O’s rotation wide-open after Bedard departure
By Beltway Boss
BaseballBigMouth.com baseball news
Who’s on first? There seems to be some confusion over who will get the opening day start for the Baltimore Orioles. With lefty ace Erik Bedard traded to the Seattle Mariners during the offseason the debate is wide open. Jeremy Guthrie would appear to be the obvious choice. Despite his lack of major league experience, the soon to be 29-year-old posted an impressive 3.70 GPA last season in 175 1/3 innings. If he can repeat that performance he would give the Orioles a legitimate front of the line starter.
However, Anita Marks, a popular television host on the Orioles and Nationals’ TV network MASN, reported that veteran Steve Trachsel will start on opening day - this according to ESPN’s Jason Stark. Trachsel, however, is not currently on the 40-man roster. Trachsel is with the Orioles on a minor league deal. That conflicts with two reports given by MLB.com’s Spencer Fordin which were picked up by KFFL. One tabs youngster Adam Loewen as the opening day starter and the other gives the nod to Guthrie. Both of KFFL’s reports, which read almost identically, indicate that the player referred to is a “favorite” and that an official announcement could come as soon as Wednesday, March 12th. The announcement did not come, although there is speculation that there could be an announcement as early as this week.
Last season Trachsel, was unimpressive going 7-11 with a 4.90 ERA. He got off to a good start for the Orioles, posting a 3.39 ERA in his first 11 starts. He then struggled and was placed on the disabled list. He returned and pitched well again for the Orioles posting a 2.37 ERA in six August starts. His performance was good enough that the Cubs traded for the veteran. That deal did not work out for the Cubs as Traschel posted a 8.31 ERA in four September starts. He did make the Cubs’ postseason roster. The Orioles should not be mislead by Trachsel’s strong performance for the club last season. For one thing, his good innings were limited. There were also a lot of bad ones. At first glance, that might be excused by an injury. But Trachsel is 37-years-old and old players are prone to injury.
But more importantly, Trachsel’s strikeout for nine innings pitched ratio was very poor. Trachsel struck out just 56 batters in 158 innings pitched. That’s a ratio of 3.19 per 9 innings pitched. The AL average last season was 6.64. A pitcher with that kind of strikeout ratio is not going to be successful over an extended period of time - as Trachsel himself showed last September. The 23-year-old Loewen posted a 3.56 ERA in 30 innings last season in a season that was cut short by a stress fracture in his pitching elbow. But as was the case with Trachsel, that number is a bit misleading. Loewen’s problem is not his strikeout ratio - he was very good with 22 strikeouts in those 30 innings.
But he walked more batters than he struckout with 26 free passes handed out. He only allowed one homerun which is extremely good but is too good to be considered repeatable even if Loewen is good at keeping the ball down. To his credit he has allowed just 16 homeruns in 329 minor league innings and nine in 142 major league innings. If he can cut his walks down, he will be successful. It is just inappropriate to give him the opening day nod at this point. That honor should go to Guthrie. He is the best bet to have a plus season for a team that does not have a lot to be excited about in ‘08.
