Gift for keeper leagues: Matusz shut down short of 50 innings

by Rotofan on Sep 14, 2009 5:57 PM EDT Comment 16 comments

Baltimore manager Trembley just announced Matusz won't pitch again this season. He's at 44 2/3 innings, so one more start and he would have likely lost rookie status for those of us playing in keeper leagues. Bad news if you were counting on him for a few more quality starts (I wasn't) but great news if he's a keeper -- in my league I can park him on my reserve squad and leaving open an active spot to hopefully get next year's Brian Matusz.

As an aside, I've been more impressed so far with Matusz than with Tillman. The former's command has ben better and he doesn't have the long-ball weakness Tillman has shown. Much too small a sample size to draw to much from but I'm curious who you think will be better (a) next year and (b) long-term

0 recs | Comment 16 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Well, Tillman is only 21 years old. His biggest weakness is his command in which should get better as he continues to develop. IMO Tillman will be better in the long run, but Matusz will be better at first. Next season I think Matusz will be sitting right arounud 3.75 ERA or better. Tillman I think will be at or slightly below 4.00 ERA. The thing with Tillman is the strides he has made developmentally in the past year. If his command takes another step forward as it did from 08 to 09, youll be looking at a #1 IMO. But both in a few years will be dominant and K machines. Im most interested to see if Tillman will continue to rack up the K’s as he did in his last start, he finally started to use the hammer as a K pitch….

by QBsIllest1 on Sep 14, 2009 6:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Matusz

Probably the #2 pitching prospect this offseason. Agree?

by Dfarth on Sep 14, 2009 7:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Feliz #2

Id rank Neftali and maybe Bumgarner ahead of him

by mjr20 on Sep 14, 2009 7:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Besides

ARL, which might be a moot point, what puts Bumgarner ahead of Matusz?

Who loves orange soda?

by Kenan and Kel on Sep 14, 2009 7:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I ask the same question, why? Youd honestly take a guy whose topping out at 90 and has average at best secondary pitches over a guy who tops out at 94, excellent command, 2 plus-plus pitches, 1 plus and one above average pitch? I dont see it…..I take Matusz as the top pitching prospect in baseball hands down. I dont care how good of command you have, if your fastball went from mid 90’s to high 80’s, and boring secondaries, you better not be the top pitcher in baseball. I honestly see more competition between Strasburg and Matusz. Will Strasburg get the nod even though es never pitched a pro inning? I hope not :)

by QBsIllest1 on Sep 14, 2009 8:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

its close..

Bumgarner was working on his secondary pitches this year not throwing his fastball his hardest and I believe his velocity will come back to the mid to high 90s range. Strasburg is a clear number one to me bearing nothing goes wrong between now and next year.

by mjr20 on Sep 14, 2009 9:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

matt

ive heard from multiple accounts his secondary offerings have made little to no progress. and despite, his solid debut. many scouts were not impressed stuff wise. the fb velo is def a concern. i dont know if it will just “come back”

by iam2asian4u on Sep 14, 2009 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

That sounds more like wishful thinking than analysis.

by Fanon on Sep 15, 2009 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol kevin

i watched the debut, wasn’t that impressed with the velocity but i would like to see Bumgarner in the fall before I make a decision.

by mjr20 on Sep 15, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yea hes had that velocity up until midwaay through this year. I would be more worried if he still didnt have it next year after an offseasons spent resting. There is usually, not always but usuallt, a reason for loss in velocity.

by jarjets89 on Sep 15, 2009 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he's in the conversation for #1

But I think most take Strasburg. Feliz is an interesting case as I could see either of them #2. Bumgarner is nowhere close for me.

On the issue of his velocity, I think this shows that we should always be skeptical of velocity reports from Low-A. So often, a guy gets labeled as either a mid-90’s guy or a low-90’s guy and they spend the next 2-3 years disproving it. Take Hellickson vs. Bumgarner. The truth is they have probably always been at least close in velocity – if not a bit of an edge to Hellickson. However, the vast majority of the prospecting community just assumes that Bumgarner has better “stuff” due to some vague scouting reports from quite a while back.

by Dfarth on Sep 14, 2009 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You hope not because you're an Orioles fan

But the fact remains that almost everyone will rank Strasburg above Matusz as Stephen’s ceiling is going to be regarded as undoubtedly higher.

"There's only one cure for what's wrong with all of us pitchers, and that's to take a year off. Then, after you've gone a year without throwing, quit altogether." -Jim Palmer

by Baltimo on Sep 15, 2009 10:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Which complements his already polished pitches

"There's only one cure for what's wrong with all of us pitchers, and that's to take a year off. Then, after you've gone a year without throwing, quit altogether." -Jim Palmer

by Baltimo on Sep 15, 2009 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I dont think its as big of washout between STrasburg and Matusz. Though Strasburg has a plus-plus fastball and a plus slider. If you forget all the hype surrounding Strasburg, hes as human as anyone else. I like the guy with 2 plus-plus pitches, 1 plus and another above average. If Strasburg cant locate his fastball, then hes gonna get hammered, if Matusz cant locate his best pitch, he still has 3 more pitches he can use as an out pitch any day. I do know Strasburg has a higher ceiling, but its not as much of a washout as some make it out to be IMO. And that mixed with the fact that Strasburg hasnt thrown a pro pitch yet could giveMatusz the nod, but of course, who knows what the publications are thinking/seeing….

by QBsIllest1 on Sep 16, 2009 4:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Also . . .

Matusz has shown a level of poise as a professional that is unusual. Perhaps because he relies on variety and good stuff but not off-the-chart stuff, his success has also been a product of his baseball intellect and poise, qualities that are valuable and unusual in a young pitcher.

Strasburg has such over-whelming stuff at the college level that it’s harder to say if he has developed in the same way; certainly he hasn’t had a chance to prove it.

by Rotofan on Sep 16, 2009 6:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs