Britton trying to save organization's reputation

ST. PETERBURG, Fla. - Given the responsibility of closing out games for the Orioles, left-hander Zach Britton also wants to shut down the steady stream of criticism directed at the organization for failing to develop its young pitchers.

It's become a sensitive topic.

Jake Arrieta has thrown two no-hitters and won a Cy Young Award since the Orioles traded him to the Cubs three years ago. It was supposed to happen in Baltimore, for the team that selected him in the fifth round of the 2007 First Year Player Draft out of TCU, but he left with a career 5.46 ERA and his confidence eroded to a nub.

It's no secret that former pitching coach Rick Adair never connected with a group of promising hurlers who were supposed to solidify the rotation for years to come. Bitter feelings linger. Anecdotes are shared, but not for publication.

Adair most notably clashed with Arrieta, Britton, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz. Forced changes in deliveries and approaches are only part of the story. Adair eventually took a leave of absence, personal issues removing him from the game, and he still hasn't returned to the majors.

"The biggest thing for me, the situation with Jake, obviously I'm happy for everything he's done," Britton said yesterday while sitting in the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field. "But the thing where we're talking about the struggles we had with the pitching coach here, it was just an isolated thing with the experience that Jake had and myself. Completely different experiences.

"I don't know exactly how Jake feels about it, but it's not like an Orioles organizational thing. It was just a specific guy. The Orioles have great pitching coaches everywhere, guys I've dealt with. Griff (Mike Griffin) at Triple-A, Kennie Steenstra that I had all through the minors. I mean, these guys are outstanding. And the staff at the big league level has always been great, with Buck (Showalter) obviously leading the way.

"When I see people taking some of these quotes and trying to use them to, I guess, give the organization a black eye almost, it's not how that's intended to be, because this wasn't an organizational philosophy. This was just one individual that we didn't see eye-to-eye with and that's kind of where it ends. It ends with that one person."

Britton wants to set the record straight, to make sure his comments in a recent Yahoo Sports article weren't misinterpreted as him criticizing the Orioles for Arrieta rising to stardom only after flaming out in Baltimore.

"I just don't like reading in the media when people, because of Jake's success, now try to find a reason for why the Orioles didn't figure that out or get this guy to be a Cy Young Award winner," Britton said. "I think if anything, you credit Jake for going over there and improving and getting better. There's no reason to continually just try to beat down our organization for the success that he's having now that he didn't have here."

Britton wishes that Arrieta had the opportunity to work with current pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti, who built solid relationships by using a softer touch.

"I think knowing Jake for so long - I mean, I've known him since he played in junior college with my oldest brother (Clay) - I just feel that his personality would fit with Dave and Dom with the way they teach pitching," Britton said. "Obviously, I know he doesn't have that opportunity and there's no guarantee that what he's doing over there would translate, but I think that he would have had a better opportunity to reach that level with Dave and Dom.

"They've been great for the organization. Buck and Dan (Duquette) bringing them in was huge for everybody. Not just from a baseball standpoint, a pitching standpoint, but being able to talk to those guys about anything on and off the field has been huge."

Britton and Arrieta remain close despite the miles and leagues separating them.

"I keep in touch with him, especially after some of these huge games - the no-hitters, winning the Cy Young. I always send him a text," Britton said.

"It's been fun to watch and I'm really happy for him because I know how he was toward the end of his time with us here, and to see him confident and throwing well again I think is more of a credit to him than anything. That he kind of took a deep breath and got back to what he knew he could do and didn't let anybody stand in his way.

"He always spoke and acted as if he was going to be a stud pitcher and I believed it with the stuff he had. And now he's gone out and shown everybody that that's what he's capable of."