[外電] Changes to O's rotation are possibility
Changes to O's rotation are possibility
Arms struggling, but Trembley not ready to announce anything
By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com
BALTIMORE -- Four months into their season, the Orioles have identified a
problem, if not the solution.
Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said on Saturday that some change will have
to come in his starting rotation, but he also said in the next breath that he
wasn't ready to announce anything. Trembley has seen his team stumble to a
5-14 record in its last 19 games, and he knows that the 7.59 ERA handed in by
his rotation over that span just isn't good enough.
Youngsters Radhames Liz, Garrett Olson and Brian Burres have all played a
heavy role in those numbers, and Trembley said he was ready to consider
swapping somebody out of the rotation and trying someone new. He said that
he'll likely discuss the situation with Andy MacPhail, the team's president
of baseball operations, before reaching a decision.
"I'm trying to be realistic about it, not trying to say, 'Woe is me.' But
we've gone through the down period long enough and I think we've been patient
for a long time," said Trembley. "We've given people ample opportunity to
pull their socks up, to button up their chinstrap and just give us a little
sense of encouragement. Let me see something that makes me feel like, 'OK,
we're going to get out of it.' To be honest with you, I'm still waiting and I
don't know how much longer I can wait. And I don't know how much longer
Andy's going to wait. I'm not trying to be threatening or anything like that.
I love all these guys.
"But if it ain't working, we've got to try to do something to fix it. The
solutions and the answers that we have may not be the best for right now, but
I don't think we have anything to lose by at least trying. I'm not saying
that's going to happen tomorrow or next week or whenever. But I think it
definitely has to be considered. ... I don't think anybody would argue with
that."
The numbers make Trembley's case for him. The Orioles are just 3-6 since the
All-Star break, and there's been a huge difference between the rotation ERA
(8.20) and the bullpen mark (2.68). Trembley can see that trend and extend it
back further, and he knows his team has gone from three games over .500 to
six games under it in the last three weeks.
"We blew ourselves out of the water," he said of that three-week stretch. "We
didn't play well, and it's a direct reflection of what the ERA of the
starting pitchers is. And that's not putting the monkey on their back, it's
telling it like it is. Straight up. ... We have 60 games to play. If we want
to win the majority of those games, we have to get better starting pitching."
Burres, right now, has perhaps the greatest chance of being pulled from the
rotation. The southpaw has allowed at least two home runs in five of his last
11 starts, and his ERA has gone up by more than two runs (from 3.16 to 5.37)
over that span. He's also logged an ERA over 6.00 in each of the last two
months (7.20 in June and 6.75 thus far through July).
Burres may have sealed his fate on Saturday, when he recorded five outs and
allowed five earned runs against the Angels. Baltimore battled back and
ultimately lost by one run, and Trembley refused to issue Burres a vote of
confidence either Friday or Saturday. The left-hander is still scheduled to
pitch next Wednesday, but that could easily change.
"My wife told me last night she's never seen me run out of the dugout so
fast," said Trembley of his breakneck pace to remove Burres from an
increasingly one-sided game. "It's not that I didn't want to see it anymore.
I didn't want those guys out there to see it anymore and them thinking I'm
going to sit back on my hands and say it's OK. It's not OK. What I can do
about it, I don't know. What I'd like to do about it is another story. What
we will do about it is stay tuned."
The Orioles will consider every option at their disposal, from stretching out
long relievers Lance Cormier or Dennis Sarfate to dipping down to Triple-A
Norfolk and promoting Hayden Penn or another one of that rotation's starters.
Trembley said it's important to do something not only for performance-related
issues, but also because of the morale of his team.
And on a related note, he praised pitching coach Rick Kranitz for providing a
crucial sounding board.
"He went through this with the Marlins," said Trembley, "and I have a new
respect for the term 'patience,' because people look to see how you're going
to react, how you're going to handle it, how you're going to deal with it.
... I'm trying to just keep this even-keel approach on it as we possibly can.
The last thing in the world I want to do is accept it.
"I hope people are upset about it. I wish somebody would light a fire under
somebody and say, 'Hey, enough is enough.' You know? Like in the movie, the
guy opens up the window and yells out, 'We're not going to take it anymore.'"
From:http://tinyurl.com/5bkwfn
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