627 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

Elias has said before that they don't let that dictate how they handle promotions. Agree or disagree with the decision on GR, he's sticking to that.

 

He also said it has nothing to do with service time.

[BSLMikeLowe]

He also said it has nothing to do with service time.

 

And this is one time I tend to believe him. I can think of at least three reasons he thought were more important than that.

 

1) Whatever the issue was that gave GR struggles in the spring can be better worked on at Norfolk

 

2) If they are capping his innings at ~125, they prefer to manage that more aggressively on the front end of the season at AAA than at Baltimore

 

3) They don't want him to start his big league career coming right off three outings where his ERA was over 9.00 and he couldn't get beyond the 4th in either one.

 

I'll be pleasantly shocked if that extra year of service time, if the Orioles get it, even becomes a factor. History says it won't.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

I don't think the argument is Grayson vs Wells, it's Grayson in the rotation and Wells in the bullpen vs Wells in the rotation and Joey Krehbiel or whatever in the bullpen. Replace the worst member of the bullpen with Wells and I think that could make a modest difference. 

But the question is not could it be a modest difference but how likely is it that does whatever the difference turned out to be have a likely impact on the O's chances of making the playoffs. 

 

Shoot I'll go out on a limb right now and say that we finish either in the playoffs or well more than 3 games out. 

[Mackus]

But the question is not could it be a modest difference but how likely is it that does whatever the difference turned out to be have a likely impact on the O's chances of making the playoffs. 

 

Shoot I'll go out on a limb right now and say that we finish either in the playoffs or well more than 3 games out. 

 

Agree that's probably the more likely outcome, but within 3 games of a postseason spot isn't wildly unlikely either.

 

Last year they were only 3 games out.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Welcome to the show!

[BSLRoseKatz]

Just so it doesn't get lost in the game thread, Grayson's pitch breakdown

[Mackus]

I've got no feel for whiff percentage. What's average, good, great?

[BSLRoseKatz]

I've got no feel for whiff percentage. What's average, good, great?

 

I'm just pulling this from last year's leaderboard with 45 qualified pitchers 

 

1st place - 35.2% (Burnes)

10th - 29.2% (Morton)

22nd - 24.8% (Manoah)

45th/last - 16.9% (Wainwright)

[TwentyThirtyFive]

30% is good. Especially with so many coming on the fastball. I thought they spit on some sliders. Actually saw the slider well out of his hand. He had no feel for the change today though and that can be a really good pitch for him. Especially to lefties. Ive said it all along, hes got the most legit pitch mix and potential from a young Os starter in a long time. Since Bedard.

[Mike in STL]

I've got no feel for whiff percentage. What's average, good, great?

I don't know but the percentages were probably elevated in the years Chris Davis was playing.

[BobPhelan]

His changeup will be his best pitch once he gets the feel for it again. What’s been bothering him so far this year is command of the non-fastball pitches, he’s been commanding the 4 seamer well. Actually think he had a similar issue to start last season before he settled in and became dominant pre-injury.

[Mackus]

His changeup will be his best pitch once he gets the feel for it again. What’s been bothering him so far this year is command of the non-fastball pitches, he’s been commanding the 4 seamer well. Actually think he had a similar issue to start last season before he settled in and became dominant pre-injury.

Just looking at gamelogs, so can't say about the level of detail you describe, but he was dominant out the gate last year. 21 K, 2 BB, 5 H, 2 R in 14.1 IP over his first 3 starts. He then had two shaky starts before a long stretch of dominance.

[BobPhelan]

It’s very possible those two starts are clouding my memory of the first five but I feel like even tho the numbers were good we were saying stuff like “just wait until he really gets going”. And then he did.

Wonder if he focused mostly on getting his velocity back over the offseason since it was down a tick or two after he returned late last season. Time to refine as the year goes on.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

You cant teach stuff and overall control that he has. He has command issues at times but not control issues. Hall has control issues and its why I think, and have thought, he is destined for the pen.


Btw Hall not a good start the other night.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Can somebody explain the difference between command and control? I always heard these terms used interchangeably.

[Mackus]

Can somebody explain the difference between command and control? I always heard these terms used interchangeably.

 

Others will do a better job, but control is the pitch being in the strike zone (avoiding walks) and command is the pitch being in the intended location (avoiding barrels).

[NewMarketSean]

Control: Having an idea where the ball is going.

Command: Mastery of your pitches. Breaking, offspeed, etc.

 

There were games where Mussina didn't have great command but gutted it out. He always had control.

 

Someone like Tanner Scott just doesn't have control.

 

Then there is Stuff. I think that is the bat missability Mackus is talking about.

 

I had control, decent command but no stuff. Especially once I got to college ball.

[Mike B]

Can somebody explain the difference between command and control? I always heard these terms used interchangeably.

JMO, but I think control is the ability to throw strikes.  Command is the ability to throw to a specific portion of the zone.  There is a big difference.  The really great ones do the latter, consistently.

[Mike B]

I said this in the game thread yesterday, but I think deGrom is a good model for Grayson to study.    deGrom has a little more juice but the pitch arsenal is similar.  deGrom has terrific command and has the competitive fire.    It was very evident in the 6th inning, that he knew it was his last inning and he reared back and emptied the tank.  It would be great to have a guy with talent like that.  I am not setting the bar to high for Rodriquez, am I? 

[BobPhelan]

I was gonna say, what’s command? Watch Jacob deGrom