Your 2018 Orioles Report Card - Starting Pitching
With the worst season in franchise history in the books, I thought it would be a great time to go back and give each Orioles player a grade on their season. These likely won't be pretty, but hey, someone has to do it.
Today' we are doing starting pitchers, so I am grading every single player to make a start for the Birds. For the guys who got traded or DFA'd, they're in there too. As a group they weren't good either, they were dead last in ERA at 5.48 with a record of 28-84, 25th outta 30 in innings pitched with 833 and 2/3rds innings, gave up the second most hits with 945, the most runs in the league with 554, gave up the most home runs with 159, 28th out of 30 teams in strikeouts with 664, dead last in opponents batting average allowing batters to hit .284, and a MLB worst WHIP of 1.50. They weren't as bad as they were last year, but still pretty bad. Let's dive into those report cards, something tells me their parents are going to have to sign these.
Dylan Bundy: D
I thought Dylan Bundy would take a HUGE step forward this season, and he absolutely pissed down his leg. He started out the season pretty good, giving up two earned runs or less in his first five starts. Immediately following those five starts he gave up a combined 19 runs in his next three starts, including the start against KC where he gave up seven runs and four homers without getting an out. In June he seemed to rebound by going 3-0 and had an ERA of 1.98, but in his final start ended up rolling an ankle and that seemed to hamper him throughout the rest of the season. After the ASB he went 2-7 with an ERA above 7. Oh, and he also gave up 41 home runs this season. 41 fucking home runs. He was very disappointing, struggled with the long ball, his BB/9 was up barely, but his K/9 was also higher than it was last year, but the HR/9 SKYROCKETED. He finishes with a WHIP of 1.41, and ERA of 5.45, 184 Ks in 171 and 2/3 innings, 54 walks, and an 8-16 record with 15 quality starts. I don't even know what to really expect out of Bundy going forward, the amount that he regressed was disgusting, and has a lot of people worried. Consider me one of those people.
Andrew Cashner - D
Cashner was signed in the offseason to try and round out this rotation, and added another veteran. We were excited because in his previous seasons, he showed he could keep the ball in the park, especially in a hitters park like Texas'. Boy did that narrative change. After allowing only 15 HR in the 2017 season, he allowed 25 this year, setting a career high. He was inconsistent during the season, would have some really good outings, and would follow them up with absolute stinkers. Out of his 28 starts, he gave up home runs in 18 of them. His season ended in late September due to a knee injury, and that probably stopped him from making 30 starts, so he did stay relatively healthy, the problem is he just wasn't that good. A 4-15 record, gave up 177 hits in 153 innings pitched, 90 earned runs, struck out 99, and walked 65. He finished the season with a WHIP Of 1.58 and an ERA of 5.29. We knew he wouldn't be striking out 10 a game and would be able to limit the home runs, but he couldn't do that. Again, he was inconsistent and needs to find a way to stay on the straight and narrow. He's also a solid veteran in the clubhouse, which is really why he was brought here. D for Andrew on the season though. Hair was still an "A" though.
Alex Cobb: C
The curious case of Alex Cobb. He signed very late in the offseason, about a week before Opening Day, so we knew he wouldn't be ready to start the season with the ball club. He took his time getting ready and made his first start on April 14th in Boston. It was a disaster, much like his first half was. He gave up 35 earned runs in his first 9 starts, not good at all. He was getting lit up and not going deep into any games. We all contributed that to the fact that he missed all of Spring Training and probably rushed himself back. He was god awful and it looked like another terrible signing. In the first half he went 2-12 with an ERA of 6.41. His second half went much better, he finally got comfortable and you could tell he was feeling good. His second half numbers were a record of 3-3, and an ERA of 2.56. His final numbers still don't look good, an ERA of 4.90, 5-15 record, and a WHIP of 1.41. I'm more encouraged by his second half starts, and I think that is what we will see from Cobb going forward into next year.
Kevin Gausman: C+
Hausmann was traded right at the deadline to the Atlanta Braves, so this grade will obviously only be on his time with the Orioles. We saw the typical Kevin Gausman, sometimes he looked like an ace, and sometimes he looked like a bum, but he was our bum. We saw a game where he went 9 scoreless innings in Oakland and only gave up 2 hits, only to see the Orioles offense put up a goose egg as well, and then we saw a start where he gave up 7 earned runs in 2.2 innings against the Rays. That was just par for the course. He made 21 starts for the Birds and went 5-8 with 11 quality starts in that time. He posted an ERA of 4.43 in his 21 starts for the Orioles, had a WHIP of 1.38, struck out 102 in 124 innings, and averaged 7.55 K/9. It was a typical year for Gausman, it could have been better, but we saw some good flashes, he did end up having a good finish of the season with the Braves, and we all wish him well there. C+ is what Gausman was pretty much his whole time with the Orioles, room for improvement for sure.
Chris Tillman: F
What a failure this was. Tillman was the worst pitcher in baseball last year, but was re-signed on a 1-year $3 million deal this season. I thought it was a low risk high reward signing. If he was healthy, I thought he could be a reliable back end guy, but he just stunk. He was almost as bad as he was in 2017 and the Orioles DFA'd Tillman after 7 starts and a DL stint. He gave up 31 earned runs in just over 26 innings this season, had an ERA 10.46, and a WHIP of 2.21. In his 26 innings he managed only 13 Ks, 17 walks, 6 homers, and 42 hits. 42 hits in 26 innings is hilarious, actually hilarious. Tillman was absolutely horrible and really earned that DFA, the Rangers picked him up and put him in the minor league system, but I don't seem him ever having an impact on any MLB club. F Chris Tillman, you get an F.
David Hess : C-
Hess was an interesting guy to watch on the mound for the Birds this season. He made his first start on May 20th, got rocked, but then responded with three good starts in a row. Much like Cobb, his first half was not very good. You could tell he was still nervous, not comfortable, and didn't really trust his stuff. Not that he has blow you away speed, or insane breaking balls, but he is good enough to get by. In the second half of the season Hess threw up an ERA of 3.81 and a record of 1-5. The record doesn't bother me because of how bad the offense was, he pitched better than a 1-5 record. All of his stats were better in the second half than they were in the first half. He gave up 10 less earned runs in 1 more start in the second half than he did in the first. he gave up less walks, and had more Ks also in the second half. That shows he was improving, getting more comfortable with his stuff, and was just finding his place on the team. Again, I was encouraged by his stuff, but think there is obviously a jump he can make. I think he can make a good back end piece in this rotation.
Yefry Ramirez: D-
Yefrey doesn't really move the needle for me. He didn't stand out at any point, and struggled a lot this season. He made 17 appearances, 12 of them being starts, but he didn't do anything to really impress me. He pitched a lot better at home (ERA of 3.20, 1-4 record) than he did on the road (ERA of 11.95, 0-4 record). He averaged almost a strikeout per inning, 62 in 65 1/3 innings, gave up almost a homer a start, 11 homers in 12 starts, and walked 32 in those starts. I can see him being a backend piece in this rotation, maybe a long reliever in the bullpen, but he's nothing special. He's an arm to fill a rotation spot in my opinion. Yefrey Ramirez, not very good, D- on the season.
Jimmy Yacabonis: C-
I'll start by saying this, Yacabonis on the year had an ERA of 5.40, but as a starter, his ERA was 4.76 in 7 starts. The ERA is inflated a bit by some bad relief appearances, but I think he has a future as a starter. He was coming out of the pen in Norfolk when they decided to start stretching him out, hence why he was only going 4 innings in his starts. He held batters to an average of .264, and had. WHIP of 1.41 when starting. He gave up 5 HR in his 7 starts, had 22 Ks and 11 walks, and gave up 29 hits in that time. He started the season finale and pitched 4 innings of the 1-hit shutout of the Astros, that bookended a fantastic September for Jimmy. He earned a C- for the way he finished the season, in September he had an ERA of 2.61 and a WHIP of 1.16. Weird what happens when he wasn't yo-yoed back and forth to Norfolk. He gave up 6 earned runs in 20 and 2/3 innings pitched in the last month of the season. The Orioles needed someone to step up as a starter because of injuries, and Yacabonis did it. I'm very intrigued by him, he has said he wants to work on a third pitch this season, he already has a REALLY good two seamer, and has a wicked good slider. C- for Jimmy, good on ya.
Josh Rogers, Mike Wright Jr, Miguel Castro, Evan Phillips, Luis Ortiz, Ryan Meisinger: Incomplete
Rogers, Phillips, and Ortiz were all guys that came over at the deadline from trades, and made a handful of starts each. I liked what I saw out of Josh Rogers, a lefty who came over in the Zach Britton trade. He is a guy who can make an impact next year, but I bet they'll move him along slowly. Luis Ortiz had one start and got hurt during it, but didn't look great. He came over from Milwaukee in the trade for Jonathan Schoop. He was a first round pick just a few years ago she he has the talent, we just have to see if he can put it into gear now. We kind of know what we're getting out of Wright and Castro, as they are both bullpen guys. We just don't have much to go off of for these guys in the starting department, that is why they get the Incomplete grade. We'll have to revisit these guys next season to see what they did on the bump. I expect most of these guys to get some legit playing time because of how bad the team will be next year. This is a chance for the young guys to show what they have, and that they belong up here pitching at this level.
Well there you have it, the grades weren't great, but that is because the pitching was bad. At least we didn't have to watch Ubaldo Jimenez throw meatballs all season. There are a few guys down in the minors to keep your eyes on too that can make a difference on the mound, so there is a chance we see them pop up on this list next season. I suggest all the pitchers who failed go back and work on their pitches, maybe take an extra bullpen session or five this offseason. Work on an extra pitch or 2, and hopefully next season their grades will be better. Next up we'll be grading the bullpen, and guess what, that won't be great either.
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