At 7:10 p.m. ET, my rookie baseball crush gets his first pitching start of 2010, and his name isn’t Stephen Strasburg, Ardolis Chapman, Wade Davis, or Mat Latos. Maybe it’s because I own him in two keeper fantasy leagues or because we both have a random “z” in our last name, regardless, I vote Brian Matusz, LHP Baltimore Orioles, as the rookie pitcher to watch in 2010.
The sample size of 44.2 major league innings is small, but Matusz posted a respectable 4.63 ERA, 4.08 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching), and 2.71 K/BB in 2009. He fine-tuned his performance during the 2010 spring training with a 2.59 ERA and 7 K/BB through 24.1 innings. I don’t put a lot of stock in spring training stats, but do believe they support previous scouting reports of Matusz, which suggest that he has great command to go along with 4 good pitches (a fastball that reaches 94 mph, curveball, slider, and change-up). The key for Matusz will be that great command that the scouts have talked about, along with my favorite scouting statement regarding any pitcher: “He knows how to pitch.” It wouldn’t hurt him to increase his ground ball to fly ball ratio either (.66 in 2009).
Outside of Matusz’s performance in 2010, I think he is the next Orioles’ ace and will fill the void that the Orioles have had since Mike Mussina left in 2000. His name is also good to know as he will be the anchor of a Orioles’ rotation for a team that will be extremely competitive over the next 3 to 4 years (at least I think they will be). Put away that Strasburg and Chapman infatuation and vote Matusz with me.
Yeah I got him in one of my leagues too and this kid is the real deal. over time he will be the more consistant of all those guys and i think he will win more ball games as well.
was there ever a better prez than Reagan…the man is a modern day hero and rush is right behind him