When a bullpen spot opened up when Rick Bauer was ineffective and Pat Hentgen was moved to the rotation to replace Omar Daal, DuBose was back, and he made the most of the opportunity. After five scoreless relief appearances, he got another start, against the powerful Red Sox, on August 8, and he held the Sox to one run on four hits over six innings of work. Still, he was returned to the bullpen. He had a couple more spot starts, but he was not made a regular in the rotation until September 6. In five starts against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Mariners, and two against the Yankees, he posted a 3.24 ERA, allowing 31 hits in 34 innings.

Not debuting until age 27, not striking out a lot of guys, and the small sample size are all reasons to hold back extreme optimism, but DuBose certainly sparkled all season, both in the minors, and in the majors. Hopefully he can pick up the strikeout numbers just a little, and continue to keep hitters off balance.

His numbers speak volumes about a quality performance. Orioles fans can only hope that he will be able to make adjustments, as hitters make adjustments to him. There is hope in the solid numbers he put up across the board. It is a small sample, and the road to ML success is littered with 10-start wonders. But fans can take solace in the fact that his injuries may have been all that was preventing him from an earlier start to his career.

To Contribute Successfully to the Orioles Next Season, He Should:

(1) Strike out a few more guys, especially at home. It's hard to be as fine as one needs to be when you're striking out less than six batters per nine innings. Perhaps the development of another pitch?

(2) Make Adjustments as scouts and teams become more familiar with his pitching style and tendencies.

NOTES: Only allowed a .143 BAA with runners in scoring position...allowed a .389/.405/.611 to batters hitting in the #1 slot...if he got you into an 0-2 count, you batted .042 afterwards...pitched to a 3.34 ERA at The Yard.