masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgHere is the second part of the interview with Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias on the minors and player development.
If you missed part one, it’s here.
Today, a little more focus on pitching. The organization Elias left, the Houston Astros, has a strong reputation for developing young pitchers. On Houston’s current top 30 prospects list on MLBPipeline.com, four of the top six are pitchers, and so are six of the top 10 and 10 of the first 14.
Right-hander Forrest…

Here is the second part of the interview with Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias on the minors and player development.

If you missed part one, it’s here.

Today, a little more focus on pitching. The organization Elias left, the Houston Astros, has a strong reputation for developing young pitchers. On Houston’s current top 30 prospects list on MLBPipeline.com, four of the top six are pitchers, and so are six of the top 10 and 10 of the first 14.

Right-hander Forrest Whitley is rated No. 5 on Baseball America’s new national top 100 list, which came out Tuesday. Right-hander Josh James is ranked No. 77 and right-hander Corbin Martin is No. 78.

Houston’s top five farm teams in 2018 each led their league in team strikeouts, and the Astros’ Rookie-level Gulf Coast League team finished second. In some cases, Houston’s team lapped the field. The Quad Cities River Bandits led the low Single-A Midwest League with 1,514 strikeouts, which was 251 more than the second-place finisher. Double-A Corpus Christi fanned 1,319 batters and that led second place by 158. Triple-A Fresno pitchers fanned 1,330, which was 151 more than second. Three of Houston’s top six farm clubs led the league in ERA, one was third and two were sixth. Four of the six clubs finished in first place.

Houston’s top six farm teams finished with a combined .562 win percentage, second only to Tampa Bay at .604 for 2018. The Orioles were tied for 22nd at .477.

Now Part II of the interview.

So what made Houston so successful developing pitchers that could work in Baltimore?

Elias: “Well, we’re very proud of what we were able to accomplish in Houston on the pitching side. I think it really culminated last year where the Astros organizationally led professional baseball by a lot in strikeouts at every level.

Elias-and-Media-sidebar.jpg“I think that is the result of a ton of work by every department in baseball operations and total alignment in every department in baseball operations. We were using a certain lens to evaluate pitchers. We were pulling the trigger on pitchers that fit that lens, either in the international or amateur signing side. And then we were developing, using that same lens all the way from A-ball to the big leagues.

“It’s part of why I was very quick to get Chris Holt over here (as Orioles minor league pitching coordinator). We’re fortunate to have him here. We’re going to try and replicate a lot of the practices that led to that success.

“Like I said, other teams are working on this as well. The industry has a way of catching up. Merely reaching back to what we did a year or two ago is not necessarily going to produce the same results here going forward. So, we’ve got to keep working and keep innovating.”

All the success of producing strikeouts on the farm last year in Houston, is that a big stat? I know it’s one of many, but is that a key stat for minor league arms, to look at strikeout rates?

Elias: “Well, it’s just one indicator, but it’s the most stable indicator. There is no luck involved. When you look at ERA, you have to think about the ballpark, the quality of the defense. Even with hits allowed, there is a lot of luck involved. But when you are striking somebody out, you are dominating them. They are swinging and missing. It just speaks to the quality of your stuff and the quality of your skill relative to your competitors. It’s not perfect, but it’s probably the most stable and one of the most trustworthy stats in terms of how good a pitcher’s stuff and ability are at that point in time. We put a lot of meaning into our strikeout rates. It’s a piece of the puzzle, but it’s a big piece.”

What will be the challenge for returning minor league staff, managers and coaches? Now they are working with a new leadership. How much adapting will they have to do?

Elias: “It is often a part of this business where new people, new staff, new leadership come in every year. When that is the case, you always run into situations where you have to do things a little differently. Maybe different reports, different processes or a different philosophy when it comes to maybe something we are teaching.

“Certainly, we will be educating our staff on anything like that where we have strong ideas. But it’s also a give and take. Anytime you work with new people, you learn something from them too. So, I’m looking forward to spring training. Getting to know these guys individually, the ones I have yet to meet. From what I’ve heard, they’ve seen our success in player development from where we’re coming from and look forward to being a part of that here.”

So in terms of hiring a director of player development and/or scouting director, is that on the board right now or the back burner at the moment?

Elias: “We’ll see what happens long-term in those positions. The exact structure, the title. Those are big decisions, those are big jobs and it wasn’t something that I wanted to rush deep into the winter time, because of the importance of those decisions.

“What I can tell you is that we have Kent Qualls and Brad Ciolek running the day-to-day operations in those departments. I’m very confident in where we are in terms of the leadership they’ve taken up in those departments, and things are running very smoothly. I’m working very closely with both of those guys on a daily basis. We’ve got full operational leadership and capability in those departments. We’ll assess sort of the long-term structure and leadership structure of those departments in due time.”

As you have mentioned, you will have a big role in player development, and it’s one of the reasons you were brought here. More specifically, does that mean you will be more hands-on with staff and other things this year?

Elias: “I certainly want to visit the affiliates. That is something I’d be doing no matter what. And I expect to have involvement in decisions about promoting our top prospects, playing time for our top prospects, maybe where they are playing on the field. Those sorts of things.

“Maybe over time, we may see fit to step back a bit from those decisions. But with the importance of what is going on with our farm system right now, with the importance of our draft, with Sig (Mejdal) and I coming in and trying to introduce some new technologies and processes to both departments, I feel it makes the most sense if I’m a bit extra-involved in those spaces this year.

“We also have Brandon Hyde and his staff bringing some best practices from the Cubs organization. He’ll be very involved on the minor league side to whatever degree that he can. It’s going to be a big collaboration. It’s going to be all hands on deck and a very busy year. But it’s the most important work that we are doing right now.”

Thanks to Elias for taking the time to answer these questions. It was welcome to get some insight on this topic. In one sense, Elias is stating the obvious about how important the farm is, but in another sense he’s accepting the challenge and I think his confidence that he and his staff will get the job done comes through. Seems like healthy confidence, but not cockiness. He’s not only honest in admitting what worked as recently as a year or two ago in Houston may not work here, he’s right. He made it clear with his answers that he knows his front office will have to keep adapting, innovating and adjusting. That’s with technology, coaches, analytics, teaching methods and so much more.

I feel he’s got some talent to work with on the farm. When the Orioles had three players ranked on the Baseball America top 100 list week, they had three or more in back-to-back years for the first time since they had four in 2009 and again in 2010. That capped a five-year run, starting in 2006, when they had four, three, five, four and four through 2010 on the Baseball America list.

From 2015-2017, the Orioles had three total, getting Dylan Bundy (No. 48) and Hunter Harvey (No. 68) on it in 2015. No one made the list in 2016, and just Chance Sisco (No. 57) made it for the Orioles in 2017. So now they’ve had three in two consecutive years.