Baltimore Orioles Minor League Pitching Report – Norfolk Tides
Mar 13, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Kevin Gausman (39) throws a pitch during the fifth inning against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
From time to time over the course of the season, here at The Baltimore Wire we will give some updates on the pitching rotations at AAA Norfolk and AA Bowie. In that pitching is such a big and critical part of the game of baseball, it is always good to be able to know what is just over the horizon in terms of future prospects to take the mound for the Baltimore Orioles.
It has been presumed that the Orioles are rather well-armed with high-level pitching prospects and that the AAA Norfolk rotation was going to be rather outstanding. So far, that has been a mixed bag of results. The team is not hitting particularly well other than Jemile Weeks and Caleb Joseph, and they are off to a 3-5 start through the first eight games. (Caleb Joseph had a 12th-inning two-run double last night to make a winner out of newly-acquired pitcher Preston Guilmet.)
Tides manager Ron Johnson stated at the beginning of the season that his rotation was going to go in this order: Kevin Gausman, Steve Johnson, T.J. McFarland, Suk-min Yoon, and Mike Wright. This plan was upset before it even started, as weather uncertainties in Detroit caused fears of a possible Orioles-Tigers double header last Saturday (which did not eventuate) and Gausman was pulled from the opener to head toward Michigan. Eddie Gamboa made the start for Norfolk instead. He pitched well, allowing two runs in five innings – those runs coming on a two-run homer with two outs in the 5th inning. We’ll mention Gamboa again later.
Of the starting rotation so far this year …
Kevin Gausman – Considered the #2 Orioles prospect, he is clearly on a strict pitch count around 70-75. His first start went 4.2 scoreless innings with three hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. His second start was more difficult with two earned runs over four innings with four hits and two walks.
Steve Johnson – He threw 55 pitches in his first outing, doing so over three innings with three hits and a run given up. His second outing on Friday night was more difficult. In 4.2 innings he was touched up for four runs on four hits – two of them homers, raising his ERA to 5.87.
T.J. McFarland – The Orioles Rule 5 draftee from last year had a very good first start and will pitch again Saturday. Over four innings he gave up one run on four hits, while striking out five.
Suk-min Yoon – This is not encouraging. Lasting only 2.1 innings, Gwinnett got to him for nine earned runs on 11 hits. That translates to a 34.71 ERA. Hopefully he had food poisoning or something like that affecting him. My readers may recall that I have not been an optimistic person about Yoon, though I want to be terribly wrong about my fears. Eddie Gamboa game into the game and went 5.2 scoreless innings to bring things under control. As you can see in the chart below, Gamboa now has an ERA of 1.69.
David Wright – The Orioles Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2013 had a very strong first start, going five innings and giving up but one run on five hits. He also had four strikeouts.
Here are the current numbers of the six pitchers discussed today…
Player |
W
L
ERA
GS
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
WHIP
Kevin Gausman
0
0
2.08
2
8.2
7
3
2
0
5
10
1.38
Eddie Gamboa
0
1
1.69
1
10.2
9
2
2
1
1
11
0.94
Steve Johnson
0
0
5.87
2
7.2
7
5
5
2
3
8
1.39
T.J. McFarland
0
0
2.25
1
4.0
4
1
1
0
0
5
1.00
Mike Wright
0
0
0.00
1
5.0
5
1
0
0
1
4
1.20
Suk-min Yoon
0
1
34.71
1
2.1
11
9
9
1
1
0
5.14