The Baltimore Orioles have been among those constantly rebuilding teams ever since Jeffrey Mayer, now an adult, broke their heart. The O's have accumulated some talent over the years, but they have two major handicaps: the AL (B)East and their pitching staff.
In the last week, Baltimore's new GM, Dan Duquette, picked up a pair of semi-promising Japanese pitchers. If the pair lives up to their modest potential, they will immensely improve a staff that drove the team off a cliff in 2011.
The O's mound corp gave up 5.31 earned runs per game, last in the majors by a robust margin. Their only above-average pitcher, reliever Koji Uehara, notched a grand total of 141 outs.
How about Brian Matusz, the highly-regarded third year starter? In 2010, Matusz hurled 176 innings and struck out 143 batters. He went 10-12, 4.30 against tough competition, flashing the talent that made him the fourth pick in the '08 draft.
It's possible that Matusz died and was replaced on the hill by Rosie Ruiz last season. Or that his evil twin, an accountant with no discernible baseball talent, tied him up in a basement back home in Phoenix while he took Brian's starts in the rotation. Whatever the truth, the person alleging to be Brian Matusz started 12 games last season and averaged four innings and five runs per start. He went 1-9, 10.69, the worst ERA for any pitcher with 12 start ever. Ev-uh.
You can find your own numeric fun with Matusz's 2011, including the 18 homers he relinquished in 49 frames, one less than in the previous 176.
Matusz is on a short leash in 2012, but then so are all his litter mates. Baltimore will audition anyone who can fog a mirror in Spring Training in an effort to avoid the basement in a tough division and to develop some arms while they continue to develop Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis and some other promising everyday player properties.
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