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July 30, 2010

Here's a shocker - O's young starter struggling

Rookie right-hander Jake Arrieta just gave up three runs in a 35-pitch bottom of the first inning against the Kansas City Royals.

Royals leadoff man Chris Getz set the tone of the inning without even reaching base. In fact, he struck out but it was on the 13th pitch of the at-bat. Arrieta then walked Jason Kendall on four pitches and gave up a line single to Billy Butler. He fell behind 3-0 to Jose Guillen before getting him to fly out to the left-field warning track for the second out.

Rick Ankiel then hit an RBI double and Wilson Betemit a two-run single to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. It was the seventh straight game the Orioles have given up three runs or more in an inning and the 11th time in their past 13 games.

Just as troublesome was Arrieta's elevated pitch count. The Orioles' bullpen isn't exactly well rested after Brian Matusz's early exit on Thursday. Arrieta is going to have to settle down and get some outs, preferably early in counts.

Posted by Jeff Zrebiec at 8:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments

I'm so frustrated and confused. I keep going back and forth on handling young pitchers. I see the logic of 'protecting' them with a short leash, but then other times I wish Samuel would just throw them in there and watch them go 100 pitches no matter what, just to see what would happen. It's not like a guy's arm will fall off, and I figure the opportunity to protect a youngster's self-confidence is pretty much gone after he's blown the game, no matter what inning.

Posted by: Uncle Goose | July 30, 2010 9:25 PM

I get tired of hearing about what these young guys aren't doing. Give them time to learn on the job... What was the team's record on June 10 when Jake was called up? The more they play now the more experience they get. Don't worry about Arrieta's confidence being depleted... It won't happen. Go back and review the early career stats of some of the great pitchers in the past during their first seasons. It's not even his first full season. Not even 2 months. Geez.

Posted by: OFan15 | July 31, 2010 6:49 PM

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About the bloggers

A Baltimore native, Dan Connolly has been covering sports for 14 years, and baseball and the Orioles for 10 seasons, including the past six with The Sun. His first year covering baseball on a daily basis was Cal Ripken Jr.'s final season as a player. It's believed that is just a coincidence.

Steve Gould is an assistant sports editor for The Sun, overseeing Orioles coverage. The Columbia native joined The Sun as a sports copy editor in 2006 after graduating from the University of Maryland.

Peter Schmuck has been covering baseball for a lot longer than Steve Gould has been on this earth. He is now a general sports columnist, but has been a beat writer covering three major league teams (the Dodgers, Angels and Orioles) and also spent a decade as the Sun's national baseball writer. If you want more of his insight on the Orioles and other sports issues, check out his personal blog -- The Schmuck Stops Here.