The Orioles brought Ray Miller in as pitching coach mid-season 2004. He immediately started working on impressing Orioles pitching with the Ray Miller philosophy - "Throw strikes, change speeds, work fast".
With half of last season and a full spring under Ray Miller, Erik Bedard appears to have "drank the Kool-Aid". In 2004, Bedard's rookie campaign, he was 6-10 with a 4.59 ERA. He averaged 5.13 innings pitched per start. He could not finish at-bats, even those where he was ahead in the count. He walked many hitters. Even those where he was ahead in the count. Even in his good starts, he would have around 100 pitches at the 5 inning mark.
This season Bedard has added a change-up to his arsenal and so far, this pitch has been devastating. In 6 starts, he is 3-1 with a 2.50 ERA and averaging 6.61 innings per start. His one loss was against the Tigers, who ripped him for 8 runs in 4 2/3 innings. In Bedard's other 5 starts, he's surrendered 3 earned runs. He's given up 1 ER in his last 23 IP. He's given out 7 walks in his six starts. He's got 36 K's in 39 2/3 IP, including 12 in 8 IP in his most recent start - a victory over Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays in a helluva pitching duel (both pitchers threw shutout baseball through 7 innings).
Bedard has found a groove. He's just a kid (26 yrs old) so he might not be able to stay in it.
But he might.
1 comment:
Gotta love the youngster who can develop a changeup. Bonderman fine-tuned his change this spring and is 5-2 with a 3.47 ERA in 7 starts. He's got 41 K in 49 IP and is going an average of 7 per start.
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