Some Interest may be found in this article by Steve M.

The Frederick Keys 2009: The Pitchers

By Steve Melewski on November 4, 2009 12:02 PM

Today we continue our review of the Frederick Keys 2009 season with comments from Keys manager Richie Hebner.

Monday, we reviewed several Keys' position players and today wrap up the 2009 season for Keys' pitchers.

The numbers - Frederick, which finished 64-75 in the Carolina League, had a team ERA of 4.11 which tied for 5th in the eight-team league.

The Keys were 4th in the league in strikeouts, issued the 3rd most walks and had just five shutouts, fewest in the league.

(Stats listed are from Frederick games only)

LHP Zach Britton: 9-6, 2.70....131K in 140IP.....1.27 WHIP
Britton gained some life on his fastball this year and had a tremendous season. He was named the Carolina League pitcher of the year. He was 2nd in the league in strikeouts and ERA, 3rd in batting average against, 4th in innings and tied for 5th in wins. He did lead the league with 21 wild pitches.

"Got to keep his walks down a little, but he and Matusz were like brothers when they were together. He talked to Brian a lot after he left us and Britton is on a mission to join Matusz," Hebner said.

"No question," Hebner said, when asked if Britton is in the class of pitchers like Arrieta and Matusz. "He's special, how many top lefties can you talk about. He's a great kid, very, very competitive. Baltimore's got some talent with kids like this."

Hebner said Britton's work etchic and coachability are "outstanding."

RHP Luis Lebron: 2-3, 3.00.....11 saves....52K in 33IP.
"He went to Double-A the second half. Here's a kid who couldn't throw strikes, but when I had him he's throwing strikes at 95 to 97. He was lights out. Some nights he came in and it was an absolute mismatch. With an arm like that you have to watch him."

Lebron ended with Bowie, with better numbers than he put up at Frederick. He went 1-0, 1.98 with nine saves for the Baysox.

RHP Tim Bascom: 4-5, 3.40 in 11 starts.
"Nice kid, hard worker. He probably has average stuff. He went 2-0 and 3-1 in the count too much. Pretty crafty pitcher, struggled a bit at the end in Double-A."

Bascom moved to Double-A Bowie in mid June and went 3-7, 4.30 in 14 starts with the Baysox.

RHP Sean Gleason: 4-9, 4.93 in 17 starts.....61K in 97IP.
"He's a little fiery and needs to keep his emotions down. They said he threw better last year. His walks were up and he got behind a lot at 2-0. He did pitch some good games but really needs to focus on each batter he throws to."

LHP Rick Zagone: 1-3, 5.10 in 13 starts....had 59K in 67IP.....Went 4-5, 4.66 thru mid June with Delmarva.
"A crafty lefty, not overpowering. He'll repeat in Frederick I would think. He's got to be just right. When we first got him, watching him pitch was like watching grass grow.

"I told him 'you got to pick it up.' He did and started to pitch better. One night I told him 'when you pitch we have to stop the game in the 5th and cut the grass, that's how slow you're pitching.'"

RHP Brandon Cooney: 2-5, 2.68....16 saves.
"Cooney threw good for us. He throws hard, a power pitcher."

RHP Pat Egan: 0-0, 2.78.....31K in 32IP.
"He threw well for us. He had pitched well in Double-A before I got him. A lot of scouts talked about him. He's 6-7 and has this herky-jerky motion and you can't pick the ball up out of his hands. He's got that going for him and throws 92, 93."

RHP Eddie Gamboa: 6-0, 1.86.....18 games.
"He was outstanding, went to Double-A and now is in the Arizona Fall League. Very competitive, he did a very nice job for me."

Hebner feels all three relievers in Cooney, Egan and Gamboa will do well at higher levels.

Thanks for that piece. The focus has been on Matusz, Tillman and Arrieta for a while. In addition to those three and the Frederick pitchers, Erbe, and others, Oliver Drake continues to intrigue me. This could be an interesting year for him.

To me , the strength of the Orioles at the end of 2010 will be the pitching depth through out the Minors. In the winter of 2011 I could see a few of the MILB stars traded to get the Bat we need.

If our attention span does not get to short, this depth should be in place for years to come. Keep drafting to your strength is a way of building the Minors to a point were the pieces are all interchangeable and then you can trade from a healthy position. I do not think this is attained until the end of 2010 but probably will get corrected by some short sighted people on this board.

This is other half of the report from Steve. The hitters.

A look at the Frederick Keys 2009 season
By Steve Melewski November 2 2009

Over the next several weeks, we'll review how the O's minor league teams finished this season, with an in-depth look at each team and some of their top players from the 2009 season.

Today we take a look at the 2009 Frederick Keys with comments from Keys manager Richie Hebner. (Stats listed are for games with Frederick only).

Frederick-Keys.jpg

In this post we focus on some of the team's top position players. Coming mid week we'll write about Frederick's pitchers, and later I'll get Hebner's thoughts on Billy Rowell's struggles for another post to watch for.

Summing it up - The Keys finished 64-75, the 6th fewest wins in the eight-team league. They led the league in batting average at .268, were 2nd in runs and 3rd in homers.

The club's 4.11 ERA tied for 5th in the league and Frederick easily led the league with a total of 179 errors.

Once again, the Keys' fans filled the turnstiles and Frederick was second in the league in average attendance at 4.585.

"Record-wise it wasn't a good season because we made too many errors. Our offense and pitching were decent and we did a lot of things right," Hebner said.

"We probably had five or six players on that team that could be in the big leagues in a couple of years. That's not bad for a Carolina League team."

1B-3B Brandon Waring: .273-26-90
He led the league in RBI, slugging and extra-base hits and was second in HR and 2B. He was the Carolina League MVP and got the O's top honor as the Brooks Robinson award winner.

"He has great power and is a great kid. He just has a good makeup to play baseball. He's kind of quiet, but well focused. He started at first and third base, a real good third baseman with a great arm."

Hebner says Waring is stronger on defense at third base right now. Hebner was asked will Waring's power project at higher levels?

"No question. He's got some major juice. He hits them a long way. I've been in the minors the last 15 years and have seen kids with that kind of power and you can't ignore them. He hit 26 at Dayton last year."

1B-OF Robbie Widlansky: .340-7-59 with 31 2B in just 86 games.
Robbie-Widlansky-.jpgHe won the Carolina League batting title and among those with enough at bats to qualify, he was the only player in the league to hit over .300.

It's quite remarkable that Widlansky began the year in extended spring training and didn't play his first Frederick game until May 22.

He hit a combined .229 in his first two years in the O's system.

"Here's a kid who didn't make a club out of spring training. Then he wins the batting title. He hit balls to left field, left center, right center, used the whole field. I think he'll hit more homers later. He's a lefty hitter that hit lefty pitching (.366 average). He started well and I figured he'd slow down but he didn't. I wish I could have batted him twice in the lineup.

"This kid almost quit I think in spring. It was the second year he didn't make a club in April and I think he was going to bang it. I don't know who saved him, maybe his agent."

3B-LF Tyler Henson: .267-8-71.
He played 3B until late June then was moved to LF.

"A good player but he struck out too many times for me. Made some real bad throwing errors at third, then we moved him to left and he developed into one of the better left fielders in the league. He's a real good athlete with great makeup. A hard-nosed, blue collar type-player that was well-liked in the clubhouse."

CF Matt Angle: .289-1-32 with 40 steals.
Angle doesn't overwhelm you on the stat sheet, but had a really solid season as the Keys' center fielder. He finished 2nd in the league in hits, 4th in steals and 5th in runs and batting average. He added 12 outfield assists.

"He was the best center fielder in the Carolina League. A great bunter with great speed. I had many scouts and managers say to me 'this kid is a player.' He came from a good program at Ohio State. Tremendous defense with a strong arm, he could play on defense in the big leagues right now," Hebner said.

SS Pedro Florimon: .267-9-68 with 32 2B.
He was the starting SS in the all-star game. After hitting 5 homers in five seasons, he showed pop this year with nine longballs.

"He had a great year, slowed down a little at the end. He really upped his average this year, he was hitting around .300 for a while. He does make too many errors. But he also made some absolute big league plays at short. This is a kid that has opened some eyes up and maybe they need to add him to the 40-man roster."

Hebner says Florimon has a solid arm and can continue to stay at shortstop as he moves up in the system.

C Caleb Joseph: .284-12-60.
Caleb-Joseph_Stock-Keys.jpgHe made the post-season all-star team and finished 8th in the league in batting average. He threw out 27 percent of base stealers.

"He surprised us by moving up from Aberdeen. He was leading the league in hitting for a lot of the year. He's real focused and should find himself in the big leagues someday. He's got a real good sense of the game. He's got his stuff together for a young kid.

"He caught a lot of games and got tired at the end of the year. He needs some work blocking balls. His arm was strong early and probably average later. We had some pitchers that didn't hold runners well and that got to him a bit. But he really works and is someone to watch."