Late Innings

Almost everything that I’ve seen about Orioles’ pitcher Brian Bass has been, um “fishy.” He came over to the Orioles last Fall from the Twins for cash considerations. His final start of the season was excellent, and he pitched a no-hitter the start before against Tampa Bay (albeit in five innings.)

Say hello to your #3 starter Orioles fans.

Now why am I bringing up Bass? For one I’m fighting a hang over. However more importantly I’m trying to come up with a few names of pitchers that could land rotation spots. Bass doesn’t have the best stuff, however given the state of Baltimore’s rotation he’ll most likely have a spot when the season opens, especially with Rich Hill and Koji Uehara hurt, Hayden Penn struggling (and out of options as well), and Danys Baez stinking up things.

Bass also brings up fantasy implications. Granted I’m not suggesting putting him on your team, however a basic assumption is that 20% of the starting pitchers in baseball are not drafted in fantasy leagues come April 1st. The reason why is because most team rotations aren’t set until the last week of Spring Training. Fantasy drafts, they occur in early April.

I’m a huge fan of grabbing pitching off the waiver wires. Granted I’m not looking at Livan Hernandez, however I grabbed Jordan Zimmerman as soon as I could (to help repair my one team’s rotation.)

If Bass kicks, um, Bass, then I’ll be surprised. Most of the projections have him winning about four games in 2009. However Baltimore has four slots in their rotation to fill. Bass is all but certain to have one of them. Now if he does good, he’ll have Baltimore fans happy, and of course Cabellas will be calling him to do promotions as well.