Radhames Liz, 2008 Bowman #201

Radhames Liz hasn't pitched in the major leagues since he managed to cough up 10 runs while getting four outs in a pair of disastrous relief appearances with the Orioles in 2009. That left him with a career ERA of 7.50 in 28 total games. Since then, he's pitched in the minors for the Padres and Blue Jays for a season each, bookending a three-year stint with the LG Twins in Korea. Overseas, he posted a 26-38 record with a 3.51 ERA. Now Liz is 31, and he's hoping to be the Pirates' latest rehab project. Last year, they went dumpster-diving and came up with solid returns from Francisco Liriano, Edinson Volquez, and Vance Worley. Pittsburgh apparently saw enough promise in the right-hander that they gave him a spot on the 40-man roster and a major league contract. Can a pitcher with three quality starts in 21 tries become a key contributor to a contender? Stranger things have happened, I guess.

Troy Patton, 2008 Bowman #211

Tonight, Troy Patton finally made his Orioles debut two years and nine months after being acquired in the trade that sent Miguel Tejada to Houston. It's been a long (and probably frustrating) road back to the majors for Troy. In 2007, he was considered one of the top prospects in the Astros organization and had a three-game cup of coffee with the big league club. But the next spring, he barely had time to put on an orange jersey before he was diagnosed with a torn labrum and had to get shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the year. Last year he was excellent at AA Bowie (6-2, 1.99 ERA), but seemed to hit a wall after a promotion to AAA Norfolk (1-3, 6.45 ERA). He was shut down late in the year to limit the wear and tear on his shoulder in his first year post-op. By this spring he was an afterthought at the still-young age of 24, as David Hernandez, Jason Berken, Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta had all gotten significant exposure to the majors while he worked to regain his form. In 25 starts at Norfolk, he had mixed results: 8-11, 4.43 ERA. In the midst of his minor league work, he was called up to join the Orioles three times.

On July 21, he was promoted for potential long relief work. He was not needed, and was returned to the Tides the following day as Kevin Millwood returned from the disabled list.

On August 1, he got the call once more. With the O's rotation suddenly firing on all cylinders, he sat idle in the bullpen for more than a week. On August 9, he was sent down again.

On September 7, Troy was probably hoping that the third time would be a charm. Two weeks later, he has finally thrown his first pitch for Baltimore. He did well enough for himself. Entering in the seventh inning with one out, he allowed a double to Ryan Kalish, induced a groundout from J.D. Drew, walked Victor Martinez, and struck out David Ortiz to strand both runners. Welcome back, Troy. Hope you don't have to wait another three years for your next appearance.

Jeremy Guthrie, 2008 Bowman #171

With all of the Brian Roberts doubles record hoopla, I didn't even realize that Jeremy Guthrie tied an Orioles record in yesterday's season finale. The righthander surrendered three home runs to the Blue Jays; the last of these was his 35th, the most in Baltimore history. The previous pitchers to reach this lofty mark were Sidney Ponson (1999), Scott McGregor (1986), and Robin Roberts (1963). Of course, giving up longballs wasn't no thing for Roberts, who was taken deep a record 505 times in 19 seasons. He was still a Hall of Fame pitcher, largely because he had the skill to challenge hitters with the bases empty. It just so happened that he didn't give up many runs in other ways. McGregor was running on fumes near the end of his career, and Ponson was...well, you know all about him. But Guthrie's season to forget was one of the more baffling developments of 2009.

It's never a good thing when the one starter in your rotation who was presumed to be reliable (3.66 ERA in 2007-2008) completely falls off of a cliff. Jeremy didn't look right from the World Baseball Classic onward, as he paced the American League in homers and losses (17) and saw his ERA jump to 5.04 while his strikeouts dipped. What was strange about it was that Guts was completely healthy; he threw the ball as hard as ever and reached 200 innings pitched for the first time in his career. But he just didn't have that same touch on the ball. He got beaten from pillar to post by the best (7.23 ERA vs. Boston, including a blown 7-0 lead in Fenway) and the worst (18.56 ERA vs. Oakland, including a 6 ER, 2/3 IP disaster). He had flashes of his previous good form, but couldn't build momentum; he never posted an ERA under 4.50 in a single month of 2009.

It would be premature to declare Jeremy Guthrie washed up; he will be 31 next year and does not have as much mileage on his arm as most pitchers his age. The O's certainly won't cast him off so soon; no other projected starter currently under contract has more than 24 starts at the major league level. He'll get another chance to be a stabilizing veteran force in the Baltimore rotation in 2010, and I am hoping against hope that he'll show us that those 17 losses and 35 home runs were a fluke.