named Opening Day Starter For Orioles

The Orioles have named Jeremy Guthrie the Opening Day starter according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. He did this last year and will faceoff against C.C. Sabathia when they host the Yankees on April 6th.

Guthrie has spent most of his spring training with the U.S. WBC team, but he barely pitched at all. Now back in uniform with the Orioles he has struggled getting into his groove. Koji Uehara was thought to be the best pitcher so far in spring training, but the Orioles will stick with their ace Guthrie and start him Opening Day.

With so many questions about the Orioles rotation, Guthrie will need to be back to form. The fact is this rotation has a lot of arms but nobody standing out that will be in the rotation. The O's don't want to throw their top three pitching prospects into the fire yet, them being Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta, but in order to ensure that the Orioles don't bring them up yet, they need their stopgaps to perform. Having a solid ace will easily help matters. A lot of support will be needed from Guthrie and Uehara in order to lead the rotation successfully.

(Photo credit: AP)