Orioles Can Get Creative with Rotation

Besides a left handed reliever, a veteran starter is the final piece to Andy MacPhail’s offseason puzzle. The problem is; however, their options are limited on the free agent market.

When looking at the starters left in the free agent market there are some intriguing names out there. However, they are all health risks and are no guarantee to be the innings eating starter the Orioles are looking for. I personally would be happy if the Orioles do sign one of these guys, but the Orioles have other options.

Of course the Orioles could always go ahead and make a trade for a starter, but without the necessary rumored names, why even bother discussing it. Instead, I would like to discuss a scenario I was actually against earlier in the offseason; putting reliever Jim Johnson in the rotation. The Orioles could then try to sign from a deeper class of right handed relievers to replace Johnson in the bullpen.

Jim Johnson reportedly wants a chance to be a starter and was actually a starter in the minors when coming up in the Orioles system. Jason Berken also wants a shot at the rotation and could be considered, but in my opinion, he got his chance and has shown he is much more effective in the bullpen. Johnson has only gotten one major league start, so he really hasn’t shown yet whether he can be a successful starter.

Just for the record, I am still against putting Johnson in the rotation. The Orioles have a number of young starters who could eventually push Johnson out of the rotation anyways and Johnson is already proven to be a reliable late inning reliever. Johnson has also had arm issues which bring up the question of whether it is better or worse for a pitchers arm to be working out of the rotation or bullpen. There is no significant evidence that proves it is better for a pitcher like Johnson to pitch out of the bullpen or rotation. So disregarding the health issue, Johnson still could have plenty to offer out of the rotation.

Johnson has a bulldog mentality, which managers love for the rotation. Johnson has the potential to be an innings eating starter in the middle of the rotation. He also has the pure stuff to handle himself in the rotation. Johnson has a solid fastball that can reach the mid 90’s when he wants to reach back for something extra. Johnson also has a curveball that can be nasty and qualifies as a solid second pitch. His two seam fastball is his bread and butter and ultimately what he would need to pound the strike zone with for 6 plus innings a start. The only question would be whether he can effectively throw a third pitch (changeup) in order to keep hitters off balance throughout a game.

My preference would still be to keep Johnson in the bullpen. Despite signing Jeremy Accardo and Kevin Gregg along with resigning Koji Uehara the Orioles still have a very thin bullpen and can’t afford to thin it out anymore. They traded away Kam Mickolio, Jim Hoey, and David Hernandez which greatly hurts the bullpens depth. In addition, Mike Gonzalez, Uehara, and Jason Berken all missed significant time last year due to injuries. Trying out Johnson is a creative option for filling the Orioles need for another starter, but it also would just create another hole in the bullpen.