2011 Minor League Rotations

[Jordan Tuwiner]

I'm just about done with our 2011 projected rosters and I must say, the amount of pitching depth Andy MacPhail has gathered is quite impressive.

Norfolk
Zach Britton, Troy Patton, Rick Zagone

Bowie
Oliver Drake, Ryan Berry, Nathan Moreau, Steve Johnson, Luis Noel

Frederick
Bobby Bundy, Jesse Beal, Jake Cowan, Matt Hobgood, Dan Klein

Delmarva
Matt Bywater, Parker Bridwell, Aaron Wirsch, Cameron Coffey, Jarret Martin

Aberdeen
Sebastian Vader, Jaime Esquivel, Kenny Wise, Cameron Roth, Tim Berry

Frederick, Delmarva and Aberdeen have full rotations of legitimate prospects. Guys like Scott Copeland and Tim Adleman don't even have a rotation spot. I may end up moving a few of these guys around before I publish the rosters, but 2011 is going to be an exciting year....

[2131andBeyond]

I'm just about done with our 2011 projected rosters and I must say, the amount of pitching depth Andy MacPhail has gathered is quite impressive.

Frederick, Delmarva and Aberdeen have full rotations of legitimate prospects. Guys like Scott Copeland and Tim Adleman don't even have a rotation spot. I may end up moving a few of these guys around before I publish the rosters, but 2011 is going to be an exciting year....

Do you expect Patton to have a shot at a roster spot... ever?

And what is your opinion on Nathan Moreau?

Who else is excited to go see the O's minor league teams play now? No matter what, you're getting a solid pitcher in most instances.

[BuckMagic]

Norfolk
Zach Britton, Troy Patton, Rick Zagone

Bowie
Oliver Drake, Ryan Berry, Nathan Moreau, Steve Johnson, Luis Noel

Frederick
Bobby Bundy, Jesse Beal, Jake Cowan, Matt Hobgood, Dan Klein

Delmarva
Matt Bywater, Parker Bridwell, Aaron Wirsch, Cameron Coffey, Jarret Martin

Aberdeen
Sebastian Vader, Jaime Esquivel, Kenny Wise, Cameron Roth, Tim Berry

Frederick, Delmarva and Aberdeen have full rotations of legitimate prospects. Guys like Scott Copeland and Tim Adleman don't even have a rotation spot. I may end up moving a few of these guys around before I publish the rosters, but 2011 is going to be an exciting year....

Does Hobgood really deserve a promotion? After his struggles in the Sally League, I'm not sure he's ready. Can we really expect Bridwell to jump to Delmarva? As for innings, are Coffey and Wirsch ready to handle a starter's workload after being injured for most of 2010?

I'm really excited about Esquivel and Roth. Esquivel's curveball is absolutely nasty!

[allstar1579]

Norfolk
Zach Britton, Troy Patton, Rick Zagone

Bowie
Oliver Drake, Ryan Berry, Nathan Moreau, Steve Johnson, Luis Noel

Frederick
Bobby Bundy, Jesse Beal, Jake Cowan, Matt Hobgood, Dan Klein

Delmarva
Matt Bywater, Parker Bridwell, Aaron Wirsch, Cameron Coffey, Jarret Martin

Aberdeen
Sebastian Vader, Jaime Esquivel, Kenny Wise, Cameron Roth, Tim Berry

Frederick, Delmarva and Aberdeen have full rotations of legitimate prospects. Guys like Scott Copeland and Tim Adleman don't even have a rotation spot. I may end up moving a few of these guys around before I publish the rosters, but 2011 is going to be an exciting year....

Does Hobgood really deserve a promotion? After his struggles in the Sally League, I'm not sure he's ready. Can we really expect Bridwell to jump to Delmarva? As for innings, are Coffey and Wirsch ready to handle a starter's workload after being injured for most of 2010?

I'm really excited about Esquivel and Roth. Esquivel's curveball is absolutely nasty!

Yeah he should be promoted. People kinda get the misconception sometimes that a guy should only move up if he plays like an all-star at one level. The thing with Hobby is that what you got for him might just be the stats he puts up at every level, and while it's not eye-popping in low-A, if he had those numbers in the ML he'd be a really solid innings eater, which is what he was supposed to be from the beginning.

He's never going to be a superstar I don't think, that's just not him, but he will be consistent, and should be pretty solid. Let him play against better talent in high-A and see if he responds to the challenge, if not, wait for him to figure it out and then move him along once he does.

[BuckMagic]

Yeah he should be promoted. People kinda get the misconception sometimes that a guy should only move up if he plays like an all-star at one level. The thing with Hobby is that what you got for him might just be the stats he puts up at every level, and while it's not eye-popping in low-A, if he had those numbers in the ML he'd be a really solid innings eater, which is what he was supposed to be from the beginning.

He's never going to be a superstar I don't think, that's just not him, but he will be consistent, and should be pretty solid. Let him play against better talent in high-A and see if he responds to the challenge, if not, wait for him to figure it out and then move him along once he does.

If he gets his FB velocity back and a plus curveball I see no reason he can't become a #2...

[BuckMagic]

No denying the depth is impressive...I'm just wondering if this is more of an illusion because Bluefield is gone...

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Yeah he should be promoted. People kinda get the misconception sometimes that a guy should only move up if he plays like an all-star at one level. The thing with Hobby is that what you got for him might just be the stats he puts up at every level, and while it's not eye-popping in low-A, if he had those numbers in the ML he'd be a really solid innings eater, which is what he was supposed to be from the beginning.

He's never going to be a superstar I don't think, that's just not him, but he will be consistent, and should be pretty solid. Let him play against better talent in high-A and see if he responds to the challenge, if not, wait for him to figure it out and then move him along once he does.

If he gets his FB velocity back and a plus curveball I see no reason he can't become a #2...

I see him more as a high end number three. The key for him is going to be getting into better shape. He's fairly athletic for his size right now, but he has more room to improve if he gets into better shape.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Does Hobgood really deserve a promotion? After his struggles in the Sally League, I'm not sure he's ready. Can we really expect Bridwell to jump to Delmarva? As for innings, are Coffey and Wirsch ready to handle a starter's workload after being injured for most of 2010?

I'm really excited about Esquivel and Roth. Esquivel's curveball is absolutely nasty!

I'm not sure he deserves a promotion, but John Stockstill has been aggressive promoting players during his first year as farm director. Bridwell has good stuff and is the type of player that would like the challenge of facing a high level of competition. He's ready for Delmarva.

Wirsch and Coffey should be good to go as starters. Randy Henry is the only one that needs a full season in the pen before moving to the rotation.

[allstar1579]

Yeah he should be promoted. People kinda get the misconception sometimes that a guy should only move up if he plays like an all-star at one level. The thing with Hobby is that what you got for him might just be the stats he puts up at every level, and while it's not eye-popping in low-A, if he had those numbers in the ML he'd be a really solid innings eater, which is what he was supposed to be from the beginning.

He's never going to be a superstar I don't think, that's just not him, but he will be consistent, and should be pretty solid. Let him play against better talent in high-A and see if he responds to the challenge, if not, wait for him to figure it out and then move him along once he does.

If he gets his FB velocity back and a plus curveball I see no reason he can't become a #2...

Well keep in mind a lot of that FB velo was draft BS. Every year right before the draft you get "reports" of guys throwing waaaay harder than they usually do as a bit of gamesmanship for negotiations. I don't know if we have an accurate picture of what he "used to" throw, but going by the season and some change we've seen him, you can pretty much bet he's not going to throw much harder than he is now.

Matzek is another good example. I followed him really close through the year, even on the most amped day, he was touching 93-94mph TOPS, and sitting about 91. Then draft time comes and the week before some random report to one of the "national guys" says he was sitting 95-96, and now everyone on the internet swears he does because they saw it in writing once. It makes the job for guys like me really tough sometimes. Fast forward to this year and he's back at 89-91 and touching 93.

Sorry...long story short, don't believe everything you read. Hobby is going to be a high 80's-low 90's guy with a great curveball and a good sinker. If he gets the control where it needs to be he will be a solid guy, but I wouldn't say his ceiling is any higher than a #3 in the best case.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

When I saw Hobgood in ST he was sitting in the low 90's, touching 95 mph.

http://orioles-nation.com/2010/05/26/ma ... ng-report/

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Do you expect Patton to have a shot at a roster spot... ever?

And what is your opinion on Nathan Moreau?

Who else is excited to go see the O's minor league teams play now? No matter what, you're getting a solid pitcher in most instances.

Patton is a strong bullpen candidate for next season. He should come up and stay sometime next season.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

When I saw Hobgood in ST he was sitting in the low 90's, touching 95 mph.

http://orioles-nation.com/2010/05/26/ma ... ng-report/

But his velocity was down for most of the season. If he comes back in good shape next season his velo should be back into the 90-94 mph range consistently.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

No denying the depth is impressive...I'm just wondering if this is more of an illusion because Bluefield is gone...

The only rotation Bluefield would have altered was Aberdeen. Vader, Wise and Esquivel may have started at Bluefield but above Aberdeen the rotations are pretty impressive, too.

[allstar1579]

When I saw Hobgood in ST he was sitting in the low 90's, touching 95 mph.

http://orioles-nation.com/2010/05/26/ma ... ng-report/

But his velocity was down for most of the season. If he comes back in good shape next season his velo should be back into the 90-94 mph range consistently.

After reading your report, I'm willing to bet that "working on something" that the team has him doing is dropping the 4-seamer and throwing the 2-seamer more. Makes sense right? The 2S is going to be his bread and butter anyway, he's got better movement in the same direction and better control with it. Makes the velo issue make a little more sense since the 2S is a couple MPH less.

I'll have to check with some people, but next time you talk to your guys bring it up and see if they've noticed the 4S being thrown a lot less often.

I mean I know the conditioning is an issue in itself, but the conditioning of his body and conditioning of his arm/shoulder should be exclusive enough that he couldn't throw as hard anymore, he just wouldn't be able to throw as hard as long and often as he would if he was in shape.

[allstar1579]

No denying the depth is impressive...I'm just wondering if this is more of an illusion because Bluefield is gone...

The only rotation Bluefield would have altered was Aberdeen. Vader, Wise and Esquivel may have started at Bluefield but above Aberdeen the rotations are pretty impressive, too.

You might see them be more aggressive and move up a guy or two more than we'd think they should and then convert some guys in Bowie/Norfolk to a RP as part of the chain effect. Can't begin to guess who or how it would happen, but with John S. being so aggressive with young guys, it wouldn't shock me to see him send some of the younger kids up the ladder and make room for the better ones up the chain.