Howard as a Starter for Delmarva?

[kman262]

Excluding Bundy, Howard is outperforming the other starters on the Delmarva squad. I compared him to Bridwell last year at Aberdeen and compared both of them this season. Howard has Bridwell covered in each category last year and this year. Why is Howard in the pen?

[bird's fan]

Hard to figure out what's going on with these releases. We have some talented guys but their development is what I question along with who's in charge of their development. I can tell you as long as Stockstill is here our pitchers face an uphill battle to be developed.

[Rising O's]

Is he in strictly in the pen? Or is it just early season innings/pitches limits?

[ofahn]

Hard to figure out what's going on with these releases. We have some talented guys but their development is what I question along with who's in charge of their development. I can tell you as long as Stockstill is here our pitchers face an uphill battle to be developed.

You make a valid point about Stockstill but I think we should give DD a few more months to show he's in control of the organization. Stockstill might be Angelos' guy and DD is working to marginalize him.

[kman262]

Howard hasn't started this season. He was a starter last season with aberdeen and was 3-2 with 3.48 ERA, struck out 45 and walked 14, gave up 37 hits in 41.1 innings. This season as a reliever in 5 appearances, Howard is 2-0 with 1.86 ERA, struck out 14 and walked 5, gave up 18 hits in 19.1 innings.

There don't appear to be any innings/pitch limitations on Howard, He's gone 5.0 innings twice this season in relief of Bundy on two of his starts.

With Aberdeen, Bridwell was 2-5 with 4.53 ERA, struck out 57 and walked 22, gave up 56 hits in 53.2 innings as a starter.
This season Bridwell is 2-0 with 4.05 ERA in 4 starts, struck out 14 and walked 7, gave up 19 hits in 20.0 innnings.

There don't appear to be any inning limitations on Bridwell other than he goes 5.0 innings per start which is normal. With all the hype of Bridwell being a top 10 prospect, I think Howard could be a top prospect when you compare them. Seems like we could get more from Howard as a starter rather than a reliever.

[delmarvadude]

I honestly can't see what the big deal is about Bridwell. Baseball America is really high on him. Other than he's 20 years old and is 6'5 throwing 95 mph, there's nothing going on. He's developing slowly. In his pro career his era in the 5's. I don't know anything about Howard other than he's a lefty so I can't say much there.

[ofahn]

I honestly can't see what the big deal is about Bridwell. Baseball America is really high on him. Other than he's 20 years old and is 6'5 throwing 95 mph, there's nothing going on. He's developing slowly. In his pro career his era in the 5's. I don't know anything about Howard other than he's a lefty so I can't say much there.

I think the excitement is over his POTENTIAL because it's not yet about his achievements. I have never been comfortable making assessments about a player until they have at least three pro seasons under their belt. Let's see what Bridwell is able to accomplish at the end of next season. If the ERA is still above four at A ball then you start to wonder if he'll ever "get it".

[CSPitt17130]

I honestly can't see what the big deal is about Bridwell. Baseball America is really high on him. Other than he's 20 years old and is 6'5 throwing 95 mph, there's nothing going on. He's developing slowly. In his pro career his era in the 5's.

Everyone who knows what they're talking about sees him as a good prospect, so that has to tell you something. There is more to analyzing a prospect than looking at his numbers.

[delmarvadude]

.

Everyone who knows what they're talking about sees him as a good prospect, so that has to tell you something. There is more to analyzing a prospect than looking at his numbers.

With the hype, I would expect more. He's a good prospect, I just don't see why he's so hyped. When someone is hyped as a top prospect and isnt doing much so far, Im thinking there isn't much to be excited about yet. I'm not excited about him so far, I probably shouldn't be so critical but I will get excited when he moves up in the system and starts shining. Otherwise its all hype and not much else. I looked at Howard's stuff, he is doing OK, I'd agree about a starting role on Delmarva along with Berry, Wilson, Bridwell and Bundy. Chalas doesn't have it yet as a starter, too many walks. I'd imagine that Howard would move into a starting role by the time that Bundy moves up to Frederick

[delmarvadude]

Bridwell another sub par outing last night.

[CSPitt17130]

Bridwell another sub par outing last night.

Bridwell was a very raw prospect coming out of high school because he had never focused on pitching like many other players. Everyone knows this and still thinks he's a legitimate prospect, obviously with the risk that comes with having a longer way to go to be a major league pitcher. There's so much more to just looking at stats, especially for pitchers. If you're opinions on Bridwell are coming solely from numbers, they're pretty much useless. Ask Don on twitter (@Olsen_Don) anything you'd like. He always answers and he'd be able to give you an actual report on Bridwell.

[delmarvadude]

Bridwell is a prospect, Im not disputing that. Im just disputing that he's not a TOP prospect. My opinion of a top prospect would be someone with more than raw speed and having a build that experts like to see along with some moxie.

Even the experts get it wrong. They see "can't miss prospects" all the time but even those guys don't pan out. Bridwell has a long road ahead to make it to the Majors, that's why I don't consider him a top prospect. He's definitely a prospect but not a top prospect. Its hype and nothing else so far.

Don't take this as being disrespectful of the experts opinions, its just my opinion and Im a nobody.

[kman262]

Delmarvadude: I didn't want this to be about Bridwell but I brought him up in the topic to compare with Howard. Bridwell is doing fine, you're negative opinion of him is the minority opinion. I wanted to know what everyone thought of Howard as a starter since he is doing well.

[kman262]

Trent Howard has been promoted to Frederick as a Starter.

[Rising O's]

Well there ya go, ask and you shall receive. Good luck to Howard.