LHP Zach Britton has been promoted to Triple-A Norfolk. Mike Miller will have reaction from Britton and others coming up shortly. #Orioles
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It was clear to everyone that Britton was ready for a promotion. Usually, I would like to see the Orioles take a more conservative approach with their top pitching prospects, but Britton was so dominant I am fine with the promotion.
AA Stats
| W | L | ERA | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | GO/AO | AVG |
| 7 | 3 | 2.48 | 15 | 14 | 87.0 | 76 | 33 | 23 | 4 | 28 | 68 | 3.06 | .231 |
When I interviewed Britton at spring training I asked him what his goals for 2010 were, he said:
Go to Bowie, do well. Hopefully I’ll find myself in Baltimore.
He did well at Bowie, and there is a slight chance he does find himself in Baltimore this year.
More to come…
Great news, well deserved. Congrats to Zach and continued success.
Very cool. So excited. The question is, was this the right time? I think that since nobody can definitively say it was too early or too late means that the timing must be right on. Hope he finds success in VA with the changeup and can come up to Bmore for 2011!
The time was right, he was dominant.
So with the promotion of both Egan and Britton, it will be time for additional moves up. In your opinion who moves from Frederick to Bowie? I like Jacobsen for one. In the starter spot, do you look at O’Shea, or even though he has only made 7 starts, Ryan Berry has looked VERY good. Could they possibly move him again?
I could see McCurry moving back into the rotation and O’Shea being called up. I was somewhat surprised to see Nery called up and I think they could make a similar move with O’Shea. Jacobson definitely deserves a callup.
I wouldn’t promote Berry again. He should have started at Frederick to open the season, but being more conservative couldn’t hurt.
I’d also look at Rick Zagone who, I believe, has started more than 30 games for Frederick between this season and 2009.
I guessed correctly! Rick Zagone has been called up to Bowie and will make AA debut tomorrow.
Nice call
I think the debate about when to move a pitching prospect is a fascinating one. There’s some research that shows that, in aggregate, pitchers have no peak age (unlike hitters at around age 27), largely because of attrition (injuries). I think that I fall in the camp that says as soon as they figure out a level, move ‘em up as fast as possible. These guys only have so many tosses in their arm; best to use them at the big league level.
Obviously, Britton had figured out how to attack AA hitters. Let’s hope he succeeds in Norfolk and we see him in Baltimore soon!
Interesting, do you have a link to one of these studies? I somewhat agree, but I do think it’s better to be conservative if they weren’t totally dominant, but Britton was.
He’ll have to use his changeup more with Norfolk, but let’s hope he makes a smooth transition and we see him in Baltimore soon, like you said. But don’t rush him!
Here ya go…
http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/article/no_matter_how_i_slice_or_dice_it_pitchers_get_worse_every_year/
The main quote:
“Yes, it is probably true that if you stay healthy, you will get better with age and experience, but I am taking about and looking at all pitchers whether they stay healthy or not. For every Felix Hernandez there is at least one Mark Prior. And whether you can tell whether a pitcher is going to stay reasonably healthy and thus likely to get better is another story altogether. (I think that in general you can’t.)”
I definitely agree that young pitchers need to improve things like command, secondary pitches, and mound presence, but once they’ve mastered a level there seems to be little to gain from letting them get a bit more seasoning. For instance, with a guy like Tillman, I think he either needs to have very specific developmental goals (better cutter command, fewer fly balls, etc) or be in the Major Leagues. His current stuff if obviously good enough to succeed at AAA, but he hasn’t figured out the Majors yet.
I definitely understand the “don’t rush” argument, though. It’s easy to develop bad habits if you’re facing competition that’s a good deal better than you, and those bad habits could be detrimental to play development.
Agreed completely. I think you nailed it with Tillman. He really needs to add velocity (somehow) and work on that cutter. He needs a pitch that can get him some groundballs, and if his velocity is down, the cutter will be necessary.
Great for Britton and great for the O’s. I would love to see Britton succeed in AAA and make a few starts for the O’s this season. This will at least give him a change to make the starting 5 next season. Britton’s pitching success has/could make other AAA pitchers chips in a trade. The bigs stink, but the farm is full of hope!
Do you see any bats moving? It seems McPhail doesn’t move the bats like he does the pitchers.
I don’t really want to see him in Baltimore, maybe 1 or 2 starts. There’s really no reason to ruin Britton, he’s a gem. If you look at the O’s history, promotion top prospects from AAA to majors has not worked out well. For example. Garrett Olson, Daniel Cabrera and Radhames Liz. I think he’ll follow a similar path to Arrieta. Instead of playing a whole season at Norfolk, he’ll play half a season this year and half next year and then be in the bigs.
I could see Kieron Pope getting the call up to Frederick in a few weeks. Maybe Angle to Baltimore if Montanez doesn’t come back or if they just need an OF. You’re exactly right, they do usually keep every bat at the same level for the whole season.
And don’t forget perhaps the most rushed of all: Hayden Penn.