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Baltimore Orioles: Will Showalter’s scheme for Jimenez succeed again?

By Christopher Church

Aug 30, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez (31) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 30, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez (31) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /
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The never-ending changes in the Baltimore Orioles pitching staff inserted pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez back into the Orioles starting rotation ahead of Friday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter has decided to remove pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez from his annual timeout to start Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals after a four-week absence from the team’s starting rotation. Who didn’t see this coming?

The same scenario happened just last year during the month of August. However, this time around Showalter made the move to place Jimenez in the bullpen much earlier in 2017. Kudos to Showalter, the move worked wonders last year as Jimenez returned from his stint in the bullpen to help the Orioles reach the postseason as he went 3-2 in seven starts with a 2.45 ERA.

As the Orioles plunge to last-place in the American League East standings, will Showalter’s inevitable plan for Jimenez work for the second consecutive year? With how inconsistent Jimenez has been during his tenure with the Orioles, it’s certainly possible we see Showalter’s move pay off once again.

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Last season, the difference for Ubaldo was his slider. Using the resourceful BrooksBaseball.net, during his stretch before he was removed from the rotation (April 4-July 28) Jimenez whiffs percentage sat at 8.73 percent, one his more ineffective pitches. However, post-bullpen stint (Aug. 25-Sept. 29), Jimenez’s whiffs percentage for his cutter increased to 13.49 percent.

Another key pitch that Jimenez used during the end of last season was his curve that vastly improved. Pre-bullpen stint in 2016, batters was hitting .500 off Jimenez’s curve, along with a .750 slugging percentage. Like his slider, the 33-year-old’s opposing batting average sat at a much-improved .214 in his return.

And Jimenez just threw the ball better that resulted in a day and night difference in several other pitching categories including:

  • AVG: .316 to .168 (opposing batters)
  • OBP: .405 to .235 (opposing batters)
  • SLG: .484 to .285 (opposing batters)
  • ERA: 7.06 to 2.45
  • Walks per nine innings: 5.5 to 2.2
  • Walk percentage: 12.6 percent to 7.2 percent

With all those improvements working together, Jimenez is a by far a more dangerous pitcher than ever, bringing flashbacks of the All-Star Jimenez with the Colorado Rockies. Unfortunately for the Orioles, little to none of that All-Star material transferred to Baltimore.

Even putting aside Jimenez’s history of inconsistency, the last-place Orioles are willing to try anything at this point to generate some type of win streak before it’s too late.

Next: The Orioles you should know from the 2017 MLB Draft

As it is his last year of his four-year contract, a sinking Orioles team is trying to get all of the rare quality starts from Jimenez as they can because there’s no doubt he won’t be signing a contract extension to remain an Oriole next season.

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