O's: Matusz on a leash
If you think it's impressive that top pitching prospect Brian Matusz pitched three scoreless innings of relief against the Marlins today, consider this: He shut the Marlins out in the third inning without one of his out pitches.
“The third time he went out there, we took his curveball away from him, because he’s so good with his curveball he’s going to fall in love with it,’’ Trembley said. “For his development and ours, it’s fastball/changeup, but he’s had – obviously – a very nice spring.”
Matusz went to the well with his curveball too many times against the second hitter he faced -- Dallas McPherson -- and gave up a solid hit.
"I made a mistake in my first inning when I gave up that hit,'' he said. "I threw three curveballs in a row. What he wants to do is really focus on my fastball and changeup and that's what we did. That's something I have to work on, because I depended a lot on my breaking stuff in college."
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Comments
pete,
do we have your permission to get excited about this guy? you know us oriole fans and our trust issue;-)
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Pete's reply: Yes!
Posted by: steve | March 5, 2009 6:39 PM
Opposing scouts tell ESPN and O's Hangout that Matusz is already our 2nd best pitcher behind Guthrie.
Posted by: eric | March 5, 2009 6:48 PM
I'm not crazy about Trembley taking a pitch away from Matuz on the face of it but you don't want him popping up with tendonitis or something from overusing his curve.My question is if Hill or Hendrickson can't pitch by opening day could Matuz be the lefty in the rotation,otherwise you'd have all righties. It loks like most people think he's ready to pitch in the majors but there's some concern about his free agent clock ticking too soon.I can see a time coming where people are going to pay to see Matuz throwing to Weiters in what could be part of the best battery in O's history.
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Pete's reply: I really doubt it. Too many good reasons to take it a little slower than that.
Posted by: John | March 6, 2009 7:07 AM
Drafted in about the same position as Mike Mussina, will it take Matusz about the same amount of time (one year) to reach the major leagues ?
Posted by: Mike Lee | March 6, 2009 7:53 AM
Any chance Trembley might also want to see him cut down on the curveballs due to the elbow issues they cause? This guy hase been throwing the curveball at a very high rate his entire college career. The elbow can only take so much. I'd hate to see another O's prospect lost to an injury.
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Pete's reply: Wouldn't be surprised at all.
Posted by: KyleProBoller7 | March 6, 2009 9:03 AM
To Eric: I watched this guy warm up just feet from me on Saturday. I then watched him take the mound and shut down the Marlins. Trust me, he is already better than Guthrie.
Posted by: Mr. Deez | March 6, 2009 11:25 AM