Mark Zinno: Gausman Call-Up: Is It The Right Time?
Baseball Insider Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com joined Zinno to discuss the call-up of Kevin Gausman to make his first Major League start in Toronto on Thursday. Knobler said, "Let's be serious, if their (Orioles) rotation was going strong, if they had no issues, if the five starters that started the first five games of the season were all pitching well, it's very possible they would have waited on this a little longer."
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Danny Knobler joins Zinno
Zinno questioned the timing of the move because it is so early in the season. There were other options for the Birds, but Knobler pointed out, "If Kevin Gausman is able to handle pitching in the big leagues right now, Kevin Gausman is one of their best five starters. In fact, you could certainly have argued, I don't think it would have been necessarily the right move, but you could have argued that he should have been in the rotation out of spring training."
Jake Arietta may very well be the guy who gets demoted back down to Norfolk. He was only on the big league roster as a bullpen arm. Despite the fact that the Orioles are not ready to give up on him, it looks like he will be the odd man out.
Gausman will make his debut on the road, which seems a little odd given that the Orioles could have gotten a huge bump in attendance with the young man making his debut. "If Kevin Gausman pitches well in Toronto and if he pitches well in Washington, I am sure he will get a great crowd the next time he pitches here (in Baltimore). I don't think you make your decision on trying to get a big crowd for one start, you make your decision based on trying to win, because if you win, you're gonna get a big crowd for a lot of games," Knobler said.
