A look at the handling of Kevin Gausman and Costas' MLB Network comment

Each time Kevin Gausman pitches and comes out of the game mid-game. the question follows from some fans: How come Gausman only threw 75 pitches?

In his first five starts this year for Triple-A Norfolk, Gausman has thrown 4 2/3 innings and then four, three, five and 4 2/3 innings.

He is 0-1 with an ERA of 2.53. Over 21 1/3 innings, he has allowed 21 hits with 11 walks and 20 strikeouts. Lefty batters are hitting .256 against him, while right-handed batters are hitting .278. Opponents are just 3-for-20 (.150) against Gausman with runners in scoring position.

He gave up four runs and seven hits in three innings, throwing 67 pitches, on April 15 at Gwinnett. In his other four starts, he has allowed just two earned runs over 18 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.98.

He seems to be throwing the ball well and continues to pitch in the mid- and high 90s with his fastball. He's a phone call away if and when the Orioles want to make the move.

That brings us back to the start of this story. Why are the Orioles holding down Gausman's pitches and/or innings?

It's pretty simple math, really. Gausman pitched 141 2/3 innings between LSU and the pros in 2012, and pitched 129 2/3 innings last season. Having him work out of the bullpen in the majors last summer for 15 games left him short of what the club probably had projected for his 2013 innings back in spring training.

So now, it would not be smart and certainly could be risky to take Gausman much past 175 innings or so coming off around 130 innings last season. So if Gausman made even 30 starts this year between the minors and majors and went only five innings each time, that is 150 innings right there.

What if the Orioles need him to go deep into games if and when he enters the rotation? What if the O's made a deep playoff run and needed him for starts then, too? How will he have the innings available? Well, he might if they skimp on innings now and the club is clearly preparing for that possibility. Thus, Gausman comes out of games early right now with Norfolk.

Buck Showalter discussed Gausman's pitch count and innings being held down before Sunday's game.

"So the potential is there for him to pitch in October, September, get a head of it and not wait until late and have to shut him down," Showalter said. "Trying to get where we don't have that issue if we get to where we're trying to get. Don't want to wait until August."

The next question usually is, so how can he come to Baltimore and pitch deep into a game if he is throwing just 75 pitches at Norfolk? Well, he likely can't right away, but if the Orioles needed him to make a 90-pitch start right now, he could, and a 100-pitch limit or more would quickly follow.

The Orioles think Gausman could impact their rotation this season. To have the chance to have him make the greatest impact, they are holding down his Norfolk innings now so he has more to use if and/or when he gets to Baltimore.

Costas on Yankee fans: Last night on MLB Network, Bob Costas made a comment sure to resonate with some Orioles fans. Apparently some New York fans were chanting that Robinson Cano was a sellout as he played in the Bronx against the Yankees with Seattle. Cano signed a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Mariners in December.

Costas, broadcasting last night's game, said: "There is something ironic about Yankee fans deriding a player as a sellout."

I'm sure O's fans can relate to that comment. New York has certainly benefited often from players going to the highest bidder and this time it worked against them.

The way I look at it, New York fans should blame their own front office if they really miss Cano. New York went on a winter spending spree of more than $500 million. They just didn't spend it on their own player.