Don't adjust your sets
Chris Waters really has a one-hit shutout through five innings.
Brian Roberts, calling into "The Anita Marks Show" today on MASN and ESPN Radio 1300, joked that the Orioles often have trouble with pitchers who are making their debuts or are just unfamiliar to them because of limited major league exposure, and perhaps Waters would have that same effect on the Angels.
Sure looks that way.
And sure looks like Waters has earned another start, no matter what happens from here.
Roberts had no idea that Waters was starting tonight until Marks informed him. He also had never heard of the left-hander, so I provided a quick scouting report. Roberts hoped that Waters wasn't at spring training this year (he wasn't), or he'd really feel bad.
Starters announced for the Texas series at Camden Yards: Jeremy Guthrie, Daniel Cabrera and Dennis Sarfate. No Hayden Penn at this point, but he tossed five scoreless innings tonight for Triple-A Norfolk, allowing three hits and walking none. He threw 45 of his 62 pitches for strikes.
That's three solid starts in a row, if you don't count the bat incident.
Oscar Salazar had two more hits and an RBI, leaving his average at .312.
Bob McCrory, healthy again, didn't allow a run in 1 2/3 innings and has a 2.78 ERA. He was buried in the Orioles' bullpen during a brief call-up and never seemed to recover. I hope he gets another look. He's a prospect.
I cannot describe how relieved I was watching Waters. I really thought he would do that bad against the Angels. But, no, it was all smooth sailing for Waters. And yes, his fielding was just terrific. And all the while, I was thinking, Daniel Cabrera would NEVER do that in this lifetime or the next to be able to field his position.
I cannot wait to see what he does for an encore. If he can keep this kind of performance up, he would be a welcome shot in the arm, but don't think of steroids, please. If we have Guthrie, Cabrera, Olson, Waters already, then I would think the next slot would need to belong to Penn. After that, it would have to be Bergeson for Cabrera.
What do you think of these rotation changes for the future, Roch?
Strap on, here comes the Roller Coaster in the bottom of the 9th.
B-Rob was right on point regarding the O's getting befuddled by unknown pitchers. Waters has been a breath of fresh air tonight. His mound presence and hustle to the bag shows that he's been well coached.
Hurray to the Oriole Way.
I'm a long time Orioles fan watching the game in San Antonio. We're in the 8th and Waters' pitching performance is certainly impressive. What's even more impressive to me is the way he is fielding his position. He's made some excellent plays covering first and was in perfect position to get the third out in the 7th. We haven't seen that level of fielding by a pitcher since Mike Mussina.
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I'm a big fan of Jeremy Guthrie's glove work, but point taken. Waters looks pretty nimble coming off the mound. - Roch
For what it's worth, the Angels announcers here in L.A. are absolutely gushing over Waters and what he's done now through seven innings. I am too. Great poise, excellent ability to throw balls low and away, and the changeup and sinker seem to come in deceptively on the same plane. He's also confident: how about throwing a changeup to Hunter on a 2-1 count for a strike? It's one start, but for this rotation (Guthrie aside), it's a much needed and darned good one.
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Did you say gushing waters? Awesome. - Roch
Penn, on a normal 5 day rotation, would be scheduled for Sunday. Sarafate is good, but he is not a starter.
Think Payton's start in CF tonight is to showcase him. Who sits for Montanez?
If Jones is out 4-6 weeks the later would have him out until September 16 with nowhere to rehab after coming back.