Brian Matusz

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz has been suspended eight games after umpires found a foreign substance on his arm in Saturday's 1-0 loss to the Miami Marlins, Major League Baseball announced Monday.

Matusz will appeal the penalty. He will be eligible to play until the appeal is heard. 

Heading into the 2012 season there are very few reasons to be excited if you’re an Orioles fan. But to be clear, there are still things to be excited about. 

Lineup

Finding pitchers who help in the WHIP department is not always an easy task; finding one late in your draft (after Round 18) is even tougher. 

Here are five pitchers who I have projected for a 1.30 WHIP or better who are available late in your draft (based on Mock Draft Central’s ADP):

Brian Matusz – Baltimore Orioles

He may be a tough sell, considering that he is entering his second full season and is pitching in the AL East. 

Finding strikeouts late in your draft is not something that is particularly easy to do.  Generally, one of the reasons pitchers fall on draft day is because they lack in one area (most notably, no upside in strikeouts).  However, there are a few pitchers out there who could significantly help you in the category.  Here are five pitchers who are being picked after No. 216, on average, and I have projected to strikeout at least 170 batters in 2011.

In 2008, the Baltimore Orioles banked on the University of San Diego's stand out pitcher Brian Matusz becoming the future ace of their starting rotation and in 2011 there's a very good chance that future is now.

Baltimore would select Matusz with their first round pick of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. This lead to extensive and exhausting contract negotiations that would ultimately end with Matusz and his agent finally agreeing to terms with the O's on the last possible day for MLB teams to sign their drafted rookies.

Spring training is a great opportunity to get a sense of how a player's offseason went, and what to expect in terms of improvement or regression. How a player performs during spring training often helps scouts see how players are recovering from injury or whether or not to expect a player who disappointed the previous season to bounce back.

After nearly a decade and a half of losing seasons, will this finally be the year that the Baltimore Orioles rise from the depths of the AL East to finally top .500?

I will go out on a limb here, as I always do with my baseball predictions, and say that it is not all that far-fetched.

Is it likely that they win the AL East? Not in the slightest bit, but hey, never say never.

Ah, the Baltimore Orioles.  Ever since Peter Angelos instilled his Jerry Jones-esque front office meddling, the Orioles haven’t exactly been, well, good. 

The Baltimore Orioles have agreed to a one year, $8 million deal with Vladimir Guerrero. Add him to fellow 2011 offseason acquisitions Derrek Lee, Mark Reynolds, Justin Duchscherer and JJ Hardy and suddenly, this team looks like it can compete right now.

They will need Brian Matusz to mature a great deal, and it still doesn't look like they will be close to the Yankees and Red Sox, but to put it in perspective, they could finish with a better record than anyone in the AL West.

To get Roy Halladay in 2011, you will probably have to spend a first round pick on him. Sure, he's great and all, but I don't think I would want to spend my first pick on a guy that I can only use once every five days.

I like results, and hitters are going to show me results everyday. That's why I hardly ever draft a pitcher in the first six rounds.