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Roch Kubatko part II: The Orioles in review
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This week’s feature offers an in depth look at masnsports.com blogger Roch Kubatko, Baltimore baseball’s go-to-guy. In a two-part series Roch details how his ever-popular blog got started, why it is now synonymous with the Orioles and what the crosstown team needs to do to improve after a lousy 2008 campaign.
Part II
About two months ago, July 31 to be exact, Kubatko penned his final entry to the Roch Around the Clock blog on baltimoresun.com. His post thanked all those who had helped him along the way, and highlighted some of his favorite moments in the O’s clubhouse. Proving to be loyal to the end, Kubatko’s readers replied to his last hurrah with over 100 comments wishing him well.
Two weeks later Kubatko resurfaced on masnsports.com with his new Orioles insider blog, School of Roch. A gig that marked a new chapter for the long time Sun staffer. Since his blog graced MASN's over two months ago, site the traffic has doubled, and Kubatko has earned even more loyal readers. When I caught up with Roch I wanted to get the inside scoop on where the Orioles stand…..
Ben O’Brien: Let’s talk about the Orioles in 2008. What was the atmosphere at the end of the season after six weeks of constant losing?
Roch Kubatko: It is not like openly you see people moping or punching their lockers, but there is a sense that this is hard for these guys. As Jay Payton said a couple of weeks ago, this is the hardest stretch of baseball he has ever had to go through. Guys have also admitted they have been counting down the end for a while, and who can blame them. It is tough every night to go out there and watch the pitching fail with all the injuries and everything. The guys on the mound are either wearing out or just flat out don’t belong in the majors. It is tough for these guys to stand out there in the second inning and be down six runs, they all know you just can’t compete without solid starting pitching. Guys right now are mentally down, it is hard to push yourself through nine innings when you feel like you don’t have a chance.
BO: Talk about the failure of the starting pitching, especially young guys like Garrett Olson and Radhames Liz.
RK: Chris Waters has done OK on occasion with two solid starts in Anaheim and Toronto, but Brian Burres just isn’t getting anybody out and Olson and Liz – you have absolutely no idea what you are going to get from start to start. These guys are lasting three or four innings a start and that doesn’t cut it.
Then you have the bullpen. It is full of guys who come in and just can’t stop the bleeding. It is tough to watch even from the press box, so I can’t imagine being on the field. Plus, fan attendance in down so it isn’t like the fans are carrying the players through a game or exciting them. It is a rough equation and there doesn’t seem to be any real answer. These guys just have to play out of pride.
BO: Orioles fans have seen in years past the team compete for a while and then suddenly just fall off a cliff, where was the cliff this year and why did they fall off of it?
RK: It was a collection of things, the starting rotation began to fall apart early on, but to the team’s credit they held on for a while. But when Steve Trachsel didn’t work out and Adam Loewen went down things began to snowball. They had to bring up guys like Liz and Olson to fill those holes sooner than they really wanted. That hurt the team's depth and left no options when the fill-in guys couldn’t throw strikes.
As far as the bullpen, Matt Albers went down early with a torn labrum and then Jim Johnson and George Sherrill went on the DL and it left Dave Trembley with no options. In the last six weeks of the season after Sherrill went down, and this stat is completely amazing to me, the team did not have a save opportunity—not one. Everything just crumbled, they had no depth.
BO: On that note I think we should look at some of the Orioles minor league talent, who are some of the guys you are watching and when are we going to see them in Baltimore?
RK: I think you can start seeing guys that did well in Bowie this year next season; pitchers like Brad Bergensen, David Hernandez, and Chris Tillman and of course their prized catcher Matt Wieters. This depends on a couple of things really, first the health of the other pitchers next year, how the team performs and who they sign this offseason.
If Troy Patton and Matt Albers can stay healthy and maybe Triple-A guys like Hayden Penn can come along, then it will be a different story with the depth. But those are some huge ifs to consider.
BO: This team just has so many ‘wild card’ pitchers, guys who you just can’t count on, how will the team address that problem?
RK: The organization, I think, is looking to sign at least two veteran starters. Now there have been some names floating around, like A.J. Burnett, that I think are bogus. Burnett wants $15 million next year and I would say Andy MacPhail isn’t going to take that chance and make a huge investment.
That money can be spent in other places. I also don’t think the team is going near Mark Teixeira and his $200 million dollar asking price. But I think the O’s are going to go after at least two pitchers as free agents. I know one thing, Dave Trembley is tired of these guys who are too talented for Triple-A but not good enough for the majors.
BO: What about our favorite former Bird, Mike Mussina?
RK: I would love to see him back here, now I am not too sure if fans would be all that welcoming, but I think that might work. Mussina has said though that he doesn’t think he is coming back at all. He got his 20-win season and he would be retiring on a fairly good note. Plus, why would he want to finish up with a team that probably isn’t going to make the playoffs.
BO: So we have covered where the Orioles are and where they might go, can you sum up the season and give us one statement for the offseason?
RK: This team is headed in the right direction but they still have a long, long way to go.
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