Pretty evident he's going to be sent to Norfolk, if not shutdown entirely.

I see no reason why Britton would need to be shut-down. He had plenty of stuff in the 1st, just no command.

Arrieta is starting tonight for Norfolk, and he would be my choice on a 1 start audition.

As I said in the game thread, if the O's elect to replace Britton, the reasons I would choose Arrieta are him being on normal rest, and that I think he would provide the best existing internal option to give the O's a chance to win.

I can understand the desire to have him continue to work with Peterson. That would be ideal. However, with where the O's are in the year, every game might matter. If he struggles, he goes back to Norfolk and continues his work with Peterson. If he pitches well, he earns another start.

EDIT: Besides Britton rebounding (which we discuss below) Arrieta did not do his job at AAA tonight. He went just 3.2ip, allowing 8 hits, 5 er, with 3 bb's, and 0 k's.

You know what's fun?

Bringing up my browser to see what is happening here and also the score of the Orioles game, and having the first thing I see be: "So, who replaces Britton in the rotation?"

Sort-of spoils things, you know what I mean?

The good news is that Buck was pretty clear earlier that Britton was not ready and was starting out of necessity, so at least this isn't a surprise.

I see no reason why Britton would need to be shut-down. He had plenty of stuff in the 1st, just no command.

Arrieta is starting tonight for Norfolk, and he would be my choice on a 1 start audition.

I remember reading on here a couple of days ago that Britton might still a) be hurt and b) it might be a difficult injury to ever recover from. I believe someone with inside knowledge posted that, but I could be wrong.

Allstar speculated that he's still hurt, or at least not fully right.

I have been speculating since last year that he'll never be the same again and is pretty much done as a guy with a strong chance of being a reliable starter.

Shoulder injuries are just so hard to deal with. I hope I'm wrong, but the history of guys coming back from that injury isn't very optimistic.

I'm not very excited about Arrieta coming up to replace him. I'd rather see Matusz. Really what I'd rather see is someone added from outside the organization, although not Derrek Lowe.

[quote name="ChaosLex"]
Arrieta is starting tonight for Norfolk, and he would be my choice on a 1 start audition. I remember reading on here a couple of days ago that Britton might still a) be hurt and b) it might be a difficult injury to ever recover from. I believe someone with inside knowledge posted that, but I could be wrong.[/quote]

In the Player Talk thread, I captured the highlights of that discussion, but I'll re-post here as well:

There was some discussion on Britton in other-threads after his poor outing on the 31st:


[quote name="allstar1579"]
I would tread very carefully with Zach right now. My Dr. is one of the team doctors for the Baysox, and he was telling me that 50% of the time the ones he needs to go in and actually fix don't show up on the MRI. Kinda like what happened with Erbe. This situation reminds me of that, velo is down, but he can still throw, secondaries aren't as sharp but come and go, and control is a bit off. I'm scared if they cut him open they would find a grade 2 SLAP tear (not completely torn). I would probably shut him down for a while, check him out REALLY good and then put him on a routine to build up the shoulder muscles and see what he can do in the Fall or ST.[/quote]


[quote name="Chris Stoner"]
All-Star / Jeremy posted some interesting thoughts on Britton, and the shoulder; and I'll just admit that is past me. Maybe it will be proven correct, but right now, Britton's shoulder does not concern me. By their own admission, the O's were being overly cautions with Britton in regards to getting him back throwing, etc.

I saw a guy yesterday that was consistently throwing 92-93, just had limited control of his 2 seamer, and poor secondaries. For me, it is as simple as that, until proven otherwise. He was up and down in his 154 ML innings last year, but overall profiled as a 3rd/4th starter. I do think he has the upside of a 2nd starter.

I don't think a lot has to go right for Britton. He just has to be able to throw his 2 seamer for strikes, and throw it the great majority of the time. If his secondaries improve, he can be very good.[/quote]


[quote name="Ricker Says"]In looking a little closer at Britton's velocity - it doesn't appear that it's been down this year at all, nor has it been inconsistent. Here is a snap shot of his velo last year as compared to this year:



But for the record, I also looked at a couple isolated starts this year, and his velocity was consistent game to game, so I'm really not seeing any variance here. Perhaps the stadium guns were off a bit, not sure, but according to Pitch F/X, he's been pretty consistent with his velo.

I think that with Britton he's just been inconsistent with commanding the sinker, and overall fastball command. When it's not sinking, and the fastball is up, he gets crushed. Also, too many damn walks.[/quote]

I see no reason why Britton would need to be shut-down. He had plenty of stuff in the 1st, just no command.

Arrieta is starting tonight for Norfolk, and he would be my choice on a 1 start audition.

I thought Britton had pretty good command first inning. He hung exactly one pitch and it got smacked 415 feet.

Can't speak for the rest of the game, have been in and out.

I thought Britton had pretty good command first inning. He hung exactly one pitch and it got smacked 415 feet.

Can't speak for the rest of the game, have been in and out.

Thought he had a lot of movement in the 1st, but not a lot of command. Both homers (the 2nd in the 2nd) were him missing the glove.

That said, nice rebound from Britton in the 3rd and 4th inning, and he just got his 5th k here in the 5th.

The stuff overall was/is much better tonight then the last time out.

Thought he had a lot of movement in the 1st, but not a lot of command. Both homers (the 2nd in the 2nd) were him missing the glove.

That said, nice rebound from Britton in the 3rd and 4th inning, and he just got his 5th k here in the 5th.

The stuff overall was/is much better tonight then the last time out.

He hammered the low/outside corner on both strikeouts, and induced 2 ground balls with his sinker. Didn't get some calls on those low/away sinkers but Matt's glove didn't move much.

Well he's recovered quite well and the first inning wouldn't have happened if it weren't for defensive issues.

Well he's recovered quite well and the first inning wouldn't have happened if it weren't for defensive issues.

True enough. Britton is probably doing enough, that it becomes likely that nobody replaces him in the rotation the next time out.

Well, this didn't take long.

IF Britton is going to be shuttled back to Norfolk, or the DL for that matter, then my suggestion is that we either go with Arrieta, who has a 3.63 ERA in four starts with Norfolk since he's been down there. He's had a chance to work with Rick Peterson and R.P. is saying that Arrieta has been very receptive to his analysis and suggestions.

I'd roll the dice with him first - then maybe Steve Johnson or Matusz.

1) Arrieta is getting rebuilt...he shouldn't be back up until rosters expand.

2). One of the signs of a shoulder injury(well really any injury for a pitcher) not being fully recovered can be lack of command. Britton is all over the place. I fear that he is going to have to have major shoulder surgery and that we won't be able to rely on. I didn't feel he would pitch in BMore this year and if he did, it wouldn't be many innings. I hope I'm wrong.

I see no reason why Britton would need to be shut-down. He had plenty of stuff in the 1st, just no command.

Arrieta is starting tonight for Norfolk, and he would be my choice on a 1 start audition.

As I said in the game thread, if the O's elect to replace Britton, the reasons I would choose Arrieta are him being on normal rest, and that I think he would provide the best existing internal option to give the O's a chance to win.

I can understand the desire to have him continue to work with Peterson. That would be ideal. However, with where the O's are in the year, every game might matter. If he struggles, he goes back to Norfolk and continues his work with Peterson. If he pitches well, he earns another start.

EDIT: Besides Britton rebounding (which we discuss below) Arrieta did not do his job at AAA tonight. He went just 3.2ip, allowing 8 hits, 5 er, with 3 bb's, and 0 k's.

Shoulder injuries can cause command issues too. Mostly having to do with slight tweaks in arm slot and release point. I'd have to see some before/after video to know.

1) Arrieta is getting rebuilt...he shouldn't be back up until rosters expand.

2). One of the signs of a shoulder injury(well really any injury for a pitcher) not being fully recovered can be lack of command. Britton is all over the place. I fear that he is going to have to have major shoulder surgery and that we won't be able to rely on. I didn't feel he would pitch in BMore this year and if he did, it wouldn't be many innings. I hope I'm wrong.

Who would you like to see brought up to replace Britton, if that's what Buck and DD decide to do, since Arrieta looked pretty rough out there tonight?

Shoulder injuries can cause command issues too. Mostly having to do with slight tweaks in arm slot and release point. I'd have to see some before/after video to know.

It can, but his command was an issue last year as well.

Maybe I am giving too much credit, but I'd have to imagine the organization would be reviewing his film in comparison to last year, to see if there were any discernible differences.

I guess he could still be dealing with the shoulder, but I don't know how we can prove/disprove that theory with the information presently known.

All we know for sure, is that the O's believe he is healthy, his velocity matches up very well with last year, and that his 2seam control remains an issue.

His stuff was noticeably better tonight than his last time out. I'd be surprised if he could have the movement he had tonight, if he was pitching hurt.

Who would you like to see brought up to replace Britton, if that's what Buck and DD decide to do, since Arrieta looked pretty rough out there tonight?

Well, I would say BMat but honestly, I think I would like to see him get another few starts in AAA.

So, can you make a minor trade? Pick up Lowe for a few starts? Go with a BP by committee, bringing up a guy like Berken or Eveland?

It can, but his command was an issue last year as well.

Maybe I am giving too much credit, but I'd have to imagine the organization would be reviewing his film in comparison to last year, to see if there were any discernible differences.

I guess he could still be dealing with the shoulder, but I don't know how we can prove/disprove that theory with the information presently known.

All we know for sure, is that the O's believe he is healthy, his velocity matches up very well with last year, and that his 2seam control remains an issue.

His stuff was noticeably better tonight than his last time out. I'd be surprised if he could have the movement he had tonight, if he was pitching hurt.

We really can't know but 90% of the time it comes out after the fact. Just see some similarities and I know shoulder issues don't just go away that easily.

We really can't know but 90% of the time it comes out after the fact. Just see some similarities and I know shoulder issues don't just go away that easily.

Yea, for me, I am really skeptical that the plasma injections are all he needed.