The Baltimore Orioles stand atop the American League East standings with a 6-3 record, thanks in part to rookie phenom Zach Britton (0.66 ERA). The southpaw has won his first two starts of the season, allowing only seven hits and one run over 13.2 innings.
Britton utilizes a 96 mph fastball with good sinking movement that led to a 2:1 groundball ratio in his first start. He leans heavily on his heater, throwing the pitch 80% of the time over his first two starts.
Buster Olney has dubbed Britton "the Strasburg of 2011", but their are concerns surrounding his immediate success. Britton pitches in the American League East, cluttered with strong lineups who take pitches and wear down opposing hurlers, physically and mentally.
Britton's 4:3 K/BB ratio is also discouraging. He will need to keep his homerun rate low and his strand rate high if he is going to continue to walk hitters and not strike them out.
Britton also recorded more outs in the air than on the ground in his last start against Texas, which is not the plan for a sinkerball pitcher. Against the strong Texas lineup, Britton began to overthrow late in the game, failing to stay behind the ball. This led to him leaving the ball up in the zone and producing many more fly balls than intended.
In an interview with Baseball Tonight on April 10th, Britton admitted that some of his success is due to facing lineups who are unfamiliar with his stuff. He also credited Matt Wieters for his work behind the plate and his good understanding of opposing batters.
The Orioles have had a promising young team for years, but if Britton is an example of the young guns stocked in the minor league system, Baltimore should be relevant in the baseball world soon enough.
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