There would only be one reason why I would sit down to watch a Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays game in the middle of September when both teams are completely out of it.
I wanted to watch the debut of top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek for the Blue Jays.
Despite taking the loss in the Jays’ 3-1 defeat to the Orioles, I thought Drabek was very solid in his debut. His line for the game: 6 IP, 9 hits, 3 runs, 3 BB, and 5 Ks.
Drabek’s night got off to a rough start when he served up a single to Brian Roberts to lead off the game, and then threw a “get me over” fastball to Nick Markakis and he promptly singled to left. Then—and I am guessing it was because of nerves—Drabek didn’t pay attention to Roberts and Markakis and they stole second and third.
Drabek caught a huge break when Ty Wigginton swung at a 3-2 curveball that bounced three feet in front of home plate. That really seemed to settle Drabek down and from there, I thought he was very good.
He featured a fastball that hovered in the 92-96 mph range and a very, very wicked curveball. Out of his 88 pitches on the night, 60 of them were fastballs and 24 were curveballs. His curve is clearly his best pitch, but I think if he wants to take the next step during his career, he needs to develop a third pitch to get batters out the second and third times through the lineup.
Drabek also was helped out by some good Blue Jays’ defense throughout the game. Travis Snider threw out Wigginton trying to extend a single into a double (even though he was safe at second).
And how about John Buck!
Buck threw out Corey Patterson trying to steal second from his knees. I had no idea he had that strong of an arm. He threw a pea to second that was right on target.
Overall, I would give Drabek a B- for his efforts tonight. It would have been a little higher if he threw first pitch strikes to more than 12 of the 26 batters he faced.
On a side note to this game, tip of the cap to Brad Bergesen. He pitched a complete game on just 95 pitches. Great effort on his part.
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