Dave Johnson

Starters have to go deep!

by Dave Johnson

We are winning games, but the starters have got to start going deeper.

I know it's only the first week of the season, but at this rate our bullpen will be wiped out by the All-Star break.

Dave Trembley has talked about not going too long with the starters right now. He is in a tough position.

Some of the guys who were penciled in for the rotation did not perform well in spring training. I still feel that too much stock is put into spring training performances by all clubs.

I would evaluate the pitchers by a few things. Are they out of options? Where did they pitch last year? Are they healthy? Are they throwing strikes?

The position the Orioles are in this year should be to find out who out of the guys in front of the new crop of prospects can pitch. If they can't pitch at the major league level, then at least we know.

The starting staff wasn't picked until the last few days of spring training. Nobody stepped up, other than Simon. I know why we got him for last year; but I didn't know why we thought we needed to bring him to spring training. There is too much emphasis on spring training results. The guys who were out of options, if healthy, should have been stretched out and in the rotation. They would be ready to throw six innings or more.

After five innings we are tired. Wake me up! I'm reliving a nightmare from two years ago.

Of course they are tired. They just pitched five innings. I would be tired too. But, I would never tell the manager that I was done. My performance and the manager decided when I came out. Unfortunately for me, it was too early many times. Oh well, what are you going to do with no talent! But, I had some of my best games when I was tired. Why do the pitchers and coaches think you have to feel great or you have to come out of the game?

I hope the starters will step up and go deep into games in the next couple of starts. By the way, if you think rushing the guys from Triple A who have never pitched above Double A will be the answer, I disagree.

Remember, most of the top pitching prospects we have in the minors right now will not be successful major league pitchers. That is just reality. Not just with the Orioles; that's the case in all organizations. I hope that reality doesn't smack us in the face too hard.

Here's to making the Triple A guys force their way to the big leagues. When they do, they will be confident and ready to handle the ups and downs of learning how to pitch in the big leagues.