Is Brian Matusz pitching for his rotation spot tonight?

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

April 20, 2012, 3:17pm

Comments

It is just a hunch on my part, but unless it goes really south for Brian Matusz tonight in Anaheim, I don't think he is pitching for his rotation spot tonight. He earned his way into the opening day rotation with his offseason work and a good spring. I don't think that ends after three starts. Perhaps his spot would be more shaky if Tsuyoshi Wada had pitched better at Triple-A yesterday, but he gave up six runs in 2 2/3 innings and seems not yet ready to join the big club. That said, Matusz could use a strong outing tonight. Even after making some progress his last time out, he does have an ERA of 8.38 and opponent batting average against of .342 after two starts. Yes, it's a small sample size. Very small. Lefty batters are hitting just .100 (1-for-10) off Matusz in those starts, but right-handed hitters are batting .429 (13-for-28) and have an OPS of 1.278 against him. Matusz was very critical of himself after that last outing Sunday in Toronto. Was that a young guy that knows he needs to get better or a sign of a young guy that is lacking confidence right now? Maybe we begin to get some answers tonight. No matter the results, my guess is we see Matusz in the rotation when it's next his turn to pitch.