The silver lining on Matusz
I think most people would agree that rookie left-hander Brian Matusz has pitched much better than a 3-9 record and a 4.56 ERA would suggest.
But if you're not convinced, consider the following: Matusz has made eight of his 17 starts against either the Boston Red Sox (three times), the New York Yankees (three) or the Tampa Bay Rays (twice) and in those games, he has a 2.90 ERA and has allowed 41 hits in 49 2/3 innings.
That's not to mention that 12 of his 17 overall starts are quality starts, and he's done it while getting very little run support and while pitching in front of a dreadful defense.
The Red Sox were certainly impressed with him today after he tossed seven shutout innings and tied a career-high with eight strikeouts in the Orioles' 6-1 win.
"He’s a good pitcher," said Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis. "A lot of times, these day games, lefties tend to do well at Fenway Park. He threw the ball well and when we did hit the ball hard, which wasn’t as much as we liked to, it was at somebody and that’s what it takes, a lot of times, to get this team out."
David Ortiz and J.D. Drew, who couldn't seem to make an out against Orioles' pitching before today, went a combined 0-6 against Matusz with five strikeouts.
"[Coming] into the game, statistically, he had actually had a harder, tougher time versus lefties and he was so tough on David and J.D. today," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "He threw David fastballs in his first at-bat and then he threw a lot of breaking balls and really gave them a tough time. Some of our righties squared up some balls but we certainly didn’t sustain anything or get much going. Billy [Hall] got a ball to hit and hit it good to center but we just didn’t have much to show for it. He pitched really well."
In three starts against Boston this year, Matusz is 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA, and he’s surrendered 12 hits and 10 walks while striking out 19 in 18 2/3 innings. In three starts against the New York Yankees, he is 0-3, but he has a 2.41 ERA and three quality starts. Against the Tampa Bay Rays, he is 1-0 in two starts with a 4.38 ERA.
“Sure, it’s real big,” said Matusz. “Those are the guys I’m going to be facing a bunch. I take a lot of pride out of throwing good games against the East. It feels good. I haven’t faced the Blue Jays yet this year, but my other starts against the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox, I’ve felt like I’ve been able to put a lot of focus in those games and kind of bear down to throw well.”
A Baltimore native, 
Comments
Severe cognitive dissidence alert.
three times + twice + twice = 8 ?
Is this the new math?
Posted by: Rusty | July 4, 2010 9:32 PM
I hope the author of this article didn't use three runs in six innings as the definition of a quality start. As any fan knows, a 4.50 ERA is not all that impresive, especially since it is said 'the era of the pitcher is now upon us'.
Posted by: Fast | July 4, 2010 9:53 PM
Interesting to note that the best pitching performances recently have been from the young guys....Matusz, Bergeson, even Arrieta... while Guthrie and Millwood have been disappointing... And the bullpen (except Mata) has been good.
Posted by: DonM | July 4, 2010 10:03 PM
Never understood the "quality start" stat. Like an earlier poster said, a 4.50 ERA isn't quality, but very, very average. I guess the thinking behind the "quality start" is that six innings and three runs will keep your team in the game and give your team a chance to win. Still, I'd prefer the stat be expanded to seven innings. If six innings must be included, then make a quality start two runs in six innings or three runs or less in seven or more innings. Nevertheless, I don't think any educated baseball fan even pays attention to this stat, so it's probably all moot point.
Luke
Posted by: Luke | July 5, 2010 1:37 AM
There is no doubt Matuzs will be an outstanding pitcher. People don't realize how difficult it is too pitch with no run support and in front of a bad defense.
A pitcher starts to feel he has to be perfect, strike guys out and give up no runs. This erodes confidence and makes them start to nibble, raise their pitch counts etc... Not to mention of course that in almost every O's game there are 3 or 4 plays not made (not errors, but plays good D's make) that again inflate pitch counts and ERA's. This has clearly impacted Millwood and Guthrie as well as the young guys.
I think Matuzs and Bergeson are starting to show some of Samuel's influence as they are back to challenging bitters, pitching more quickly nibbling less etc... Let's hope that continues.t
Posted by: Jeff | July 5, 2010 7:45 AM
Yo Rusty - your brain must be a little rusty. Re-read the article 3+3+2 does equal 8. I think that in the case of the Orioles a quality start should be defined as any start where a starter pitches well enough that neither Mata nor Albers has to enter the game.
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Jeff Z's reply: Full disclosure. I did originally have that he had only two starts against the Yankees but I fixed it. So he wasn't seeing things.
Posted by: Coach | July 5, 2010 9:13 AM
Jeff,
Does wiggy getting the all star nod, increase his trade value.
Or is that wishful thinking
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Jeff Z's reply: It can't hurt, but I don't think it rallies much. Wiggy has been around the league a long team and teams know what he can do. Now, what would increase his trade value would be a little hot streak. He's one for his last 28 and has just one homer in in his last 35 games. That doesn't help.
Posted by: smitty15 | July 5, 2010 9:32 AM
Great stat- and it's good to see Matusz is holding his own against the AL East big dogs. If the Os are ever to have any success they'll need some guys like that, who bring out their best for the Yankees and Red Sox.
I'll respectfully disagree with the posters criticizing the "quality start" metric. What do you want from your starting pitcher? You want him to a) keep you in games, and b) eat up enough innings so as not to overtax your bullpen. I can understand that changing it to 2 runs over 7 innings would be higher "quality," but I think 3/6 is the way to go. Think about it, aside from the metrics for fantastic games- shutout, no-hitter, perfect game- the 2/7 would generally be redundant with another metric that has been tracked forever- WINS. If you want to decrease the runs and increase the winning, the resulting stat will typically be equivalent to a win. Of course, there will be the occasional 1 run loss or 6 run win, but overall I think most pitchers would have mostly the same number of wins and quality starts under that revised definition.
So since you already have the "wins" stat, what would be the next useful, but different measure? I would argue that quality starts under the current definition works, because it tells you- aside from wins- how often your pitcher put you in a position to win games.
I have to think that Wigginton's all-star nod will nominally increase his trade value. Yes, teams know what they're getting, but to the extent that getting his name out there as an all-star might garner more attention, or that teams realize that making a trade-deadline move for an all-star might rally the fan base more than a move for an equivalent, non-all-star player, we should be able to squeeze out just a little more.
I'm looking forward to seeing how many of these players we can unload. I'd love to see what we can get for Scott, Wigginton, Tejada, Lugo, Millwood, etc.
Posted by: Andrew | July 5, 2010 10:21 AM
Rusty...please don't use words you don't understand.....it's cognitive dissonance not dissidence
Posted by: ocean city scot | July 5, 2010 10:35 AM