Jason Parks on the Orioles' young starters

[Luke Jackson]

http://orioles-nation.com/2011/04/14/ja ... -starters/

Ten games into the regular season and the Baltimore Orioles’ young starters have given approximately what one may have expected – both solid starts and very brief outings, with flashes of brilliance mixed in. Inconsistency is obviously one of the trademarks of having an inexperienced starting pitching staff, so the performance of the young starters thus far is probably not a shock.

Feel free to discuss Jason Parks' thoughts on the young arms. I'll have his thoughts on the young hitters next week.

[Don]

I openly ask why industry trys to correlate the type of ceiling for a pitcher with the chances of being an Ace of staff based on strike out ability. What earmark has this done over the last decade? When you think of some of the best strikeout pitchers in the game, does Jamie Moyer come to mind (he ranks 36). Does this mean that he has the ability to lead a staff? Tim Wakefield, Javier Vazquez are up on the ranks as well.

Tim Hudson is not a strikeout pitcher and he is good enough to lead a staff for almost every team in the league.

I hate to place lables on how high they can rank on a staff by thier ability to strike them out. I will take a staff full of guys that can induce ground balls, limit walks and register a Whip hoving 1. I can care less if those outs were strike outs, ground out, or fly outs. I tend to think strike outs make life easier for the team, but it is not the end all be all to say "he cannot be a #1 starter, he is limited to #3".

The greatest pitcher in Orioles history never recorded a season with more than 200k. He won the Cy Young three times, twice while registering 150k. Jim Palmer had a career WHIP 1.18.

I will take Zack Britton and his GO ratio all day, if he can easily meet the WHIP I think he can maintain throughout his career.

This is not a knock on Parks, this goes to the main stream thoughts of baseball.

[Old Sneakers]

...
I hate to place lables on how high they can rank on a staff by thier ability to strike them out. I will take a staff full of guys that can induce ground balls, limit walks and register a Whip hoving 1. I can care less if those outs were strike outs, ground out, or fly outs. I tend to think strike outs make life easier for the team, but it is not the end all be all to say "he cannot be a #1 starter, he is limited to #3".
...

I agree with this wholeheartedly. However I think the importance is more spurned on by sports writers that have to have an article out in a timely fashion than what the average fan thinks. Your point about GO holds water and many people will tell you that too many fly outs are an indication that a pitcher is more susceptible to giving up home runs. Palmer was a rare fly ball pitcher that excelled.

Truth is there aren't many true #1s out there. Even then it's just perception. If somehow the Orioles find themselves with a staff of four that go beyond 200 I.P. per season (at some point) with a slightly below league average ERA then they will have accomplished something significant. Until then, it will of course remain a work in progress.